FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 673 



and letting the stalk with its 40 per cent go to waste, like hay becom- 

 ing over-ripe. This is a serious loss and would be amazing if presented to 

 us in dollars and cents. The silo again comes in here as the quickest 

 and speediest solution of this difficulty. The whole plant excepting the 

 roots, when the corn is in the glazed or nearly matured condition, wan- 

 ders into the pit in one-half inch pieces, again to come out tasting all 

 alike — good, fed under cover in convenient distance to the cattle, no 

 waste by leaching rains or bleaching suns, no moulding in the center of 

 the shock, no refuse in the manger, beets and tassels, pith and corn all 

 devoured with a keen appetite. Ensilage is the cheapest and most satis- 

 factory feed on the farm. At the rate of twelve to twenty tons per acre 

 of corn, one acre would keep a cow from 600 to 1,000 days, feeding forty 

 pounds per day. The silo was long supposed to be only the dairyman's 

 accessory for he more than any other realized the importance of succu- 

 lent feed to keep his milk cows flush, but in recent years much light 

 has been shed on the subject — by the tests at experiment stations, and 

 it was found what would produce milk would also produce beef and 

 gradually the silo is working its way into the corn belt region to help 

 the western feeder to produce cheaper beef. From first a winter feed, it 

 has next become a summer feed during grass shortage, and next an all- 

 year-round feed. Hoard's Dairyman advocates the feeding of silage every 

 day of the year. In the Dakotas, where the maturing of corn is an un- 

 certain proposition, the silo can be made a saving factor, likewise in Kan- 

 sas where a withering wind in August works havoc with a promising 

 crop, there will be ample juice left in the stalks to make good silage for 

 winter feed. The corn crop when frozen makes good silage if worked up 

 immediately. 



A PLEA FOE BOSSIE. 



With dairy products high in price and ever tending higher, with future 

 interurban facilities for quick transportation of dairy products to cities, 

 with increased consumption corresponding to increased population, with 

 the process of making milk flow an established success, there cannot be 

 otherwise but a flattering future for the man that keeps milk cows. 

 Bossie, who has been the steadfast friend and provider of man for cen- 

 turies, has lost none of her prestige, and is as indispensable on a well 

 regulated farm as she ever has been. All dairy sections whether on poor 

 soil or rich, show signs of thrift and prosperity through the generosity 

 of Bossie when she is cared for and held in high esteem. Give unto her 

 and she will respond bountifully with the most wholesome fluid that was 

 ever fed to man or beast. She will restore fertility to the soil and re- 

 plenish the farmer's purse. She is an all-round, useful and indispensable 

 creature in farm operations, and to attempt farming without her and her 

 progeny would be a short sighted policy; would be soil robbery which 

 leads to agricultural bankruptcy. Where ten cows or even less are kept 

 the silo becomes a paying investment. A census taken in Fond du Lac 

 county, Michigan, where milk was furnished a creamery, cows not fed 

 on corn silage netted $21.02 per cow. In Wisconsin and Michigan the 

 silo has come to be regarded as an absolute necessity for the dairy cow. 

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