AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 57 



digestibility does not seem likely to furnish an argument either 

 pro or con. 



Summary. The previously described results of a somewhat 

 careful study of the composition and digestibility of immature fod- 

 der corn, harvested under unfavorable conditions, make a very 

 good showing for the nutritive value of whatever of dry substance 

 the fodder contained. It can by no means be said that such materi- 

 al is worthless, but it is fairer to claim that its dry matter has a 

 greater feeding value, pound for pound, than that of much hay 

 that is fed. Immaturity implies a low nutritive value, only so far 

 as it is an indication of the presence of a very large percentage of 

 vrater. June pasture grass is made up of immature plants, but 

 who does not know that its dry substance is very nutritious ? 



The indictment against the crops of fodder corn obtained in this 

 experiment is the small amount of dry matter harvested. The 

 appearance of the plots of Southern corn, especially, indicated a 

 crop by no means small, and the scales made a showing of over 

 thirteen tons of green material per acre, but the close inspection 

 of the laboratory shows that this large bulk of fodder yielded 

 less than one and two-thirds tons of actual food substance. 



Any crop, so bulky and so largely water, such as roots and 

 fodder coru, is likely to be deceptive as to its real food value. 



(1.) The dry substance in 100 lbs. cf the somewhat inama- 

 ture green fodder from three varieties of corn varied from 

 12.3 lbs. to 17.4 lbs. 



(2.) The dry substance in 37,475 lbs. of green fodder was 

 5,073 lbs. Of the Southern Corn 26,295 lbs. contained only 

 3,234 lbs. of dry matter. 



(3.) The dry substance of these fodders was found to have 

 a composition and high relative rate of digestibility that indi- 

 cate good nutritive quality. 



(4.) The digestion experiments do not show a superior 

 digestibility for the ensilage over the dried fodder. 



Composition and Value op Various Commercial Feeding 



Stuffs. 

 J. M. Bartlett. 

 The idea of collecting and analyzing a few samples of the feed- 

 ing stuffs offered for sale in our markets was suggested to the 

 writer by frequent inquiries from the farmers as to the relative 

 value of the various milling ]Moducts and other concentrated cattle 

 foods now bukl by ilealers. 



