CHAPTER V. 



COST OF KEEPING STOCK UPON ENSILAGE. 



THE following statement from a gentleman whose 

 estate joins " Winning Farm " will be read with interest. 



JOHN M. BAILEY, ESQ., 



Winning Farm, Billerica, Mass. 



Dear Sir, In accordance with my suggestions made on the occa- 

 sion of the opening of your Silo, Dec. 3, 1 have used your Ensilage in 

 manner as follows. My small herd of six cows calved early in the 

 spring, viz., in the months of March and April. They are of the ordinary 

 New England stock, with no pretensions to any pedigree. I sell no milk ; 

 and my cows, such as they are, were selected more for their butter-mak- 

 ing qualities than for any extra milking properties. These cows had 

 served through the season for butter-making, and with the commence- 

 ment, of cold weather and the stoppage of " fall feed " had begun to 

 shrink in milk. 



Previous to the use of your Ensilage, the six cows had been fed two 

 bushels of flat turnips, with four quarts of bran to each cow daily, and 

 what dry corn-fodder they would eat. The amount of milk given by 

 them daily was 30 quarts, from which 18 pounds of butter were made 

 per week. 



I commenced using your Ensilage on Wednesday, Dec. 10, and left 

 off using it on the iTth, feeding 18 barrels, or 54 bushels, during the 

 week. All but one cow took to the fodder at first kindly, and their 

 appetite for it increased from day to day. There was an increase of 

 milk from 30 quarts to 35 quarts daily. The cream was thicker, of 

 richer color, and of better quality, than from their previous feeding. 

 One sack of bran of the value of 90 cents was all that the cows ate dur- 



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