AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



II 



THE DIGESTIBILITY OF CORN FODDKR AND CORN SILAGE AS COMPARED 

 WITH OTHER CATTLE FOODS. 



During the past four years sixteen different samples of corn 

 fodder and silage have been marie the subject of thirty-seven diges- 

 tion trials at the Maine Experiment Statiou. These trials have 

 included three varieties of corn both as partially dried fodder and 

 as silage, coming from four years crops excepting in the case of the 

 sweet corn. Further repetition of this work ought not to be nec- 

 essary in order to establish safe digestion co-efficients for use in 

 Maine feeding practice. The averages of the entire number of 

 trials are for each variety of corn as follows : 



TABLE XX. 



AVERAGE COEFFICIENTS OF DIGESTIBILITY AS FOUND AT THE MAINE EXPERIMENT 



STATION i 



05 



OS 

























e> += 



SO 



'Z ~'' 



n 



3 



z . ~ 



- a '- 



- r" 



< 



P*K 



ft 



/. _ i 



Southern Corn fodder, 3 samples, 1 

 6 trials • - 65.2 



Southern Corn silage, 2 samples, 

 G trials ! 63.8 



Field Corn fodder, 4 samples, 9 

 trials 70.8 



Field Corn silage, 3 samples, 8 



trials " 74.3 



Sweet Corn fodder, 3 samples, 6 

 trials G7.1 



Sweet Com silage, 1 sample, 2 

 trials 68.1 



Timothy hay (average 10 (Maine) 

 samples) .">7.0 



Wheat bran, average 2 samples .. . 59.0 



Corn meal* 87.0 



66.8 



4.3.1 



62.3 



71.5 



65.0 



66.0 



31.5 



55.7 



70.2 



65,5 



73.1 



41.9 



65.4 



76.2 



73.3 



76.7 



30.0 



64.7 



76.9 



78.3 



69.7 



3o.i; 



G4.1 



73.8 



68.2 



70.1 



31.0 



54.0 



71.1 



71.8 



58.0 



37.0 



4S.0 



53.0 



63.0 



63.0 



- 



76.0 



- 



66.0 



- 



- 



60.0 



- 



92.0 



66.2 



60.5 



70.0 



81.4 



76.9 



83.5 



57.0 

 73.il 

 U2.0 



* General average. 



These figures show beyond question that corn fodder well pre- 

 served and corn silage have a high digestibility as compared with 

 hay. To this fact should be attributed in large measure, undoubt- 

 edly, the great favor with which the corn plant, as now preserved 

 in the silo, is regarded by dairymen as milk producing food. What 

 has been supposed by mauy to be due to the peculiar influence of 



