156 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



the local conditions where applied. The circumstances at- 

 tending numerous points of detail, which I have already indi- 

 cated, will largely determine the question of economy. The 

 system is certainly better adapted to intensive than extensive 

 farming. Where land is dear, labor fairly abundant and 

 strong reasons existing for an increase of live stock kept 

 upon a limited acreage, the silo can in most cases be profit- 

 ably adopted. Yet I know instances of the use of ensilage 

 on a large scale by dairy farmers on the broad prairies of 

 Illinois and Nebraska, where hay can be put up for two or 

 three dollars a ton, and those who thus practice the system 

 prove its profit to them, literally " by the book." I do not 

 expect to see many acres of our best meadow land in the 

 Connecticut Valley converted into fields of ensilage crops, 

 although this can be certainly done, within reasonable limits, 

 at a greater i)rofit than is yet generally believed. But there 

 are many farms and larger areas, in New England, where 

 grass has never been grown at a profit ; but which, properly 

 treated, produce abundant crops of fodder corn and other 

 ensilage plants. On such lands the most conspicuous exam- 

 ples of the good effects of the silo system may already be 

 seen in this section of the country. Similarly, ensilage is 

 proving a boon to cattle raisers on the old, abandoned 

 cotton-fields of the South, where permanent pasturage and 

 good hay are almost unknown. 



Two things, which are often overlooked, should be kept 

 prominently in view when considering the production and 

 use of ensilage. Plants, like animals, must be fed Avell, to 

 grow well. Where large crops of forage are to be raised, — 

 and the larger the crop to the acre the greater the profit, — 

 the land must be heavily manured. The more manure, the 

 more ensilage. And ensilage, in most forms, is not in itself 

 a complete and well-balanced food for animals. Where it is 

 largely fed, it should be supplemented with liberal grain 

 feeding. The more ensilage and grain, the more and 

 belter the farm manure. 



Speaking without enthusiasm, — moderately, but posi- 

 tively, — I say ensilage is a success in New England to- 

 day, and is daily becoming better appreciated. In my 

 opinion, the time is not far distant when, if the silo system 



