654 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the past winter, two rations per diem of silage, amounting generally to 

 about 45 pounds per head, with a noon ration of hay or oat straw, and 1 

 have never seen a dairy produce more milk, or cattle in general come out 

 at the end of the season in finer shape that did ours. The silage was also 

 fed daily awice to a large flock of Shropshire sheep as well as to the stand- 

 ard bred trotting horses, the Clydesdales, and the Shetland ponies. 1 win- 

 tered in this way nearly 200 head of horses, consisting of brood mares, 

 colts, and fillies, and I am safe in saying that we have never done as well 

 with our stock of all kinds under any other system of feeding, our flock- 

 master was somewhat anxious until after the lambs dropped, but now that 

 he has saved 196 lambs for 122 ewes, his face is wreathed in smiles and 

 he gives the ensilage system the strongest endorsement." 



He says: "We gathered last reason all the way from twenty to thirty 

 tons of ensilage per acre, the quantity varying with the various conditions 

 of the soil. Until the advent of the silo, farmers and stockmen in this 

 vicinity were about discouraged with the outlook for live stock, but now 

 we believe we can successfully compete with the great ranchman whose 

 stock is carried on the public domain and who are called upon to contrib- 

 ute nothing toward the support of the highways, schools, churches, and 

 other evidences of civilization. I believe a cow can be maintained all the 

 year round on each and every acre that a farm contains by a judicious sys- 

 tem of soiling and ensilage, so that farmers occupying 80 acres of land can 

 keep 75 or 80 cows quite as well as they are now maintaining twenty." 



This strong testimony for silage copied from the Breeders' Gazette, 

 should have weight with every farmer who care to produce all possible 

 from an acre of land. 



Another strong testimony for the silo is that of Oatman Bros, of Dun- 

 dee, 111. Ten years ago when the Oatman "boys" purchased the farm it 

 was considered the poorest in that section of the state. The previous 

 owner had been trying to keep thirty cows and himself on the 200 acres 

 of land and had made a failure. The cattle were starved and the farmer 

 bankrupt when these progressive young business men took hold of the 

 property. They are now the owners of one of the best farms in the coun- 

 try. They said in relating their experience: "We determined to make 

 an experiment and built our first silo. It was a success though rather a 

 primitive affair. The cattle ate the ensilage and their condition greatly 

 improved. The next year we built another silo and increased our herd 

 of cattle. That has been going on every year until now we have on that 

 farm 250 head of live stock including 220 milch cows. This is on the 200 

 acres where the former owner starved thirty cows almost to death and 

 gave up, only when forced to the wall. Every year the value of the soil 

 increases. The manure from 220 cows is sufficient to more than restore 

 the land. We have only 50 acres of pasture for all our cows and are selling 

 our hay to neighboring farmers; some of our milk is sent to Chicago, and 

 the rest is used in our factories. The farm yielded a gross revenue last 

 year of over $16,000. I would not take a check for $12,000 for the net prof- 

 it." That is the result of the adoption of the silo and ensilage system. 

 The Oatman Bros, claim that they made their land pay a net income of 

 $60 per acre the year these statements were published. 



