154 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



exclusively on ensilage, usually of the richer, more con- 

 centrated kinds, with excellent results. In one case in 

 North Carolina a large farmer and vineyardist has for sev- 

 eral years made ensilage of cow peas the chief forage for a 

 number of mules constantly at work, and has found it very 

 economical and in no way objectionable. 



(L.) Swine are proverbially fond of fermented food. I 

 have known several cases where breeding stock and store 

 pigs have been carried through a winter in good condition 

 upon absolutely nothing but ensilage. In one instance all 

 that three large hogs received was the refuse from ensilage 

 fed to a dozen or fifteen cows. The material being of 

 inferior quality, the cows did not eat it clean, and what they 

 left the hogs received. Such practice can hardly be ap- 

 proved, but the owner in this case was satisfied and said he 

 wintered his three hogs well, virtually without expense. 



(M.) To compare the feeding qualities of ensilage ex- 

 posed to freezing and thawing and that kept from frost, a 

 trial was made at Houghton Farm, in the winter of 1884-85. 

 Duplicate miniature silos were filled during the summer and 

 autumn of 1884 with clover, Hungarian grass and corn, cut 

 while the ears were forming. One set of these was stored 

 in a l)arn basement, kept free from frost, and the contents 

 fed out in December, 1884. The other set was exposed all 

 winter, but under a roof, and the contents used after slow 

 thawing in April, 1885. Young cattle of the same class 

 Avere fed in both cases all they would eat. Tiie average 

 consumption per day and per head was as follows : — 



December, 1884, 

 April, 1885, 



36 lbs. 

 32 J lbs. 



42J lbs. 

 4Si lbs. 



21} lbs. 

 37» lbs. 



This was a very imperfect trial, but api)arently the last 

 lots of ensilage were as palatable as the first, although per- 

 haps less nutritious. 



The evidence is overwhelming of the safety and economy 

 of feedins: ensila2;e to the extent of at least one-third of the 



