228 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



I am satisfied that this experiment is correct, because I have 

 practiced this for three years. Three years ago, I told my boys 

 that it seemed to me as though we were feeding too much grain. 

 We had to feed our best cows twelve pounds of grain, and from 

 that down to six. And with our little Jerseys, we commenced 

 to see what we could do in the way of reducing this expensive 

 grain feed. Our cows only got 35 to 45 pounds of ensilage, 

 as we found they would eat but that much clean. If we gave 

 them a little too much, we would go to the manger and find the 

 stubs of the corn stalks and the cobs there; so that we com- 

 menced by feeding about 12 pounds in the morning, and 12 to 

 15 pounds at noon, or 18, as the case might be, and 15 or 18 

 pounds at night. And in that way, we induced the cows to clean 

 up their mangers. And by doing that, we did not reduce the 

 grain ration as much as the Ohio people did, because we did not 

 have the clover hay, but we reduced the average of the best cows 

 down to 8 pounds of grain, and from that on down to 4 pounds. 



A Delegate: — Plow many pounds of clover hay would you 

 give a cow? 



Mr. Cobb: — Six pounds, at night, the last thing. 



A Delegate: — Did you ever fill a silo with corn stover? 



Mr. Cobb : — No, but I know people that have, with entire 

 success. Of course it is not as palatable, and it is not as good 

 as silage with the ear chopped, but it is very good food. Another 

 thing I would like to caution you about. Prof. Haecker made 

 a statement in regard to planting corn thick. That is all right, 

 provided you have ideal corn weather, and an ideal section of 

 the country. But I lived in Wisconsin when a boy, and my 

 father had that thick corn idea in his head, and about two years 

 out of five we would have a drought strike that corn field with 

 an immense crop started, and it would be stunted, and the con- 

 sequence would be that we would get an immature, unpalatable, 

 unprofitable crop from that field. Pi my experience in planting 

 corn for silage, for twenty years, I have found that in this 

 section of the country, the best results we can get, for tonnage 



