HOW THE PLANT GROWS 



13 



Composition of an acre of Indian corn at different stages 



When four feet high the crop was nearly 86 per et. water and only 

 about 14 per ct. dry matter, while when the kernels were hard and 

 the husks dry over 42 per ct. was dry matter. On Aug. 28 less than 

 17 per ct. of the total dry matter was in the ears; by Oct. 8 the ears 

 contained over half the dry matter in the total crop. 



24. Ash or mineral matter. The total ash increased rapidly until the 

 plants reached full height. During the period of greatest starch for- 

 mation, Aug. 28 to Oct. 1, the increase in potash was especially rapid. 



25. Crude protein. The most rapid increase in crude protein, the 

 nitrogenous portion, occurred before the plants were tasseled, when cell 

 growth was more active. Ladd found that after the ears were silked, the 

 amids the building stones of the proteins did not increase, while 

 there was a steady and marked storage of proteins up to maturity. Altho 

 amids were being constantly formed during the growth and develop- 

 ment of the plants, they were in turn quickly built up into the more 

 complex proteins. At all stages of growth nearly all the amids are 

 in the stalks and leaves, the amids in the ears never exceeding 1.5 Ibs. 

 per acre, according to Jones. At maturity, Oct. 8, over 71 per ct. of 

 all the protein in the crop was stored in the ears, principally in and 

 about the germs of the kernels, ready to carry on the vital functions 



