52 THE BOOK OF ENSILAGE. 



Nutritive Value of the Ear, compared to the Rest of the Plant. 



Now, all of these mineral constituents are necessary 

 for the health and well-being of our domestic animals ; 

 and when corn is cured by Ensilage they are all present 

 in solution, so that when introduced into the alimentary 

 canal such parts and proportions as the animal economy 

 requires can be readily taken up and assimilated. Now 

 comes an almost equally important fact ; and it is this, 

 a very large proportion of these mineral constituents of 

 the plant passes through the animals, and is found in 

 their excrements. 



When corn is preserved by Ensilage, all of these 

 valuable mineral elements are in condition, when ap- 

 plied in the manure to the next crop, to be immedi- 

 ately taken up and assimilated by the growing plants. 

 What an immense saving is here ! When corn-fodder 

 is cured by desiccation, many of the leaves, that part of 

 the plant which is richest in mineral matter, are lost, 

 being blown by the winds into the fence-corners, and 

 other out-of-the-way places where their mineral wealth 

 is wasted. The stalks are not eaten and digested by the 



