142 How THE FARM PAYS. 



eventually injure the constitutions and hence weaken the lungs 

 of cattle. Cows, they tell us, do well on brewers' grains. How long 

 do they do well ? My opinion is often asked whether ensilage is being 

 fed by the breeders on the Channel Islands or in England ? I think not. 

 John Bull generally is somewhat more of an old fogy in such things than 

 we Americans are, and does not jump so quick at conclusions, and saves 

 himself, in consequence, much loss from unwise experiment. I beg to 

 say, be not tempted by this new plan of feeding, until time will tell 

 its true worth. WM. CBOZIEK. 



"Northport, L. I." 



MR. CROZIER ENDORSED. 



" The silo discussion is getting interesting. It is natural for people 

 who attempt new schemes to imagine them successful, or at least to 

 be loth to admit that they are failures. I have been in this position 

 myself, and hence am inclined to take the declarations of the advocates 

 of silos with some allowance. The imagination of experimenters 

 often paint their attempts with rosy hues; but stern reality after 

 awhile changes the picture. I fail to see, as yet, the practical value 

 of going to so much trouble and expense to preserve water (juice), 

 and cannot comprehend how this water can be increased in nutritive 

 value by being preserved, even though it may have an alcoholic 

 smell. The difference between cornstalks kept in a silo, and cornstalks 

 cured, is almost entirely a difference in the amount of water contained 

 in them. The shrinkage in water makes a shrinkage in weight and 

 bulk, but can make only a small reduction in the nutritive qualities. 

 Admit that there is by curing a small loss in the nutrition, is it equal 

 to the cost of the silos and the extra labor required to preserve the 

 fodder in it ? Mr. Bailey, who is an ingenious, if not an interested 

 writer on silos, takes the ground that a silo is not as expensive as a 

 barn, and urges the point that silos may do away with barns, as they 

 upset the principles of science. This is quite a radical position, to 

 say the least; but it loses its force when we consider that barns are not 

 necessary for the preservation of cornstalks. They will keep better 

 in stacks, which is the most economical, and, at the same time, one of 

 the best methods of preserving this kind of forage. Silos without a 

 granary or meal box will, in my judgment, make disappointment in 

 the yield of good butter. Mr. Crozier's system of feeding is, as I know 

 by frequent observation, a practical success. I have never been on a 

 farm where cattle were always in any better condition and more 

 productive in rich milk and good butter than his. His system of root 



