SILOS, ENSILAGE AJSLD SILAGE. 93 



opponents of the practice have failed to recognize its 

 intrinsic merits in their efforts to show that it involves 

 needless expense and a loss of nutritive materials. 



Notwithstanding the reaction from over-estimates of 

 its value, and the many objections that have been urged 

 against it, the ensilage of fodder corn is rapidly extend- 

 ing, and as the economies of the system come to be bet- 

 ter appreciated, the indications are that it will be quite 

 generally adopted on farms where the feeding of live 

 stock is made a prominent interest. 



The silo cannot be looked upon as the only essential 

 element of success in farm practice, or as an inexhaust- 

 ible mine of wealth that may be drawn upon at pleasure, 

 without an equivalent rendered. The farmer can only 

 take from it the food constituents he has put in, and 

 the benefits he may derive from the ensilage of the fod- 

 der will largely depend on other considerations than the 

 one of mere nutritive values. Experiments have been 

 made to test the relative feeding value of dry fodder 

 corn and the same fodder ensilaged, with results that 

 are not decisive, as the problem is an exceedingly com- 

 plex one that cannot be solved by a few simple tests 

 with a small number of animals. Such investigations 

 have a theoretical interest, and should be encouraged, 

 but from the very limits of their scope they cannot set- 

 tle the practical economy of ensilaged fodder. The 

 form in which a given food is supplied to animals, and 

 even its palatableness, may have a more decided influ- 

 ence in determining its nutritive value, than slight dif- 

 ferences in chemical composition. The same food may 

 give different results when fed to different animals, and 

 the benefit derived from it by the same animal may vary 

 widely at different times, so that extreme caution should 

 be exercised in interpreting the results of feeding exper- 

 iments, and in the generalizations based upon them. 



From a chemical point of view, there is, beyond ques- 



