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DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



means about one and one-half pounds of milk daily to the cow. The cows 

 made a very slight gain in body weight while on the cane silage. 



Corn silage was compared with cane silage in lot III. Corn proved 

 superior to cane silage. When the cows were changed to. cane silage, they 

 declined in milk production in the second period, as shown in the table; 

 when they were changed back to corn silage in the third period, they 

 showed a general increase in milk. While the cows were on corn silage in 

 the third period, they each produced slightly more than one-half pound more 

 milk per day than they had produced on cane silage. In this trial the 

 cows made a very slight gain in live weight in favor of the corn silage, but 

 this gain is so small as to be negligible. 



In summing up the work of both trials, the following conclusions may 

 be drawn: 



Corn silage is slightly superior, as a milk producer, to silage made 

 from either kafir or cane. 



Kafir silage ranks second as a feed for milk cows. 

 Cane silage ranks third as a milk producer. 



In both trials the cattle gained in live weight on cane silage more 

 readily than on the silage made from kafir or corn. This fact would indi- 

 cate that it contained more carbohydrates and sugar, or fattening nutrients, 

 than the other feeds. In this experiment the grain and the hay ration were 

 constant, and the only change made in the feeding was in the kind of silage. 

 It is our opinion that cane silage would prove the equal, ton for ton, of corn 

 or kafir silage if the grain ration were changed so that the animal would 

 use the nutrients more economically. This could be done by feeding more 

 protein and less fat-forming nutrients in the grain ration. 



Although kafir and cane silage were shown to be slightly less valuable 

 than corn silage from the experiments just explained, there are other fac- 

 tors that must be considered; namely, yield, and adaptability to local con- 

 ditions. Without doubt, the greater yield of cane and- kafir to the acre 

 will offset the slight increase in feeding value obtained from corn silage. 

 Kafir and cane are drought-resistant crops and can be grown over a wider 

 territory than corn, and from one-third to one-half more tonnage to the 

 acre can be obtained. 



During both trials the acidity of the cane silage was never more than 

 that of the corn silage. In the second trial the average acidity for the 

 three different kinds of silage was as follows: Corn, 2.03 percent; cane, 

 1.46 percent; kafir, 1.43 percent. 



It was also noted during the experiment that most of the cane seed and 

 a great amount of the kafir seed passed through the animals undigested. 

 This suggests that the nutritive value of these crops as silage is to a cer- 

 tain extent limited to the nutritive value of the stalk and leaves. 



The quality of silage obtained from all crops was very good. The kafir 

 silage was perhaps the poorest on account of being immature, as the heavy 

 frost forced an early harvest. 



