The Portland daily press., 1882-04-26
AGRICULTURAL.
corn Fodder az an Rxhausting orop.

corn fOQo0T DC OIL 41AA6OSe1AS SAOPs
An esteemed correspondent wishes to
know if fodder corn for the silo is not a very
exhausting crop. We have often heard this
question discussed among farmers, and the
affirmative to the question gene rally prevails
among them. We have even heard it SAID
by the same person, that fodder corn ~
very exhausting crop, and also that IL pos
sesses but little value as food for STOCK, With
out apparently being aware OF the contradlc-
tory character of the two assertions. A mo-
ment's reflection will convince any one that
both statements cannot be true. No crop
can draw more fertility from the soil than it
contains. and if green corn fodder as feed
ing stuff, is deficient in nutrition, 1t cannot
be exhausting to the soil. Let us examine
the subject. A fair yield per acre of green
fodder cut before the kernels have formed
is. saw ten tons. Now let us see OF what
these ten tons, or &c, 900 lbs. are made up.
First. they contain 1900 lbs. of water; no
one will claim that the extraction of this
from the soil has impoverished it. This
leaves 2S60 lbs. to be further considered.
OF this amount, 1860 pounds are nitrogen
free extracts, large portion of which were
drawn from the atmosphere, and to that
extent Of course, has not exhausted the soil;
of the balance 1860 lbs. are crude fibre, 200
lbs fat, and 1S0 lbs. albuminoids. 1t VIII
be seen that the proportion OF albumlnolds
Is very small, and these are the only suDstan-
ces which have drawn upon the rich fertlll-
zers of the soil. In the above examination
we have used round numbers instead OF frac-
tions, and claim to be only approximately
correct, but it is near enough to prove that
corn fodder is not an exhaustive crop. IL
is when the kernel is being formed, devel-
oped and ripened, that the nitrates and
phosphates of the soil are largely drawn up
on. Twenty bushels of average corn require
more of these valuable fertihZing substances
from the soil, than do ten tons of fodder.
1t follows inversely that green corn fodder
given alone cannot possess great value as a
feeding stuff, and such is the fact 1t is de-
fcient in muscle producing substances and
should always be fed in connection with
more concentrated food such as corn, grain
or what is better, cotton seed meal. In the
animal ecnonomy, the Carbohydrates serve
valuable purpose. They keep up the amman
heat, 90 to form fat and by their mechani-
cal action, keep the animal system in the
best condition. In fact, it has been found
that Carbohydrates in all respects are fully
equal to fat in the functions they perform in
the animal system, and in some respects
much better. They do not form flesh, but
they favor its formation, as mas beeu clearly
proved in German feeding experiments The
value of green fodder therefore, as feeding
stuff, is not 10 De measured ny tne auuouH1
of soil exhaustion in producing it, for its
valuable Carbohydrates, as has already been
stated, are drawn largely from the atmos-
phere. The atmosphere contains small per
cent. of carbonic acid which by the action of
the SUMS light, plants are able to appTopri-
ate through their leaves, and this in connec-
ton with water, nature grand solvent, goes
to form the cells by which growth is effected,
goes also to form starch dextrine, gum and
sugar, all of which in the perfect plant con
stitute those substances which chemists
have designated under the general name OF
Carbohydrates. Animals are not nourished
directly by the air, though the ancients
thought this to be the case with the chamel-
con, but through the medium of the vege-
table world, the atmosphere contributes large
ly to the support of the animal system.
Whether it contributes Of its vast stores of
nitrogen or not, is problem yet to be solved.
Maine Farmer.