10 BULLETIN 615, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



farmers feeding unhusked-corn fodder were using- much heavier 

 rations (averaging 2,400 feed units) than many of the others. This 

 would seem to indicate that many of the farmers using this ration 

 are merely following a practice that was established years ago when 

 corn was much lower in price. 



THE USE OF SILAGE. 



In many sections of the corn belt corn fodder is being replaced 

 gradually by silage in the ration for -beef animals. Where there are- 

 enough animals to justify the building of a silo the feeding of 

 silag'e is usually the more economical practice of the two, as a much 

 larger proportion of the stover can be utilized as silage than other- 

 wise. Not only is the corn plant more fully utilized, but cattle 

 usually do better on silage than on a dry winter ration. 



Silage, because of the grain that it contains and because of the 

 expense of putting it up, is a relatively expensive feed; conse- 

 quently in localities where large amounts of cheap, rough feeds are 

 available the silo may not always prove economical. However, when 

 such roughage is scarce and high priced the feeding of silage usually 

 will pay. This would be especially true if, instead of cutting their 

 highest-yielding corn, the farmers habitually would select that part 

 of the crop having the least grain. The silo is of especial value in 

 helping to make the most of the corn crop in years when the corn 

 is badly damaged by drought or when because of frosts it does not 

 get a chance to mature. 



In years when hay and grain are both high, the putting of husked 

 stover into the silo should prove profitable. Although this practice 

 has not been extensively followed, the results that have been reported 

 seem satisfactory. 



The results of this investigation would indicate that silage is an 

 excellent feed for breeding animals, but that from the standpoint 

 of economy it ordinarily should be fed only in moderate amounts 

 and that it should not replace too much of the cheap roughage. 

 One hundred of the farms (or nearly one-fifth, of those under con- 

 sideration) were feeding silage, and their average winter-feed bill 

 was $16 per head. Oh 29 of these farms approximately 12 per cent 

 of the ration was silage, an average of three-fourths of a ton being 

 fed to the cow. As 41 per cent of the feed was made up of cheap 

 roughage, the silage displaced only fodder and the more expensive 

 hay and grains. The average cost of wintering the cows on these 

 farms was $14. The average quantity of silage fed on- the next 

 50 farms was 1.8 tons, nearly one-third of the ration being made up 

 of this feed. Although the cows on these farms received 100 feed 



