PRESERVATION FOR STOCK FOOD 739 



700. Amount of Digestible Matter in Different Parts of the CHAP. 

 Maize Plant. — Patterson (1) shows that in a crop of maize the x ^ • 

 fodder produced contains a larger amount of total digestible 

 matter than the grain. The figures for total digestible matter 

 in the crop of an acre, as given by him, are: — 



I. hi. 

 In ears ..... 1,530 

 In fodder ... 1,642 



3.172 



701. Loss of \ V eight ami of Feeding-value and other Changes 

 due to Curing. — In the preservation of maize for winter use the 

 amount of feeding-matter obtained from the stack or silo 

 will be less than the amount put down. This loss is not only 

 in moisture-content, but also in actual dry matter ; there is also 

 a slight loss in feeding-value. 



Moisture-content. — Approximately two-thirds of its mois- 

 ture-content is lost in curing maize fodder in the field. 



Dry matter. — Maize fodder loses from 19 to 21 per cent of 

 dry matter in the process of field-curing. This loss is nearly 

 5 per cent less if the fodder is cut in the green-mielie stage 

 than if allowed to become nearly ripe, which appears to be 

 due to the larger amount of soluble carbohydrates present in the 

 latter stage of development. 



Loss in Feeding-value. — There is also a slight loss of food- 

 value in the process of preservation. This occurs principally 

 in the " nitrogen-free extract," i.e. the carbohydrates other than 

 the fibre. This loss is found to be less in the case of silage 

 than of fodder, and greatest in the case of stover. 



702. Losses in the Silo.— These vary in amount, depend- 

 ing on the construction of the silo (chapter XVI.) and the 

 care and method employed in filling and covering it. But 

 even with the best of silos, filled in the best possible manner, 

 a certain amount of loss cannot be prevented. This is partly 

 due to fermentative bacterial agency, but partly also, as shown 

 by Babcock and Russell (1, pp. 177-84), to the respirating 

 activity of the protoplasm, which still lives and continues to 

 give off carbonic acid gas (CO,) for some time after the maize 

 plant has been cut for the silo. This latter item of loss has been 

 shown to amount to about 1 per cent of the total weight of the 



47 * 



