No. 4.] ECONOMICAL MILK PRODUCTION. 109 



Corn silage supplies the succulent feed so desirable in order to 

 keep the animals in the best possible condition. At the same 

 time in most parts of the United States corn yields more food 

 nutrients per acre than any other crop, with the possible 

 exception of alfalfa in those regions where the latter flourishes. 



Missouri has built over 8,000 silos during the past three 

 years, and the progressive dairymen there would not think of 

 doing without one. It will be but a few years until every 

 farmer in the State will be provided with one. The use of 

 silage is also growing with us as a summer feed to help out the 

 pastures. It looks now as if the silo will in time supersede the 

 soiling system almost entirely. 



Mixed Feeds. 



I presume the sale of mixed feeds is large in the State of 

 Massachusetts, as it is in other places where much feed is sold. 

 While I certainly do not condemn mixed feeds as a whole, I 

 would especially caution every one to be on guard in purchasing 

 them. I see no advantage in selecting them in preference to 

 the straight feedstuffs, like corn, bran or cottonseed meal. 



Mixed feeds must of necessity either sell higher than the 

 same quantity of food ingredients in the unmixed form, or the 

 mixed feed must contain some product that could not be sold 

 alone. Every firm making a mixed feed has expenses to meet. 

 They have advertising bills, traveling salesmen, a profit for 

 themselves, and the handling of the feed once or twice in 

 addition. As a matter of fact too often the chief reason for 

 mixing feeds is to sell some product, oat hulls for example, that 

 would not be salable alone. No feed dealer can make a mixture 

 any better or any cheaper than a farmer who is properly in- 

 formed regarding the feeding problem. In this respect, as well 

 as many others, Massachusetts dairymen will do well to make 

 use of the information supplied by the experiment station at 

 Amherst. 



INIr. BowEN. At the price of grain that you gave us there, 

 what would be the amount of milk that would condemn a 

 heifer the first year? 



Professor Eckles. The records in our herd show that on 



