Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1912-06-06


been erected during any two
years previous. This is due
largely to the extremely dry
weather which prevailed over the
dairy sections during last year.
Those farmers who have silos
have learned to appreciate them
as they have never appreciated
them before. Those farmers who
did not have silos have been
short of feed and have seen their
more fortunate neighbors who had
silos have plenty of feed for
their cows.
Corn siage is, without doubt,
the cheapest and most effective
dairy feed grown on the farm. Ii
is not only a valuable feed for
dairy cattle, but it is also good
for beef cattle, horses, calves and
sheep. Statistics have been COM
piled shoing the cost of hand
ling crop of silage, and it has
been found that Stage can be
handled as cheap, if not cheaper,
than the corn crop can be handled
in the usual manner. Silage furn-
ishes succulent feed with very
little waste and is always ready TO
use.
1t is particularly valuable when
fed in combination with alfalfa or
clover with a mixture of corn or
barley for grain. All of these
feeds can be grown on the farm
and they are better and cheaper
than mill feed The Importance Of
paatability cannot be over-esti-
mated and increases the amount of
feed eaten and when properly as
simulated, the more the animal
eats, the larger product she will
return.
A ton of mixed hay occupies 400
cubic feet OF space and eight tons
of corn silage can be put in the
same amount Of room. A ton Of
mixed hay contains about $50
pounds of digestab!e dry matter
while eight tons Of silage contains
1850 pounds of dry matter. The
cost Of storing the corn product
in the form of silage is less than
in any other manner of handling
il. 1t costs from fifty to sixty
cents per ton to put the corn into
the silo. This means an expense
of about seven dollars per acre
depending of course upon the
amount of corn grown on an acre
of ground. The same area Of
corn would yield about $50 baskets
which would cost perhaps eight
or nine dollars for husking while
the cost of cutting, shredding and
grinding would make it about
double what it costs TO put it in
the silo.
The advantages of summer feed
ing OF silage, particularly during
periods of drought, is fully APP
preciated by those who milk COWS
The flow Of milk can be kept up
right along during the dry sea-
son no matter what may be the
condition of pastures. Summer
silage is sure to become a more
important factor i'm successful
dairying.
The use of silage for milk and
beef cattle has been investigated
at number of experimental stat
ions and by stockmen with very
satisfactory results. In an ex-
pertinent at the Wisconsin Exper-
iment Station in 1904 it was found
that Stage fed steers sold at
1895 per hundred pounds while
those fed no silage brought only
1910 per hundredweight, a gain
OF Csc in favor OF the silage fed
animals. 1t was found that for
every one hundred pounds of
grain, All pounds OF silage fed
saved IS pounds OF grain and I56
Of alfalfa.
1t is said that silage was fed in
connection with alfalfa hay, corn
chop, kafir corn chop and cotton
seed meal. The average soil in
unusual seasons will produce IL
to is tons of green corn per acre.
Even with yield of ten tons per
acre there is an income according
to this experiment of about $500
per acre.
The financial statement for this
experiment showed that the
silage fed steer made a profit OF
$40 per head while the same
grade of steers fed on the same
feed, except si!age, lost S1.47 per
| head.
Those OF our readers who are
troubled with the feed question
or who have been troubled with
II ~ ha at Oh a