120 SILAGE IN BEEF PRODUCTION. 



than half of them are roughed through. Silage-feeding would 

 make a difference of 300 pounds of edible beef every winter on 

 each of these." 



Men at the various stock yards are now strong boosters for 

 the silo and claim that it is a big factor in replenishing the cattle 

 supply. During the past two or three years, the use of silage has 

 become general throughout almost the entire Southwest. The re- 

 sults have been that the cattle now go through the winter in ex- 

 cellent condition and develop good flesh with a limited supply of 

 grain, cotton seed meal and cake. Cattlemen of the Southwest 

 say that the silo has solved the problem of winter feed and put 

 the old range country in a position to get both the breeders' and 

 the feeders' profit from cattle. During the past few years silage- 

 fed cattle have topped the market repeatedly with record prices 

 and it is no longer necessary to conceal their identity at the mar- 

 ket to evade discrimination. Indeed the discrimination, if any, 

 now leans the other way. This weighty kind of "fact- evidence" 

 which affects the pocket-book, has served as a strong weapon to 

 dispel the prejudice that formerly existed against silage in feed- 

 ing circles. 



Before proceeding to mention a number of important feeding 

 trials that have helped to bring about this condition, we wish to 

 quote a short article from Farmers' Bulletin 556 of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture as follows: 



"Silage stands first in rank of all the roughages for finishing 

 cattle. Formerly, during the era of cheap corn and other concen- 

 trates little attention was given to the roughage, as it was usually 

 considered merely a 'filler' and of very little economic value in 

 feeding. No especial care was taken in selecting any particular 

 kind, nor was the quality of it seriously considered. As the prices 

 of the concentrated feedstuffs advanced, the feeder looked about 

 for methods of cheapening the cost of producing beef and soon 

 found this could be accomplished by using judgment in selecting 

 his roughage with respect to the grain fed. This has continued 

 until at the present time the roughage receives as much attention 

 as the concentrated feed, and has been made to take the place of a 

 large amount of the latter. The feeding of silage came into gen- 

 eral use with the advent of expensive grain and is becoming more 

 popular each year. With the present prices of feedstuffs there is 

 hardly a ration used for feeding cattle which cannot be cheapened 

 by the use of this succulent feed. By combining it with other 

 feeds the efficiency of the ration is increased to such an extent 

 that the amount of the daily gains is invariably greater and the 



