Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1880-10-23
FARMERS DEPARTMENT


both fodder.corn and corn-fodde
for many years, yet We never triet
feeding 1t alone to milk COWS unit
the present season. We confess
that we have been disappointe.
with 1t. Until our early sweet corr
was IN the milk we soiled our cow
upon grass, cut upon Anasa Scott
plan, before the stem appeared
and with excellent results. W.
had one half.acre Of sweet corr
growing in alternate rows Will
newly set strawberries as u shade
to the yonug plants. In Angus
we began cutting this and taking
about half the best ears for the pig
giving all the rest to the COWS. The
decline in the quantity and quality
of the milk was immediate and
marked. An allowance ola quart
of meal additional per day did not
bring either quantity or quality
back to the standard of grass. Late.
ly, the sweet corn being exhausted.
we have been feeding Sanford corn,
which is much better liked by the
COWS and, probably as II conse'
quence is producing more milk. We
should not have believed Sanford
corn TO be SO much better than
sweet corn had we not seen how
much better it is eaten. Yet even
the Sanford is inferior to grass.
Cured corn-fodder, il well cured,
with the corn that grew on 1t
ground and fed with it, has always
proved with us SO nearly equal to
fair average hay that we could not
notice the difference. But when
fed alone it makes very white but.
ter that is hard to churn. Nicely
cured corn-fodder, not grown so
thick but there are good many
nubbins On it, is better, in our ex.
perience, than average hay for but
ter production.
We have never, however, been
able to get any corn-fodder of so
good a kind, or so perfectly cured,
that less than twenty per cent of
the total weight was rejected by
cows, This rejected portion, con.
sisting of the butts of the stalks, is
not @ total loss, as horses will eat a
good deal Of what the cows leave.
We do not believe that it could be
made profitable to force cows i'll
milk to eat up the best corn.fodder,
or fodder.corn, perfectly clean. No
doubt they could be starved into it,
but'where is your milk in that easel
You won't find much of it in the
pail.
Here, If anywhere, comes in the
main profit of ensilage. The fer
mentation of ensilage, according to
the chemists, makes about four per
cent more Of fodder-corn digestible
than in the raw state. Add this
to the twenty per cent usually left
by the cows, if not forced to eat it,
and we have gain of one-fourth
in the feeding value of ensilage
over perfectly cured corn-todder.
When we consider the difficulty,
and we may say, in some seasons,
the impossibility efperfectly curing
corn-fodder so that it will not
mould, we think it would be fair to
say that the gain of ensilage las to
feeding valu e) over cured corn-fod-
der can hardly be, on an average |
less than one-third. !,
If corn.fodder could be preserved
by ensilage without the production
of alcohol or vinegar in the mass,
there seems no reason to doubt that
it's use would prove of vast benefit
to dairy farmers. To increase the
feeding value of fodder corn one.
third, as we have 10 doubt is the
case when ensilaged, is to put it
about on on an equality with the
best hay cut in the blossom. When
with such ensilag mixture ofbran
or oat meal with corn is fed to
mich cows in winter, we should
expect the milk and butter yield to
I've quite satisfactory. But the ef-
feet of sour and alcoholic ensilage
upon the teeth and stomachs of
cows would, we greatly fear, soon
prove so injurious that the loss in
the end would be greater than the
gain. 1t is not impossible that
chemistry may be able to give us
some cheap and harmless fermen-
tative processes, and give us some
cheap and harmless substances
which, sprinkled upon the ensilage,
will prevent these harmful fermen-
tative processes, and give us a per-
fectly sweet ensilage. If this re-
suit can be reached we should ex-
pect to see the use of ensilage be-
come general on our dairy farms.
[Watchman.
EvapOrating Fruit ON a Small