The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-10-19
WEEKLY DIGEST
OF Experiment Station Bulletins.

SILAGE V Il. DRIED OOhN rODOANS
The New Jersey Agricultural Expert
ment Station has been trying to settle
by actual, practical tests, the long
standing controversy as to the relative
meritsand cost of corn silage and cured
corn fodder.
Corn was planted in drills 81 feet
apart. the stalks standing 8 inches
apart in the drill. The fifteen acres of
land used was stiff and wet. and not
well adapted to corn, but was very uni
form in quality.
During the first week in September
the c was harvested, every alternate
row being cut and put into a silo of
modern construction, the cost being
within reach of the average farmer.
The other rows were shocked in the
until cured ard then hauled to the
barn and run through a cutter to put
il In condition to pack In less space and
Go feed with less waste.
The cost of putting up an acre Of
silage was $1I % and the cost of put
ting up an acre of cured fodder was
$40 81. The yield per acre was III tons
of silage or 4 1 10 tons Of cured fodder.
The work vas done by ordinary farm
labor and was charged in the estimates
at the ordinary prices paid by farmers
of the neighborhood.
The corn was a yellow dent, cared
we'll, and was beginning to glszs when
harvested. The ears were cut and put
mixed with the whole plant in both the
-siIage and the cured fodder.
The relative values Of the Siege aud
fodder wers tested by both chemical
analysis and feeding tests. The analy-
q showed that the loss Of nutrtmenss
by the fodder in curing YES about
equal to the loss by fermentation OF G0e
silage; but the loss Of silage by spelling
of that on top and around the SIDES
was about 4 per cent, there being no
corresponding loss Of cured fodder.
Aualsis and the feeding tests agreed
i'm showing that the silage contained
more digesIible matter than the dried
fodder, and it was eaten with greater
relish.
Following are the conclusions de-
duced from these facts:
1, That the cost Of harvesting, stor-
ing and preparing the dry matter con
tanned in corn was greater in the form
of silage than in the form of dried
fodder.
2. That the changes that occur in the
composition of silage we're not such as
to decrease its feeding value in q
greater degree than those which
In the process of curing corn fodder,
and that the LOSSES due to spoiling in
the siIo am united to 4 per cent. Of the
total amoun stored.
z. That for milk and butter produc-
ton the feeding value OF the dry mat
ter of the silRge was greater than that
of the dried fodder corn. The yield
of milk was IL 8 per Q grea'er, and
the yield of fat 10 per cent. greater.
4 Applying the results in a pEactical
way, thet Is, to the actual amount Of
corn put into the silo, namely 40 tons,
it is shown that what did cost 1874 81
to store and prepare in the form Of
siIage would have cost in the form OF
dried fodder $123 70, or $40 90 less. De-
Quoting from the amount put into the
silo the 4 per cent. loss, it Is found that
there remained for feeding 70, 12O
pounds Of dry matter, ST. Efficient for
one COW for 6647 days, or for thirty
cows 522 days. This, or its equivalent,
was practically what was one wish
the silage, and with an actual average
yield during the period Of II pounds
per COW per day, we have a total of
112, 999 pounds of milk. If, as the ex
pertinent indicated, this yield OF milk
was IL 8 per cent greater than could
have been produced from the same dry
matter in the form Of dried fodder,
there was a gain OF IL 922 pounds Of
milk, which, at IL cents per pound,
which was the price which could have
been received for the milk at wholesale
the milk was sold at retail-would
have amounted to 1892 80. Assuming
that only 1 cant per pound could have
been secured, which is probably nearer
the actual price received from Novem-
Der to April in districts distant from
the city, the increase would have
amounted to 1928 %; deducting from
this the SO 90 representing the greater
cost of storing the silage, and We have
q difference or the basis of IL cents g
pound of S191 Al, and on the basis of 1
cent per pound, $117 81, which shows
the increased value of the corn crop on
kwnIva acrem (UaaFlv S1O por