180 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 



Hon. Thomas Mars, chairman of committee on resolutions, pre- 

 sented the following: 



WHEREAS, The State Board of Agriculture, through their very able and ener- 

 getic agent, Mr. K. L. Butterfield, have held and organized Farmers' Institutes in 

 sixty-eight counties of this State, all of which are well attended and permanently 

 organized for future good work, and through the wise action of the legislature it 

 has been made possible to organize Institutes in every county in Michigan, extend- 

 ing information and useful knowledge to all the people, reaching localities that have 

 heretofore been compelled to draw on their own resources for general agricultural 

 information; therefore 



Resolved, That we, the farmers, fruitgrowers, and citizens of this State, extend 

 hearty thanks to the legislature, the Board of Agriculture, the Professors of the 

 College, and to all who have assisted in any way to make these Institutes such a 

 signal success, and the Round Up, here in this grand city, one of the largest gather- 

 ings of farmers ever held in this State. 



Resolved also. That we extend to the Kent County Institute Society, whose guests 

 we are, our lasting obligations for all the courtesies received, and to the citizens, 

 members and State officers, who have spared no pains to make our stay here so 

 pleasant; and to Mrs. Mayo and her able coworkers, who have made it possible 

 through the woman's section of the Round Up to convey to the wives and daughters 

 of the farm a system whereby they may accomplish their duties in and about the 

 home, lighten their labors, and give more hours to enlightenment and pleasure. 

 And last but not least, to Mr. Chubb, for his numerous recitations; and be it 

 • Resolved, That we are under lasting obligations to the Board of Trade of this city, 

 and to the hotels, for their courtesy and the treatment received during this grand 

 meeting. 



Signed by the committee. 



Motion made and supported that the resolutions be adopted. The 

 motion was unanimously carried. 



THE PRESENT STANDING OF ENSILAGE AS A FOOD FOR 



STOCK. 



SECRETARY I. H. BUTTERFIELD, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The use of silos for the preservation of fodder was introduced into this 

 country in 1875. Dr. Manley Miles, of Michigan, claims the honor of build- 

 ing the first silo in the country. The first one that I saw in this State was 

 in 1883, built by Edwin Phelps, of Pontiac, in the comer of a basement 

 barn. By 1886 a number of farmers in different sections of the State had 

 built one. By the last census, I find that on June 1, 1894, there were, 

 in this State, 501 silos, with a capacity of 52,846 tons. The number of 

 acres of com grown for silage in 1893 was 7,259. An average yield of 

 7.28 tons per acre would fill these silos. Lenawee county had the largest 

 number, forty-three. Ingham county next, thirty-seven. Both of these 

 are dairy counties. The total number in the State is very small consid- 

 ering the demonstrated value of this method of storing forage for stock, 

 for there can be no question but the silo provides means for storing for- 

 age, especially com fodder, not only in an economical manner as to stor- 



