THE FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS. 7 



tern it is often possible to reduce the acreage of land used for pas- 

 ture, which in addition to the saving in land required for pasture 

 has the added saving in the cost of fencing. Soiling crops usually 

 are fed in the stable where the manure can be saved for application 

 on cultivated fields. 



An objection which can be urged against the use of soiling crops 

 is the greater amount of labor required and the difficulty in using 

 this labor to the best advantage. Another difficulty is to plan a suc- 

 cession of special crops which will at all times during the season sup- 

 ply an abundant supplementary feed. Even with the best arranged 

 plan, its success depends very largely upon weather conditions. 



THE SUMMER SILO. 1 



Silage has found a wide use in this country as a palatable, suc- 

 culent, and economical roughage for use during the winter. Many 

 of the advantages of its use in winter apply equally w r ell in sum- 

 mer, and there are additional ones that apply alone to the latter 

 season. 



The use of a summer silo is particularly applicable on high-priced 

 land. If the land is pastured it will require from 1 to 3 or more 

 acres a season for each cow, while 1 acre of corn put in the silo will 

 supply succulent roughage for several cows for a like period. It 

 is true that grain will be necessary in addition to silage, but the 

 great problem on high-priced land is to raise a sufficient quantity of 

 roughage. 



As has previously been said, soiling crops have been used to a 

 great extent either in place of or in addition to pasture. The great- 

 est disadvantage in their use is that much labor is required. In 

 order to use these crops they must be cut and hauled from day to 

 day. This work is expensive because only small areas are cut at one 

 time, thus making it impracticable to use the harvesting machinery 

 of the farm to advantage and entailing considerable loss of time in 

 harnessing and unhitching the team. Considerable inconvenience 

 also is occasioned by the fact that the field work is pressing at that 

 season of the year and both man and horsepower are badly needed 

 in the fields. Silage, on the other hand, is cut at one operation when 

 the work in the field is not pressing. The crop ordinarily grown for 

 silage is corn, which is a part of the regular farm rotation and con- 

 sequently fits in well with the regular routine of work. 



With a silo for summer feeding, the dairyman always has an 

 abundant supply of feed that is easily handled. By using silage the 

 necessity of cutting and hauling the supplementary roughage during 

 rainy weather is eliminated. Another advantage as compared with 



1 See Farmers' Bulletin No. 578, " The Making and Feeding of Silage." 



