No. 4.] FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS. 155 



comes in about a month later, and is well fitted for green 

 fodder and ensilage. The horse bean we raise with good 

 success and in satisfactory quantity, which convinces us that 

 it can be raised with profit as an additional fodder crop 

 either by itself or in connection with one or the other of 

 our summer grains. The ol)ject of introducing crops like 

 these into our farm practice is to reduce the necessity of 

 buying commercial feed stufl's, and at the same time to 

 improve the condition of the soil for a second crop in the 

 same season at the expense of the nitrogen of the air, for 

 these crops leave more nitrogen behind than the soil con- 

 tained before. The question of introducing more promi- 

 nently the leguminous plants into our system of raising 

 forage crops deserves the serious attention of our farmers. 



Secretary Sessions. When the professor speaks of the 

 corn stalk, does he mean the whole plant, ear and stalk? 



Professor Robertson. Yes, sir ; I mean the whole plant. 

 And I want to add just one observation. I did not say 

 much aljout the fact that we were growing the horse beans in 

 mixed crops, but we have done that with much success. 

 The horse bean, in growing with abundant pea or vetch 

 vines, will hold the vines off the ground. This is the ulti- 

 mate goal that I have in view, — to get a combination of 

 ensilage that we can feed without adding anything to it at 

 all. That will help to solve the problems of labor and the 

 cost of stable feeding, and reduce them to their very lowest 

 figures. And let me say this also. I have not had the 

 pleasure of seeing Dr. Goessmann's face until to-day, but I 

 have followed his work with much interest and profit to 

 myself, I may say also that I discussed the matter of my 

 lecture here at this time with the Minister of Agriculture in 

 our Dominion some days before I left to come here. He 

 said, " What are you going to do ?" I said, "I am going 

 to Massachusetts, which I consider one of the foremost States 

 of the Union for agricultural thought and practice. I shall 

 learn all I can, and bring back four times as much informa- 

 tion as I iiive." 



jNIr. EvAxs. I want to say one word in corroboration of 

 the professor's method of building silos. From the first I 

 adopted the system which the professor told about, and I 



