232 



EXPERIMENT STATION. 



[Jan. 



Digestion Coefficients.^ 



[Per Cent. Dry Matter digested.) 



A study of the above coefficients shows no wide variations 

 in the relative digestibility of the several varieties. Naturally 

 the larger the percentage of ear present the higher should be the 

 digestibility of the entire plant, the grain having a much higher 

 digestibility than the stalk. This in a general way is made 

 clear by classifying the results according to the stage of growth. 

 Corn that is immature and with ears partially formed may show 

 nearly as high an absolute digestibility as a mature variety 

 because of the soft, incompletely developed stalks. If it had 

 been possible to determine the net available energy of each 

 variety according to the method employed by Kellner,- those 

 varieties having the mature ears would unquestionably have 

 shown a much larger amount of energy than the less mature 

 varieties. 



Attention may also be called to the variation in the percentage 

 of nitrogen-free extract of the several varieties. With one ex- 

 ception ^ the digestibility varies to a limited extent inversely 



' For figures in detail see supplement. 

 » The Scientific Feeding of Animals, pp. 48-50. 



> In case of Rustler Dent rather more was fed than the animals could well utilize, which ex- 

 plains the low coefficient for this variety. 



