256 Feeds and Feeding. 



quality of silage commonly produced from clover. "While some 

 lots of clover silage are all that can be desired, in most instances 

 this silage possesses a rank, disagreeable odor and is unsatisfactory, 

 not being relished by stock. Judging from limited experience, 

 it would appear that the best quality of clover silage is secured 

 by cutting the clover at the usual time for hay making, and al- 

 lowing the plants to lose a part of their moisture by wilting be- 

 fore they are placed in the silo. Green, sappy clover contains 

 too much moisture for the best silage. The hollow stems of the 

 rye plant and their fibrous character, even when quite green, seem 

 to prevent its conversion into first-class silage, though it is used 

 to some extent for this purpose. Attempts have been made to 

 use such crops as cabbage, rape and the various roots, mangels, 

 ruta-bagas, etc., for silage, but without success. 



402. The Robertson mixture. Eobertson, of the Dominion Sta- 

 tion, l Ottawa, in the effort to secure a silage containing the nu- 

 trients of a balanced ration, concluded that the following mixture 

 would prove satisfactory: Ten tons of green fodder corn, three 

 tons of English horse beans, and one and a half tons of sunflower 

 heads. To secure the proper proportion of these crops under Cana- 

 dian conditions, for each acre of corn there should be planted 

 half an acre of horse beans and one-fourth of an acre of sunflowers. 

 This mixture was found satisfactory in feeding trials with dairy 

 cows and fattening steers. Since the horse bean does not thrive 

 in the United States except possibly in the extreme north, some 

 other plant must be substituted in mixtures of this character. 

 Mr. G. F. Weston, Superintendent of the Biltmore estate, North 

 Carolina, reports to the writer that he has found that one load of 

 cowpea vines mixed with two loads of green corn forage produces 

 an excellent silage for dairy cows. 



403. Silage for farm stock. Silage is pre-eminently a food 

 for the cow, and its use will largely remain with the dairy 

 farmer. Because of its succulence and palatability, this forage is 

 recommended as a substitute for roots with fattening cattle. Sil- 

 age proves an excellent food for sheep, being especially useful 

 with ewes having lambs at foot. From its composition silage is 



* Kept. 1893-95. 



