PRESERVATION OF FORAGE 43 



Legumes alone have not proven altogether satisfactory 

 as silage. Red clover in some experiments has yielded 

 a palatable product, in others rank flavored and not 

 relished by cattle. At the Colorado Experiment Station 

 alfalfa yielded a silage that was readily eaten by dairy 

 cattle. Cowpeas made good silage at the Georgia 

 and Delaware Experiment Stations ; while both hairy 

 vetch and soybeans produced well-flavored and aromatic 

 silage at the Vermont Experiment Station. Soybeans 

 alone made good silage at the New Jersey Experiment 

 Station. Lloyd reports that in Ohio sweet clover has been 

 used with good results. One reason for failures with 

 ensilaged legumes is probably their higher water content, 

 as pointed out by several investigators. On this account 

 such crops should be allowed to become as mature as 

 practicable before ensiling. 



Mixtures of corn and legumes such as cowpeas or soy- 

 beans make excellent silage. In Ontario sunflower heads 

 are often mixed in corn silage. The Vermont Experi- 

 ment Station tested the Robertson silage mixture ; namely, 

 <:orn, horse beans and sunflower heads, but the cows did 

 not eat it quite as readily as pure corn silage. 



Peas and oats and vetch and oats both proved very 

 satisfactory at the Vermont Experiment Station. 



Sugar beet pulp, a refuse from beet sugar factories, 

 also makes a palatable silage. 



35. Soiling or soilage. Soiling is stall feeding with 

 green fodder. This method of feeding is far more common 

 in Europe than in America. It obviates the necessity 

 of curing much of the forage, and the loss that accompanies 

 the process. For dairy cows, at least, it gives better 

 returns than the feeding of an equivalent amount of dry 

 hay. On the other hand, it has certain disadvantages, 



