504 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Station. 119 In both trials the steers fed sunflower silage made as rapid 

 gains as those fed corn silage and required about the same amount of feed 

 for 100 Ibs. gain. However, much more pork was produced by the pigs 

 following the steers fed corn silage. Hence, considering this fact, the 

 sunflower silage was worth only about half as much per ton as the corn 

 silage in the Oklahoma trial and in the Wisconsin experiment only 78 

 per ct. as much per ton. In two trials by Blizzard sunflower silage was 

 about equal to darso silage. In other trials 120 it has had a relatively low 

 value. Until more information is available, it would not seem wise to 

 grow it as a substitute for corn silage in districts where corn thrives. 

 In some sections where the climate is too cool for corn, sunflowers appear 

 to be a very promising substitute. 



Proso millet silage was found by Wilson and Kuhlman at the South 

 Dakota Station 121 to be a fair silage crop for beef cattle, tho decidedly 

 inferior to silage from well-matured corn and worth even less than silage 

 from immature corn, ensiled when it was beginning to tassel. (317) 



Many farmers now grow soybeans or cowpeas with corn or sorghum 

 and ensile the entire crop or else raise soybeans separately and mix with 

 the corn as the silo is filled. Corn and soybean silage, made by mixing 1 

 ton of green soybean fodder with 2 tons of green corn fodder as it was 

 ensiled, was compared with corn silage in 4 trials at the Indiana Sta- 

 tion 122 by Skinner, King, and colleagues. The protein-rich corn and 

 soybean silage did not have any appreciably higher value, ton for ton, 

 than the corn silage, even when fed with shelled corn and clover hay, 

 which ration, as we have seen, does not contain enough protein for maxi- 

 mum gains. That the corn and soybean silage was not worth more per 

 ton than the corn silage was probably due to the fact that it was lower 

 in net energy, because the soybean forage did not contain as much grain 

 as the corn forage. This would offset the higher protein content of the 

 mixed silage. 



Oats or oats and peas furnish a satisfactory silage crop for northern 

 sections. In a trial by Dowell and Flack at the University of Alberta, 

 Canada, 123 oat silage was much superior to sunflower silage for fattening 

 steers and even better than oat and pea silage. In trials by Faville at 

 the Wyoming Station 124 oat and pea silage proved excellent for beef 

 cows, growing cattle, and stocker steers. 



784. Hoots. Wherever corn or the sorghums thrive, silage from these 

 crops provides cheaper succulence than do roots. In northern districts 

 where root crops flourish but where corn will not mature sufficiently 

 for silage, roots are a valuable feed for beef cattle. 



-"Unpublished data. 



""Dowell and Flack, University of Alberta, Canada, information to the 

 authors; Wilson and Kuhlman, South Dakota, information to the authors. 

 **8. D. Bui. 189. "'Information to the authors. 



m lnd. Buls. 220, 240, 249, and 255. 124 Wyo. Bui. 108. 



