No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUI.TURE. 855 



productive flocks and herds through the loug, severe winters of 

 this latitude. Some farmers of Pennsylvania or rather some man- 

 agers of extensive farms attempted to carry through the winter 

 largo flocks of sheep on silage alone, and, of course, failed miserably. 

 With the advent of the silo, the American farmer came to a 

 fuller realization of the importance of providing some succulent 

 food for dairy cattle. Those who preferred to raise mangels ap- 

 preciated them more on account of the experience of the'rv neigh- 

 bors who were adherents to the silo. Corn silage undoubtedly 

 h(4ped the farmers to understand better than ever before the true 

 value of mangel-wurzels and it was those who persisted in rais- 

 ing mangel-wurzels for dairy cattle who first learned the true 

 value of succulent food and the manner in which it should be fed. 

 The feeders of roots learned a lesson that was not learned so early 

 by those who fed corn silage, and even yet corn silage is not under 

 stood and appreciated in its true sense by the majority of feeders. 

 Those who have been feeding -roots for years have learned that the 

 value of this food is due, in a broad sense, to its relation to other 

 foods. The value of roots as i\ food is not considered alone, neither 

 is it compared to other foods entirely different in composition 

 and charactei', but when fed with others its value is most marked 

 and most appreciated. Koots are not plaeed in a ration to take 

 the place of other and perhaps more expensive food, but to increase 

 the effect of other foods and to promote the general health of 

 the animal, and to place the animal in a better condition for useful- 

 ness. Leaders among feeders long ago learned that the value of 

 roots is not estimated by the value of digestible constituents which 

 this food contains. On the other hand, the silage feeder has too 

 often considered the value of silage wholly from the commercial 

 value of its food constituents as compared with corn and other 

 commercial products. Corn silage was formerly compared to cured 

 field corn, and v/e have not gotten very far away from this com- 

 parison at the present time, . In a general way, one product was 

 considered to be about as digestible as the other, and one was har- 

 vested about as cheaply as the other. So many farmers held that 

 there was not very much difference between the two as to their 

 feeding value. 



Unless some decided gain is likely to be made, the expenditure 

 of any considerable amount of money should be regarded with sus- 

 picion. Agriiculturists are bcvsoming more and more like business 

 men in looking for profitable returns on investments. If such 

 returns seem doubtful the investment is not made. With im- 

 proved machinery for harvesting and handling the silage crop, the 

 advantage has turned somewhat in favor of the silage when com- 

 pared with field-cured corn on the basis of digestible nutrients 

 alone. 



