FEEDING 195 



a far safer measure of the feeding value of any sub- 

 stance than the chemical composition. For aside from 

 its palatableness the value of a food depends first upon 

 the amount of digestible material supplied, and second, 

 upon the proportion of protein, carbohydrates and fat 

 in this digestible material. %> present this informa- 

 tion concerning the products of the corn plant in a 

 form convenient for reference, a table has been ar- 

 ranged, which may be found in the Appendix. 



TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF CORN 



The two most important ways in which the effi- 

 ciency and value of the corn plant may be increased 

 are : First, by supplementing the corn and stover with 

 such foodstuffs are are relatively rich in protein, so as 

 to furnish the animal a more nearly balanced ration 

 than these materials alone supply. Second, by care- 

 fully saving and properly feeding the great crop of 

 corn stover (the plant after the ears are removed) 

 which now for the most part is allowed to go to waste 

 in the great corn belt of the central west. 



Corn Is a Carbonaceous Food — Notwithstanding 

 the fact that corn is the best single stock food known 

 and that thousands of animals are successfully win- 

 tered or fattened each year on an exclusive ration 

 of corn and corn stover or some similar roughage, it 

 is true that they are by no means a perfectly balanced 

 or complete food. As has already been shown by the 

 tables of composition and digestible nutrients, corn 

 contains a very large quantity of carbonaceous matter 

 in proportion to the protein compounds. It does not 

 give a proper balance between the carbohydrates 

 (which include starch, the sugars, fat, and digestible 

 fiber) and the protein. 



In other words, practical experience and scientific 

 experiments have proved beyond doubt that by com- 



