74 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



In additiou eacli cow received 10 lbs. of liay, 4 lbs. of wheat bran, and 

 4 lbs. of corn meal daily. 



The data for the feeding trials are given in detail and summarized. 

 "A large jjroportion of the cows under experiment ate too little of the 

 dry fodder in comparison with the other materials fed to admit of safe 

 conclusions being drawn." 



The yields of milk, etc., on the two kinds of silage are given below. 



Yields of milk, etc., on two kindfi of silage. 



MUk. 



Whole silage 



Stover silage aucl meal. 



Pou7ids. 



5,403 

 5,440 



Total 

 solids. 



Pounds. 

 754 



757 



Fat. 



Pounds. 

 257 

 257 



Solids- 

 uot-fat. 



Pounds. 

 497 

 500 



"Had the cows been fed precisely alike the results coukl have hardly been closer. 

 The butter yiehlis are identical, aud there is but one-half of 1 per cent difference in 

 the milk yields." 



The production of milk, total solids, and fat from the whole silage 

 was notably larger than from the stover silage and meal, which was 

 also the case in the experiment the year before. 



Following is the author's summary of the investigations : 



"(1) Each of the 4 methods of preservation saved about four-fifths of the dry mat- 

 ter as harvested, and, judged by this alone, they were of jiractically equal efticiency, 

 the figures being: Stover silage and meal, 18 per cent loss of dry matter; whole 

 silage, corn fodder, and corn stover and meal, 20 per cent loss of dry matter each. 

 These figures are almost identical with those obtained in similar tests previously 

 made at this station. 



"(2) The character of the losses in food ingredients is much tlie same in each case, 

 there being little or no loss of crude ash or crude fiber, a shortage of about a tenth 

 each of the crude in-otein, j)hosphoric acid, and potasli, wliile ether extract and 

 nitrogen-free extract lose, respectively, two-tenths and three-tenths of the amoimt 

 present at harvest. 



"(3) The stocked fodders, Avhile stoolved, lost more and more dry matter as the 

 winter went on. After cutting they lost considerable dry matter, but less as the 

 winter grew longer. 



"(4) The losses in gross weight and dry matter in the silos were found to be par- 

 allel, the latter, however, exceeding the former. 



"(5) The ears in the silo lost more of their food value than those liandled in other 

 ways, the reverse of the result in the 1892-'93 experiment. 



"(6) The relative cost of placing the same amount of dry matter in the mnnger 

 was greatly in favor of the whole silage. The time and money spent in husking 

 and grinding the ears were wasted, since better results were obtained when the ears 

 were left on the stalk. 



"(7) In this experiment the silages were relished much better than tlje dry fod- 

 ders, and the cows did better upon them. 



"(8) The same ([uantities of milk and butter were made by feeding whole silage 

 and stover silage and meal; the milk was not changed in quality, but the cows ate 

 less dry matter from whole silage to produce the same auKmnts of milk and butt(!r. 



"(9) There were but 91 or 92 lbs. of milk and butter produced by a given amount 

 of dry matter in the stover silage and meal ration to 100 lbs. produced by the same 

 amount of dry matter in the whole silage ration. 



