210 HOW TO FEED SILAGE. 



of an acre of beets in the pit amounts to about $56, and of an acre 

 of com in the silo about $21, only half the quantities of food 

 materials obtained, and at more than double the cost. 



When the feeding value of these two crops has been compared, 

 as has been the case in numerous trials at experiment stations, it 

 has been found that the dry matter of beets certainly has no 

 higher, and in many cases has been found to have a lower value 

 than that of com silage; the general conclusion to be drawn, there- 

 fore, is that "beets cost more to grow, harvest and store, yield less 

 per acre, and produce at best no more and no better milk or other 

 farm product than com silage." 



Corn silage compared with hay. — ^A ton and a half of hay per 

 acre is generally considered a, good average crop in humid regions. 

 Since hay contains about 86 per cent, dry matter, a, crop of 1% 

 tons means 2,580 pounds of dry matter. Against this yield we 

 have yields of 5,000 to 9,000 pounds of dry matter, or twice to 

 three and a half times as much, in case of fodder com. An aver- 

 age crop of green fodder will weigh twelve tons of Northern varie- 

 ties and eighteen tons of Southern varieties. Estimating the per- 

 centage of dry mattertlin the former at 30 per cent., and in the 

 latter at 20 per cent., we shall have in either case a yield of 7,200 

 pounds of dry matter. If we allow for 10 per cent, of loss of dry 

 matter in the silo there is still 6,500 pounds of dry matter to be 

 credited to the com. The expense of growing the corn crop is, of 

 course, higher than that of growing hay, but by no means suffi- 

 ciently so to ofEset the larger yields. It is a fact generally con- 

 ceded by all who have given the subject any study, that the hay 

 crop is the most expensive crop used for the feeding of our farm 

 animals. 



The late Sir John B. Lawes, of Rothamsted Experiment Station 

 (England) said, respecting the relative value of hay and (grass) 

 silage: "It is probable that when both (i. e., hay and silage) are of 

 the very best quality that can be made, if part of the grass is cut 

 and placed in the silo, and another part Is secured in the stack 

 without rain, one might prove as good food as the other. But it 

 must be borne in mind that while the production of good hay is a 

 matter of uncertainty — from the elements of success being beyond 

 the control of the farmer — good silage, by taking proper precau- 

 tions, can be made with certainty." 



A few feeding experiments with corn silage vs. hay will be 

 mentioned in the following: 



