THE SUNFLOWER AS A SILAGE CROP. 27 
fed a limited ration of sunflower silage only for 30 days with good 
results, and mature beef cows thrived when fed sunflower silage 
in the morning and hay in the evening. 
At the Wyoming station it was observed that cattle preferred the 
sunflower silage to good alfalfa hay or oat-and-pea silage. The 
silage was found especially valuable in Wyoming as a substitute for 
pasture during the winter, keeping both dairy cows and beef cattle 
in a thrifty growing condition. 
The New Mexico station also fed sunflower silage to beef cows and 
young beef stock. It was compared with sweet-sorghum silage for 
this purpose and found to equal the latter in feeding value. What 
difference there was in the gains produced favored the sunflower 
silage (16). 
At the University of Alberta (2) at Edmonton 54 steers were fed 
for 140 days in a comparison of three kinds of silage. Eighteen 
head were fed oat silage; 18 head, oat-and-pea silage, and 18 
head, sunflower silage. The steers had all the silage and hay they 
desired in addition to a two-thirds grain and linseed-oil meal ration. 
The oat and oat-and-pea silages were both first-class. The sunflower 
silage was not so good, because the crop had to be harvested while 
it was immature. From 2 to 20 per cent of the plants were in bloom 
and one field was frosted before harvest. No difficulty was experi- 
enced in getting the steers to eat sunflower silage, and there was no 
trouble from scouring even while they were consuming 73 pounds 
of silage a day. In this experiment oat silage ranked first in rapidity 
and economy of gains, sunflower silage second, and oat-and-pea 
silage third. 
There is little doubt from these experiments that sunflower silage 
can be used with good results in the rations of beef cattle. 
USE OF SUNFLOWER SILAGE, IN FEEDING SHEEP. 
During the winter of 1917-18 the Montana Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station conducted an experiment in feeding sunflower silage 
to breeding ewes. This test was designed to indicate the value of 
sunflower silage in replacing a part of the alfalfa hay in the ration. 
The lot fed hay and oats was under test for 77 days, and the lot fed 
hay, silage, and oats for 74 days. The average gain per ewe during 
the test period was 13.2 pounds for the hay-fed lot and 12.4 pounds 
for those in which silage was included in the ration. This slight 
difference in gain was due for the most part, perhaps, to the slightly 
greater quantity of oats received by the first lot. The conclusion 
reached by the experimenters was that in feeding breeding ewes 2J 
pounds of sunflower silage is equal to 1 pound of alfalfa hay- No 
unfavorable results were noted in feeding the sunflower silage either 
before, during, or after lambing. 
