Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-11-18

PRESERVING FODDER CORN.



the Vermont Experiment Station.
The corn harvested at the Vermont
station farm in 1899 was divided into
four portions. One part wasrun through
the cutter and all put into silo The
second part had the stalks put into the
silo. the ears ground and fed with the
ensilage of the stalks. The third part
was stocked and fed ears and all to-
gether from the stock The fourth part
was stocked, then the ears husked and
ground. and the meal fed with the cut
stalks. The experiment was conducted
with herd of ~ cows.
All four methods produced good fod-
der, well preserved and relished by the
cows. The whole ensilage, the corn fod-
der and the corn slower saved about the
same amount of dry matter ready for
feeding. The slower ensilage saved 3per
cent less than the other. The average
of all was So per cent saved, IS per
cent lost. There was no great
difference in the amount of milk or
butter produced by the different
methods. fhe difference between the
best, the whole ensilage, and the poorest,
the slower ensilage. was about per cent.
The average of the two ensilages was the
same as that of the two stocked folders.
The same is true of the average of the
two stovers as compared with that of
the two whole folders.
The four methods of handling the crop
produced no effect on the quality of the
milk. The cows ate very different guam
titles of dry matter when on the differ
ent portions to produce equal quantities
of milk and butter. For each 100 pounds
of dry matter of the whole ensilage eaten,
the cows ate 1i9 pounds of dry matter in
the slower ensilage, 100 pounds from the
corn fodder and 1877 pounds of dry mat
ter from the corn slower. If all of each
/ fodder had been fed out under the con-
ditions of the experimental periods, with
corresponding amounts of rowen and
grain. the slower ensilage would have
produced 50 pounds of milk for each 100
pounds produced by the whole ensilage.
The corn fodder would have produced
02 pounds and the corn slower 50 pounds.
The proportions are much the same with
regard to the yield of butter. One acre
Of the corn crop preserved as whole en-
silage and fed with 4,3i3 pounds of clover
rowen and 2,157 pounds of grain pro.
duced e,113 pounds of milk, 1907 pounds
Of total solids and 1893 pounds of butter.
The whole ensilage lasted the longest
every time. Consequently it would take
less of it to last herd for given time.
One acre of corn made into whole ensi-
lage yielded as much return in milk and
butter as 1.25 acres made into slower en-
silage or los acres made into corn fod-
der or 90 acres handled as corn slower.
The drying and grinding Of the ears of
the slower ensilage and corn slower
seem to have made them less digestible,
and this is the reason why these portions
have done so much poorer than the whole
ensilage. Husking, Smelling and grind
ing the corn to make bushel of meal
costs in this state 10 cents, or more than
quarter of the market value Of the
meal. This labor and expense is more
than wasted, since the cows did better
on the whole corn than on the ground
Dry corn fodder after being brought
into the.barn is still undergoing fermen-
tation and loss even when no heating can
be detected. In the course Of 10 days
this loss may easily be half as much as
took place in the stock. These changes
and losses take place less rapidly in cold
weather than in warm. The losses of dry
matter and feeding value in ensilago
are closely proportional to the losses IN
weight. The ensilage at the time of tho
usual opening of the silo has in it still
nearly all the feeding value that 1t had
when put into the silo. The large losses
of feeding value that occur in the silo
are almost entirely at the time of feed
ing out the ensilage. These losses can
be largely prevented by using small, deep
siios that will allow the feeding of two
to three inches from the surface daily
This is especially true of ensilage to be
used in place of asoiling crop in summer
The ensilage in the lower portions Of a
silo is not SO compressed and solid at the
time of feeding as would be expected
from its weight at the time the silo is
filed