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. Individual 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 commercial 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 favorably as regards digestibility with other similar feeding stuffs. The coefficients of digestibility of a number of them follow:
Average Coefficients of Digestibility of a Number of Corn Products
| Dry matter |
Protein | Fat | Nitrogen-free extract |
Crude fibre |
Ash | |
| Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | |
| Corn fodder (green) | 67.8 | 59.7 | 74.1 | 73.7 | 60.2 | 35.6 |
| Corn silage | 70.8 | 56.0 | 82.4 | 76.1 | 70.0 | 30.3 |
| Corn stover | 57.2 | 35.9 | 70.4 | 57.9 | 64.2 | 32.6 |
| Ground corn shives | 58.1 | 46.7 | 78.2 | 60.5 | 57.0 | 38.7 |
| Cornmeal | 89.4 | 67.9 | 92.1 | 94.6 | ...... | ...... |
| Corn-and-cob meal | 78.7 | 55.6 | 84.1 | 87.6 | 45.7 | ...... |
| Corn cob | 51.4 | 19.3 | ...... | 48.3 | 57.5 | ...... |
| Gluten feed | 86.3 | 85.6 | 84.4 | 89.2 | 78.0 | ...... |
Corn ranks high in comparison with other cereal grains as a food for man. Large quantities 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 be 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 properties than those which characterize gluten. Large quantities of corn are consumed in the form of 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.
Average Composition of a Number of Corn Products
| Water | Protein | Fat | Nitrogen-free extract |
Crude fibre |
Ash | |
| Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | |
| Corn fodder (green) | 79.3 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 12.2 | 5.0 | 1.2 |
| Corn fodder (cured) | 42.2 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 34.7 | 14.3 | 2.7 |
| Corn stover | 40.5 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 31.5 | 19.7 | 3.4 |
| Corn silage | 79.1 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 11.0 | 6.0 | 1.4 |
| Corn shives | [1]9.2 | 6.4 | 2.8 | 48.9 | 28.7 | 4.0 |
| Corn kernel, Dent | 10.6 | 10.3 | 5.0 | 70.4 | 2.2 | 1.5 |
| Corn kernel, Flint | 11.3 | 10.5 | 5.0 | 70.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 |
| Sweet-corn kernel | 8.8 | 11.6 | 8.1 | 66.8 | 2.8 | 1.9 |
| Popcorn kernel (raw) | 10.8 | 11.2 | 5.2 | 69.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| Popcorn kernel (popped) | 4.3 | 10.7 | 5.0 | 77.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Corn-and-cob meal | 15.1 | 8.5 | 3.5 | 64.8 | 6.6 | 1.5 |
| Hominy chop | 11.1 | 9.8 | 8.3 | 64.5 | 3.8 | 2.5 |
| Corn germ | 10.7 | 9.8 | 7.4 | 64.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Gluten meal | 8.6 | 30.0 | 8.8 | 49.2 | 2.6 | 0.8 |
| Starch feed (wet) | 65.4 | 6.1 | 3.1 | 22.0 | 3.1 | 0.3 |
| Corn cob | 10.7 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 54.9 | 30.1 | 1.4 |
| Corn flour | 12.6 | 7.1 | 1.3 | 77.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Cornmeal, granular | 12.5 | 9.2 | 1.9 | 74.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Cornmeal, unbolted | 11.6 | 8.4 | 4.7 | 73.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| Hominy | 11.8 | 8.3 | 0.6 | 78.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 |
| Sweet corn (green) | 75.4 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 19.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Corn starch | ...... | ...... | ...... | 90.0 | ||
Green sweet corn, either fresh, canned, evaporated, or dried, commonly eaten as a vegetable in the United States, resembles other succulent vegetables in composition, being rich in carbohydrates. 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: Morrow and Hunt, Soils and Crops of the Farm (Chicago, 1892); Corn Culture in the South, Farmer's Bulletin 81, United States Department of Agriculture (Washington, 1898); for classification: Bulletin 57, Office of Experiment Stations (Washington, 1899); for composition of various parts of corn plant: Bulletin 50, Division of Chemistry (Washington, 1898); for feeding value: Henry, Feeds and Feeding (Madison, Wis., 1898); and Bulletin 15 of Office of Experiment Stations. See Colored Plate of Cereals for illustration of Zea Mays.
- ↑ Dried artificially.
