70 THIRTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



cow from the winter silo and one ton per cow from the sum- 

 mer silo. 



Mr. Smith. I want to say a word about summer silos. We 

 have about forty cows and a forty-acre pasture and have to 

 depend quite largely upon some other form of feed. Formerly 

 we made large use of oats and peas, but for the last three sea- 

 sons we have ensilage left so we could feed our cows almost 

 entirely from that during the summer season. Prom about 

 the first of July on through they would eat two good feeds of 

 ensilage a day. Viewed from the standpoint of economy and 

 convenience, we believe our cows do better fed on the summer 

 ensilage than they ever did on any other food we have given 

 them. 



Question. What is your average production this year? 



Mr. Smith. We have about forty cows and heifers and 

 have sent to market 14,206 pounds, some 350 pounds oer cow. 



Mr. Stafford. I would ask Gov. Hoard his plan of build- 

 ing silos. 



Gov. Hoard. There are many plans and every man plans 

 his barns and silos according to the lay of his land. I shall 

 build a new set of barns on a farm I bought in August; they 

 will be in the shape of a barn and an ell; one barn will be 

 eighty feet long and forty feet wide and the other will be 

 forty-six feet long and forty feet wide. The silo will be on 

 the outside in the form of a half circle opening into the barn, 

 at the head of one of the feed stables. There will be two of 

 them, one will be a larger half circle that is up against the 

 wall of the barn, and the other will be smaller, I aim to get 

 as high a silo as I possibly can, in order that I may get a 

 more thorough settling. We make the summer silo smaller so 

 that we will uncover less and go deeper. These silos will be 

 built more expensively than most men will. It is no pleasure 

 for me to build two in my short life. We get little frost be- 

 cause of the height of the silo, and moreover if it does freeze 

 it does not hurt it. You throw it into the barn and if its tem- 

 perature is not below fifty degrees, even if the ensilag-e comes 

 in frosted it will not be but a little while before it will thaw 

 out. I never have known it to freeze to a depth exceeding 

 three or four inches and in a great many instances I have 

 known it not to freeze at all. 



Q uestion. What kind of lumber are you going to use in 

 the construction of your silo? 



Gov. Hoard. Cypress. It will cost me a third more but 

 stands fermentation the best of any wood I know. 



Question. What is Wisconsin temperature at this time of 

 year ? 



Gov. Hoard. Last winter it went fortv degrees below zero. 



