SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 17 



From a standpoint unafTectod In' self-interest on the one hand, or 

 by a stolid conservatism on the other, the effort is here made to 

 examine the matter by the aid of such lis;ht as can be thrown around 

 it, and search out such merits as the practice raaA' justly claim. 



Green fodder of all kinds — grass, rye, oats, corn fodder, and 

 fodder corn — can be preseved in silos in excellent condition for 

 stock food. It has been done and can again be done at the pleasure 

 of any who wish to try it. It is no longer an experiment but has- 

 become an established fact. The first point to be considered then, is : 



What are its advantages? The fodder stored in its green state 

 must either be of greater value when kept in that condition, or the 

 cost of storage must bo essentially less than b}^ the present method 

 in order to commend the practice. So fixr as the grass crop is con- 

 cerned — and the same will hold true of rye, oats or any other small' 

 strawed forage product — the expense of harvesting, drying, storing, 

 and feeding out will not he lessened by the method of ensilage. . 

 There need be no minute calculation entered into here to prove this. 

 If any one doubts the ground taken, he has only to go over the • 

 items of cost entering into the work and he will obtain a correct 

 solution. Coarse fodder plants like corn, which are difficult to dry, 

 the cost will be in favor of the silos. In fact, this product is so- 

 difficult to dry that it is impracticable to store it under cover in 

 large quantities ; and if left exposed to the weather the deteriora- 

 tion in quality is gi'eat. Hence a distinction must be made between , 

 the grasses and corn fodder. 



If then the ensilaging of gi-ass has any advantage over the ■ 

 present method of drying it, the superiority must come from its 

 being preserved and fed in a green instead of a dry condition. 

 Goffart siXYS, in the first paragraph of his book : " If there is one fact 

 recognized by all agriculturists, it is that a certain quantity of grass . 

 which consumed in a green state represents an ascertained nutritive 

 value, loses a considera])le portion of that value in passing into the 

 state of hay intended for winter fodder." With due respect for the 

 opinions of all candid men, exception is here taken to Goffart's 

 statement. It is not admitted as a " fact" that grass loses a con- 

 siderable portion of its nutritive value by being dried into the form 

 of hay. Dr. Bailey, too, says in his work : "It does not seera to 

 have struck the scientific agriculturists that during the process of ' 

 curing by drying, a very large proportion of the most valuable ele-- 

 ments of nutrition are returned to the atmosphere from, whence they 

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