The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1922-07-27
Nephew Of Mrs. 0ney
Writes Prize Essay

Mrs. b. l. oney Of this city has fur
nished this paper with a copy Of the
Eskridge Independent, published at Esk-
ridge, Kansas, containing an essay writ
ten by her nephew, Vern Mccoy, that
was a prize winner in a contest institu-
ted by The Mail and Breeze, Capper's
well known farm weekly which offered
a 500 cash prize for the best letter
written on the subject Of silos. Mr.. Me-
Coy carried of the first prize, and he
wrote under the heading wealth Comes
From Silos." We consider the article
well worth reproducing for the facts it
contains. Our people should be interest
ed in adopting silos much more general
ly in this county than they have, and
this short article will be a strong argu-
pent in their favor. The letter follows:
We have on our farm two silos, one
being tile and the other a Common
Sense silo made from 2 by as and both
Of $50 tons capacity. Silos on a farm
are the best investment farmer can OBJ
tain for an improvement for they pro-
vide the best feed that can be obtained
for his stock. We filled our tile silo
last year from Is acres of bottom land.
After we had finished filling we sold
the ensilage at So ton or approximate
ly $12 with the agreement that the cattle
were to be fed on our farm. 1t cost us
about $3.50 to put the water into the
silo and when we had deducted this $3.50
or the expense of handling the feed we
had $1,O5O from only Is acres of land.
This left the ground clear and we went
ahead and prepared for another crop.
A man who follows this plan has the
fields clear so he can haul away the ma
nure that his cattle produce during the
winter months. Ground which is plowed
early in the winter is worth S. more an
acre than ground that is not plowed at
all on account of shocks being on the
ground. The warm feed that comes from
the silo keeps the cattle warm. Often
when corn is cut for fodder shocks of
corn are frozen to the ground and have
to be cut loose with an axe, and this
makes the work tedious. The feed that
is handy and near the feed lots on a
wintry day is worth many dollars for
the stock can be fed early in the morn
ing. Otherwise the farmer would have
to work all day getting the stock fed.
Ensilage is more of a balanced ration
than any other feed that may be fed
to stock cattle or sheep.
The silo insures the owner a steady
income every year. In case of not rails
ing a corn crop he can put the feed into
the silo and sell the feed or feed it him
self and get returns of 81 or SO ton
or approximately. $40 to $50 an acre.
Ground which has been cleared of wheat
by July 10 or July Is can be planted in
cane or kafr which can be used in fill
ing the silo. Last year we took one
crop of wheat from our land that
brought US $40 an acre. Our second crop
Of silage feed made Az tons an acre
that sold for 81 a ton or $31 so an acre,
thus making total returns of S71.5O an
acre or the price of the land in one
season.
Comparing one acre of feed in the
field and in the silo, we find that feed
that will produce 7 tons an acre or ap-
proximately 16 shocks an acre is a good
yield. By putting the 16 shocks in the
silo it will weigh $4,000 pounds and 40
or so pounds are sufficient for an animal
with little rough feed to help balance
the ration. On this basis the silage in
the silo will last nine months and 10
days. Sixteen shocks containing 25 bun
dies would be approximately 400 bun
dies. By feeding three bundles a day,
which would not be sufficient without
some other feed to balance the ration,
this feed would last four months and 27
days, thus making a difference of four
months and 13 days head more feed
from acre if put in the silo.
Cattle will not eat all the corn stalks
as they are hauled to them for they are
large and coarse and cattle cannot de-
YOUR all the coarse feed. This causes
great waste and the cattle will be poor
when winter is over.
Sheep require rich feed as they need
very little to satisfy their appetites and
if ensilage is fed to them they will stay
fat and raise lambs very easily and
without becoming poor. We.fgured one
acre of feed in the shock and compared
it to silo feed and found that it would
feed just twice as long. If it will feed
twice as long we surely can figure that
any cattle owner could winter twice as
many cattle with the aid of the silo as
he could winter in the lot with dry feed.
With the aid of two silos or more on
a farm where the owner handles 200
cattle, one man easily can take care of
these cattle as he will not have to 90
after the feed every time he feeds his
cattle, Considering the labor side, we
can see that he could get along without
the extra man which it would take if he
had to haul the feed every time. This
will save $50 to S75 month where silos
are used, Forty or so pounds of ensil-
age fed with alfalfa and pounds of cot
tonseed with corn is the best ration of
feed that can be obtained for full-feed-
ing Ensilage and alfalfa hay are ex-
cellent in holding down the cost of pro-
ducing milk on the farms of the United
States today, Silage is valuable as feed
for dairy cattle because of its succu-
lence, palatability, feeding value and
production of milk. The succulence of
the feed keeps the COW in good health,
her system in good physical condition
and this makes it possible for her to