354 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



pounds a day. I am convinced tliat the day has arrived when the 

 farmer must have a silo to feed beef cows. I am o:lad to see the in- 

 terest taken in this because I am satisfied it is only a question of a 

 few 3^ears until every farmer in this country must have a silo. He 

 cannot do without it. 



A Member: I want to ask Professor Hamilton whether the gen- 

 tlemen in the eastern sections will have to feed beef cattle in prefer- 

 ence to dairying. 



PKOF. HAMILTON: I believe ' that, the feeding of beef cattle 

 is going to be general all over the East, and while dairying will 

 be maintained and be a great industry, yet in the districts remote 

 from the railroad the feeding of beef cattle will be the industry. As 

 soon as we can do it, as has been suggested, feed in competition with 

 the western grower, then we will come back to this industry that has 

 departed from our midst in recent years. I feel very strongly that 

 the dairying practiced in the eastern part of Pennsylvania has been 

 a disadvantage to that section; that the selling of the milk crop 

 in the cities has positively been a disadvantage to the farmers of 

 the East, and if we come back to the feeding of beef cattle we will 

 keep on our farms everything of value. I believe the time is at 

 hand when we will be able to do that and this ensilage question is 

 the one that will solve that problem. 



A Member: I have never had any experience of my own on this 

 subject, but I watched a neighbor this winter feeding ensilage to 

 beef cattle. He kept a dairy, using the silo, and he thought that 

 there was too much that went off the farm in the milk. He put 

 up about twenty steers and fed them ensilage. I feed a great many 

 cattle, but not with ensilage. I have his report for it, and I never 

 saw steers do better than those steers did. He is so converted to 

 the idea that he is now building another silo. He finished them off 

 at the close of the winter. They took on flesh as good as in pasture. 

 We know that if cattle are fed in pasture they grow right along, 

 and this they did on ensilage, and T want to agree with what has 

 been said, that if we use the silo to fatten beef cattle it will be 

 more advantageous to our farm than selling off the milk. 



PROF. HAMH.TON: I want to call attention particularly to the 

 fact that Professor Waters, of Missouri, who used to be here, is 

 preparing a bulletin for the Department of our State on this very 

 subject of the feeding of beef cattle in Pennsylvania. You want 

 to look out for that when it is iiublished. You know Professor 

 Waters is one of the leading agriculturists in the United States. 

 It will be published by the Department. It was several months ago 

 that the arrangement was made for it. 1 think the members of 

 this Board and our lecturers will want to studv it carefullv. It will 



