Part II 

 FEEDING STUFFS 



CHAPTER IX 



LEADING CEREALS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS 



I. Corn and Its By-Products 



The prime importance of Indian corn, or maize, as a grain crop in 

 the United States is shown by the fact that in acreage, in total yield, 

 and in value, it exceeds all other cereals combined. Corn is grown in 

 every state of the Union, but flourishes best in the great region be- 

 tween the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountain Plateau. .A heat 

 loving plant, it thrives best where the nights are warm during the 

 growing season. 



Corn as a feed. — Corn is the great energizing, heat-giving, fat-fur- 

 nishing feed for the animals of the farm. No other cereal yields, on 

 a given space and with a given ex- 

 penditure of labor, so much food 

 in both grain and forage. On mil- 

 lions of farms successful animal 

 husbandry rests upon this imperial 

 crop. 



The corn grain is pre-eminently 

 a carbohydrate bearer, every 100 

 lbs. containing over 70 lbs. of 

 nitrogen-free extract, which is 

 nearly all starch. In addition, 

 corn is higher than all the other 

 common cereals in fat, or oil, con- 

 taining 5 per ct. of this energy-rich 

 nutrient. Due to this abundance 

 of starch and oil, it excels as a 

 fattening feed. Being so rich in corn, 

 carbohydrates, corn is naturally 



low in crude protein. Moreover, the crude protein is somewhat un- 

 balanced, more than half of it consisting of a single kind which lacks 



117 



Fig. 32. — The King op Cereals 



On millions of farms the success of 

 animal husbandry depends largely on 



