FEEDING VALUE AND USES OF _MAIZE AS FOWL Corn is of the greatest importance and is exten sively used in the feeding of farm animals be cause of the variety and cheapness of feeding stuffs which it furnishes. The uncured plant in different stages of maturity is used as forage; corn shiver (i.e. the stalks from which the pith has been removed) have recently been used to some extent; the ripened grain, whole or ground, is fed to all classes of farm animalA, often On the cob and often ground with the cob as 'corn and cob meal:' various by-products from the manufacture of starch, glucose, corn 'breakfast foods,' etc., are also largely employed. As a food for man, corn is used cracked or crushed as hominy, and finely ground, both bolted and un bolted, as meal. From white corn flour is made by grinding the grain after the removal of the germ and sonic of the otiter envelope.
The composition of these materials and some others mentioned later is shown in the table on the following page.
Like all green crops, corn fodder has a high water content. It owes its nutritive value prin cipally to the carbohydrates which it contains. It is also useful as a feeding stuff, because it is succulent, gives necessary bulk to a and is relished by animals. Dried corn fodder and stover are similar in composition to hay, and are very valuable feeding stuffs. but unless cut fine or shredded and otherwise properly handled, a considerable portion may be wasted when fed. It often lacks flavor, and since it is chiefly a car bohydrate food. a one-sided ration, it should be fed with material rich in protein (i.e. concen trated feeds). Its palatability may be inereased by moistening with water and sprinkling with bran and steaming. The best results are said to he obtained when only about one-third of the coarse fodder consists of stover. According to reports of the United States Department of Agriculture, the corn stover crop of the United States in IS97 was nearly 80.0000M tons, much larger than the hay crop.
Corn silage. which resembles the green crop in composition, is wholesome and is relished by farm animals. The grain is especially rich in carbohydrates, principally starch, but contains considerable protein and some fat. Contrary to popular opinion. there is no marked difference in the composition and feeding value of white and yellow corn, or dent and flint corn. Indi vidual specimens of either sort vary more widely than do the averages for the different groups. Corn is used in rations for maintenance. for the production of milk, for fattening, and for feeding draught animals. It is a universal feed for pigs in the United States, a bushel being considered sufficient when fed alone to produce on an average eleven pounds of pork. it is also widely used in
fattening steers. beef cattle, and poultry, and is very satisfactory for the grain portion of a ration for horses, cows. and sheep. The commer cial by-products like gluten meal are rich in protein and are valuable feeding stuffs. Corn cobs possess considerable nutritive value, and when ground with the kernel the resulting meal is highly valued. Corn products compare favor ably as regards digestibility with other similar feeding stuffs. The coefficients of digestibility of a number of them follow: hominy and other breakfast foods. So far as experiments show, corn is well assimilated by man, and, judged by composition, digestibility, palatability. and wholesomeness. is worthy of the high opinion in which it is held.
Green sweet corn, either fresh, canned. evapo rated, or dried. commonly eaten as a vegetable in the United States, resembles other succulent vegetables in composition. being rich in carbo hydrates. Popcorn, also widely used, closely resembles other varieties in composition. but after popping differs in composition from the raw chiefly in having a low water content. Corn starch and corn oil, manufactured products. are used in cookery. the former extensively.
In Italy a disease (pellagra) is attributed to the use of corn, which investigation seems to show is due to molding or spoiling of the grain. In the United States, where corn is most eaten, its wholesomeness is no more questioned than that of wheat, since, generally speaking, no evil results have attended its use.
For further details of corn culture, consult: Corn ranks high in comparison with other cereal grains as a food for man. Large quanti ties are eaten in the United States. in Southern and Eastern Europe, and in the Orient, but it is little known in Northern Europe. Cornmeal, made into corn bread. mush. and many other foods, is wholesome and nutritious. It cannot he leavened with yeast like wheat flour in bread making, as the corn does not possess gluten. and the proteids of the maize kernel have other prop erties than those which characterize gluten. large quantities of corn are consumed in the form of Morrow and Hunt, Soils and Crops of the Farm (Chicago, 1892) : f'orn Culture in the South, Farnier's Bulletin 81, United States Department of Agriculture (Washington, 1898) ; for classifi cation: Bulletin 57, Office of Experiment Stations (Washington, I899) : for composition of various parts of corn plant: Bulletin 50, Division of Chemistry (Washington, 1893) ; for feeding value. Henry. Feeds and Feeding (Madison. Wis., 1893) ; and Bulletin 15 of Office of Experiment Stations. See Colored Plate of CEREALS for illus tration of Zea Mays.