250 



(8) Reldt'/rc coat of luirresting anri stoi'inf/ f/reeii and dry fodder. — - 

 Calculations are given to sIioay that the cost of harvestino- and storing' 

 silage under such conditions as obtain at the Station is not less than 75 

 cents per ton, or $15 for an acre producing 20 tons, while the same 

 amount of dry fodder can be harvested, stored, and cut for feeding 

 for $13.70; and taking into account the relative loss of dry matter 

 and the relative cost of the silo and the barn, including interest and 

 wear of building, the comparative expensiveness of silage is made to 

 jippear very great. 



Conchmons. — The following are among the conclusions drawn from 

 these investigations : 



(1) The storage room for a ton of silage in a wooden silo at the Sta- 

 tion would cost $3.40 ; for 20 tons, /. e., the product of an acre, in a 

 wooden silo, $08: in a stone silo, $100; for an amount of dry matter 

 in hay equal to that in 20 tons of silage, $49.59. 



(2) In the experiments reported the total loss of food material (dry 

 matter) from " shrinkage " and '" spoiling '' was 34.3 per cent for 

 silage, and for dry field corn from '' shrinkage " alone, 5.56 per cent. 



(3) The dry matter preserved from 20 tons of silage could be raised 

 in 3.16 tons of haj^ and at less cost. 



(4) The silo insures against the leaching effects of rains, but this is 

 not sufficient to compensate for the destructive effects of the silo itself. 



(5) ITp to the point of feeding silage, dry storage is the better 

 method for Missouri farmers, according to the teachings of the data 

 recorded in this bulletin. 



Com position of feeding atuff.s. — Analyses of amber sorghum, sor- 

 ghum, sweet-corn, and field corn, and of silage from them ai'e reported 

 in the appendix. 



BULLETIN No. 8. 



Experiments in feeding silage against i>ky fodder, J. W. San- 

 born, B. S. (pp. 3-24). — In the introduction to this article the method 

 of comparing silage and dry fodder as to feeding value by experi- 

 ments during short, alternate periods is criticised, and the errors from 

 neglecting such important factors as palatableness, weight of food in 

 the stomach, ajid influence of the water in the silage, are insisted upon. 

 " Years of ex])erience with me haA^e shown unmistakably that it is 

 highly unsafe to depend upon an equal number of pounds of digest- 

 ible food as now ascertained to give an e(iual growth when derived 

 from two sources.'' 



In the feeding experiments reported in this bulletin timothy hay, 

 meal, bran, etc., are used in all. Silage and dry fodder from field and 

 sAveet-corn are the variable constituents. In one experiment two lots 

 of three steers each were fed alike during a preliminary period of 

 thirty days, and thereafter with silage or dry corn (in addition to the 

 other food, which was the same for both) as follows: (1) Lot I on 



