ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 4T 



considerable care a number of times, I have awarded the first 

 prize to the one you have marked "Entry No. i." Although it 

 is none of my business I cannot refrain from saying that I do 

 not regard either one of these essays to be worth so valuable a 

 prize as is offered, and if I were the manufacturer I would feel 

 sort of sick for giving prizes on such superficial essays. The 

 winner of the first prize has without question, made very exag- 

 gerated statements, but of the three I consider that he furnished 

 the greatest number of facts and perhaps arranged in the most 

 logical manner. This premium was worth the presentation of 

 a carefully prepared prize article, involving many interesting 

 facts. ,1 



I remain very cordially yours, 



C. S. Plumb. 



ENSILAGE AND SHREDDED CORN FODDER. 



PRIZE ESSAY BY L. A. SPIES. 



The great corn belt of the Mississippi Valley has in corn, 

 a plant the equal of which as a forage plant exists nowhere. Its 

 yield in grain and fodder is unlimited, it will produce from fif- 

 teen to twenty-five tons of nourishing and succulent feed per 

 acre, the best method of utilizing it is as Ensilage and shredded 

 corn fodder. It is the corner stone, the foundation, yes the 

 entire structure of animal husbandry in this section; on it we 

 can feed a horse or cow for two and one-half cents per 

 day. We find it to be most profitable while the grain is glazed, 

 in this state it compares with dried fodder corn as a ripe apple 

 compares with the dried fruit, the juice is distributed in just 

 the right proportion and is then easily assimilated by the ani- 

 mal's stomach. We had been feeding corn with roasting ears 

 while they lasted for twenty-two years and were anxious to pro- 

 long their season and eleven years ago built the first silo in 

 Madison County and we believe in Southern Illinois. Its 

 capaity is lOO tons we were so pleased with the ensilage that in 



