514 



Silage for Dairy Cows. 



[Sept., 



The Saving on the Cake Bill.— It will be noted that 50 lb. of 

 silage has taken the place of 50 lb. of mangolds, 

 1ft lb. of oat straw chaff and 2 lb. of concentrates. A 

 saving of 2 lb. of concentrates per head per day in a herd of 

 80 cows is a considerable advantage. If we assume that the 

 herd is receiving winter rations from 15th October to the 

 15th April, a total of 182 days, the saving works out as 

 follows : — 



f S. (1. 



Decorticated Cotion Cake, 2 tons 18 cwt. at £18 per ton 52 14 

 Bean Meal, 1 ton 19 cwt. at £16 10s. per ton 32 3 



Total Saving ... £84 17 



Saving per Cow £2 1(1 G 



To the above figure must be added the saving on oat straw. 

 Approximately 44 tons of oat straw would be saved during the 

 six months by a herd of 30 cows receiving IS lb. per head per 

 day. At ^£3 10s. per ton such straw has a value of ;£*154. 



As to vv'hether it would be desirable to dispense with the use 

 of oat straw chaff depends upon the possibility of putting it to 

 an equally useful purpose on the farm or obtaining a profitable 

 market for it. In any case, if the oat straw chaff remained in 

 the ration it would clearly be necessary to curtail the hay con- 

 siderably. 



In the case in question the total savings in the use of other 

 feeding stuffs stand as follows (assuming that a herd of 30 cows 

 received the silage ration during the whole of the winter 

 period) : — 



Saving in purchased feeding stuffs ... ... value £84 17 



„ oat straw 154 



Total 



... £238 



17 







Less extra cost of s 



ilage 31 



17 









£207 











It will be noted that such a favourable economic result from 

 the use of silage is to a large extent due to the fact that the low 

 yield of mangolds per acre is responsible for the high cost per 

 ton. Under the climatic conditions of the east of Essex it is but 

 seldom that the present yield of 15 tons per acre is exceeded 

 to any considerable extent. In intei-preting the results such a 

 condition of affairs must be borne in mind. It costs no more 

 to grow and manure a 40-ton crop of mangolds than a 15 -ton 

 crop, and where a 30-ton crop of mangolds can be grown with 



