360 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



the reason chiefly that farmers do not commonly 

 grow both crops to any considerable extent the same 

 season. In some degree at least these foods serve 

 the same end, that is to say, they furnish succulent 

 food for animals at a season of the year when it 

 cannot usually be obtained from other sources. Both 

 are favorable to milk production, and when fed in 

 moderation both serve as regulators of digestion. 

 Field roots contain less dry matter, but they are 

 considered, all in all, a more healthful food than 

 silage. The}'' are also looked upon as being more 

 favorable to the robust development of young stock. 

 But it is commonly believed that the cost of growing 

 field roots is relatively greater. There does not 

 seem to be much reason, therefore, for growing both 

 foods in large quantities. Which of the two should 

 be given the preference ought to be determined 

 largely by the more favorable character of the con- 

 ditions for growing one or the other. When both 

 are grown, there is no reason why they should not 

 be fed to the same animals, regulating the quantity 

 of each accordingly. When both are fed, the plan 

 of feeding silage in the morning and roots in the 

 evening, or vice versa, will be found labor-saving as 

 compared with feeding both twice a day, and the end 

 sought should be realized as effectively. 



When to Feed Silage. — When a large quantity 

 of silage is being fed it should be given in two feeds 

 daily, that is to say, morning and evening. When 

 meal is to be fed twice a day, it may be well also to 

 feed the silage twice a day, that the silage may be 

 fed along with the meal as previously intimated. 

 But when only a small quantity of silage is to be fed 



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