IOO ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Mr. Garfield: " Oh, I object. We want him to talk as a 

 candid man." 



Mr. Boyd: "My experience has not been very extensive 

 with the silo. This is my first year, but so far as I have gone* I 

 can say with perfect candor, I think I am feeding my cattle at 

 one half the expense it has ever cost me before, with better 

 results. I am feeding thirty-two pounds of ensilage in 

 two feeds a day, with . two quarts of bran and one quart 

 of corn-hearts, and one pint of oil-meal, and in the mid- 

 dle of the day the cows get hay, and my cattle look 

 better than they ever did; they are producing better than 

 they ever did before. I am taking from three cans of milk, one 

 can of cream, and the cows look in better condition. I consider 

 it a great thing; the cheapest feed that I ever tried by a long 

 ways," 



The President: "Would you advise every farmer that keeps 

 from ten to thirty head of cattle to invest in a silo, even if it 

 cost him $500 to build it ? " 



Mr. Boyd: " Well, sir, mine did not cost so much as that. I 

 consulted Mr. Gurler before I built mine and it cost me about 

 $400, and it holds about two hundred and ten tons of ensilage. 

 The way we put it in, alternating in filling the bins, it don't 

 settle very much after it is once filled. I did not put any 

 weights at all on mine, but another season I will put cut straw 

 immediately on top of the ensilage. I find that the evaporation 

 from the ensilage causes considerable decomposition on top; 

 about three inches of my ensilage I had to give to my pigs ; the 

 pigs ate it. Ensilage is splendid for the hogs. I fed it to young 

 stock only two months old." 



Mr. Potter: " Do you put on any weight or cover at all?" 



Mr. Boyd: "I would not put any weights at all on it. I 

 would put a foot of cut straw on it in order to absorb the mois- 

 ture as it comes to the surface, then I would cover it with 

 boards and put tarred paper on top of the boards." 



Question — " Did you wilt your corn ? " 



Mr. Boyd: "Yes, we were caught in the rain when we 



