St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-09-14

Which Fodder Lasted the LongestI
The figures just given Of the compare.
tive yields are open to the objection that
different quantities of the nonexperi'
mental fodder (the clover rowen and the
grain) would have been fed to produce
them. There is another method Of COM
parison which is not open to this objec.
ton. 1t was noticed in feeding the crops
from three fields that in each field the
corn stover gave out first, and that there
was always more Of the whole ensilage
left than either Of the other portions. In
other words, the whole ensilage lasted
the longest, and each of the others will
be compared with it. If the corn stoveI
had been fed until it was all eaten up,
and the whole ensilage had been fed the
same number of days, the butter pro.
duced by the two feeds would have been
exactly the same, but there would have
been a great deal of the ensilage left,
enough to have contained 1877 pounds
of dry matter, or 20 per cent of the en-.
tire amount of the dry matter in the en-.
silage.
1t is evident, then, that the whole en-.
silage has lasted so much longer than
the corn slower, that the same results
would be obtained by planting less land
If the crop is to be fed as ensilage than
would be required if the crop is to be
handled as corn slower. In other words,
one acre of corn made into whole ensi-
lage yielded just as much return as 1.26
acres made into corn slower Calculat.
ing in the same way for the other meth.
DDS, it is found that an acre of whole
ensilage is equivalent to 1903 acres of
corn fodder, or 1.26 of slower ensilage.
The above is the comparison on the basic
of the production Of equal quantities of
butter. If the comparison were made
of equal products of milk, the relative
advantage of the whole ensilage would
in each case be slightly increased.
The Effect of Drying and Grinding on Di
gestibility.
A comparison of the records from the
whole ensilage and the stover ensilage
shows that the ears and husks of the
whole ensla..:g;ea in the silo lost but 10 per
cent Of their dry matter, while the ears
and husks of the slower ensilage, lying
out on the ground in the wet weather
and afterward brought to the barn, lost
23 per cent. The cows on the slower en-
silage ate more dry matter both of stalks
and ears than those on the whole ensi.
lage and gave even less milk. AS there
is no reason to believe that the stalks Of
one ensilage were any different from
those Of the other, it follows logically
that the dry matter in the ears and husks
that had been dried and ground was OF
less value-that is, less digestible value
than that of the ears and husks of the
whole ensilage. The same conclusion is
reached with even stronger probability
from comparison Of the yields from the
corn fodder and corn slower, which diff
fered only in the corn of one being
ground and the other fed whole.
Relative Cost of the Four Methods.
The labor required in feeding was
largely in favor of the ensilage as com
pared with the whole corn fodder. How
much stronger, then, is the comparison
between whole ensilage and either of thu
methods in which the corn was harvest
ed and ground. Leaving out of accoun
the bad effects of the drying and grind
ing there is still complete loss of al
the labor and expense Of the extra work
The cost of harvesting and grinding tn
corn in this state will be about 10 cent
per each bushel Of SO pounds Of corn
meal, not counting the labor or expens
Of carrying to the mill. This is NOR
than quarter of the total value Of tn
meal and, according to the results o
these experiments, is labor and none,
worse than wasted.
W. W. Cooke, Director.