Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-05-30
siLos ANn ENslLAoe.

No feature Of stock feeding, whether
In the dairy or beef herd, attrscts %
general attention and adoption 40 The
silo and ensilxge feeding. II 10 estimated
that 100, 900 silos are In use Ia the United
States, and the number ID increasing su-
nually. When this system of preserving
green fodder was introduced the farmers
Of the country were skeptical In regard
TO II and inclined to be extremely con-
servative regarding its adoption, but
now all prejudice has been overcome and
probably more silos will be filled In 1899
than in any previous year. When .
farmer is found who hss abandoned the
silo for some other method Of storing
forage crops, 10 viil be found thst he has
not long stuck to any practice and that
his abandonment Of the silo is In keeping
with his other operations.
Everyone recognizes, says an ex-
change, the fact that green foods are
better thau the same foods dried; that
10 bulky foods, as corn, the system OF
curing and feeding Is attended with
waste and expense from start to finish; ;
that In husking, grinding, litter and
waste, few realize more than half the
origiusl nutritive value OF the crop. The
silo takes the corn crop at It's best stage
and preserves with less waste than the
drying plan, and Il comes to the nimsl
In succulent, palatable form, easily fed,
easily eaten and assimilsted. In econ
omy Of labor and concentr ,tion OF stor-
age, no other system approaches 1t In
saving and utilizing the corn plant
Only fraction OF per cent Of those
who have tried II have failed, and In
every case the failure was due TO defect
I've silos or defective filing, or going
contrary 10 established methods In some
way.
For long time It was supposed that
the fermentation OF the silsge caused
great loss In food value, but investiga-
tiou has proved that the loss Ia much
less than by the old method OF drying
or curing when most skillfully done.
The loss never stops In air-cured fodder; !;
In the silo the loss ceases with the first
fermentation. From that time on, for
one month or sixty months, the loss is
imperceptible. Recent investigations
show that 10 field drying, corn loses
about 20 per cent OF digestible matter,
while In the silo the loss 10 not over 10
per cent, and In some cases only per
cent.
The long argument, which lasted some
years In regard TO the heslthful or inju-
rious effects Of silAge Il now settled, and
forever, in favor Of the silage, and the
old charges ss to the bad effect II had
upon the cattle, milk and butter, are
now rarely heard, and cause amusement
rather than serious consideration. The
amount OF silsge-msde milk put upon
the market II beyond calculation. The
finest certified" and guaranteed" milk
Il 10 nearly every case made from silsge-
fed dairies, and the finest IL l-2 cent
quart milk trade OF New York, Phila-
delphis. Boston and the West, is mostly
10 sIlage milk. When anything Is found
bad in silsge milk (,he ssme ss In all other
milk from healthy cow the recent dis
coveries In bacteriology show that the
trouble arises from foreign matter get
ting into IL, from the air-a result OF
germ life. and when IL was found that
the agencies which caused the corn 10
ferment In the silo were In part the same
germs snd ferments that made digestion
possible In the COW, and without them
life could not be supported, the chief OBJ
lection 10 the silo-fermented food-fell
fat. The man who objects TO the silo,
10 be consistent, must object TO coz
having 3 stomach. Where silo Is made
sir-proof, so that there can be 90 supply
OF oxygen from the air, decomposition
or putrcfsction is impossible, u the corn
goes into the pits la the dough stage Of
the grain. Since these facts we're estsb-
li.hed there has been only success 10 the
use OF silsge, and silo building has been
the distinguishing feature OF dairy prog
ress In this country.
The best farmers were persuaded. from
the start, that the silo vas right in prin-
ciple, were sure that they were right In
saying that silsgs judiciously fed never
hurt stock or milk, aud 10 this way ther
were 10 advance OF the scientists; but
when the latter did overtske the sdvapc.
farmers, and 10 scientific way told ho~
the farmers had been right, confirming
all ,hst hsd been asserted, IL msde every
thing certaln-sll the more so when W
II Jordan, one OF the grestest scientific
.investig ators OF this country, after ten
years trial In everv form, said In hi.
place at the great Vermont meeting that
"2ood ensil 'ge never injured pound Of
milk or butter 10 the world" the fiual
proof 20 the dsirymen seemed to have
been offered Mirror and Farmer.