Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1885-03-16
SILO AND ENSILAGE.

At the weekly meeting of the far
mers held in the New England Ag
ricultural Society, Boston, on Satur-
day, oslo and Ensilage" was dis
cussed as follows:
Benjamin P. Ware spoke first. He
said that the economic. theory of the
ensllage system was now acknowl-
edged. But there was much still to
be learned A new system devel-
oped during the year has been the
preserving OF sweet ensilage; hither-
to it has always been acid. The
speaker, however, was not sure but
that degree of acidity was of adj
vantage. as beng the first operation
of digestion. All food taken into
the cows large stomach becomes,
within half an hour, in similar con-
dition to the acid ensilage. 1t might
be that certain effort of digestion
was thus saved.
George B. Forastall of Tewksbury
Mass, read a paper in which he states
that in spite of what scientific men
have said of the dement's of ensilage
feeding, experience had taught the
farmers that ensilage was a power
full lever in their hands. One of the
most important factors in the extern
sion of agriculture is the raising of
corn. The reader described the
method of cultivation on the state
farm. The total cost of raising corn
with manure proved to be SAT an
acre, or allowing one-third for i'm
provment of the land, S3l.67. BY
the fertilage system the net cost
might be estimated at $36.33. The
expense of storing, when the corn
was put IN sliced, was 1928 per ton
in the silo. The COWS have been fed
with ensilage for years at about sew
en- months year, and they are in the
best condition. The milk analysis
q. showed that the COWS fed on ensilage
gave more solids to their milk than
did those fed on hay. You can take
your own time in filling your silos,
and it is better, often, to put the
fodder in whole. 1t is doubtful il
sweet ensilage can be obtained if
the fodder is cut before being put in
The cost of keeping q COW on Eng
lish hay, 20 pounds of which may bt
estimated to equal 80 pounds of ensi
lage, would be Is cents day OIL
ensilage 51a cents, leaving sufficient
under the silage system, to pay TO
the grain, with total cost only one
half cent over the cost of the ha,
alone.
Henry Noble of Pittsfeld, Mass.
, president of the Highland Agricul
lural Society, SAID he was now feed
ing for the fourth time ensilage t
. his COWS. His ensilage cost him, pu
into the silo, So 80 a ton. The COW
to which he fed ensilage were i
good health and yielding results pre-
=. portionate to the fodder. He use
no handwork whatever. Experiment
had shown raising of 81 tons 4O
pounds on an average to the acre
He could get two quarts of GOO
cream from 10 quarts Of milk. H
neighbors, who fed on grass, obtain
ed two quarts from Il quarts of mill
and that, too, of inferior quality
his. The use of ensila9e reduc
the cost of milk one-half cent
:. quart.
" DR.. J. NJ. Grosvenor of Swan
scott, Mass, exhibited some yellC
butter from COWS fed on ensilage:
sold this at IS cents pound, al
sold all he could make.
George G.. Smith of St. Alban
VT, stated that he got as good butt
from ensilage as from pasturing.
never had but one silo that had b
49, ensilage, and that was due to m
- management. His cost was not oN
$2.57 a ton in the silo. The sto
~ had been carried up from IA to
COWS, with every probability of ST
-, porting 100 on the land.
he