202 & W. Johnson— Composition of Maize Fodder. 



The sweet potato is possibly more easily digestible than the 

 common potato, because of containing nearly 7 per cent of sol- 

 uble sugar in place of a similar amount of starch. Its sweet 

 taste is mentioned by European writers as a reason why it does 

 not enter more largely into the produce of southern France, 

 and probably for most inhabitants of temper 



not relish s 



ion potato, 



which, like bread, appears daily and twice daily on the tables 

 of the Middle and New England States, as well as on those of 

 England, Germany and France. The sweet potato is, however, 

 in its best varieties a most inviting esculent, and perhaps "wears" 

 better than any other vegetable save the common potato. Its 

 juices are so rich in sugar that the tuber keeps poorly, for 

 wherever the cuticle is broken, the common omnipresent fungi 

 take root, under favorable conditions of temperature and 

 moisture, and rapidly penetrate the tissues, producing dis- 

 coloration and dry or wet rot. French authorities report that 

 the potato-fungus, Peronospora infestans, attacks the sweet 

 potato as vigorously as the common. 



III. On the Composition of Maize Fodder. 



The use of maize as a fodder plant is very extensively prac- 

 ticed in this country as well as in South Germany and Austria. 

 In the latter countries maize fodder appears to be uniformly 

 regarded as a valuable resource to the farmer. In the United 

 ever, some excellent farmers have denounced it for 

 various reasons ; some because of the difficulty of securing the 

 crop, and others because of its supposed innutritious quality. 

 In fact, chemical analysis has been employed to show that 

 maize is a comparatively worthless fodder crop. 



These considerations induced me to undertake its investiga- 

 tion, and I have been fortunate in finding highly suitable 

 material on the farm of J. J. Webb, Esq., near New Haven, 

 Conn., as well as the most hearty assistance in preparing the 

 fodder for analysis at the hands of that gentleman. Two sam- 

 ples, raised from separate plantings and on separate fields, were 

 placed at my disposal. The variety of maize was the Southern 

 or Norfolk White ; the seed was obtained from Long Island. 

 No. 1 was raised on long tilled ground and inverted sod, with 

 help of stable manure. No. 2 was taken from new ground, 

 which had borne two rye crops, was seeded, had been in pasture 

 for five years, was then plowed and had carried two successive 

 crops of corn fodder, of which it was of course the last. To 

 the soil that yielded No. 2 no stable manure had ever been 

 applied. No. 2 was sown 10 to 15 days earlier than No. 1, 

 and was more mature at the time of cutting the samples, Sept. 



