512 



Silage for Dairy Cows. 



[Sept., 



The Relative Cost of the Mangold and Silage Ration. — The 



question which naturally arises from consideration of the above 

 experiment is : " Has silage proved an economical substitute 

 for mangolds? " As this was one of the points upon which 

 information was sought a detailed account of the cost of growing 

 and feeding the mangold and silage crop was kept, and from 

 this record the following summary has been prepared : — 



Cost of Mangolds per Ton. 

 Cost of growing and clamping mangolds per acre 

 Cost of carting mangolds from clamp and pulping 



Total cost per acre 



Yield of mangolds per acre 

 Cost of mangolds per ton ... 



Cost of Silage j^e^" Ton. 

 Cost of growing silage crop and filling silo per acre 



Yield of silage per acre 

 Cost of silage per ton 



£ s. 

 24 

 2 16 



£26 16 



15 tons 

 1 15 9 



10 



5 tons 

 2 



If the purchased feeding stuffs, hay and straw, are taken at 

 market prices the cost of the two rations works out as follows : — • 



lb. Mangold Ration. 



50 Mangolds at £1 15s. 9d. per ton 



10 Meadow hay at £6 per ton 



18 Oat straw chafE at £3 10s. per ton 



4 Dried ale grains at £11 10s. per ton 



5 Concentrates at £19 16s. per ton 



Total cost of food per cow per day 



Average yield of milk per cow per day 



Cost of ration per gal. of milk 



lb. Silage Ration. 



50 Silage at £2 per ton 



10 Meadow hay at £6 per ton 

 4 Dried ale grains at £11 10s. per ton 

 3 Concentrates at £19 16s. per ton 



Total cost of food per cow per day 



Average yield of milk per cow per day 



Cost of ration per gal. of milk 



d. 



9'5 

 6-4 

 6-7 

 4-75 

 10-60 



37-97d. 



28-3 lb. 

 13-4 d. 



d. 

 10-9 

 6-4 

 4-75 

 6-36 



28-41d. 



28-8 lb. 

 9-9 d. 



The results are shown graphically in Fig. 1. In spite of the 

 somewhat greater cost of silage, the silage ration has proved 

 to be much more economical than the mangold ration, in large 

 measure owing to the saving on the cake bill. 



