STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. ' 3J9 



ration. But for full flow of milk it needs something of what corn lacks 

 mixed with ensilage. This time oats was a good crop and cheaper than 

 bran. A few pounds, say three to six pounds, mixed in the ensilage, 

 seems to give good results. Don't need to grind oats when mixing with 

 ensilage, as the cow will grind it good when mixed with something she 



has to chew. 



When I speak of the economy of putting corn in silos to feed cows, 

 I don't mean it is good for cows only — it is good for all kinds of stock. 

 All seem to like it and thrive on it, and when you get building and ma- 

 chinery for it, it don't cost any more to put it in silos than to cut and 

 shock, etc., and it is much more convenient to feed in barns or sheds, 

 where stock can be kept comfortable and all the manure can be saved. 

 That subject will need more and more to be considered. Our lands are 

 showing the need of it, and when applied they make great increase in 

 production. I think it belongs to good farming to make and apply fer- 

 tilizers as well as to cultivate good. 



ENSILAGE YIELDS RICH FERTILIZER. 



There is a subject in this that I have never heard mentioned : that 

 any plant cut at the best time for making good feed is also the best time 

 to make good fertilizer, and that corn stalks left standing until they are 

 dead and weather-beaten have nearly no fertilizing quality in them, and 

 other vegetation the same way. I can not tell where it goes to, only L 

 don't think they are any benefit to land. That makes me think corn put 

 in silos makes more valuable fertilizer than dried stuff and frosted and 

 w^eather-beaten vegetation. I think silos are sure to come into general 

 use, although the farmers who only aim to raise beef are very slow to 

 turn to it. It seems too costly to build silos and buy cutting machines, 

 etc., but that will be changed. I look for this way of making artificial^ 

 rock out of sand and gravel, and cement will be the material for build- 

 ing. Such will be air and water tight, and that is the essential in a silo. 

 The machinery will soon be gotten by those who run threshing outfits. 

 The machine is on wheels and can be folded and set up and taken down, 

 quicker than a threshing machine. 



Some experiment station published finding 45 per cent of the food 

 value of the corn was in the stalk, leaves, husk and tassel. That is 

 nearly as much as the corn, and when put in silos at the right time it 

 will all be eaten and be good food, and I don't know any way to handle 

 corn so it will be eaten so well. So I think it good policy to work the 

 corn crop into the silo, and they that don't do that allow themselves to 

 suffer big loss that could well be prevented. 



