Evening star., 1946-06-23

from the armed forces I have been
struck particularly with the progress
that has been made In scientific
agriculture during the four years I
was in the Army. To me. just begin
ming to dig in" again, It seems that
science promises to do away almost
completely in the not too distant
future with the drudgery that has
always been associated with farm
ing.
New machines are constantly be-
ing developed to help replace
manual labor, which looks as though
it will continue to be scarce for q
good many years. and new processes
are being developed by agriculture
scientists to aid the farmer in max
ing more out Of the means at hand.
1t is in line with this last trend that
I would like to pass on to the Fair
fax County farmers the partial re-
suits of q series Of experiments BE-
ing conducted ut the Agriculture
Departments research center at
Beltsville, Md. incidentally, these
tests at .Beltsville have been prac-
ticed locally for about nine years
by one Of the county's outstanding
dairymen.
Although the Beltsville tests have
not been completed, 1t seems safe to
predict on the basis of results thus
far in Maryland and the practical
results that @. T. Rice has achieved
ON his 96-acre farm at Oakton, that
legume silage may be cheaper and
more beneficial for dairy cows than
corn. In making this statement,
however, 1t must be borne in mind
that each individual farmer. before
undertaking to change his farming
methods. should make his own In
vestigation and should weigh care
fully the advantages or disadvan-
tases In his own particular case.
Nutrition Value Proved.
In the Beltsville tests comparisons
have been made Of the nutritional
value Of alfalfa that has been stored
in silos rs against the same forage
that has been barn-cured or left in
the field to sun cure. On the basis
Of preliminary figures, 1t seems that
the alfalfa silage retains more pro-
tein and other nutrients, and in
general makes q better dairy feed
than alfalfa either barn-cured or
cured In the field.
According to dairy specialists at
Beltsville, the alfalfa silage contains
about II per cent protein, as COM
pared to about IA per cent for barn.
cured roughage and about II per
cent for field-cured alfalfa. And
far more important, with COWS that
were fed the alfalfa silage. the milk
production was maintained at a high
level.
In fact, when hay was fed without
| the silage. milk production dropped
rather sharply, while alfalfa silage
maintained the milk dow at almost
a constant level.
While no figures could be given
Beltsville specialists estimated that
with the use Of machinery, the labor
saving in handling the alfalfa fol
silAge amounted to roughly one
tenth Of one man hour per ton OF
silage. Although this figure seem,
small alone, 1t Is not hard for q
farmer to figure what the saving
could mean during the harvest peak
For example, q dairy farmer milking
90 cows who would be expected to
store about 120 tons of silage, would
save the work of about IL men dur
ing his rush season. This Is some
thing to think about.
This grass silage idea has proven
superior to corn in the case OF Mr.
Rice. For nine years now Mr.. Rice
has not had stalk Of corn on his
place, but for silage grows a mixture
Of alfalfa, orchard grass and ladino
clover. This is seeded at the rate OF
Is pounds of alfalfa, Z pounds of or
chard grass and pounds Of ladino
to the acre and when harvested
Mr.. Rice says. the orchard grass
Is about waist high and the alfalfa