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DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



In most parts of Kansas the yield of the sorghums, such as kafir and sweet 

 sorghum, is considerably larger than that of corn, and in some seasons 

 the acre yield is several 'times larger. It was thought that if these crops 

 •could be made into silage, they would be of particular advantage to the 

 farmers and stockmen of western Kansas, where corn is grown with diffi- 

 culty and much uncertainty. 



The first sorghum crop put into the silo was sweet sorghum, commonly 

 called cane. Previous experiments with this crop and the experience of 

 some farmers have given the general impression that cane contains too 

 much sugar, and that silage made from it would be very sour and would 

 not be eaten by stock. Our results the first year showed that silage made 

 from cane did not contain so much acid at any time during the year as 

 did silage made from corn. This, of course, is quite contrary to the belief 

 heretofore held by many, but is easily explained after thought and investi- 

 gation. In the past, where cane had been made into silage, it had been put 

 up entirely too early. Those who tried it put it into the silo at the same 

 time that they cut their corn for silage. At this stage of maturity, cane 

 contains entirely too much moisture, or sap, and, when put up at this time, 

 is certain to result in sour silage. With us, the cane was not put up until 

 three weeks after the corn silage was made, at which time the cane seed 

 was hard and the stalk was well filled with sap, but did not contain an 

 excess of moisture. The cane used in this experiment was grown on up- 

 land soil on the College farm. One-third of the field was drilled and an- 

 other third was listed. The remainder of the field was in corn. The drilled 

 cane made 12.5 tons of silege to the acre, the listed cane 8 tons, and the 

 corn made 5 tons. 



In the fall of 1912, one silo was filled with cane, one with kafir, and one 

 with corn. The following yields were obtained: Corn, 7.1 tons of silage to 

 the acre; cane, 8.2 tons; kafir, 6 tons. The yield of kafir was not a repre- 

 sentative one. The season of 1912 was not a. good season for kafir, and the 

 early frost cut down the yield considerably. Here, again, we had the same 

 results with the cane as we had previously. It made a good quality of 

 silage, and after analyzing the different silages for acidity, it was found 

 that the cane silage did not contain, at any time during the winter, so much 

 acid as did the corn silage. 



First Trial, 1911-1912 



In the first year's experiment, cane silage was compared with corn 

 silage as a feed for dairy cows giving milk. Two lots of four cows each 

 were selected from the herd for the experiment. These lots were handled 

 in the following manner: 



The cows in lot I were fed for the first twenty days on corn silage. 

 For the second twenty days (after a period of ten days had intervened) 

 they were fed on cane silage. After another intervening period of ten 

 days, the third twenty-day period began, when the cows were again fed on 

 corn silage. The animals in lot II were fed cane silage during the first 

 period, corn silage during the second period, and cane silage during the 



