The Ensilage of Fodder, 



235 



On farms heavily stocked with cattle, where everything already 

 raised finds mouths waiting and demanding still more, the owner will 

 find Indian corn and the legumes his best crop allies. Heavily ma- 

 nured land will yield enormous crops of corn forage carrying much 

 grain, and this, utilized in part as dry forage but mostly as silage, 

 will materially extend the feeding powers of the farm in roughage 

 rich in carbohydrates. Then let red clover, alfalfa, cowpeas, vetch, 

 or other legumes be growTi to furnish a protein-rich dry roughage. 

 With an abundance of corn silage, corn stover, and legume hay, the 

 stockman has then to supply his cattle with only the minimum of 

 rich concentrates which he must either grow or purchase, and so the 

 cost of producing meat and milk is cut to the minimum, while the 

 number of animals the farm will carry is greatly increased. By grow- 

 ing corn for silage and the legumes for hay, the number of cattle 

 which a farm can carry may often be doubled, to the great advantage 

 of both land and owner. 



365. Cost of silage. — The following data show the entire cost of 

 silage per ton, including the rent of land, cost of fertilizers, and 

 the labor involved in growing and ensiling the crop, as reported 

 from widely different sources: 



♦Not including rent of land. 



Carrier of the United States Department of Agriculture,^ collect- 

 ing data from 31 Wisconsin and Michigan farms, found the amount 

 of corn forage placed in the silo daily varied from 3.3 to 7.4 tons for 

 each man employed, and that the expense for fuel, binding twine, 

 teams, engine hire, and labor ranged from 46 cts. to 86 ets. for each 

 ton ensiled. 



366. Space occupied by silage and dry fodder.— A cubic foot of 

 hay in the mow weighs about 5 lbs. According to King,- an average 



Farmers ' Bui. 292. 



Wis. Bui. 59. 



