MADE BY THE FARM DEPARTMENT. 103 



five of the plank next the basement door, the plank removed, and this section was 

 cut down with a hay-knife and taken out with a four-tined fork and placed in 

 baskets to be taken to the stable. After this section had been disj^osed of the 

 process was repeated, only taking off the cover as needed (another advantage in 

 weighting in this way). The process is similar to cutting down a hay-mow. 



Not one of the least important considerations of ensihxge is the fact that so 

 large an amount of it can be jjacked in a comparatively small space. A cubic foot 

 •of ensilage from our silo will weigh 35 pounds. From 5 to 6 per cent of the 

 live weight of the animal will be a daily ration, or from 50 to 75 pounds for an 

 ordinary cow. It is thus an easy matter to compute the iiumber of cubic feet 

 necessary to contain the food for a certain number of animals. The silo at' 

 the college is 14x15 feet inside the walls and 8 feet high, containing 1,680 

 cubic feet. Allowing 40 pounds to the cubic foot, we have a capacity for 

 -almost 39 tons of ensilage, or enough to feed five cows for 200 days a daily 

 ration of GO pounds each. When we take into the account the large weights 

 that can be packed in a small silo it seems that this promises to be the most 

 ■economical method of providing shelter for fodder — no small item to farmers 

 who are not well supplied with buildings. 



The ensilage was slightly acid in taste, quite brown in color when first take 

 from the silo, but after exposure to the air a short time, regained largely its 

 fresh, green appearance. The cattle, from the start, with a few exceptions, ate 

 it with avidity. 



An analysis, made at the New Jersey Experimental Station by Prof. Neale, 

 is herewith sfiven : 



&' 



Loss at 100° C 82. 37 



Protein 1 . 63 



Pat .76 



Fiber 4. 72 



Ash 1. 94 



•Carbhydrates 8 68 



100.00 



fi 



-he analysis will be found, with several others, in the report of Prof. Cook, 

 'director of the New Jersey Experimental Station, to which I refer elsewhere. 



FEEDING ENSILAGE. 



Object of the Experiment. 



The aim of the experiment was to determine the comparative value of ensi- 

 lage, as a cattle food, for the production of milk, flesh and growth. 



AVith this aim in view, the ensilage was fed in place of roots, and as a full 

 or partial substitute for the dry, rough feeds. A reference to the accompany- 

 ing table will show the different proportions and combinations in which the 



ensilage was fed. 



ANIMALS CHOSEN FOE THE EXPERIMENT, 



Four lots of cattle were selected from the college herd Dec. 1, 1881. 

 Lot I consisted of two milch cows, Ayrshire and Shorthorn, that had dropped 

 first calves early in September of the same year. 



