

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. .'.7 



CORN AS A SILAGE CROP. 

 W. H. Jordan. 



The report of the Station for 1891, pp. 41-46 gives a summary 

 of three yeais work in testing the relative production of food mate- 

 rial by various fodder and root crops. It appeared that the large 

 variety of corn known as Southern White produced the greatest 

 amount of digestible dry substance per acre, excelling root crops, 

 Hungarian grass and other varieties of corn. Since 1891 a com- 

 parison between varieties of corn has been continued. This has 

 been done because this crop is an important one to Maine dairy- 

 men and because the problems connected with its growth in Maine 

 are local in their nature and cannot be solved by experiments in 

 other states, excepting possibly, New Hampshire and Vermont. 



The most common question asked in this connection is, Which 

 are the most profitable varieties to grow, the large, which mature 

 only in a latitude south of New England or the smaller which com- 

 plete their growth in this climate? 



As set forth in the report previously mentioned, the proper test 

 of productiveness is the yield of digestible dry matter, the gross 

 weight of crop or even of total dry matter being deceptive because 

 of differences on the water content and in the digestibility. All 

 effort has been directed, then, towards ascertaining the actual 

 growth of digestible material in the several cases. One other point 

 has necessarily been considered, viz : the relative value of a pound 

 of digestible material in the crops compared. This latter compari- 

 son can most safely be made by a feediug experiment and this has 

 been the method used. The study of the corn crop has been con- 

 ducted in 1892 and 1893 in much the same manner as in previous 

 years only somewhat more comprehensively. 



The data recorded in succeeding pages have been obtained, 



(1) By weighing the green crop as harvested. 



(2) By immediate drying of the green product to ascertain the 

 dry matter. 



(3) By analysis of the dry matter to determine its composition. 



(4) By a partial chemical study of the nitrogen-free-extract. 



(5) Digestion experiments with sheep. 



All this work centers around two problems : First, the relative 

 yield of digestible dry matter in immature Southern Dent corn and 

 in mature Maine field corn ; and second, the influence of maturity 

 on the amount and kind of product. 



