FEEDS FOE THE DAIRY COW 389 



The odor of such silage is somewhat strong, but does not injure the 

 flavor of the milk if fed after milking. (356) 



While soybeans or cowpeas alone do not make satisfactory silage, these 

 crops when mixed with either corn or the sorghums make an excellent 

 silage, considerably richer in protein than corn silage. For this purpose 

 the legume and non-legume may be grown together or they may be mixed 

 at the time of ensiling. (357-8) Such mixtures as field peas and oats, 

 and vetch with oats, wheat, or barley also make satisfactory silage. (355, 

 359) 



The value of such protein-rich silage is well shown in a trial by 

 Williams at the Ohio Station. 109 One lot of 4 cows was fed a ration of 

 13.5 Ibs. concentrates (6 Ibs. bran, 2.5 Ibs. linseed meal, and 5 Ibs. corn) 

 with corn stover and mixed hay for roughage. In place of much of the 

 concentrates, another lot was fed mixed silage made of about one-third 

 soybeans and cowpeas and two-thirds rather immature corn. They re- 

 ceived only 2 Ibs. linseed meal and 2 Ibs. bran per head daily, with 58 

 Ibs. silage and 6.8 Ibs. mixed hay. During the 4-month trial the cows 

 fed the silage with the small amount of concentrates produced 16 per ct. 

 more milk and 28 per ct. more fat than on the more expensive ration. 



In trials by Bechdel at the Pennsylvania Station 1098 good corn silage 

 produced 10 per ct. more milk than oat and pea silage. However, the oat 

 and pea silage was considered a valuable summer silage that would help 

 out in some sections during the late summer months when pasture was 

 short and the corn silage supply was exhausted. 



Bechdel found mixed soybean and corn silage, containing about 30 per 

 ct. by weight of soybean forage, only slightly superior per ton to corn 

 silage, even in a ration containing only a medium amount of protein. 



635. Apple-pomace silage. Hills 110 fed cows daily allowances of 24 to 

 35 Ibs. of apple-pomace silage as much as they would eat in addition to 

 8 Ibs. of grain and 10 to 12 Ibs. of hay. On apple-pomace silage the cows 

 consumed somewhat more dry matter than those getting corn silage, 

 with a corresponding increase in milk flow. The apple-pomace silage 

 had no deleterious influence on the cows or their milk. (384) 



636. Sunflower silage. As occurs with most new crops, many extrava- 

 gant claims concerning sunflowers for silage have recently been made by 

 enthusiastic advocates who have perhaps been dazzled by the luxuriant 

 growth of the mammoth plants. Quite widely diverse results have' been 

 secured by the experiment stations and by farmers with this new silage 

 crop. Without question, sunflowers usually produce a greater tonnage 

 of silage per acre than corn, but the silage is less nutritious, because it 

 carries but little grain. In digestion experiments by Sotola at the 

 Washington Station 111 sunflower silage was found to contain only 12.6 

 Ibs. total digestible nutrients, and in trials by Joseph and Blish at the 

 Montana Station 1118 but 12.2 Ibs. total digestible nutrients per 100 Ibs. 



109 0hio Bui. 155. u Vt. Rpt. 1903. m Wash. Bui. 161. 



^Information to the authors. lu Mont. Bui. 134. 



