FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 113 



as the man vVho had it before me. The silo only lasts about ten years anyway. Farmers 

 ought to think of this point. 



Mr. Welch: My first silo is about 13 years old and just as good as ever. 



Mr. Gilbert: In 1880 I built three square stone silos. They are as good today as 

 ever. I commenced to make money with dairy cows the day I began to feed silage. I 

 have seen cows take ensilage before they would their grain. 



Mr. Geo. A. True: I am sure cows can distinguish between diflferent parts of the 

 corn, but their tastes vary. I have heifers that will pick out the leaves and stalks 

 before the corn. Others do the opposite. There is no doubt they know what they are 

 •doing. If they eat silage clean, it is because they like it. 



Mr. -: It looks to me as the opponents of silos are those who have not had 



experience with them. 



Mr. A. B. Cook: I have a good silo on my farm and used it several years, but I have 

 ■discarded it entirely. My specialty is lamb feeding and I can do better with a system 

 much like that of Mr. Watkins. 



John Hull : I disagree with Mr. \^'elch at one point. I would put in all of the corn 

 for ensilage, even if yielding 12.5 bushels. If I had a yield of corn of 200 bushels tie 

 the acre, I would put every bit of it in the silo. Peas are all right enough, however ; we 

 feed no grain except bran. 



Mr. Bale: We build a cheap silo which is a round hoop silo built with hemlock. 

 After a few years' use it is still perfectly sound and I see no reason why it should not 

 last 100 years. The cost of the silo is really trivial. But I do not believe in fancy silos. 



A. B. Cook: I believe that in 10 years from now corn that will husk 125 bushels 

 of good corn will be kept out of the silo. Of course the nicest way to care for the stalks 

 is in the silo, but if the farmer is near a beet sugar factory, he can get pulp at fifty 

 cents a ton. This will go into the silo and the corn will be kept out of it. The lamb 

 feeders will use finely shredded fodder, will hiisk corn and feed the lambs corn on the 

 ear. We need succulent food but the pulp will give it. 



Q. Is there any loss of sugar in the silo by fermentation? 



INIr. Welch: No, sir. Now about this pulp. Pulp is all right. I had two car loads 

 and put it in the silo. But let me give you my figures one year on the cost of silage. 

 It has been quoted here at $2.50 a ton. I can as a rule grow 20 tons tto the acre, but 

 the year I speak of I grew 30 tons to the acre, and my figures show that I grew the 

 corn and put it into the silo for sixty-eight cents a ton. 



Mrs. H. H. Hinds: We used to fill silos, but now we follow Mr. Watkin's plan. 



Mr. Watkins: The silo may be all right for the dairy business, but we are not in 

 that business. For steer feeding we like our way best. We do not use clover hay 

 because steers won't eat it : so they must be pretty well suited with the fodder. I 

 notice too that the best beef in the United Sates is made on shocked corn in the corn 

 Tjelt. I will admit that we may not make as startling gains as some of the gentlemen 

 have suggested, and we do not have as much work or handle as much money. But I 

 think our way is cheaper and that we make just as much money from our steers as the 

 silo men do. 



Q. Does Mr. Watkins know how much it costs him to make a pound of beef? 



Mr. Watkins: No, sir, and I do not think the silo men do either. 



Prof. Smith here gave results of winter experiments in feeding steers. 



Prof. Smith closed the discussion with the following remarks: We can say three 

 things about this subject that are true and established. (1) The silo is essential to 

 the dairyman. (2) For lamb feeding probably the silo is an important factor in 

 reducing the cost of a pound of lamb. ( 3 ) Indications are from experiments that 

 through the silo you can handle corn as cheaply for beef as in any other way, but it 

 may not be the most economical in the end. Under hig'h labor cost at silo filling time 

 it may be true that shocking is cheaper. 

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