380 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



moulding, which it is so likely to do. I am inclined to believe that the 

 green corn can be cut and placed in the silo at as little cost as the fodder can 

 be cut, dried and passed tlirough the cutting box before feeding; and this, 

 too, at a season of the year when the work can be more economically per- 

 formed than in the winter. I know of no one who has tried it who is not 

 pleased with ensilage. 



Mrs. Hall : How large a silo would hold an acre's product? 



Prof. Johnson: About ten feet square and eight feet deep. Ensilage 

 ordinarily weighs about forty-five pounds per cubic foot. The whole of the 

 corn, stalk, leaf and ear are put into the silo. 



Ensilage should be fed in connection with grain. 



Dr. Beal : A speaker at a farmers' institute in Wisconsin said that for 

 $2.50 he could make enough ensilage to equal in feeding value a ton of clover 

 hay. 



Prof. Johnson : Corn ensilaged is worth more than it was before. Three 

 tons of the ensilage is equal in feeding value to one ton of hay. The yield of 

 ensilage corn was eighteen tons per acre, equivalent in feeding value in a 

 combined ration to six tons of hay. Ensilage means the growing of au equiv- 

 alent to six or ten tons of hay per acre. A silo for 100 tons could be arranged 

 in most barns for $75,00. 



Mr. : Could you arrange a silo by digging a hole in a sandy soil? 



Prof. Johnson : Yes. 



Mr. : Does it freeze when you open it? 



Prof. Johnson: No. It must be under roof. 



Mr. Kobinson : What is the comparative cost and feed value of ensilage 

 and roots? 



Prof. Johnson: Food value equal and cost of ensilage much less. In 

 filling we fill evenly all across the silo. It is not necessary to fill all in one 

 day. I find four or five days may be taken. In opening I open a little at a 

 time and cut with a hay knife. 



Mr. Kingsley: How much do you feed at once to milch cows? 



Prof. Johnson: In the Report of the Board of Agriculture for 1885, jjages 

 100-1:30, full accounts are given. Six per cent of the live weight of an 

 animal with grain would be a day's ration. 



I need only add to my former report that experience confirms the state- 

 ment then made that any material may be used in the construction of silos 

 that will exclude the air; that it is better to have several silos, or divisions, 

 rather than a very large one; that weighting with stone, barrels of earth, or 

 sacks of grain is likely to be more satisfactory than a screw, which may not 

 receive attention at the right time; and that the silo is one of the most econ- 

 omical methods of providing shelter for fodder. In no way, perhaps, can 

 the same equivalent in dried fodder be secured with so little expense. 

 Several silos were built in the State last year of wood, and I have yet to 

 learn that any of them has proven a failure. 



It is to be regretted that so many extravagant statements have been made 

 in relation to the value of ensilage, the number of cattle that could be kept 

 from the product of a single acie, etc. Practical, thinking men have been 

 deterred from investigating this subject and giving it such attention as it 

 really deserves, because of the wild statements of impracticable enthusiasts. 



I am more than ever convinced that the idea I suggested two years ago, 

 that ensilage will prove a cheap substitute for roots, will be approved by any 



