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will, I think, find any good power cutter will do as well, perhaps, as some of the more recently patented machines known as ensilage cutters. The stalks were not weighed when put in, but we have weighed the ensilage as it was taken from the silo, and it weighed out 40,000 pounds in round numbers, or between ten and eleven tons to the acre. This yield is a very fair one, when the condition of the land and season are taken into account; but I have no doubt that it might be trebled, perhaps more, under the most favorable conditions.

COVERING THE SILO.

The ensilage having been carefully leveled, so that the pressure should be equal, the planks, two inches thick and eight inches wide, were nicely fitted as the covering proceeded, care being taken that there should be no danger of binding at the ends, as the settling continued. It was then weighted immediately with stones, at the rate of nine hundred pounds to the square yard.

Various means for securing the desired pressure for the ensilage have been suggested, but it seems quite probable that weights of stone, wood, bags of grain, or boxes of earth will be found after all most desirable, as such pressure is constant and needs no watching, while a screw-power neglected, or forgotten, will be quite likely to result in failure The labor of putting on the stones and taking them off is no great item in the account. The stones we used had to be drawn a short distance, and three boys with a one-horse cart weighted the silo in four hours.

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This makes the entire cost of growing corn and placing in silo $2.09 per ton. This amount also includes the time of getting the horse-power from a neighboring farm and returning the same, and some allowance must be made for delays that were unavoidable in work with which none of us were familiar.

There was no outward sign of any change going on within the silo. Only a temporary roof was over it for some time, and on one or two occasions it was left in such shape as to receive some rain. On December 15th the silo was opened. The ensilage was found to be nicely preserved. There was no mould next to the plank or sides worth mentioning, and there has not been one per cent of waste.

The thorough exclusion of the air is the secret of its preservation. It matters but little what materials are used for the silo-lumber, stone, or merely pits-if the air is only excluded the fodder will be preserved. Many farmers at the institutes during the winter have inquired, "How do you get the ensilage from the silo?" and so I refer to it here. The stones were thrown back from

five of the plank next the basement door, the plank removed, and this section was cut down with a hay-knife and taken out with a four-tined fork and placed in baskets to be taken to the stable. After this section had been disposed of the process was repeated, only taking off the cover as needed (another advantage in weighting in this way). The process is similar to cutting down a hay-mow.

Not one of the least important considerations of ensilage is the fact that so large an amount of it can be packed in a comparatively small space. A cubic foot of ensilage from our silo will weigh 35 pounds. From 5 to 6 per cent of the live weight of the animal will be a daily ration, or from 50 to 75 pounds for an ordinary cow. It is thus an easy matter to compute the number of cubic feet necessary to contain the food for a certain number of animals. The silo at the college is 14x15 feet inside the walls and 8 feet high, containing 1,680 cubic feet. Allowing 40 pounds to the cubic foot, we have a capacity for almost 39 tons of ensilage, or enough to feed five cows for 200 days a daily ration of 60 pounds each. When we take into the accouut the large weights that can be packed in a small silo it seems that this promises to be the most economical method of providing shelter for fodder-no small item to farmers who are not well supplied with buildings.

The ensilage was slightly acid in taste, quite brown in color when first take from the silo, but after exposure to the air a short time, regained largely its fresh, green appearance. The cattle, from the start, with a few exceptions, ate it with avidity.

An analysis, made at the New Jersey Experimental Station by Prof. Neale, is herewith given:

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The analysis will be found, with several others, in the report of Prof. Cook, director of the New Jersey Experimental Station, to which I refer elsewhere.

FEEDING ENSILAGE.

Object of the Experiment.

The aim of the experiment was to determine the comparative value of ensilage, as a cattle food, for the production of milk, flesh and growth.

With this aim in view, the ensilage was fed in place of roots, and as a full or partial substitute for the dry, rough feeds. A reference to the accompanying table will show the different proportions and combinations in which the ensilage was fed.

ANIMALS CHOSEN FOR THE EXPERIMENT.

Four lots of cattle were selected from the college herd Dec. 1, 1881.

Lot I consisted of two milch cows, Ayrshire and Shorthorn, that had dropped first calves early in September of the same year.

Lot II was composed of two steers, Devon and Ayrshire, of nearly the same age and weight. The Devon was in rather better flesh than the other.

Lot III had two large, dry cows, Shorthorns, very nearly alike as to weight, time of calf, condition of health, and feeding qualities.

Lot IV was made up of three bull calves, all Shorthorns, which were very even as to weight, condition of flesh, and age.

PREVIOUS TREATMENT OF THE ANIMALS.

Owing to the late growth of grass and the mild fall weather, the cows and steers had been turned out to pasture during the day and stabled only at night. They had been fed dry cut cornstalks once and meal twice daily. The three bull calves had been kept in stalls for a month previous to the experiment, and had received a good hay and meal ration.

During the month of November all the animals selected for the experiment had lost weight, except the bull calf "No. 9" of the table, and he had gained nothing.

Nos. 3, 5, and 6 of the table were in good flesh-not fat-and the rest were in thrifty condition, though in rather thin flesh.

TREATMENT DURING THE EXPERIMENT.

During the experiment all the animals were fed regularly three times daily at 6:30 A M., noon, and 5 P. M. They were watered in the stall at 8 A. M., and again just before feeding at night. The milking was done just before the reg ular morning and evening feedings.

The animals were well groomed daily with card and brush. Every day, from 10 A. м, till noon, the cattle were turned into yards sheltered on the north and west. While in the yard they again had access to water. At this time also, each day, the stalls were well cleaned and littered. The cattle were salted twice each week. They were weighed on putting up, and regularly once each week thereafter at 4 P. M.

The cattle were attended throughout the experiment by one man, and especial pains were taken to secure regularity and uniformity in everything pertaining to the feed and care of the animals.

FEED AND FEEDING NOTES.

The rough feed was all cut into one-fourth to one-half inch lengths by a power cutter. The cornstalks were not very good, owing to bad weather while curing. The hay (timothy and clover, one-half each) and oat straw were of first quality. The meal, fed to the cows and steers, had 14 parts corn meal, 4 parts oat meal, and 9 parts wheat bran, by weight. That fed to the bull calves, and also to the Ayrshire steer, during the last six weeks of the experiment, was composed of one-third oat meal, one-third oil meal, and one-third wheat bran, by weight.

Exact notes of the feed given to each animal were kept, and any feed left in the mangers was also carefully noted and removed before the next feeding.

CONTENTS OF THE TABLE.

The table contains a concise description of each animal, and gives the in

gredients and exact proportions of the average daily rations. It also presents a full showing, by fortnights, of the feed consumed, gains in weight and the milk yield.

In the column headed "Total Feed Consumed," the decimals are omitted, but the calculations based on this column were made with the exact numbers. The losses in weight were put into the column marked "Gain in Weight," but the minus sign was prefixed in every case, thus (-36).

The

The two columns headed "Gain per Cent" were calculated as follows: "gain per cent of live weight" was obtained by dividing the "gain in weight," each fortnight, by the weight of the animal at the beginning of the same fortnight The " The "gain per cent of feed consumed" was obtained by dividing the "gain in weight," each period, by the "total feed consumed" in the corresponding period. In the fifth fortnight there was a slight gain in the milk yield of both cows. This is indicated in the column marked "pounds shrinkage" by the word "gain" over the proper number.

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TABLE Showing by Fortnights the Results of the Feeding Experiment.

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*9. 14.36

10. 13.64

15.5 12.32

6. 11.86

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