SILAGE FOR STEER FEEDING. 29 



steady growth of sentiment in progressive stock-raising 

 communities favorable to a more profitable use of corn 

 fodder, and today many of the most prominent beef cattle 

 breeders and feeders are among the foremost users of 

 silage for feeding purposes. 



It is no secret that a prejudice has existed against 

 silage in feeding circles. But the astonishing results 

 achieved by every doubter who tried the experiment is 

 "fact-evidence" of the most weighty nature and is serving 

 as a strong weapon against such prejudice. 



One of the biggest and most substantial silos in Iowa 

 was erected in the fall of 1910 in Cherokee County, near 

 Quimby, in the northwestern part of the state. It is fifty 

 feet high, twenty-six feet across and will hold approxi- 

 mately 500 tons of silage. It is built of cement blocks and 

 was erected for steer feeding purposes exclusively. 



Many Experiment Stations have for some time been 

 carrying on experiments to show the comparative value 

 of silage and other feeds, and these have very generally 

 resulted with credit to corn silage, as an economical and 

 suitable feed for steer's. 



Prof. Herbert W. Mumford of the Illinois College of 

 Agriculture, Urbana, in a recent article calls attention 

 to the increasing interest in corn silage in connection with 

 the feeding of beef cattle. The silo is today an essential 

 feature in the successful dairyman's equipment but its 

 adoption by cattle feeders has been noticeably slower. 

 Mr. Mumford says that "This is undoubtedly partly due 

 to the fact that dairying more naturally lends itself to 

 intensive methods while beef production has been more 

 universally profitable when pursued in a large way by 

 more or less extensive systems of farming. It is possible, 

 too, that the cattle feeder has expected too much of silage 

 and has confined the cattle too largely upon It. It is 

 growing in favor among the beef producers and we confi- 

 dently believe that it hag a large place in the cattle feed- 

 Ing of the future In the corn belt. 



