CA T TLE SOILING AND ENSILA GE. 827 



is the crop which furnishes the greatest bulk of food, and the 

 one most to be relied on for ensilage. It is my judgment that 

 the best feeding results will be found by the use of ensilage in 

 connection with other food, and that it will be best to cure for 

 hay the grasses that are easily preserved in this way, and ensi- 

 lage the succulent clover and corn, which are difficult to cure. 

 Most extravagant and absurd statements have been made as to 

 the yield of fodder corn per acre. Dr. Baily says and repeats 

 it in his " Book of Ensilage : " "I do not think it will be at all 

 difficult to raise forty to seventy-five tons per acre on good 

 corn land." 



Such statements are misleading, and from my own experi- 

 ence I estimate that on good corn land, without manure, we 

 could not average above twelve tons, and I have found that 

 on a rich manured soil it takes a heavy growth to produce 

 twenty tons. 



Clover on good land may make ten to twelve tons at the 

 first cutting, and in favorable seasons the two subsequent cut- 

 tings sometimes make eight tons, but this will not be reached 

 under ordinary culture. Millet on good land will make eight 

 to ten tons per acre. Oats, or oats and peas mixed, will be 

 found a valuable crop for this purpose, and will give a heavy yield. 

 Sorghum will doubtless prove an excellent crop for ensilage, and 

 will produce as heavy a crop as corn, and if cut early, it will 

 produce a second crop. Winter rye will produce from twelve 

 to sixteen tons to the acre, and ought to average ten tons. 



All crops for ensilage should be cut somewhat greener than if 

 to be cured. Clover should be cut in full bloom. Millet and oats, 

 as soon as the blossom falls ; corn should be past the blossom- 

 ing and approaching the milky stage. Sorghum should be cut 

 before heading, as the stalk has too hard a sheath when approach- 

 ing maturity, and by early cutting a second crop will be pro- 

 duced. Rye should be cut as soon as the heads begin to show, 

 as the straw becomes hard very soon after heading. In a recent 

 conversation with Professor Roberts, of Cornell University, he 

 told me that he lost a silo of ensilaged rye from allowing it to 

 become too mature ; the straws were too hard to yield to pressure, 



