THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF ENSILAGE. 65 



time, about six weeks, No. 15 gained forty pounds ; No. 

 9, thirty-eight pounds ; No. 14, fifty-three pounds ; No. 

 8, seventeen pounds ; and No. 10, thirty-seven pounds. 

 The weather during the continuance of this Series was 

 damp and unfavorable, but by no means as cold as in the 

 January preceding, hence the better results in case of 

 No. 14, fed on ensilage alone. No. 9 demands a word or 

 so of explanation. Our farm animals relished the corn 

 ensilage from the start, but rejected the clover ensilage 

 at first, and it was several days before they became accus- 

 tomed to its use. This animal, No. 9, refused its rations 

 for a week, and in that time lost twenty-five pounds. 

 All the loss occurred in the first week. After that time, 

 becoming reconciled to the new food, it made steady and 

 continuous gains. This experiment enforces the neces- 

 sity of frequent weighings. It is evident that the highest 

 percentage of gain in both Series were made by animals 

 fed on mixed rations of ensilage and matters richer in 

 albuminoids. 



In Series 3d, the animals were forced for the June 

 market, and all the dates save the first show the day 

 when each was sold to the butcher. In the interval be- 

 tween this Series and the preceding, all the animals ex- 

 cept No. 15 received the same rations as in the first 

 interval. No. 15 alone of all our farm animals, upward 

 of forty head, persistently refused the ensilage from the 

 first. It was therefore allotted the ration of hay in 

 Series 1st and 2d, and, in the first interval, three pints 

 of meal in addition. After the close of Series 2d, wo 

 endeavored to force it to eat the ensilage, but without 

 success. Hence its loss of thirty pounds between the 

 last two Series. The rapid gain of No. 21, a thorough- 

 bred Shorthorn, three and four-fifth pounds per day, is 

 especially noteworthy. No. 14 was quite heavy with calf. 

 One striking fact greatly in favor of ensilage was noticed 

 during this Series. The animals, although receiving 



