120 H. JS. STEVENS ON ENSILAGE. 



CONCLUSION. 



IN conclusion, I think the reader will say I have given in this work 

 all I promised in the introduction, the practical experience of practi- 

 cal farmers with silos and ensilage, and I have reason to believe it is 

 the practical information the farmers want, that will give practical 

 results with profit for their labor. Is there any doubt of the success 

 of preserving our green forage crops by ensilage? There is no 

 doubt ! Then I think I have shown the success is a profitable one. 

 When the farmer with one silo to-day says, " I must build larger, 

 I must have two or three additional silos the coming year," it is 

 practical proof that it is a success, and a profitable one. Farmers 

 are not apt to be very enthusiastic over their labors unless there are 

 some profits. I must say I have never seen so much enthusiasm 

 shown as expressed by those who have built silos for ensilage. 

 When a farmer says, " I have saved more money the past year than 

 I have for twenty years," it does seem as though the golden harvest 

 is to be reaped by the farmer ; and, for one, I think it is the farmer's 

 turn to meet with this success. Who can foretell the results when, 

 in less than five years, there will be thousands of silos in the United 

 States, whereas to-day there are about forty-three? Does it not 

 seem as though a new interest was awakening among our New-Eng- 

 land farmers? Has not the time arrived when our deserted farms 

 will all be wanted, and will be cultivated? Is there not a bonanza in 

 the farms with this new enterprise ? Will it not give the farmer such 

 profits, with less labor, as will enable him to be more independent? 

 Is it not going to create new interest with our sons when they can 

 find a more profitable employment, with less hard labor, than can be 

 found in any business in our cities? This enterprise will create a 

 new interest in farming : it will increase our stock in such large 

 numbers, our farms will be enriched, the soil more productive, crops 

 increased ; and with the great labor-saving, improved, agricultural 

 implements, instead of millions of New-England money going West 

 to purchase grain for our farmers, with our enriched farms, we 

 should raise all the grain we consume on the farm. 



Again, with the increase in stock, the increase in productions of 

 beef, butter, cheese, wool, in quality, as well as quantity. With 

 these results, instead of our New-England towns decreasing in popu- 

 lation, they must double their numbers. These results can be ob- 

 tained by the farmer from this new enterprise, the preserving of our 

 green forage crops by ensilage. 



