22 BULLETIN 1045, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
not eat as much of it as of the corn silage. In 1918, when they were 
fed on sunflower silage continuously for a considerable period, both 
dairy cows and beef cattle ate the sunflower silage very well at first, 
but after 10 days or two weeks they would not eat as much. "It 
seemed ,the longer they were fed sunflower silage the less they would 
clean up. The cows also dropped off in their milk flow." 
In 1919 Holden added to the sunflower silage about 10 per cent, 
by weight, of molasses from the sugar factory. Dairy cows, beef 
cattle, and fattening lambs ate this silage fairly well, but even 
with the molasses added they did not relish it as well as they did the 
corn silage. 
At the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station the leaves of 
the sunflower plants had been killed by rust and drought so that the 
crop was in poor condition when it was ensiled. T. E. Woodward, 
in charge of the silage experiments at the experiment farm of the 
Dairy Division of the United States Department of Agriculture at 
Beltsville, Mel., reports some difficulty in getting dairy cows to eat 
the sunflower silage, although its quality appeared to be good. De- 
tails are lacking regarding the condition of the sunflowers when they 
were put into the silo at the Michigan station. It is impossible, 
therefore, to explain its apparent lack of palatability. With the ex- 
ception of the above-mentioned reports and that of the Pennsylvania 
experiment station (see p. 24) there has been little complaint about 
the palatability of sunflower silage. 
At the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station cattle, sheep, 
and hogs ate sunflower silage readily and in sufficient quantities to 
prove its availability in the rationing of these animals. The West 
Virginia. Wyoming, and Idaho experiment stations, the University 
of Saskatchewan, and the Manitoba Agricultural College,. in addition 
to numerous farmers, all report that sunflower silage is relished by 
dairy cows. It is safe to say, therefore, that silage made from sun- 
flowers which are in good condition and at the right stage of de- 
velopment when cut will in most cases be consumed readily by dairy 
cows and most other kinds of live stock, with the possible exception 
of horses. 
COLOR, TEXTURE, AND ODOR. 
Good sunflower silage is usually a dark olive-brown color, much 
darker than corn or sorghum silage. In texture it compares favor- 
ably with corn silage when the sunflowers have been harvested at 
the right stage of maturity and stored properly. Most of the com- 
plaints regarding the texture of sunflower silage are the result of 
harvesting the crop too late. When the plants have been allowed 
to stand until the seeds are in the hard dough stage or even nearer 
ripe, the stems become woody and do not soften up in the silo. 
