ENSILAGE. 507 



How to Feed Ensilage. The quantity of ensilage fed to stock will, of course, vary 

 with different individuals, the same as with other kinds of food; hence, in determining this 

 question by comparing the results of experiments made by leading ensilagists of the country, 

 an approximate estimate only can be obtained. Ensilage is generally fed in connection with 

 bran, meal, shorts, or some other article of nitrogenous food. While some feed all the ensi 

 lage that the stock will eat, aside from other food given in connection with it, others practice 

 the better method of allowing a certain amount per day to each animal. The amount of ensi 

 lage estimated as a full ration, is one and a half cubic feet, or about seventy pounds per day 

 for an ox, cow, or other large animal, or one cubic foot per week for a sheep; the amount of 

 food required for a sheep being, as a general rule, about one-sixth of that required for a cow. 

 Others use from twenty-five to a hundred pounds of ensilage per day, according to the quan 

 tity of other food used in connection with it. Mr. Mills formerly fed sixty pounds of ensilage 

 per day with three quarts of grain, but has recently reduced the amount of ensilage to about 

 one-half that quantity, with the same amount of grain. Dr. Bailey states that from his expe 

 rience he considers ensilage to be worth one-half as much as the same weight of the best 

 timothy hay ; but that he would not, however, exchange ensilage for hay and give two tons 

 of it for one of hay. He says: 



&quot; My method of feeding is as follows: I remove from the silo 50 pounds of ensilage 

 (about one cubic foot) for each grown animal daily, mixing one pound of oil-meal and wheat 

 bran to every 10 pounds of ensilage. 1 have a large box standing upon the barn floor, in 

 which I mix it and let it stand about twenty-four hours before feeding. By that time it is 

 quite warm; the grain addition has had time to become soft, and its digestibility is undoubt 

 edly increased to a greater degree. There is in every 50 pounds of ensilage about 40 pounds 

 of water, nearly all the animal requires. It is a great advantage to have this amount of 

 water warm when taken into the stomach. There has been no labor or fuel expended in 

 warming it, which is quite an item. When animals are allowed to drink ice-cold water in 

 winter, there is quite a large percentage of the food which would produce fat consumed in 

 raising the temperature of the water they drink, from freezing cold to blood heat.&quot; 



In experimenting on the value of ensilage when fed alone, the same writer says: 



&quot;On the 29th day of April I weighed two thoroughbred two-year-old Jersey bulls. Ross- 

 more weighed 960 pounds; from then until the second day of June, I fed him 40 pounds of 

 ensilage daily, and nothing else. The other. Hero, weighed at the. same time 890 pounds; he 

 was fed 40 pounds of ensilage and 3 pounds of wheat bran daily, and nothing more. On the 

 second day of June I weighed them both again. Rossmore weighed 960 pounds, having 

 neither gained nor lost. Hero weighed 943 pounds, having gained in the 34 days 53 

 pounds. Both times they were weighed in the morning after eating their breakfast, and 

 before drinking. 



I do not pretend that 50 to 60 pounds of ensilage is sufficient to keep a cow in full flow 

 of milk. She should have in addition to the ensilage, four to six pounds of wheat bran or 

 its equivalent in some other nitrogenous food. But I do say that the 50 or 60 pounds of 

 ensilage will keep her better than all the timothy hay she will eat.&quot; 



Mr. Potter expresses as his opinion, that where clover is properly preserved by ensilage, 

 a piece about six inches cube owing to its compactness is sufficient for a good ration for a 

 cow. 



Mr. E. M. Washburn, of Massachusetts, feeds about 70 pounds of ensilage, 5 pounds of 

 hay, and 3 of grain to each animal per day. It might be well for each farmer who adopts 

 the system to experiment for himself as to the amount of ensilage necessary for a fair ration. 

 By this means he can establish his own method, and adapt it to the requirements of his herd, 

 and other conditions. 



