1884.] QUESTION BOX. 167 



Mb. . I heard the question of ensilage discussed 



at the meeting two years ago. It is well known that large 

 quantities of sowed corn are raised in Litchfield county. It 

 is very difficult to cure that and have it come out in good con- 

 dition, it is apt to be mouldy. But it can, if put into a silo 

 and cured properly, be made good feed for stock. I have fed 

 some of it this winter, and my cattle are doing well on4t, and 

 the milk I get from the cows is sweet and good. 



Dr. Foote. I would like to ask if any gentlemen in this 

 room who has a silo has found any trouble with his butter ? 

 Before building my silo, I went around and examined various 

 silos, and I found that, universally, those who had silos liked 

 the result which they obtained from feeding the ensilage. 

 The difficulty all comes from those who give hearsay state- 

 ments. I was told by a friend connected with the New York 

 press that Mr. Miles had lost two horses from feeding ensilage. 

 I saw Mr. Miles and asked him about it, and he said, " It is 

 true I lost two horses, but they had not eaten a particle of 

 ensilage. I was feeding it to my other horses, with my other 

 stock, and they all did well upon it. I took a pair of horses 

 and drove them very rapidly, left them standing out in the 

 cold, they took cold and died. They had never eaten any 

 ensilage." 



Mr. Scoville. I would like to inquire why fodder is any 

 more nutritious after being put into a silo ? What is it that 

 adds to its fattening qualities, or to its value in any way as 

 food for stock ? It goes through the process of fermentation 

 in the animal just as well without the silo as with it. The 

 breath of the animal will show that. 



Gentlemen speak about its being very difficult to cure 

 sowed corn. It is the easiest thing in the world. Drive a 

 stake into the ground every third row, put your corn around 

 it, tie it there, and it will stand perfectly straight, and will be 

 just as bright next March, except a little on the outside, as it 

 is when you put it up there. I know it to be so. I have 

 raised enough in one year to keep twenty-five head of cattle 



