210 HOW TO FEED SILAGE. 



The late well-known Wisconsin dairyman, Hon. Hiram Smith, 

 in 1888 gave the following testimony concerning the value of 

 silage for milch cows: "My silo was opened December 1st, and 

 thirty pounds of ensilage was fed to each of the ninety cows for 

 the night's feed, or 2,700 pounds per day, until March 10, one hun- 

 dred days, or a total of 155 tons, leaving sufficient ensilage to last 

 until May 10th. The thirty pounds took and well filled the place of 

 ten pounds of good hay. Had hay been fed for the night's feed in 

 place of the ensilage, it would have required 900 pounds per day 

 for the ninety cows, or a total for the one hundred days of forty- 

 five tons. 



"It would have required, in the year 1887, forty-five acres of 

 meadow to have produced the hay, which, if bought or sold, would 

 have amounted to $14.00 per acre. The 135 tons of ensilage were 

 produced on 8% acres of land, and had a feeding value, as com- 

 pared with hay, of $74.11 per acre." As the conclusion of the 

 whole matter, Mr. Smith stated that "three cows can be wintered 

 seven months on one acre producing 16 tons of ensilage, while it 

 required two acres of meadow in the same year of 1887 to winter 

 one cow, with the same amount of ground feed in both cases." 



Professor Shelton, formerly of Kansas Agricultural College, 

 gives a powerful plea for silage in the following simple statement: 

 "The single fact that the product of about two acres of ground 

 kept our herd of fifty cattle five weeks with no other feed of the 

 fodder kind, except a small ration of corn fodder given at noon, 

 speaks whole cyclopedias for the possibilities of Kansas fields 

 when the silo is called in as an adjunct." 



In conclusion. We will bring our discussion of the silo and its 

 importance in American agriculture, to a close by quoting the 

 opinions of a few recognized leaders on agricultural matters as to 

 the value of silos and silage. 



Says Ex-Gov. Hoard, the editor of Hoard's Dairyman, and a 

 noted dairy lecturer: "For dairying of all the year around the silo 

 is almost indispensable." 



Prof. Hill, the director of Vermont Experiment Station: "It was 

 long ago clearly shown that the most economical farm-grown car- 

 bohydrates raised in New England are derived from the corn plant, 



