I'ARMERS^ INSTITUTES. 50 I 



aud Canada to a great extent, the farmers have solved this problem by 

 the use of the root crop, but in the United States that crop has proven 

 far too expensive to gain accepted favor upon the general run of farms. 

 Farmers in this country will not take kindly to the growing and use of 

 roots. Some have tried but they have soon turned from it and either 

 sought other courses or went back to the use of dry feed. Tlie advent 

 of the silo has changed this condition of affairs and has offered a food 

 that is in every way equal to roots in feeding value and one that is much 

 clieaper to grow and produce. The dairy farmer was the tirst to realize 

 and acknowledge this new feed, and it was not long before it became 

 generally adopted as a valuable and economical ad.iunct to the dairy farm. 

 Because of this enthusiam on the part of the dairymen, or because the 

 beef grower and general farmer were slower to take hold of it, silage 

 tirst came to be known as only of use in the milking herd. Finally a few 

 of the more progressive and intelligent farmers began to ask why, if 

 silage was so good and of so much advanta.ge in dairy farming, it was 

 not of equal use upon all farms where stock Avas kept? If the dairy cow 

 that is required to furnish a large amount of milk for human consumption 

 could do so well on it, why not the thoroughbred cow that is expected to 

 furnish the best support possil)le for her calf, and why not the feeding 

 steer that must furnish himself with an abimdance of flesh to be accept- 

 able upon the market he is intended for? These questions have now 

 been answered, and silage, as a part of a feeding ration, is no longer an 

 experiment. On the contrary, it Ifas long since passed through its ex- 

 perimental stage. When compared with a dry roughage ration it is far 

 superior. Besides making a ration that is more pleasing to the animal- 

 more palatable— its results in the feeding pen are most agreeable. Vari- 

 ous public and privately conducted experiments show there is a difference 

 of from 5 to 20 per cent, in favor of the green feed. This surely is a gain 

 to the feeder and a saving that can not well be OA^rlooked by any farmer 

 who is to make the most from his investment. Such a per cent, speaks 

 Avell for the economy of any feed and judging from that standpoint, 

 assuming the cost of production to be the same, we must consider the 

 silo a favorable institution for the American farm. One that supplies a 

 food that stands as the most economical, other things being equal, that can 

 be furnished either to the dairy cow or beef animal, and in fact to all 

 classes of farm stock, because it gives an amount of succulents and ad- 

 ditional feeding value that can not be obtained elsewhere. 



Acknowledging that silage is pre-eminent in forming the farm feed- 

 ing ration, especially for winter, let us look to the element of production. 

 The cost of producing the same should be stu(^ed as well as its mere 

 feeding properties, for therein lies its complete value and economy as a 

 food. For convenience we will compare this expense with that incurred 

 by the other crops that silage may be used in place of. Pasture, roots, 

 hay, corn fodder and straw compose the list. In the tirst place take pas- 



