CHAP. 

 XV. 



740 



MAIZE 



silage, and the total unavoidable loss to from 2 to 4 per cent 

 {Wisconsin Bull. 83, p. 64). Hunt (l) considers it probable 

 that, if the silo is properly constructed and filled, and feeding 

 begins as soon as it is filled, the total loss need not exceed 10 

 to 12 per cent. What the extent of the loss is in general farm 

 practice does not appear to be known, but the American Ex- 

 periment Stations have frequently reported up to 20 per cent, 

 which means that, if we wish to provide 160 tons of silage for 

 the latter part of winter and early spring, we must grow and 

 put into the silo 200 tons ; if the loss is only I 5 per cent we 

 shall have 170 tons of silage from our 200 tons of maize. 



Fig. 234. — Cattle feeding on standing maize stover, Transvaal. 



703. Maize Stover. — Maize "stover" is the residue of 

 the maize crop after the ears have been removed, and its 

 feeding value is therefore lower than that of maize fodder. 

 After the ears are harvested, the stalks are sometimes left 

 standing in the field, and cattle are turned in to pick up the 

 ears lost in harvesting, and to eat what they can of the stover 

 and the grass and other weeds found in the rows (Fig. 234). 

 But useful as the stover is, this simple method of treatment is 

 not the most, but the least economical. 



"It is to be deprecated because of the wastefulness of the 



