SILOS, ENSILAGE AND SILAGE. 81 



placed, and this means that a certain stage of maturity 

 should be reached before the crop is harvested. It is 

 true that immature fodder corn may be partly dried in 

 the field after it is cut up, before putting it into the silo, 

 bub this obviates but part of the difficulty ; the deficiency 

 in dry substance still remains. The excess of water in 

 the immature plant is exhaled from the leaves in the 

 process of maturation as the chlorophyll of the leaves 

 assimilates carbon, and reserve materials, like starch and 

 its allies, are stored up to increase the percentage of dry 

 substance. Nature's method of drying immature suc- 

 culent vegetation will be found the most profitable, and 

 we need only aid her by furnishing suitable conditions 

 for the performance of her work. 



The reported yields of fodder corn, under good man- 

 agement, vary from about 15 to 30 tons per acre, and if 

 yields of less than ten tons are mentioned, some excuse 

 is presented of unfavorable conditions for the crop, or, 

 the effects of a bad season. Claims of 40 to 50 tons per 

 acre are frequently made, and yields of even 80 to 90 

 tons have been reported, but these exceptional yields are 

 evidently enthusiastic estimates that need verification. 

 There can be no doubt that Indian corn will yield a 

 greater aggregate of valuable cattle-food per acre, under 

 good conditions of farm management, than any other 

 crop, and exaggerated claims are not needed to lead to its 

 general recognition as the King of the cereals. 



VARIETIES OF MAIZE FOR ENSILAGE. 



A great number of varieties of maize have been recom- 

 mended as the best for a fodder crop, but allowance must 

 be made, in many cases, for a bias of judgment, where 

 the sale of seed is the object. 



From the wide geographical range of the crop in 

 America, and the different climatic conditions under 

 which it is successfully cultivated, it will be seen that 



