56 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



The digestibility of these varieties of corn having been deter- 

 mined both as fodder and as ensilage, it is now possible to compare 

 the figures obtained. It is interesting to note whether ensilage is 

 greatly more or less digestible than the original material converted 

 into dried fodder : 



Comparison of Digestibility of Cokn Fodder and Ensilage. 











i6 











a; 



a; 





(M 





-^,^ 





















' 



c3 



oS 





X 





«r^ iT't 







CO 



S 





"^ 





X Ji 







^ 



o 





f^ 





c .~ 













.^ 





biOtJ 







O) 



p; 





i> 



^ 



c i;i 







>. 



bJD 



m 



o 



X2 



.5-3 



=«• 





^ 



O 



< 



P-i 



fc 



^ 



Em 



southern corn. 

















As fodder 



64.77 



67.15 



34.93 



.58.12 



74.59 



64-54 



68.82 





63.23 



66.26 



14.94 



46.62 



73.85 



65.61 



65.30 







Difference 



+1.54 



+.89 



+19.99 



+11.50 



+.74 



-1.07 



+3.52 



FIELD corn. 

















As fodder 



70.17 



72.35 



44.17 



63.57 



79.82 



70.32 



71.56 





69.08 

 -LI. 09 



72.09 

 +.26 



12.25 



52.85 



75.16 



73.35 



82.61 









+31.92 



+10.72 



+4.66 



-3.03 



-11.05 



sweet corn. 





As fodder 



60.91 



63.07 



23.43 



58.98 



70.23 



59.44 



67.45 





68.10 



70.11 



31.95 



54.01 



71.10 



71.83 



83.48 







Difterence 



-7.19 



-7.04 



-8.52 



+4.97 



-.87 



-12.39 



-16.03 



These figures from actual trials furnish no evidence that the 

 fermentation which a fodder undergoes in the silo greatly affects 

 its digestibility, and they accord with the results of previous tests. 



In view of the unanimity of testimony in this point, there seems 

 to be no reason for perpetuating the statement through our agri- 

 cultural papers, that ensilage is more digestible than the original 

 material when dried. In fact, there is good reason for believing 

 that if a fodder can be so quickly and perfectly dried that it suffers 

 no change in composition, its percentage of digestibility will be 

 greater than that of the ensilage made from it, because the fermen- 

 tation in the silo destroys some of the soluble and perfectly diges- 

 tible compounds in the fodder. 



In practice, however, fodder is not generally dried without 

 loss similar to that which takes place in the silo, and so in discuss- 

 ing the advantages of the silo, the matter of a greater or less 



