Craicley Mill Farm, Wohurn, 1884-5, and 1885-G. 495 
April 2 to 
April 20 to 
Jlay 4 to 
May 18 to 
April 20. 
May 4. 
May 18. 
June 1. 
Gain per head daily : 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
Ite. 
With roots and clover-liay . . 
2 
Q2 
loss. 
loss. 
With clover-silage 
H 
1 
Over the whole period of 60 days : — 
Gain per head daily, with roots and clover hay .. 24 lbs. 
„ „ with clover silage 5 lb. 
The root-fed animals throughout the whole period consumed 
daily 50 lbs. of mangolds per head, 3 lbs. of decorticated cotton- 
cake, 3 lbs. of maize meal, 7^ lbs. of clover hay-chaff, and drank 
15 lbs. of water on an average. 
The silage-fed animals had the same cake and meal, and on 
an average 46 lbs. of silage and 28 lbs. of water each daily. 
The first year's experiments ceased on June 1st, having 
lasted four months. There are many points, such as the cost of 
construction of the silos, of filling and emptying them, Sic, with 
which our inquiry was not directly concerned, but which are, to 
the practical farmer, matters of great importance. Our aim in 
the present case was to test, by the carrying out of a practical 
experiment, the relative feeding value of silage as compared 
with roots and hay-chaff. The evidence of the experiment 
shows distinctly in favour of the latter ; the simple facts 
being, that from the very beginning, the animals which were 
fed on roots and hay-chaff continued with one, and that only a 
temporary, exception, to gain fast and steadily, showing an 
average daily increase per head during the different periods of 
2f lbs., IJj- lbs., 3^ lbs., 1^ lbs. ; while the silage-fed animals 
showed in the same periods : gain, 1^ lbs. ; loss, -fj lb. ; gain, 
\^ lbs. ; gain, | lb. ; or for the whole two months a daily gain 
per head of 2 J lbs. on roots and hay-chaff, as against lb. on 
silage. Then, when the experiment was reversed, those bullocks 
which had previously shown so comparatively small an increase 
with silage, gained 1^ lbs., 2^ lbs., 2 lbs., and 3^ lbs. per head 
daily when their food was changed to roots and hay ; but those 
which before had done so well on roots, on having silage 
instead, at first lost l^lbs., then lost ^ lb. ; then gained l-j^ 
and 2^ lbs. per head daily ; or for the full period of two months, 
the daily g.tin per head on roots and hay-chaff was 2? lbs., on 
silage, i lb. 
In summing up, it is to be remembered that this was the first 
