16 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



Since the stalk of the corn plant must be strong and sturdy to carry 

 the abundant foliage and the heavy ear, the fiber increased rapidly 

 until the woody framework was grown. 



The table shows that the nitrogen-free extract, the most valuable 

 portion of the carbohydrates, made up of sugars, starch, and the other 

 more soluble carbohydrates, increased more than 2.5 tons between 

 tasseling and ripening. This increase was chiefly starch, for, altho 

 sugars were being steadily formed in the leaves of the plants, they 

 were being continuously transferred to other parts, especially the 

 swelling kernels of the ear, where they were changed to starch. 

 Another portion of the sugars was changed into cellulose to form the 

 woody framework of the plant structure. The elements of a third 

 portion were combined with nitrates and other mineral matter from 

 the soil to form the nitrogenous amids and proteins. 



At the milk stage, starch formed less than a fifth of the nitrogen- 

 free extract, but after this it increased rapidly as it was stored in 

 the maturing kernels. From the milk stage to the date when the com 

 was ready to shock, less than a month, there was a gain of nearly 

 2,500 lbs. of nitrogen-free extract, over a ton of which was starch. 

 This shows plainly the heavy losses of valuable nutrients which occur 

 when a crop of corn is harvested too early. 



In producing this acre of corn, probably not over 10 lbs. of seed was 

 placed in the ground in the spring time. From this insignificant 

 beginning, by the following October, about 130 days later, the resultant 

 plants had gathered inorganic matter — carbon dioxid from the air, and 

 water, nitrogen, and mineral matter from the soil — and built all these, 

 first into primary organic forms, and finally into complex organic 

 parts of their structure. The product of such building amounted to 

 over 11 tons of green or 4.7 tons of dry matter, nearly all available 

 for nourishing the animals of the farm and, thru them, man. This is a 

 forceful illustration of Nature's wonderful processes of food produc- 

 tion occurring all about us under the guiding hand of man. 



The end of plant effort. — In the life of the plant, we find that the 

 first effort is toward self-establishment and enlargement. At this 

 time all the material formed in the plant is transferred to the growing 

 parts. As the plant approaches maturity, its energies are changed 

 from growth to reproduction, or the formation of seed. For example, 

 in the corn plants the nutrients are now poured in a steady current 

 into the ear, where the kernels rapidly develop. In each of these 

 grains is the germ — a miniature plant — composed largely of protein, 

 about which is stored a generous supply of rich nutrients — proteins, 

 starch, sugar, oil, and mineral matter — all in compact, concentrated 

 form after Nature's choicest plan, to nourish the new life which is to 

 follow if the kernel finds lodgment in the soil. 



