FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



135 



of our population will some day be calling for more butter and less 

 beef. Not that people will eat less beef and more butter, but that there 

 will be plenty of beef and a scarcity of butter. 



SILAGE FOR FATTENING STEERS. 



CLINTON D. SMITH, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



I regret that we have not with us today the gentleman to whom this 

 topic was assigned, Mr. John S. Gilbert of Harbor Beach. He has had a 

 long and successful experience in the use of the silo in steer feeding, and 

 I know that you would value his practical work far above anything that 

 I, who must speak from observation only, can give you. 



The success of cow feeders in the use of a silo for milk production led 

 rae to wonder whether it would not shortly till an equally important role 

 in fattening cattle. I therefore planned an experiment at the College 

 where an equal area of corn field was harvested in three different ways. 

 One area was cut in the silo, another was cut and husked in the usual 

 way; a third was cut, bound in large shocks, which were drawn un- 

 husked to the barn, run through a fodder cutter and fed, stalks and grain 

 mixed. 



A carload of steers were purchased in Chicago, divided into three lots, 

 and the corn harvested in the different ways fed to them. I cannot now 

 give an official report of results of that experiment. It is sufficient for 

 my purpose today to say that the results were not conclusive, and did 

 not point to marked advantage on the side of the silo. Let me refer to 

 experiments made in Canada. 



Turning to the Sixteenth Annual Report of the Ontario Agricultural 

 College, 1890, page 118, Prof. Shaw reports : "That corn silage and meal 

 will fatten as effectively and as cheaply as a ration of roots, hay and 

 meal, and with a less expenditure of labor." One group of steers was 

 fed an average of 79.4 pounds of silage and 12.7 pounds of meal per day. 

 There was left uneaten of the silage 18 pounds per day of the coarser 

 portion, but the whole amount fed was charged against the steers. 

 Group 2 was fed daily 41.6 pounds of silage, 11.3 pounds of hay and 12.7 

 pounds of meal. There was left uneaten of the fodder 13.5 pounds per 

 day, which amount was also charged against the steers. 



Group 3 was fed daily 14.3 pounds of hay, 41.6 pounds of roots and 

 12.7 pounds of meal. The meal in all cases consisted of equal parts, by 

 weight, of peas, barley and oats, and was mixed with the other feed. 

 Here are the results. 



Weight at 

 beginning-. 



Pounds. 



Weight at 

 close. 



Pounds. 



Total gain 

 Pounds. 



Average 

 daily gain. 



Pounds. 



Cost 

 of feed 

 per day. 



Group 1 

 Group 2 

 Group 3 



2,842 

 2,862 

 2,818 



3,282 

 3,304 

 3,222 



440 

 442 

 404 



1.85 



1.857 

 1.697 



$0 21.02 

 20.74 

 21.40 



