USING THE SILO. 109 



much interested to see if the cows would notice 

 the difference between the silage that was six 

 months old and that which was eighteen months 

 old. I was at the farm when the first of the old 

 silage was fed to study the question of palata^ 

 Mlity and was convinced that the cows did not 

 discover that there was any change in their diet. 

 The next point I watched was the weight of 

 milk as it was being weighed daily. Here also 

 I was unable to discover any change. These re- 

 sults were no great surprise to me, but were in- 

 teresting and instructive, as they convinced me 

 that with a perfect silo one can carry the con- 

 tents as long as it may be desirable just as safe- 

 ly as the housewife can carry her canned fruit 

 from year to year until it is consumed. 



To carry silage from one year to the next re^ 

 quires a perfect siloi A silo that will permit a 

 slight loss on the sides during the winter will 

 make a much greater loss during the summer 

 months, and the only safety is in perfection, or 

 an air-tight wall and this I am sure is best se- 

 cured by a cement wall. 



Value of Silage as a Feed. — ^After about 

 twenty-five years' experience in feeding silage 

 my faith in it is greater than ever before. I be^ 

 lieve that it is more superior to shocked com 

 than canned fruit is to dried fruit. Silage is 

 canned feed, and if we had called it by that 

 name from the start I believe it would have 



