DAlttY CATTLE 



459 



use of grain. Lindsey calls attention 

 to the fact that one reason why pasture 

 grass is superior to many cereal fodders 

 and cut green fodders is that it con- 

 tains more protein, pound for pound. 

 Pasture grass is also eaten in a very 

 soft and succulent condition, and for 

 that reason contains less woody fiber 

 than coarser fodders which are allowed 

 to reach a greater size before cutting. 

 Apparently, also, pasture grass has a 

 flavor which is better relished by cows 

 than the flavor which appears in fodders 

 when they come nearer to maturity. 



Pasture, soiling and silage compared 

 — After this consideration of the rela- 

 tive value and advantages of pasture, 

 soiling and silage, it may be well to 

 supplement what was previously said on 

 silage by calling attention to some 

 points in which it possesses advantages 

 over any other system for obtaining suc- 

 cident feed for dairy cows. The pas- 

 ture will carry more stock during the 

 spring than at any other season and it 

 may well be helped out, even in the 

 spring season, by some green forage or 

 silage which may remain from the win- 

 ter supply. It requires, however, a great 

 deal of labor to cut green crops daily 

 and haul them to the cows and a still 

 greater disadvantage attaches to a soil- 

 ing system as compared with the use of 

 silage, in that, in a soiling system, it 

 is necessary to feed the crops during a 

 period of several days, thereby harvest- 

 ing a part of each crop before it is 

 mature; considerable loss is therefore 

 suffered in the nutritive value of the 

 crop. 



For silage, however, the whole crop 

 may be cut at the stage of growth when 

 the greatest amount of material and 

 nutriment is obtained and considerable 

 saving in the case of handling is also 

 secured. With nearly all crops there is 

 an increase in the amount of nutriment 

 up to a certain stage, after which a 

 gradual decrease takes place. Obviously, 

 therefore, the greatest feeding value may 

 be secured by cutting the crop for silage 

 at the right stage of growth. 



According to experiments of Otis, 

 in Kansas, the corn silage produced on 

 ordinary corn land is worth about $33 

 per acre in milk production. This feed- 

 ing value is obtained for far less labor 

 than would be required in feeding cows 

 green forage from the same area of 

 land. 



In view of the fact that the prices 



for grain have become so high as to 

 reduce the dairyman's profit to a dan- 

 gerous point, in many localities it has 

 become necessary to make various sub- 

 stitutions of home-grown products for a 

 part of the grain. Williams, in Ohio, 

 compared two rations for dairy cows, in 

 one of which more than 50 per cent of 

 the dry matter was derived from silage; 

 while in the other, 57 per cent of the 

 dry matter came from grain and silage 

 was omitted. On the ration containing 

 silage, the cows produced 5 pounds of 

 butter fat from 100 pounds of dry mat- 

 ter in the ration; and on the grain 

 ration only 4 pounds of butter fat from 

 the same amount of feed. The cost of 

 100 pounds of milk on the silage ration 

 was 68 cents, and on the grain ration 

 $1.05. The cost of a pound of butter on 

 the silage ration was 13 cents, and on 

 the grain ration 22 cents. The average 

 net profit on a cow a month was $5.86 

 on the silage ration and $2.46 on the 

 grain ration. The gain in weight in 

 the cows during this experiment was 

 somewhat greater from the grain ration. 

 It is apparent, however, from this ex- 

 periment, that silage may be used to 

 replace a considerable proportion of the 

 grain ration, and for this purpose it is 

 recommended that silage for cows be not 

 made of corn alone but should also con- 

 tain clover, alfalfa, soy beans, cowpeas, 

 field peas or vetches. 



Occasionally silage is less palatable to 

 cows than green forage or pasture. Now 

 and then an animal will almost abso- 

 lutely refuse to eat silage. As a rule, 

 however, cows eat it very greedily. For 

 example, in South Dakota, a compar- 

 ison of different coarse fodders showed 

 that silage was more palatable to cows 

 than either alfalfa or brome grass hay, 

 and butter was produced more cheaply 

 when cows were fed all the silage they 

 would eat than when alfalfa or brome 

 grass hay constituted a considerable part 

 of the ration. 



As a rule, silage is decidedly superior 

 to roots in the economy of milk produc- 

 tion, but where sugar beets can be 

 grown successfully, the difference in the 

 effectiveness of these two feeds is very 

 little. Thus, in Nebraska, Haecker 

 found that while corn silage gave 

 slightly better results than sugar beets 

 in milk production, the difference was 

 so small that they may be considered 

 practically equal. 



