206 HOW TO FEED SILAGE. 



ties and eighteen tons of Southern varieties. Estimating the per- 

 centage of dry matter in the former at 30 per cent,, and in the 

 latter at 20 per cent., we shall have in either case a yield of 7,200 

 pounds of dry matter. If we allow for 10 per cent, of loss of dry 

 matter in the silo there is still 6,500 pounds of dry matter to be 

 credited to the corn. The expense of growing the corn crop is, of 

 course, higher than that of growing hay, but by no means suffi- 

 ciently so to offset the larger yields. It is a fact generally con- 

 ceded by all who have given the subject any study, that the hay 

 crop is the most expensive crop used for the feeding of our farm 

 animals. 



The late Sir John B. Lawes, of Rothamsted Experiment Station 

 (England) said, respecting the relative value of hay and (grass) 

 silage: "It is probable that when both (i. e., hay and silage) are of 

 the very best quality that can be made, if part of the grass is cut 

 and placed in the silo, and another part is secured in the stack 

 without rain, one might prove as good food as the other. But it 

 must be borne in mind that while the production of good hay is a 

 matter of uncertainty from the elements of success being beyond 

 the control of the farmer good silage, by taking proper precau- 

 tions, can be made with certainty." 



A few feeding experiments with corn silage vs. hay will be 

 mentioned in the following: 



In an experiment with milch cows conducted at the New Hamp- 

 shire Station, the silage ration, containing 16.45 pounds of digesti- 

 ble matter, produced 21.0 pounds of milk, and the hay ration, con- 

 taining 16.83 pounds digestible matter, produced 18.4 pounds milk; 

 calculating the quantities of milk produced by 100 pounds of di- 

 gestible matter in either case, we find on the silage ration, 127.7 

 pounds of milk, on the hay ration, 109.3 pounds, or 17 per cent, in 

 favor of the silage ration. 



In a feeding experiment with milch cows at the Maine Station, 

 in which silage likewise was compared with hay, the addition of 

 silage to the ration resulted in a somewhat increased production 

 of milk solids, which was not caused by an increase in the digesti- 

 ble food materials eaten, but which must have been due either to 

 the superior value of the nutrients of the silage over those of the 

 hay or to the general psychological effect of feeding a great vari- 

 ety of foods. 8.8 pounds of silage proved to be somewhat superior 



