Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-01-06
ENSlLAGE RATlONS.
Notes and suggestions submitted oy ~"
Experienced Agriculturist.

| Notes and Suggestiohs S"n'.'
Experienced Agricultural.
The individual practices OF the si'o
owners of this country are so varied
and the plans of raising silage so o'l
fercnt that it is difficult to lay dow
any definite rules in regard to Stag
feeding. The original idea OF ensllag'
was to secure by some means as srea
a growth of fodder rs possible paying
no attention to grain bearing along
with stalk growth. BY this plan sllage
was largely "greenness and water
and in feeding it great quantity was
necessary for ration. and so, perforce,
grain in form of oats, bran. llnseea
meal. and like heterogeneous foods had
to be fed to give balanced ration
| Under this system we heard OF cows
consuming Bushels, each, Of silage per
day, and large grain ration IN al
dition. In the early days of ensilage
men told me they fed from seventy-fve
to one hundred pounds per day 10
grown animals, and the effect was
much as it would be to gorge an AMI
nal on any other sort of dilute food.
1t was not long before the advocates
of exclusive silage feeding discovered
that the ration was too bulky. and that
not only was it better to direct the
growth Of the siage fodder towards
grain bearing, but that there must be
a rotation of crops on the farm. ms
implied some clover and tame hay,
certain amount of stalks from field corn,
which should he fed along with the
silagc; and so from these causes there
has been reduction in the amount OF
the daily Silage ration; and to Jay
knowledge last winter from twenty-five
to fifty pounds. along with other feed
ing materials, was about the average
amount fed.
Necessarily there was n curtailment
Of the silage ration when the idea OF
grain growth vas made prominent in
the raising of ensilage fodder. Grad
uallv, in this, the amount of ensilage
seed corn has been reduced to about
twelve to fourteen quarts per acre, and
this thinning out not only gives strong.
lusty stalk in place of the spindling
one but Il big. well developed ear of
grain on about every stalk, that adds
fully onc-half to the ration. pound for
pound. This season | drilled in my en-
silagc in rows three feet eight inches
apart, kernel each six or eight inches
in the row, and the result has been
more like field corn in its development
of grain not attempts at ears, but
full-sized ears. with filled and plump
kernels. The stalks growing twelve
and fourteen feet high, will averag,
twenty good ears to each twenty-liv,
stalks, and rs we cut them into the silo
the slage Us it came falling from the
''snoot,n seemed white with its mixture
Of corn, and must make II ration thai
has more than twice the feeding value
Of silage that bears no grain-for The
latter is largely lacking in sugar ant
starch-and IL proportionatc smaller
amount must have equal feeding value
The cutlery against silage for tn,
dairy has ceased aad no one now dis
putcs the excellence of milk made from
good silage ration-aud to do 81
would he to fly in the face of facts
and So how to feed silagc after it ha
been cooked in the pit, is of SOM
moment. The silagc is ready to fee,
rs soon as the temperature has fallen t,
about eighty degrees, which it seems t.
do readily in about three weeks, afte
putting ON the covers. A verydesirabl
thing to do, when ready to commenc
feeding, is to remove the covers all OF
from one pit, and remove the silage a
wanted evenly from the surface. Thi
method gives the silage a chance to be
come "aircdn and lose its fresh, an,
often somewhat pungent, odor; an,
then it can not give to the milk an
foreign flavor, In feeding the silag
should be removed from the surface G
the pit so frequently that there is n
chance for any change to occur in it
chemical character; and observance G
this rule, even with what is known a
sour silagc, prevents any deterioratio
in the milk.
When bran is fed, it is desirable tina
the amount should be divided and pu
on the morning and evening silag
feeds The two are then eaten together
and go through the animal laborator
together for digestion and assimilation
and no known method of feeding ca
better this,
Hardness in feeding silage is great
ly promoted by using two-wheele,
wheel barrow. Such barrow is nc
inclined to tip over, and if made I
hold about five or six bushels, it wi
contain silage sufficient for abou
twelve cows, BY weighing few 5000
shove!suls, one can quickly learn I
weigh n ration by the eye and hand
and the work of feeding stable G
COWS or steers is quickly performed
and the bran can be added to the 81
age in the manager, and the proportio
for each animal can be varied as Gil
cumstances may warrant. job: GoulC
IN Rural Neio YORKER.
Little Georgia used to say his ever
| ipCr t,rauar ,yh iln Sittingr In his ,O,Lo,,'