INDIAN CORN AND THE SORGHUMS FOR FORAGE 197 



winter with no great production, it might be desirable to plant the crop 

 more thickly, so as to secure a greater yield of digestible nutrients per 

 acre. A still more economical method would perhaps be to plant the 

 corn at the rate usual for grain, and then husk out the ear corn for sale 

 or for feeding other classes of stock, and ensile the corn stover for feed- 

 ing the beef cows or stocker steers. (300) 



295. Nutrients in grain and stover. Even when grown for the grain, a 

 considerable part of the feeding value of the corn crop is in the stover. 

 In trials at 4 northern stations 2 an average yield of 4,415 Ibs. of ear 

 corn and 3,838 Ibs. of stover was secured per acre. The stover con- 

 tained 25 per ct. of the digestible crude protein and 37 per ct. of the 

 total digestible nutrients in the crop. The amount of total digestible 

 nutrients it contains measures the value of the stover for merely 

 carrying animals thru the winter. For fattening animals, dairy cows 

 producing heavy yields of milk, and horses at hard work, a more 

 accurate measure of its value is the net energy it supplies. (78-80) Yet, 

 even on this basis the stover furnished 24 per ct. of the net energy of 

 the crop. This shows clearly the loss of animal food which occurs each 

 year when unnumbered acres of corn stover are allowed to decay in 

 the fields. 



The ratio of grain to stalk, and hence the distribution of the 

 nutrients, will vary with the variety and with the section of the country. 

 The rank-growing southern corn will have less of the total nutrients in 

 the ear and more in the stalks. 



296. Corn silage. Indian corn is pre-eminently a silage plant. The 

 solid, succulent stems and broad leaves, when cut into short lengths, 

 pack closely and form a solid mass which not only keeps well but fur- 

 nishes a product that is greatly relished by stock and is consumed 

 with little waste. Altho with enlarging experience the use of other 

 crops for silage is increasing, by far the greater portion of all the forage 

 stored in silos in this country is corn. The use of corn silage has 

 practically revolutionized the feeding of dairy cattle over a large part 

 of the United States (629-31), and is fast becoming almost equally im- 

 portant in the feeding of beef cattle and sheep. (774-80, 866-9) Thru its 

 use the cost of producing milk and meat may be materially lowered 

 all over the corn belt. Not only is corn silage excellent for cattle and 

 sheep, but it may be used in a limited way with horses that are idle or 

 at light work. (510) 



The yield of silage per acre varies widely with the soil and season. 

 A 50-bushel crop of corn should make from 8 to 10 tons of silage, depend- 

 ing on the size and leafiness of the stalks. The importance of corn silage 

 on American farms and the methods of feeding it are discussed further 

 in Chapter XVI and in the respective chapters of Part III. 



Corn should be cut for silage when the kernels have hardened and 

 glazed, but while most of the leaves are still green. At this stage the 



Summarized by Armsby in Penn. Rpt. 1887. 



