The Dickinson press., 1895-06-22


for the dairyman's consideration is the
subject of foods. To succeed in obtain-
ing the greatest possible amount Of
butter from the smallest amount of
money or it's equivalent, he needs to
make the subject one Of much study.
Progressive dairying at the present
time seems to call for a Silo. Indeed,
many of our authorities on the subject
claim that in no other way can the full
value of the food consumed be real
lied.
No one can rely more fully than the
writer of this upon the CORR crop rs q
winter-and summer, too, for that
matter-food for cattle, especially
mich cows. We begin to feed it in
July Or August, when pastures fail to
give sufficient grass, and continue
until fall rains make further use of it
unnecessary. Then as soon as winter
feeding begins we start the corn fod-
der again. But we have no silo. The
principal reason for this lies in the
fact that our observations of other
peoples silos have led us to the o
clusion that aside from the first cost,
which is considerable, there must be
q frequent renewal of some portions
Of it nearly every year, thus making
the maintenance of one a continual
expense. We have, however, a very
good substitute for one, which l will
tell you of, and the cost is nothing but
a little work and n few boards.
We cut our cOrnstalks as we need
them with a feed cutter, after draw
ing them to the barn in the fall and
stacking in small stacks outside. The
fodder is always secured In good ron
dition. and before it tecenes weather.
beaten and discolored. AS the stalks
after cutting will develop considerable
heat , even when dry, we only cut
sufficient at cnce for a couple of
weeks feeding. We have a tight floor.
and sides in q convenient FOL Of the
barn and adjacent to the COW stable,
where we mix the cut stalks and the
ground feed in layers, sprinkling well
with water from the well, which is in
the same place, the pump handle with
In three feet Of the feed box. BY pre-
pairing this tWenty-four hours in adj
vance, considerable heat is generated
In the mass, so that when we feed 1t
1t Is warm. This we call O good sub
stitute for ensilage and at a very
slight expense. We save the ear corn,
and by feeding exactly as much grain
as we want, we know just how much
each COW gets. The corn fodder thus
treated gives fully as satisfactory re-
turns as clover hay, after experiment.
ing with both, and at certainly not
more than half the cost of clover. We
feed corn fodder almost continuously
until April 1.
Now as to the grain. We have been
experimenting along this line for fif-
teen years. First, we tried corn and
oats. That was good, although rather
IN expensive feed. When we began
to cast about for a substitute for oats
one year when they were forty cents
q bushel, we tried wheat bran and
thought so highly of it that we have
used 1t ever since. So after fixing
upon that we tried roots, but not dis
cardjng the bran. Roots are good for
condition when forced to eat dry food
for the entire winter. They are good
for her system generally and also a
good milk ration, but l can't say we
find them Of special benefit, and they
are hard to raise. After feeding corn,
oats and bran fer a number Of years
we We're induced to try gluten feed,
and with us it has come to stay. We
feed it with wheat bran and nothing
else In the line Of grain. l care not
whether 1t is a balanced ration or not.
Our cows give mere milk and make
more butter when fed corr fodder,
wheat bran and gluten meal than any
other combination we have vet tried.
Buckwheat middlings is good: so is
cotton-seed meal, but as long as we
continue to follow dairying, wheat
I and gluten meal will be our
standard grain ration for mich cows.
1t is not only the best, but the cheap.
est. This may not suit everybody's
ideas, but it does ours.-E. F.. Rock.
wood in Farm, Field and FIreside.