210 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



book says "all flesh is grass;" and feeders often find that 

 cattle take on flesh as rapidly on fresh pasture-grasses as 

 under grain-feeding. Grain makes the flesh of cattle more 

 solid than that from grass; and grain will always be an im- 

 portant addition in meat and milk production, but the 

 proportion of it profitably used will be much less in winter- 

 feeding on mixed ensilage than on hay. 



3dly. Winter-feeding upon ensilage will require less 

 labor than the old system. The labor of cutting crops 

 green and storing in silo will be less than that now 

 bestowed on cutting, curing and storing in the barn. And, 

 whereas a very large percentage of hay is badly damaged 

 by storms and over-ripening, green fodder may always be 

 cut and properly stored in the silo during the worst seasons. 

 It is found that all the succulence and moisture are required 

 to preserve the green food in the best condition. It is ready 

 to feed directly from the silo without any preparation, it 

 having been cut into short lengths when stored. This sys- 

 tem insures the best preparation of the food, requiring the 

 least labor in its mastication, because, in order to preserve 

 it best, it must be cut into half-inch lengths, so as to pack 

 most sokdly and exclude air. 



4thly. The silos in which to store green food will cost 

 less than barns to store hay, as it is compressed so solidly 

 as to occupy much less space. A cubic foot of ensilage 

 weighs about 45 pounds, or about 12 tons of ensilage would 

 only occupy the space of one ton of hay ; but as the ensi- 

 lage will contain much more water, two and a half tons of 

 this will only equal one ton of hay in dry food ; yet the 

 ensilage will still occupy only one-fourth of the space 

 accorded to dry food. 



5thly. This system will be applicable to the whole coun- 

 try may be as successful in Maine as in Virginia. Per- 

 haps it will be more prized in the colder States, as the 



