36 MAINE AGRICULTURAI. UXPERIMENT STATION. I914. 



fore best fed green or made into silage. Like most leguminous 

 plants, soy beans do not keep as well in the silo alone as when 

 mixed with corn. Consequently, in the trials 3Tiade at the 

 Maine Station, the beans were cut and put into the silo with 

 corn. The proportion in this case, for convenience, was about 

 14 of corn to 9 of beans. The silage kept perfectly and when 

 fed out was nearly as green as when it went into the silo. The 

 animals ate it with great relish and the sheep preferred it to 

 clear corn silage. 



YIELD OF DRY MATTER AND PROTEIN. 



Soy Bean vs. Corn Fodder. 



The average yield for 7 seasons at the Maine Station of 

 fodder from corn of Sanford or similar variety that will not 

 mature in this climate was a little over 17 tons per acre. For 

 the same period the average yield of green fodder from ma- 

 tured corn was a little over 11 tons per acre. The same season 

 that the Massachusetts Station obtained a yield of 16 tons of 

 Longfellow corn they harvested 10 tons of soy bean fodder 

 from one acre. If we assume an average yield of soy bean 

 fodder at 8 tons and corn fodder at 12 tons per acre, and use 

 in calculation the average of the 13 analyses of each material 

 the soy bean would yield 3,560 pounds of dry matter and the 

 corn 5,064 pounds. The soy bean would contain 576 pounds 

 of protein and the corn 552 pounds. . 



It would, therefore, appear that a crop of corn will give 

 practically as many pounds of protein as a crop of soy bean, 

 and over 40 per cent more dry matter. Furthermore, the nutri- 

 ents of the corn are more digestible than those of soy beans. 

 The corn is probably a surer crop, but on the other hand it 

 requires a fertilizer carrying more nitrogen (costing from $10 

 to $15 per acre) to grow the corn and it is necessary to handle 

 50 per cent more material to obtain the same weight of protein. 



SOY BEANS FOR SEED. 



Three varieties of seed furnished by the Paint Manufactur- 

 ers' Association were tried at Highmoor Farm in 1913. 



