The Question Box. 293 



Is ensilage a good food for horses? 



Mr. Ward. — We have fed ensilage to horses in limited quanti- 

 ties. Would not feed it alone. Vie feed it once a day. 



Would you borrow money with which to pay for building a silo? 

 Would it pay? 



Mr. Ward. — If I had live-stock, I would build a silo. If I did 



not have the money, I would borrow it. If it burned up the next 



year, I would have had my money back. 



Would you hill ensilage corn or drill it in? 



Mr. Cook. — I don't think it would make much difference 

 whether the corn is planted in hills^ — that is, check-rows — or in 

 drills. The ground may be better cultivated when in check-rows. 

 If the land is full of quack, check-rows are the best, because the 

 ground can be more evenly reached with the weeder and culti- 

 vator. But, if the ground is free from foul stuff, probably best 

 results will come from planting in drills, one kernel about every 

 eight inches, and the rows about three feet, tw^o inches apart. If 

 every seed should grow, about ten quarts to the acre would be 

 enough; but it will not; therefore, we plant a bushel of seed 

 on every two acres. 



Can good butter or cheese be made from milk from cows fed on en- 

 silage? 



Mr. Smith. — Yes. 1 made butter from milk from cows fed 

 ensilage, which scored 100 points at the State fair. Of course we 

 did not compete for a premium. The cows had no pasture at all, 

 but were fed entirely on alfalfa and ensilage, with daily grain ra- 

 tions. 



Dr. Smead. — Speaking of ensilage, I will say that at the Clifton 

 Springs Sanitarium farm, 180 cows are kept on 180 acres of land, 

 and ensilage is fed every day in the year. There are 480 patients 

 in the institution, and all eat the butter made from the cows and 

 drink their milk. If there was anything wrong about the milk, 

 ensilage would soon be rejected. The superintendent told me 

 that he was going to try to keep 200 cows on those 180 acres next 

 year. 



