FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 125 



5- — Apparently cheapest way of supplying succulent feed. 



Disadvantages of Summer Silage 



I. — Requires a number of small diameter silos in order to 

 feed enough silage from the surface to prevent loss by decay. 



Conclusion 



From a practical standpoint we must of necessity proceed 

 slowly in the matter of turning to the soiling system. There is 

 absolutely no question but that the farmer can raise more crops 

 and keep more cows per acre by an intensive system of soiling 

 crops; that is, if green feed is brought to the cows rather than 

 the use of pasture. The American farmer, however, is rightly 

 concerned chiefly about the profit for the year's work rather than 

 in the privilege of handling a larger number of cows. A com- 

 plete soiling system is entirely feasable and practical in Europe 

 or near our large cities where labor is cheap and land is very 

 high. However, as conditions here are materially different, it 

 is quite likely that for most places in the west the growing of 

 green crops should for the present at least be limited to that 

 period of the year when they are so much needed to tide the cow 

 over the dry, hot summer months. 



Practical experience has shown that when pastures are de- 

 pended upon for the main source of feed during the summer 

 months, the cows do not attain their maximum yield. It has 

 been shown also that when the milk flow is once diminished by 

 unfavorable conditions, it is impossible to bring the cows back 

 to normal yield when conditions again become favorable. 



The solution of this problem, which confronts nearly all 

 Nebraska dairymen, lies in adopting preventative measures. In 

 other words, Nebraska farmers must be prepared to supplement 

 the pastures by means of soiling crops or by the use of silage,, 

 Owing to the cost of labor and the relatively low value of the 

 land and the crop, soiling, with the exception of alfalfa, appar- 

 ently is less efficient than silage under Nebraska conditions. The 

 important point, however, is that in a section in which hot, dry 

 summers are the rule, as is the case in certain sections of Ne- 

 braska, such soiling crops as can be grown cheapest or silage 



