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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i9 
THE WASTE OF SILAGE. 
When corn is cut for silage, how do the wastes com¬ 
pare with feeding shredded or whole corn fodder dry? 
It has been claimed that the silo wastes are as great as 
those of the dry fodder. 
A Scientific Comparison. 
There is no waste with us, nor do I think that there 
is any waste with anyone w'hen the silage has been 
properly made. That is, the animals eat it up clean 
—there is not a mouthful left in the mangers. In the 
case of corn stalks or fodder, I have to say that, in 
an experiment reported last year, where all the con¬ 
ditions were observed as carefully as possible, it was 
found that the waste amounted to 30 per cent of the 
dry matter, though the dry matter wasted was not as 
rich in protein and carbohydrates, but richer in crude 
fiber, than the whole product. It is almost impossi¬ 
ble, in the feeding of dry corn fodder, or stalks, to 
induce the animals to eat the whole of it. It may be 
that where some people claim that there is as much 
waste with silage as there is with the dry stalks, 
cut and shredded, they have reference to the losses 
that occur from the time the corn is cut in the field 
until it is fed. Now, these losses have been found to 
be practically the same in the one case as in the 
other. That is, the mechanical losses and the changes 
that take place in the field with the fodder corn, are 
practically counterbalanced by the losses due to fer¬ 
mentation and waste in the silo. Naturally, this will 
vary according to the methods of handling, and will 
range from 10 to 20 per cent. We have kept an accu¬ 
rate record of the actual wastes that occur in the 
silo, that is, that rotted at the top or sides, and have 
found that it amounted to less than five per cent, but 
the losses due to fermentation in the silo, other than 
that wasted, have not been absolutely determined 
with us. Assuming that the losses are the same with 
the one as with the other up to the time of feeding, 
there is an additional loss of 30 per cent of the dry 
matter in the feeding of the dry fodder; besides, the 
gain in milk flow from the succulent character of 
the silage has been shown to be 12.5 per cent. 
New Jersey Exp. Station, [prof.] e. b. vookhees. 
Not Enough to Count. 
This year we fed the husked stalks from an acre of 
“hen corn,” and about once a week had to draw out 
a wagonload of butts, as the mangers would get so 
full that there was no room in them to feed more. 
We opened the silo about November 24, and after 
scraping off the cut straw, found five bushels of 
silage which had fire-fanged, or dried so that the 
cattle would not eat it. Erom that day to this every 
particle has been eaten. There is no necessity to 
clean out the mangers. There will, sometimes, be a 
few quarts accumulated in the manger, but a strong 
brine sprinkled on them once a week is all that is 
required to make them disappear. The loss from 
all causes would not be half of one 
per cent. There are a few small 
chunks of silage molded together, 
which stock will not eat. We find 
them in the corners where the man 
stood most of the time, instead of 
keeping on the move. These cows are 
not starved into eating the whole, as 
they are fed five quarts of grain per 
day, and a little hay at noon. We put 
in all the silage they will eat, at every 
feed. 
I have had some trouble in former 
years with the surface heating up 
faster than the stock would eat it, and 
lost some in this way, but this year I 
have overcome the difficulty by putting 
in a broad partition, dividing the silo 
into two parts. We nailed a cleat on 
each side, and set in inch hemlock 
boards as fast as we filled, filling 
both parts at the same time. They are 
not nailed, and can be taken out as we 
feed down the last part. I did not 
put them in clear to the top, but filled 
over them for the last quarter. Ex¬ 
perts said that it would not work; when it settled it 
would smash the boards; air would get in, etc., but 
it’s all right. One could feed down to the boards in 
cold weather, and then save one of the halves for 
Summer feeding. I never had any experience with 
shredded fodder. I cut my stalks one year and did 
not think the stock ate them any cleaner than when 
uncut. There was a great waste. c. e. chapman. 
The Silo Far Ahead. 
From the cutting of the corn until the cow has con¬ 
sumed the silage, we don’t think that there is a 
loss of two per cent in the modern silo. In our own 
experience we can’t find- even that. In cutting the 
corn we get just as close to the ground as possible, 
and all scattering leaves are picked up. Everything 
is cut up, even the weeds, if we are unfortunate in 
having any 'in the corn, as we sometimes do. The 
cows eat the silage perfectly clean, and always act 
as though they would like a little more. When one 
feeds a balanced ration, and silage is fed once a 
day, or not to exceed 40 pounds per day, if fed twice, 
the cows will eat every particle. We have observed 
that when the corn is cut and stacked to cure for the 
grain, that it is not generally cut so close, which 
means a good many hundred pounds loss per acre, and 
before the stover gets to the barn a good many of the 
leaves have been broken and lost; some has been on 
the ground and decayed. Unless it has been a perfect 
season for curing, it will be quite likely to mold if 
packed close in the barn, as many have to do for lack 
HOW THE COCOANCT GERMINATES. Fig. 8. 
of storage room. Some do not even take the trouble 
to house, and here there is even still more loss. 
If it is not cut the cattle frequently waste one-half 
to one-third of the weight of fodder, as is evidenced 
by the barnyard and manure pile. If it is cut or 
shredded this must be done every few days, and it is 
a bother to be continually setting up and taking down 
machinery. ii. you cut too large a pile it will heat and 
injure. One 01 the good silo features is that it is all 
over for the season as soon as cut, anu there are sev¬ 
eral handlings saved. I have seen a good many cattle 
bedded with cut corn fodder that in my opinion would 
have been eaten clean had it been silage. The 
butts, if the variety is large, are often hard and tough, 
and the whole stover is not as palatable as silage. 
The secret of silage value is palatability. If a food 
is not palatable, it will not make as much milk as one 
that does not give so high a protein analysis, but 
tickles the cow. 
Another point in favor of silage is that it is four- 
fifths water, and the water is combined with the food, 
nearly like the cow’s natural food—pasture grass. If 
a cow has 30 pounds of silage at night, she has 24 
pounds of water, or nearly one-fourth the total 
amount she will need during a day. She will not be 
obliged to warm that water from freezing point to 
blood temperature. It is already warm, as the food 
comes from tne silo. Another feature, if fed at night, 
is that it supplies her watery food after she has had 
her last chance to drink for that day, if the cow has 
to be let out for her drink. When the corn is properly 
put in the silo, and as soon as completed is covered 
with sawdust, apple pomace, or something to exclude 
the air, there is practically no loss here. The early 
silos were often not properly filled, all the light 
leafy matter went one way, and the heavier another, 
so that there was unequal settling. Air got in, and 
there was rot, but where round or square silos with 
corners knocked off are properly filled, I will guar¬ 
antee less than two per cent loss, and where is the 
stover that can equal that? We also get more milk 
from an acre of corn, and that is what we are after, 
than the stover man possibly can. We believe there is 
a gain of $10 to $20 feeding value per acre, in the 
silo, over the dry fodder method, h. g. Manchester. 
WHAT CAUSES KNOTTY FRUIT? 
Curculio and Scab Chiefly Responsible. 
What, in your opinion, is the main cause of knotty 
fruit? In some parts of the country this is getting to be 
quite a serious question, especially with pears. We know 
that the easiest answer to this question is “curculio,” 
but this does not seem to cover all the causes, especially 
on apples and pears, for curculios are not frequently 
found on apples, at least in the West. Will you enumer¬ 
ate some of the causes you have observed for this knotty 
and twisted fruit? 
There are several causes, curculio not being one of 
them here. In the order of their importance in Ver¬ 
mont and through this section generally, they seem 
to be scab fungus, Railroad worm. Tent caterpillar, 
lack of cultivation and Codlin-moth. Scab is by all 
odds the most efficient cause, especially with pears. 
The Railroad worm is very bad this year, particularly 
in sweet apples. Neglect and general mismanage¬ 
ment also cause much bad and knotty fruit. 
Vermont Exp. Station. f. a. watjgh. 
BORDEAUX MIXTURE AND THE ARSENITES.— 
While it is true that the curculios are largely and 
justly chargeable with the knottiness of the apples, 
pears and quinces, there are several other causes that 
add to this trouble. Chief among these are some of 
the fungous diseases. Apple scab is, perhaps, the 
worst of all of them. It affects both the apple and 
pear, and not only the fruit but the foliage. It 
makes brownish-black patches, sometimes half an 
inch in diameter, which cause the fruit almost to 
stop growing under them, as a hard tissue is formed 
in the flesh hy the internal growth of the fungus. 
When the dark patches run together the flesh often 
cracks. The fruit is thus made small, distorted in 
shape and of little or no value either for home or 
market use. It also destroys the leaves to such an 
extent that the trees are almost defoliated. This is 
the most destructive of all diseases that affect the 
apple and pear. 
The quince is affected by another species of fungus, 
which causes the leaves first to become brown-spor¬ 
ted, then turn yellow and often fall before midsum¬ 
mer. On the fruit it forms dark brown or nearly 
black spots, under which the flesh toughens and 
shrinks until sunken places of considerable depth de¬ 
velop by the growth of the rest of the fruit. This 
disease also works on the pear. There is still another 
fungus, which is called a rust (Roestelia aurantiaca), 
that preys upon the quince. It forms orange-colored 
spots, which finally become hard, dry, black and 
sunken. With all these diseases, and 
perhaps others of similar character 
which are not so well studied out by 
scientists, the treatment should be 
thoroughly to spray with Bordeaux 
Mixture, beginning just before the 
buds open in the Spring, anu again 
about two weeks later, with one or 
more applications after the fruit is 
well started to growing. 
The different species of curculios and 
gougers are much more difficult of 
control. They deposit tfceir eggs in 
the fruit, when they develop 'into 
larvae beyond the reach of anything 
that can be applied to kill them. Nor 
can the beetles that do the laying be 
killed by poison, or in any other way, 
so far as is known, except by first 
being caught. The jarring process is 
quite effectual, but it is costly. It re¬ 
quires much labor frequently to jar 
the trees and catch the bugs. The 
quince is especially affected by a very 
small species of curculio, which causes 
small, sunken, corky spots that often 
are so numerous as to render much of the fruit com¬ 
paratively worthless. The low, bushy habit of the 
trees makes it necessary especially to prune them so 
that they may be jarred. One fortunate fact with re¬ 
gard to spraying for the fungous diseases is that the 
arsenical preparations may be added to the copper 
mixtures, and all applied at once, thus killing Codlin- 
moth and any leaf-eating insects that may be trou¬ 
blesome, and the germs of the fungous diseases at the 
same time. h. e. van deman. 
American makers of fruit jams and jellies are consider¬ 
ing a movement for the addition of these products to the 
United States Army ration. Fruit jam has been found a 
desirable addition to the food of British soldiers, and 
1,450,000 pounds of it have been sent to South Africa with 
other supplies. Fruit growers would have reason to use 
any influence they possess in this direction, especially to 
prevent aduteration. 
