228 



COBN CROPS 



BELATIVE FOOD VALUE OF EARS AND STOVER 



At the time corn would be cut for silage or fodder, 

 when the ears are glazed, aljout 40 per cent of the protein 

 and 20 per cent of the nitrogen-free extract are in the leaves ; 

 or, of the total food value of the plant at this time, approxi- 

 mately 30 per cent is in the leaves, 15 per cent in the stalk, 

 and 55 per cent in the ear. 



Armsby ' compiled the data from four stations and cal- 

 culated the yield of ears and stover to be as follows : — 



TABLE LVIII 



The above average shows that about 53 per cent of the 

 crop by weight is ears ; but the ears contain a higher 

 percentage of digestible nutrients than does the stover, 

 and a calculation of the digestilile nutrients in the above 

 shows about 63 per cent in the ear and 37 per cent in the 

 stover. The above figures represent the distribution of 

 nutrients at the time the stover is cut for forage, but do 

 not indicate the final distrilnition of digestible nutrients. 

 Fodder is usually cut when the ears are glazed in order to 

 save the valuable leaves, and about ten days liefore it is 

 ripe. But during this period there is considerable trans- 

 location of sugars and starch from the leaves and stem to 



1 Penn. Agr. Exp. Sta., Rpt. 1SS7. 



