Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-01-24

EcoNoaAY o. EssslLAu
RIlllng : ssls at n Ass.al Co. e $3.50.
Three Cents Per Ten.
The question OF the value Of eusi-
lage. and the system Of preserving
green fodder in air-tight vaults called
silos. has been the subject Of spirited
controversy since the first employment
of the method in this country dozen
years ago. The advocates Of the sys-
tenn. it must be admitted, have often
made the most extravagant claims for
the siio To them it was not merely .
convenient method of storing and pre-
serving green fodder; BY them the silo
was made to possess certain superior.
occult qualities, by virtue of which
the baser elements Of vegetation were
transmitted into the pure gold of per-
feet cattle food.
The often wild claims of the, cham
pions of ensilage for their favorite
method have provoked correspond
ing vehement opposition to the sys-
tenn. Nevertheless. the progress Of
the silo has been the agricultural
event of the decade. For every silo
that has been abandoned q hundred
have been constructed. and to-day
thousands of farmers who. ten years
ago, had never heard of a silo. now
own silos and are using them with
profit and to their entire satisfaction.
Brushing aside all the extravagancies
OF statement that the advocates of new
measures of every sort are pretty Ger.
tain to indulge in, it remains true that
the silo, wherever Indian corn can be
grown. has proved its great worth
with that constantly growing class Of
farmers who estimate carefully the
cost of every operation. The slip-shod
farmer, he who ''rOughs" his cattle
through any way in stalk fields and
the climber" is not likely to favor
the more expensive method OF the silo.
We are not of those who believe
that the silo can add any thing to the
value of contained silage. On the con-
trary, the process of fermentation is
necessarily a wasteful one; but this
seems clear to US: that this waste of
the silo is next to nothing compared
with the loss sustained by the COM
moner method of handling forage.
For example. we have found. as a re-
suit of careful and oft repeated tests,
that cattle will waste-refuse to eat-al
the way from twenty to sixty per cent.
of common corn fodder when cut in
half-inch lengths and fed in man
ger. Good ensilage, on the contrary.
wastes next to nothing. The quite
uniform report of those having in
charge the college herd has been that
the uneaten portions of ensilage.
coarse butts. etc. left daily by herd
Of fifty cattle when on full allowance,
could be carried in a half-bushel meas
ure. This practical utilization of all
Of the feed recovered from the silo is
IN argument for the system Of ensilag-
ing not likely to be Over-estimated.
The stock objection to the use of the
silo is the great cost of filling. That
The expensiveness OF this operation is
greatly over-estimated by inexperi-
enced persons we have no doubt. The
TACT is. filling a silo is nothing like as
serious an operation as threshing, or
sven husking. on an ordinary farm.
In filling the silo We simply are COM
PEELED to do a large amount of work
within quite a limited time. Consider
ing that in filling the silo we, in effect,
tut up the corn. shock it. husk the
BARS, stack the fodder. cut it into suit
able lengths for feeding and grind the
grain, ''cob and all" the silo route is
he cheapest one that corn can take
the field and the animals
mouths. We, during the past season.
filed an eighty-ton silo at an actual
.ost of fraction less than sixty-three
tents per ton.
One fact is better than a thousand
ana We have in mind fact
which to US Is argument enough. We
lave just finished feeding the contents
If small silO. having . capacity of
hirty-five tons. At the rate at which
his ensilage has been consumed our
'rop Of silage. obtained from less than
line acres of ground. will carry a herd
If fifty cattle of which only a small |
lumber are under one year from o.
Ober Is until March without grain.
Except in limited number of special
'ases, and without hay or provender
# any kind. except light midday
eed Of stalks or other rough fodder
ed in the yard.-Prof Sheltoy- IL In.
IustrialisG
The Feminine Lap.
But the feminine lap is indispensable
o the female. Man has no such COM