258 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



from frost for 120 days. As a fodder crop, its growth has 

 been pushed far northward during recent years. 



Corn fed as grain is preeminently a fattening food for 

 all kinds of domestic animals. In this respect, it is without 

 a rival. As shown in the table, it is essentially a carbo- 

 naceous food, its leading characteristic being the large 

 amount of starchy matter which it contains. It is low in 

 protein and quite low in ash. It is a heat-producing food 

 and quite low in those materials that furnish muscle and 

 bone. It should always be fed, therefore, with a prudent 

 moderation to young animals, to animals at work and to 

 those producing milk, and in conjunction with foods rich in 

 protein. It is nearly all digestible, is much relished by an- 

 imals, and is one of the most healthful of cereals, even for 

 prolonged feeding, providing it is fed with judgment. 



The number of varieties of corn is in a sense without 

 limit. These are divided into the two classes known as 

 common and sweet. The sweet varieties are richer in al- 

 buminoids and fat, but they do not usually yield as much, 

 as a rule, as the common varieties. The latter are sub- 

 divided into what are termed flint and dent varieties. The 

 flint varieties are characterized by the flinty hardness of the 

 grain and the dent varieties by an indentation on the outer 

 end of the kernels. The flint varieties are smaller and hard- 

 ier, and are, therefore, better adapted relatively to condi- 

 tions with seasons too short for producing the dent vari- 

 eties with equal profit. There is no marked difference in 

 the chemical analysis of the common sorts of corn based on 

 the terms fliht and dent. The nutrients do not seem to be 

 materially influenced by color nor by latitude and longitude. 



Corn is fed as grain in various ways. More commonly 

 it is fed after removal from the cob when it is spoken of as 

 "shelled" corn or simply corn, but frequently it is fed on the 

 cob after the husk has been removed when it is known as 

 "ear" corn. Sometimes the whole crop is put into the silo 

 and fed as "silage," at other times it is fed unhusked from 

 the shock when it is known as "shock" or "fodder" corn. 



