CHAPTER XIII 
GREEN FORAGE AND HAY CROPS (Continued) 
I, ANNUAL FORAGE CROPS 
Indian Corn (Zea mays.) .—The proportion of corn grown espe- 
cially for forage in the United States and fed either green, cured, 
or as silage is relatively small, although increasing with every year. 
A fuller discussion of this crop will, therefore, be given under 
“ Cereals,’ Chapter XVI. 
When grown for forage, Indian corn is planted thicker than 
when grown for the sake of the grain. The difference in the amount 
of grain and fodder secured by different methods of planting is 
shown by experiments conducted at the Illinois station.t In 
these trials dent corn was planted on a rich prairie soil, in rows 
three feet eight inches apart, with kernels from three to twenty- 
four inches apart in the row. The following table shows the main 
results obtained: 
Resulis of Planting Corn Kernels Different Distances Apart in Rows 
Distance Yield per acre Digestible substance per acre Pe Siaver 
between ; Ber for esa 
a Geol eur Stover Grain Total acre, of corn 
bu. bu. lbs. lbs. lbs. tons lbs. 
3 inches 13 46 3968 2250 6218 4.8 3.6 
6 inches 37 39 3058 2922 5980 3.7 1.9 
9 inches 55 22 2562 2977 5539 3.1 1.5 
12 inches 73 16 2480 3113 5593 3.0 1.3 
15 inches 63 11 2398 2782 5180 2.9 1.4 
24 inches 49 6 2066 2141 4207 2.5 1.5 
We note that the highest yield of good ears, seventy-three bushels 
per acre, was obtained when the grain was planted twelve inches 
apart in the row, and that this method of planting gave the smallest 
proportion of stover (cornstalks) to ear corn. On the other hand, 
the largest yields of stover and of digestible substances per acre 
were secured when the kernels were planted three inches apart in 
the row, and the yield of nubbins per acre was also largest in the 
1 Bulletin 13. 
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