296 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



plenty of good feed. If when fresh she does not give twenty or thirty 

 pounds of milk, testing three per cent or more, you may consider that 

 you have a clear case against her and you may sell her to the butcher 

 and find some way of getting a better one. Your success depends on 

 good cows and good, plentiful feeding of the kinds of feed that produce 

 the most milk, giving your cows comfortable quarters and kind treat- 

 ment. You need not take the old woman's notion to kiss the cow, but 

 I believe a cow will do better if combed, brushed and stroked. Some 

 people believe they can break a cow from kicking by beating her with 

 milk stools, sticks or clubs. I think it always makes her worse and 

 would advise any one not to do it. 



Now about the feed : I spoke of corn and timothy hay being not 

 the best feed to produce a good flow of milk. Clover is much better 

 than timothy hay, but corn, when just out of the roasting ear and com- 

 mencing to glaize and dent, while the blade and stalks are green, if run 

 through an ensilage cutter and put in an air-tight silo will keep its natu- 

 ral succulence and is the best winter feed ; the nearest approach to green 

 grass in the summer. I use common field corn, big or little as I have 

 it. I have four silos, one holds three hundred tons, the other three 

 one hundred tons each. I raise cow peas to mix with corn in the silo, 

 alternating a load of corn with a load of cow peas and in that way I 

 think I get better feed than corn alone would make, and am well 

 pleased with this way of preserving feed for stock, not only cows but 

 young stock and horses. I have found no better way of getting valu- 

 able feed ; it makes a very busy time when we are putting it up, but 

 when that is done, we have good feed whenever needed. 



It took fifteen men and a twelve horse power engine nearly six 

 days 'to fill my three hundred ton silo with cow peas and corn. Six of 

 these men were detained until nine o'clock in the morning and quit 

 work at four o'clock in the afternoon to do the milking, but the other 

 nine commenced work at seven in the morning, had an hour noon and 

 quit work at six in the evening. They used six wagons and teams. I 

 paid the extra hands $i.oo a day, without board; I paid for the engine 

 and engineer $5.00 a day, so it cost me about $120 to fill a three hundred 

 ton silo. I winter each cow on four tons. I found it took from seven 

 to ten minutes to run a load through that we estimated weighed more 

 than a ton. 



I want to speak of the benefit it would be to the farmer to engage 

 more extensively in dairying. If rightly conducted, he can make more 

 money thereby and have a better farm. It makes more work but the 

 profit pays for the excess of work. I do not like to speak of myself, 

 but venture to do so for your benefit. The year 1901 was certainly our 



