130 Feeds and Feeding. 



hardly possible that it should further prove ideal for nourishing 

 3^oung, growing animals. It fails in some measure to furnish the 

 nutrients in proper proportion for bone and muscle building, since 

 it is not rich in crude protein and mineral matter. No other grain 

 that the farmer grows yields, on a given space and with a given 

 expenditure of labor, so much animal food, both in grain and for- 

 age, as does the Indian corn plant. On millions of farms success- 

 ful animal husbandry rests upon this imperial grain and forage 

 plant. (411, 521, 621, 744, 842) 



A possible explanation of the great fondness of farm animals 

 for corn lies in the considerable amount of oil it carries. Again, 

 on mastication the kernels break into flinty, nutty particles which 

 are more palatable, for example, than meal from the almost oil- 

 free wheat grain, which on crushing and mingling with saliva 

 turns to a sticky dough in the mouth. 



151. Races of corn. — Three races of corn — dent, flint, and sweet — 

 are of interest to the stockman. In dent corn the starch is partly 

 hornlike and partly floury, rendering the kernel easy of mastica- 

 tion. In flint corn the starch is mostly hornlike and flinty, making 

 the kernel more difficult for the animal to crush. Both chemical 

 analysis and experience oppose the assertion, often heard, that 

 yellow corn is more nutritious than white, or the opposite. In 

 fact, the coloring matter of yellow corn is so minute in quantity 

 as to be unweighable. While a certain strain or variety of one 

 may be superior to any particular strain or variety of the other 

 in a given locality, there is no uniform difference between white 

 and yellow corn in productiveness or feeding properties. In sweet 

 corn the starch is hornlike and tough. Before hardening, the 

 milky kernels of sweet corn carry much glucose, which is changed 

 to starch as they mature into the shrunken grain. The sweetness 

 of the immature grains of sweet corn, due to the glucose they then 

 carry, adds to the palatability but not necessarily to their nutri- 

 tive value, since glucose and starch have the same feeding value. 

 Sweet corn has somewhat more crude protein and fat and less car- 

 bohydrates than the other races. 



152. Com cobs. — Well-dried dent ear corn of good breeding car- 

 ries about 56 lbs. of shelled corn to 14 lbs. of cob. The propor- 

 tion of cob to grain varies greatly according to race, variety, and 

 dryness, ranging from below 20 to about 40 per ct., flint varieties 

 having a larger proportion of cob to grain than does dent corn. 

 The cobs carry about 30 per ct. of fiber, which at best is of low 



