152 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



sible explanation of the great fondness of farm animals for corn lies in 

 the considerable amount of oil it carries. Again, on mastication the ker- 

 nels break into nutty particles which are more palatable, for example, 

 than meal from the wheat grain, which on crushing and mingling with 

 the saliva turns to a sticky dough in the mouth. (For a discussion of 

 corn as a forage, see Articles 293 to 307.) 



201. Corn lacks protein and mineral matter. Being so rich in carbo- 

 hydrates, corn is naturally low in crude protein. The crude protein of 

 this grain is also somewhat unbalanced, for about 58 per ct. of it consists 

 of the single protein, zein, which lacks some of the amino-acids neces- 

 sary for animal growth. (118) Corn is also unusually low in mineral 

 matter, especially calcium, so necessary for growing animals. Numerous 

 experiments show that even with fattening animals, which require rela- 

 tively little protein and mineral matter, it is profitable to supplement 

 these deficiencies of the corn grain by other feeds high in the nutrients 

 which corn lacks. (732,844,938) Fortunately, the legume hays are rich 

 in protein and calcium, and therefore admirably supplement corn. By 

 the use of these roughages, less protein-rich concentrates are needed to 

 balance a heavy allowance of corn. Indeed, for some animals legume 

 hay and corn alone form a satisfactory, well-balanced ration. (733, 844) 



202. Races of corn. Three races of corn dent, flint, and sweet are of 

 interest to the stockman. In dent corn the starch is partly hornlike and 

 partly floury, rendering the kernel easy of mastication. In flint corn 

 the starch is mostly hornlike and flinty, making the kernel more difficult 

 for the animal to crush. The feeding value of dent corn and flint corn 

 is approximately the same. 



Until recently chemists were able to discover no difference in the feed- 

 ing value of white and yellow corn. Steenbock, however, has found at 

 the Wisconsin Station that yellow corn contains much more fat-soluble 

 vitamine than white corn. (104) In feeding trials by Morrison and 

 Bohstedt at the same station (939), for pigs not on pasture yellow corn 

 has proven better than the white when fed with other feeds low in this 

 vitamine. Since green-leaved roughages probably all contain an 

 abundance of this vitamine, it is doubtful whether there is any difference 

 when good-quality roughage forms a considerable part of the ration, as 

 in the case of dairy cows, beef cattle, horses, and sheep, even on winter 

 rations, and for all animals on good pasture. For instance, yellow corn 

 was no better than white for pigs on pasture. 



In sweet corn the starch is hornlike and tough. Before hardening, 

 the milky kernels of this race carry much glucose, which is changed to 

 starch as they mature into the shrunken grain. The sweetness of the 

 immature grains of sweet corn, due to the glucose they then carry, adds 

 to the palatability but not necessarily to their nutritive value, since glu- 

 cose and starch have the same feeding value. (48) Sweet corn has some- 

 what more protein and fat and less carbohydrates than the other races. 

 Earliness of maturity tends to dwarf the corn plant. Hence, the 



