The Question Box. 289 



that is a non-conductor. Siloes have been built of steel, but I have 

 never seen them, and there have been but few built. I think that 

 wood is the only material to use. 



Does sweet corn make better ensilage tban other varieties of corn? 



Mr. Litchard. — I do not think it makes as good. Would rather 

 have the common yellow corn than any variety of sweet corn for 

 ensilage. It looks nice and tastes sweet on the table, but the cow 

 says she prefers some other variety. 



What causes white mold in ensilage? 



Mr. Litchard. — There are three or four causes. As a rule, it is 

 caused by the corn being too ripe when put in the silo. Such 

 corn, unless it is well wet down, will mold. It may also be 

 caused by too much moisture; then, again, by not feeding it 

 rapidly enough, too much of it being exposed to the air. 



What is the feeding value of ensilage as compared with $10 hay? 



Mr. Litchard. — There is a difference in ensilage, just as there is 

 in hay. As a rule, good ensilage as compared with good timothy 

 hay, two and one-half tons of the ensilage is worth one ton of 

 hay. 



Is there a better way to use corn than in the silo? 



Mr. Litchard. — I know of no better way. We have been, during 

 the last four or five years, husking our surplus corn, and we find 

 one ton put in the silo worth at least three tons cured and fed in 

 the old waj'. ^ 



A Farmer. — Do you mean to say that you would feed this ensi- 

 lage in the summer? 



Mr. Litchard. — Certainly; there is no time in the year when 

 ensilage is worth so much as in the summer, when the pastures are 

 short. Next summer I am going to have a silo holding 75 to 100 

 tons, filled especially for summer feeding. I have learned that I 

 cannot go through these summer drouths without it. The value 

 of the silo is just as much of an established fact as is the river 

 St. Lawrence and no one knowing anything about it will dispute 

 the statement, 



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