Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1912-07-04
VALUE OF SILACE
AS A WINTER FEED

All farmers will agree that pastures
furnish the most ideal feed for all
classes Of live stock, and, judging
from the experiments, the most profit
able adjunct of corn and hay in a ra-
ton for dairy cows. f~attening steers
Kansas Farmer.
There Is no feed like the green
grasses of our pastures to tone up the
system of the aged stock and put the
young stock In a condition of thrift
and growth.
What a boon It would be II we could
have pasture for our stock the year
around! But this is impossible, so the
next best thing we can do is to find
some feed that is as near like pasture
grass as is possible, to find a feed
that Is palatable and one that can be
raised on our farms.
In searching about for winter feeds
of this description we find that there
are only two such feeds which can be
grown probably. These feeds are
roots and cora ~ensilage. In comparing
the feeding value Of the two we find
that corn ensilage has a slight advan-
tage, In that 1t gives us larger gains
and milk yields, but this difference Is
very small and Of little consequence.
Let us consider, then. which crop
gives the largest tonnage per acre and
requires the least labor to grow.
First, we find that ensilage will
yield on the average about one-half
again as much per acre as mangels,
the largest yielding root crop we can
grow. In considering the labor, Arms
by Of the Pennsylvania station says It
costs over twice as much to tend and
harvest an acre Of roots as compared
with raising and putting into the silo
an acre Of corn. Drawing our conclu-
sion from these statements, corn en-
silage is by far the better pasture sub
stitute of the two.
Professor A. L. Hacker Of the Ne
braska station has worked out some
interesting data on the cost of produc-
ing a ton OF silage. Figuring In the
rent OF land, blowing, cost Of seed,
planting and cu~ltivating, he found that
It cost Il cents per ton. The cost of
filing the silo, allowing a liberal wage
for men and teams, he found to be "a
cents per ton The cost of machinery
and storage, including all items such
as interest on money invested, depre-
citation and repairs and even taxes and
insurance. was AZ rents per tom Add
ing these three initial costs together,
we find that the cost Of producing q
ton Of corn silage to be $1.94 Pro-
fessor John Bower Of Iowa has anoth-
er way Of figuring 1t in which he ar.
rves at about the same figures.
The next question would be, What Is
q ton Of corn ensilage worth? Since
Il has no market value, because 1t can
not be shipped or hauled about, we
will have to figure its value by com
pairing It with other feeds and rough
age On this basis the best authori-
ties estimate its value at from s. to 50
per ton Takingsthe lowest value Of
IS per ton and deducting $1.94. the
cost OF q ton Of silage. we still have q
margin Of $500 per ton. On q hundred
ton silo this would mean a saving in
one year Of 5000 worth of feed, to say
nothing Of the labor saved and the
general good condition Of the stock
resulting from the feeding Of silaga.
So the farmers are right who testify
that q silo erected on their farms and
filed Win pay for itself In a year.