THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IV 



137 



is 65 per cent. An animal will consume more dry matter in the form of 

 silage if the moisture is 65 per cent than if it is 70 to 80 per cent; further- 

 more, too much moisture is undesirable because it tends to produce a sour 

 silage. About 40 per cent of the emphasis should be placed upon maturity, 

 30 per cent upon palatability, 20 per cent upon quality, and 10 per cent 

 upon moisture. 



The striking efficiency of silage for a short feed is surprising. To show 

 you that silage tends to put on very rapid gains early in the period, as 

 well as cheap ones, I place before you some figures: 



SILAGE SUPERIOR FOR SHORT FEED. 



Two-year-olds of 1,000 pounds, ten in lot, November 22, 1910, to April 

 21, 1911, 150 days. Animal Husbandry Section, Iowa Experiment Sta- 

 tion. Shelled corn and cottonseed meal, both lots. 



90 Days. 



*Hogs excluded. Corn, 36 cents; cottonseed meal, $28; clover, $10; si- 

 lage, $2.50. 



For a ninety-days feed, silage is the best roughage available in the 

 corn belt. It clearly outclasses clover, as is shown by a gain of 3.11 

 pounds over 2.8 pounds. The cost of a hundred pounds gain is also 

 much cheaper, or $5.84 as compared to $7.15. As the period progressed, 

 the clover seemed to gain an advantage, due largely, however, to the 

 method of feeding. We did not know at that time that it was necessary 

 to limit the silage at the end of the fattening period to secure optimum 

 results. As a result, the silage steers ate more of the canned corn fod- 

 der than was best. All of the cattle feeders who passed through the sheds 

 at about ninety days remarked much in this vein: "How much better 

 those silage-fed steers do look! They have more finish, and certainly 

 would outsell the others 25 cents on the hundred." Actual experiment 

 has shown, as compared to clover in a ninety-day feed, that silage cattle 

 rightly fed will sell from 10 to 75 cents higher. The enhanced value of 

 the carcass, coupled with the more rapid and cheaper gains, tells the 

 Story of silage short feeding superiority. 



