62 SILAGE STUDIES 



CONCLUSION. 



Our results and those of other stations invariably agree that 

 the best silage is obtained from corn that has nearly reached 

 maturity, with ears fully formed and well filled. At this 

 stage of growth, also, a corn plant has reached its maximum 

 of food production. Varieties of corn should be selected 

 which yield the largest crops at this stage, rather than those 

 which produce large plants, but are yet immature at cutting 

 time. This practice is already followed by many farmers, 

 but should be by all. For New Hampshire a standard variety 

 is the Learning dent corn, while in those portions of the state 

 with too short a season for that variety to reach the proper 

 stage, the Sanford flint corn can be advantageously used. 



The sugar in the green fodder is practically all destroyed 

 in the silo, and since it is most abundant in the corn plant in 

 the early stages of ear development, it is an additional argu- 

 ment for postponing cutting until the grain is full size and 

 the sugars have changed largely to starch. 



The amount of seed per acre affects the yield of green fod- 

 der, and also its composition. A medium stand is essential 

 for the best results in both quantity and quality. 



The practice of using a half bushel of seed per acre is good. 

 In a favorable season, with plenty of fertilizer, more seed 

 could be profitably used, but the tendency to inferiority in 

 quality, especially in decreasing the protein and increasing 

 the sugar and fiber, render it, as a rule, inadvisable.* 



It is a pleasure here to acknowledge the hearty cooperation 

 in this work of Messrs. E. P. Stone, C. D. Howard, A. Given, 

 R. H. Shaw, and H. A. Clark, who have in turn assisted me 

 in these investigations. 



* Conn. Expt. Sta. Rept., 1SS9. Wis. Expt. Sta. Kept, 1897. Cornell Uni. Exp. 



Sta., Bull. i'^^. 



