AGRIC1 LTI R \l. EXPERIMEK 1 STATION. 



35 



THE EFFECT OF SLOW DRYING UPON THE COMPOSITION OF A SAMPLE 

 OF A SUCCULENT PLANT. 



It must be well known to chemists that in order to secure a sam- 

 ple of a watery plant like green corn, which shall correctly repre- 

 sent its composition, it is necessary that this sample be dried as 

 promptly and as rapidly as possible with a reasonable degree of heat. 



One or two experiences at this Station serve, however, to forci- 

 bly illustrate this fact. 



At the time of cutting the 1893 crop of Maine field corn at different 

 stages of growth it was desired to save some of the first and last 

 cuttings for digestion trials. No means being available for drying 

 the needed quantity b\; artificial heat, five hundred pounds of each 

 cutting were finely chopped and spread very thinly on a scaffold in 

 the Station barn, over at least six hundred square, feet of surface. 

 The doors and windows of the barn were open, which allowed a free 

 circulation of air, and under these conditions the material was 

 allowed to become air-dry. This was accomplished with no appar- 

 ent moulding or fermentation. Before spreading the last cutting, 

 the chopped material was very thoroughly mixed and a smaller 

 sample of about twenty pounds was selected and taken at once to 

 the Station laboratory, where it was rapidly dried in a steam 

 closet. The following are the analyses of the slowly and rapidly 

 dried samples. 



TABLE XVII. 

 INFLUENCE OF METHOD OF DRYING UPON COMPOSITION <>F COEN PLANT. 







In 100 p 



irta 1: 



■esll corn as 



Jilt. 











a 

 - 









_ 





















o — 





















So o 











u 



> 



. to 



£ s! 



00 



< 



p 



- 

 '— 



Z 7- 



- ~ - 



25 _ i 



- 



- 

 -.1. 

 a 

 ■/. 



3 

 — 



Rapidly dried sample ... ■ 



74.66 



25.34 



1.50 



2.34 



4.71 



L6.04 



.75 



t.18 



3.89 





7S.-J4 



21.76 



1.55 



2.29 



4.07 



L2.63 



.62 



1.72 









3.58 



.05 



.05 



.04 



3.41 



.13 



2.46 



.23 







