34 



FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



crop. The type and variety best suited to the production of ensilage 

 in any locahty depend on the length of the growing season and the 

 natural warmth of the soil. The maximum food value per ton is 

 obtained from corn that has reached the glazed stage of maturity, 

 or that stage of ripening when the kernels commence to form a hard 

 crust over their surface. The protein or flesh-forming constituents 

 are then of the greatest amount and highest quality, having developed 

 from nitrogenous substances of a much lower feeding value, which 

 were present in liquid form in the earlier stages of ripening. Ensilage 

 made from corn that has reached only the early milk stage is commonly 

 sour, and although valuable for its succulence, it is markedly de- 

 ficient as a food for stock when compared with corn that has nearly 

 reached maturity. 



It is of first importance to have ensilage corn capable of reaching 

 the glazed stage, even under slightly unfavourable weather con- 

 ditions, in plenty of time for harvesting before danger of frost; it is 

 of secondary importance to obtain a large yield of both stalk and 

 grain. As a rule, the most profitable variety to grow for 

 ensilage on average soil — the variety that will give the largest food 

 value per acre — is one that may be depended upon to reach full 

 maturity when grown on a warmer soil in the same locality or on a 

 similar soil not more than forty or fifty miles south of it. Experience 

 in ensilage-making invariably demonstrates the wisdom of increasing 

 the acreage of early varieties rather than of depending on large 

 yielding late sorts for the desired tonnage. 



For fodder, corn is commonly planted in drills at the rate of 

 from twelve to twenty quarts of good seed to the acre. The drills 

 should be not less than thirty-six inches apart for the short-growing 

 early sorts, and forty-two inches for the tall, late varieties. 



When two or more varieties of corn for ensilage are to be planted 

 it is advisable to plant them separate, especially if one of the sorts 

 is taller and later in flowering than the other. When the smaller and 

 earlier varieties are planted in mixture with the larger and later sorts 

 the smaller, early corns are usually imperfectly fertilized and the 

 yield of grain from them is reduced. 



Seed: Cross-fertilization between varieties should be prevented 

 if possible. The pollen is carried long distances by wind, and seeds 

 of varieties grown within four hundred yards of each other are apt 

 to be more or less impure. 



Both shelled corn and corn in the ear are very retentive of 

 moisture; unless the seed is thoroughly dried before being stored 

 the vitality is apt to be injured or destroyed by heating or severe 



