El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-27
5ILAGE TRIED
ON TAFT RANCH
Experiments Prove Tt Is an
Excellent Winter Feed
For Mules.

During the past five years the Taft
ranch has been making use Of silage
in winter feeding with apparently good
results The first silos were erected
on the dairy farm at Taft in 1907. The
results obtained justified the erection
Of others and there are now a total Of
Sc silos in use, their capacity varying
from l2O TO $50 tons each.
in regard to the experiment, Charles
IT. Alvord says in the Texas Breeders
Gazette
IN 1910 a large cotton farm was de-
veloped at Terre Bonnoe and a sno
was erected to supply silage for mule
feeding. Tho silo was filled with sor-
ghum silage, which was fed out during
the winter Of 1910 The following year
another siIo was added at another farm
and the next season two more. Had
there been any unfortunate results
from the feeding Of silage to mules II
is quite evident that the first silo
erected at Terre Bonnoe would have
been the last. The results have 1usu-
fled the wider use Of silage for feed
ing mules and horses, under proper re-
strictions.
Feeds Unlimited Quantity.
ct have watched this feeding quite
closely and have restricted the feed 10
not over 100 pounds per mule per day.
but at the Taft dairy the mules are
fed silage in unlimited quantities and
with apparently satisfactory results.
At the Shorthorn headquarters the
mules also get more silage than at the
cotton farms. and I have not yet dis
covered any injurious results.
"As a matter Of precaution and es-
pecially on account Of the fact that the
feeding is usually done by Mexican Ia
Dor we adhere rigidly to two rules in
feeding silage; first, every bit Of moidy
or spoiled silage must be removed pc
fore Il is placed in the troughs; sec
ond the troughs must be cleaned thor
oughly every day.
Begin Feeding in November.
1--WE begin feeding silage with the
advent Of cool weather in November,
commencing with q very small allow
ance to each mule at first and mixing
q small amount Of cottonseed meal
with the silage. From day to day the
amount Of feed is increased until We
reach a maximum. of 10 pounds OF
siIage and one pound OF cottonseeu
meal per mule. In addition to snls the
mules have free access TO good sor-
rhum hay and are also fed other grain
in accordance with the amount or nara
work they are doing. 1 would not al
wise an exclusive ration Of silage under
any conditions.
1.-THE siIage which we feed to mules
is made from mixture Of redtop, sor-
yhuln kafir corn and indian corn
planted in the same drill row. Ordina-
rilv we try to get the mixture about
one-third of each by weight, but in a
drv season the sorghum viii exceed the
others in growth. They ripen about
the same time and We endeavor TO cut
them when the sorghum and ka1lr are
about right irrespective OF the condl-
ton Of the corn. II the corn should
appear overripe and somewhat dry
there will be juice enough in the sor-
Ehum to balance il and ii Will make
fine silaEe.
ReRuIta Satisfactory.
eOur results have been satisfactory,
but occasionally I hear different re-
ports from feeding silage to Work
stock When these unfavoraole re
ports are run down, however, II Is
usually found that the unfortunate re-
suits were caused by feeding rotten or
noldv or frozen silage. One Of our
tenants lost two quite valuable mules
that were eating silaEe. Just how
much they were getting the owner con-
fessed he did not know. I examined ms
sfIo and silage carefully and found that
the silage was spoiled from the wall IN
for q distance OF eight to 10 inches.
The feeder had not been discardinE
this spoiled silage and 7 came to the
conclusion that IL the mules were killed
by poisoning it was from eating the
silage that had decomposed in the sllo.
No postmortem was made and I was
never fully convinced that silage was
the cause OF their death. Nevertheless
il is best to use great caution in feed
inc sfaEe to work stock, seeing that
they get none that is spoiled and also
that the troughs are cleaned every
da-.'