FARM MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF CHESTER COUNTY, PA. 



93 



Table LIV. — Amount of silage raised and fed per head of cattle on owner farms, 



Chester County. 



Number of cattle. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms. 



Aver- 

 age 



num- 

 ber of 

 cattle 



units. 



Aver- 

 age 

 num- 

 ber 

 days 

 feeding 

 silage, b 



Aver- 

 ago 

 amount 

 fed per 

 day per 

 head, b 



Aver- 

 age 

 amount 

 raised 

 for feed 

 per day 



per 

 head.b 



Num- 

 ber of 



tons 

 fed per 



year 



per 

 head. 



Num- 

 ber of 



tons 

 raised 

 for feed 



per 



year 



per 

 head. 



Loss. 



1 to 14 



5 

 26 

 16 



9 



9 



20 

 29 

 50 



200 

 192 

 224 

 212 



Pounds. 

 38 

 43 

 32 

 45 



Pounds. 

 53 

 45 

 36 

 50 



3.80 

 4.13 

 3.58 



4.77 



5.30 

 4.32 

 4.03 

 5.30 



P.ct. 

 28.3 



IS to 24 



4.4 



25 to 34 



11.2 





10.0 







Total 



50 



20 



203 



40 



40 



4.06 



4.67 



13.1 







a Figured on basis that 2 head of young stock = 1 cow, bull, or steer. 

 b Answers by letter from 24 farmers. 



On account of the manner in which this estimate was obtained, the 

 figures here given can only be considered a first approximation at 

 this loss. It should be stated, however, that this estimated loss of 

 13 per cent is in close agreement with the rather meager chemical 

 investigations of the subject. 1 



It is worthy of note that the largest losses occur on those farms 

 feeding the smallest number of cattle. Unless there are cattle enough 

 to consume the entire surface layer of silage to a depth of several 

 inches daily, there is a good deal of loss from decay of silage left too 

 long in contact with the air. 



The average number of tons of silage stored per head of stock 

 to be fed is seen by Table LIV to be 4|. The actual amount fed 

 appears to be about 4 tons per head in 6f months. The common 

 practice here is to feed silage during the winter, and during periods 

 of the summer when pastures are short, 



RATE OF DEPRECIATION OF DAIRY COWS. 



The data obtained in this survey make it possible to calculate the 

 rate of depreciation on dairy cows, as well as on farm horses. The 

 rate thus obtained does not, however, represent the annual rate at 

 which an animal deteriorates after it passes its prime, for as the 

 calculation is here made the depreciation of such animals is in part 

 cancelled by the increase in value of animals before they reach their 

 prime. But the rate here obtained does represent approximately 

 the average charge which must be made for depreciation in deter- 

 mining the cost of maintaining the dairy herd. The method of 

 calculation is shown in detail in Table LV. This method may be 

 applied to an individual herd of cows, as well as to the average of a 

 large number of herds. 



1 See Henry's Feeds and Feeding, edition of 1898, p. 246, where this loss is given as 

 10.8 to 20.0 per cent. 



