240 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage^ 
sense affect the desirability of giving the usual rations of con- 
centrated or " artificial " foods, either to milch cows or to 
feeding beasts or sheep. 
A most important point in reference to the use of silage as 
food for in-calf cows has been frequently the subject of dis- 
cussion with dairy-farmers, in consequence of an assumed 
analogy between pitted fodder and brewers' grains, owing, I 
presume, to both being more or less fermented foods. It is 
generally accepted as a fact that milch cows cannot be fed to a 
large extent upon brewers' grains without their soundness for 
breeding purposes being impaired ; and this has suggested the 
very serious question whether silage would have a similar effect 
upon the breeding powers of cows fed upon it. In England, 
our experience has hitherto been of so short a duration that it 
is impossible to speak positively on the subject ; but I may say 
that 1 have never heard such a complaint made against the use 
of silage on the Continent.* Still, it must be admitted that on 
these and some other points we have a great deal yet to learn ; 
and although Mr. Hunting's experiment with his heifers has been 
encouraging, I should recommend the use of silage as food for 
breeding animals to be conducted with caution, and especially 
that the silage should be mixed with at least an equal quantity 
of unfermented bulky food, such as hay, chopped straw, &c. 
If my correspondents are unanimous at all, it is in testifying 
that cattle are ravenously fond of pitted fodder. Whether it be 
good or only indifferent it makes apparently but very little 
difference to the cattle ; sheep seem to be rather more fastidious ; 
and, in the case of horses, their likes and dislikes appear to be 
more personal than generic. The experiments which have 
already been made as to the nutritive value of silage are com- 
paratively few, and very few of these are comparative ; but 
enough seems to be known to warrant the prevailing belief that 
well-made silage is at least as valuable for feeding purposes as 
the best hay. Probably it would not be going beyond the facts, 
notwithstanding some adverse reports, to state that in the case 
of milch-cows silage generally has a greater cream-producing 
value than hay. Exact experiments are still wanting to enable 
one to judge of the effect of this feeding material upon butter 
and cheese, but the more salient elements of the problem have 
been clearly pointed out by some of my corresponchnits. 
Changes which Fodder undergoes in the Silo. — I am by no 
means competent to write a treatise on the chemistry of ensi- 
lage, and therefore I do not propose to attempt to do it. My 
* The experiences of Mr. Bateman witli ewes, of IMr. Gibson with cows, and of 
tlie Vicomte de Chezelles wiHi both cows and ewes tend to show that the judicious 
U8(* of silage as food does not interfere with the breeding powers {\iy>^ IGO, 182, 
and 209.) 
