208 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Dr. Trimble said he had seen a great many corn-stalks fed to cattle, but 

 never saw them willing to eat the but end of the stalk, unless driven to it by 

 starvation, and he thought that a pretty strong evidence that they con- 

 tained little or no nutriment. 



Mr. Lux said that he had fed the stalks of sugar-corn most successfully, 

 the cattle eating the whole, and apparently digesting their food perfectly. 

 He cuts them in a No. 2 Eureka machine, which cost $32.50, and not only 

 cuts but mashes the stalks, and the chaff is fed mixed with bran and 

 water. I prefer the stalks of sweet corn. 



Mr. C. M. Brown, Chelsea, Michigan, writes his opinion of stalks as feed 

 — that they are worth, when cut in this way, as much per ton as uncut hay. 



Mr. Carpenter said — I have satisfied myself that stalks cut green and 

 chaffed are more worth, ton for ton, than the best timothy hay. A ton of 

 cut stalks will last twice as long as a ton fed whole. One of my neigh- 

 bors cuts and steams his stalks, and finds great advantage in that practice. 

 I find one ton of cut stalks will feed four cattle thirty days. As we double 

 the value by cutting, I believe it more than pays the expense. 



Mr. Solon Robinson contended that the but end of the stalks of corn which 

 have ripened the ears, contain no more nutriment than any other woody 

 fiber, and are really not as valuable as the twigs of any sweet wood, for 

 instance, ash or maple, would be if passed through a chafBng-machine, and 

 prepared in the same way as Mr. Carpenter says he prepares his stalks. K 

 the stalks are cut from the green corn and well cured, and fed before they 

 lose all their moisture, they are really very nutritious food ; or if the corn 

 is cut up from the ground while still green, and set up in shocks to ripen 

 the ears, the buts will contain some nutriment. But even then it is a very 

 doubtful question whether those of the large varieties of corn will pay for 

 the expense of passing them through a cutting-machine. 



Mr. Enos Stevens said that he had experimented considerably upon corn- 

 stalks, with a view of testing their value as food for cattle. He has 

 always noticed that green stalks have a pleasant, sweet flavor, but those 

 which ripen the grain, when dry, have no taste, and appear to be quite un- 

 nutritious. If they are ripened in the field, he is sure they are quite indi- 

 gestible, no matter how they are prepared to induce cattle to eat them. 

 After the corn is glazed, the stalks, if to be used as fodder, should be imme- 

 diately cut and cured above the ground. He has found by experience that 

 he can do this for $3 per acre, by putting rails upon forked stakes through 

 the field, and then lajnug the stalks upon them. When laid upon the 

 ground to cure, unless the weather is unusually favorable, they will sour 

 before they are dry enough to put in stacks. 



Mr. Lux inquired what he should do with a lot of Virgalieu pear trees 

 which he has just planted out, as he has been told since planting them 

 that he cannot produce this variety near the sea shore. 



The Chairman said — It is an error to say they will not produce fruit 

 near the sea shore, though I suppose they are uncertain, for I have a tree 

 growing very near the salt water that does produce excellent pears. 



Dr. Trimble said — I have seen Virgalieus this year in several places in 

 this vicinity that were entirely healthy. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller said that might be the case, but he could not recommend the 



