160 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



FEEDING SOFT CORN. 



The general opinion among experienced livestock feed- 

 ers is that the most satisfactory method of marketing soft 

 corn is thru feeding it to live stock. They are agreed, how- 

 ever, on only one point when it comes to deciding the rela- 

 tive feeding value of soft and mature corn. On a pound- 

 for-pound basis, they are agreed that soft corn is decidedly 

 inferior to mature corn in fattening operations. The ex- 

 tent of the inferiority depends upon different factors, chief 

 of which are the stage ,of maturity, the moisture content of 

 the corn at the time of the first killing frost, and the con- 

 dition of the corn at the time it is fed. 



So far as the dry matter is concerned, chemical anal- 

 yses of the entire ear show that the percentage of different 

 nutrients in soft corn is about the same as the percentage 

 in mature corn. These analyses, however, do not prove 

 that there is no difference in the quality of these nutrients 

 and cannot be cited as conclusive evidence that the dry 

 matter of soft corn is on a par with the dry matter of ma- 

 ture corn in actual feeding value. For one thing, the more 

 immature the corn the larger will be the proportion of these 

 nutrients in the husk and cob and the smaller the propor- 

 tion of them in the grain. 



Can Determine Worth of Soft Corn. 



There should be no hesitation about feeding soft corn 

 when it is in good condition, but its feeding value should not 

 be overestimated. To determine this value, it is necessary 

 to know the percentage of water in the corn in question. 

 Elevators usually have the necessary equipment for deter- 

 mining this percentage, and there shuold be no trouble in 

 making the calculation. 



After the moisture content of the corn is known, the 

 relative value of it, which will be an indicator of its feeding 

 value, can be determined by placing a ruler (transparent 

 if available* on the page in such a way that it will connect 

 a point on the left-hand perpendicular, where the moisture 



