84 



FEEDING WITH SUGAR BEETS, SUGAR, ETC. 



It is interesting, however, to note that they held their own 

 against the very best corn silage, under the eyes of thoroughly 

 scientific investigators. 



A herd of twelve cows was sub-divided into four lots, A, B, 

 C, D, of three cows each. Great care was taken to have the 

 conditions in each case exactly the same, as regards character- 

 istics and milk-producing qualities. The cows during the 

 entire experiment were fed upon a uniform ration of 10 Ibs. 

 clover hay, 2 Ibs. corn meal and 4 Ibs. wheat bran. A received 

 40 Ibs. corn silage per diem, and B 50 Ibs. beets during the 

 same interval. The following statement was made by the ex- 

 perimenters : 



' ' The feeding of field beets has taught us that while most 

 cows will take fifty pounds beets per day, without any unfavor- 

 able effect upon health or appetite, it is not always safe to feed 

 more than this quantity; and hence it was deemed advisable to 

 increase the dry matter of the beet ration by five pounds of 

 hay." 



In these experiments it is interesting to observe the fact, that 

 from first to last the cows ate with avidity all beets placed at 

 their disposal, and would have eaten more had it been given 

 them. On the other hand, the silage refused by a single cow 

 during a period of two weeks has been as high as 120.5 Ibs. 

 With a view to presenting the facts more plainly the following 

 table has been prepared: 



SILAGE vs. BEETS, SHOWING FEED REFUSED. 



The fact that three cows should refuse 298.5 pounds hay and 



