SUCCESSFUL FARMING,
Better Cows and Their Management.
Tbe Silo and Silage.
[From Farmers Bulletin _o. 2 oi tin- Unlte-l *. tates
Department of Agriculture.)
The need of better cows for the dairy is
coming to be very generally appreciated.
The dairy commissioner of Iowa is reported as saying that the average cow in
that Stato gives but 3,000 pounds of milk
annually.while good ones yield from 5,000 to
6,000 pounds. The director of the Vermont
Station states that the average yield per
cow in that State ia only about }30 pounds
of butter per annum, whilo thero are thirty
dairies in the State that average over 300
pounds per cow.
The director of the New York Station
says:
New York has 1,500,000 milch cows, probably producing on an averago less than
3,000 pounds of milk per year, and the annual average butter product per cow for
the State is undoubtedly less than 130
pounds. This should not be when there
are whole herds averaging 300, and some
400, pounds of butter per year for each
cow. Animals producing these by no
means phenomenal yields are not con-
lined to any particular breed, and are often
grades of our so-called native or no-breed
animals. Proper selection, systematic
breeding, and judicious feeding have produced these prolitable animals and herds.
THK DIFFERENT GOWS.
The difference in the milk-producing
qualities of different cows is brought out
very clearly by a series of experiments
conducted at the Massachusetts State Station, of which Prof. C. A. Goessmann is
director. They are especially interesting
because the cows and their feed and care
were such as are found on the better farms
of Massachusetts, and the results, obtained
with the appliances of a well-equipped experiment station, show in accurate and
full detail the elements of actual profit and
loss as they could not be found in ordinary
farm experience. .
These experiments have been made with
twelve cows and have continued over five
years. Grade Jersey, Ayrshire, Devon,
Durham and Dutch, and native cows were
used. They were secured for the experiments a few days after calving and fed
until the daily yield fell below five to six
quarts, when they were sold to the butcher.
The length of the feeding period, i. e., duration of the experiment with each cow,
varied from two hundeed and sixty-one to
five hundred and ninety-nine days. Hay,
fodder, corn silage, green crops, roots, and
corn meal, wheat bran, and other grain
were used. The daily ration per head consisted of 18 to 20 pounds of dry fodder, or
its equivalent of green fodder, and from
<_ to 9_ pounds of grain. Careful accounts have been kept of the history of
each cow, including breed, ago, number of
calves, length of feeding period, amounts
and kinds of fodder, yield of milk, chemical composition of feed, milk, and manure,
cost of cow and feed, and values of milk
and manure.
FINANCIAL BECORD OF COWS.
The following is a recapitulation of the
financial record of the cows: The milk
was reckoned at the .price paid for it at the
neighboring creameries. The value of the
manure produced is calculated by assuming that of the total amount of food 20 per
cent would be sold with the milk, and the
remaining 80 per cent saved as manure.
As farmers in the region buy commercial
fertilizers for the sake of their nitrogen,
phosphoric acid, and potash, it was assumed that these same ingredients would
be worth about as much, pound for pound,
in the manure as in the better class pf fertilizers, and accordingly the value of tho
manure was computed by taking the nitrogen as worth 16.J. cents, phosphoric acid
cents, and potash V/, cents per pound.
The return for feed consumed represents
what the feeder receives for labor, housing
of cattle, interest of cajlital invested, risk
of loss of animal, etc.
The most prolitable cow was bought for
J. K), fed five hundred and eighty-four days,
and then sold for 32. making hor actual
cost*__; thefeedcost8135 05, so that the total
cash outlay was §U>7 05; the milk brought
J203 37 at the creamery; the manure was
estimated to be worth 5C> US, making tho
total value received for feed consumed
§:_ ) 30. Subtracting the total cash outlay
of gl . 05 from this, thero remains §93 25
as net return for feed consumed. Deducting the estimated value of the manure, the
remainder, "return in excess of estimated
value of manure," is §20 32. In the average for the twelvo cows, the net return was
£50 43, and the return in excess of tho estimated value of tho manure only ?15 13.
With the least profitable cow the cash outlay for cow and feed exceeded the value of
the milk and manure by §3 97; in otlier
words, the net return for feed consumed
was $3 97 less than nothing. Subtracting
tho value of the manure, tho total loss was
$34 25; that is to say, allowing for the
value of the manure, the results with the
twolvo cows varied from a gain of §93 to
a loss of §3 07. Or, if the value of the manure be left out of account, from a gain of
_3<. 32 to a loss of §34 25.
It is noticeable that the profit or loss did
not depend upon either the breed or tho
length of the feeding period. Tlio most
profitable cow, ami the least profitable but
one, were both of the same breed. Of the
two most profitable cows, one was fed for
five hundred and eighty-four days, and
the other for only two hundred aud seventy-eight days.
Two things, thon, are brought out vory
clearly by these experiments. One is that
in such localities as this, the valuo of the
manure goes far to decide the profit in
feeding dairy cattle. Another is that cows
which would ordinarily pass for good ones
may differ wildely in product.
To tho practical dairyman these experiments teach clearly the difference between
cows which aro profitable and those which
are not, and the importance of selecting
the best cows for his dairy and getting rid
of the poor ones. In a larger sense they
illustrate to every farmer tho importance
of knowing accurately the condition of his
business. Upon this its success or failure
largely depends.
FEEDING SILAdE.
Silage has been successfully fed to a
great variety of animals under different
conditions, and is very generally considered a valuable substitute for dry fodder
or roots. It seems specially adapted to
cattle, but is also fed with good results to
horses, swine and poultry. "Silage," says
Professor Johnson, of tho Michigan station, "is excellent food for dairy cows,
producing milk of the best quality."
From experiments at the Wisconsin station the conclusion was drawn "that dairy
cows readily consume a sufficient quantity
of corn silage to maintain a flow of milk
and yield of butter fully equal to and
rather more than that produced by feeding dry fodder corn." Resides its other
advantages an important consideration is
that a larger amount of food can be stored
in a given space if silage is substituted for
dry fodder. The idea that the small
farmer can not afford the silo is strongly
controverted by Professor Johnson. "The
small farmer with limited area of land is
necessitated to crop more continuously
than his neiglibor with a much larger acreage. He needs in overy possible way to
secure the fertilizing material that shall
replace the drains that this closer cropping
is making, on his fields. How can he do
it so cheaply, so surely, as by growing
large crops of silage corn that will give
him the main fodder necessary  to enable
him to feed for tho market or the dairy
through the winter much more stock than
his acres will carry in the summer?" In
a recant experiment in Kansas, "the actual
cost of cutting up tho corn, hauling it 50
rods to the silo, and storing it therein was
i__ conts per ton. This includes fuel for
the engine, but no charge is made for the
uso of machinery." Professor Shelton,
under whose directions tho experiment
was mado, has no doubt that this expense
might be greatly reduced. ,
Corn silage is not a complete ration, but
should be fed in connection with some
hay or otlier dry fodder and grain, oil-
meal, cotton-seed meal, wheat bran, or
other nitrogenous food. This follows from
the fact that corn contains an excess of
carbohydrates (i. e., substances which
servo the body for fuel or are transformed into fat), and should therefore, be
combined with feeds containing more nitrogen to form a well-balanced ration.
Sil3go alone, however, may in some cases
produce better results with less expense
than are obtained with hay as an exclusive
diet.
COBN SH.A.iE TEST.
It is generally agreed that corn is the
best crop for silage in this country. Dent
varieties aro preferred in most cases,
though southern or silage varieties are
recommondod by some experimenters because of tho largo yields they givo, and in
tho extreme North certain of the flint varieties may be used to the best advantage.
In some localities, as in Kansas and other
Southern States, sorgum is a very important crop for silage. The Kansas station recommends medium growing saccharine and non-saccharine varieties for
silage, and especially Golden Hod, Late
Orange, and Goose Neck. The sorgums
havo some advantages over corn. "They
are less liablo to damage by iusects and
they remain green far into the fall, usually
until cut by frosts, so that the work of
filling the silo maj* be carried on long
after the corn plant has ripened its crop
and the stalks have become worthless."
Clover, alfalfa, cow-peas, and other forage
plants have been successfully used for silage, but corn aud sorgum will undoubtedly continue to be the principle crops
used for this purpose.
WHEN TO CL'T.
Chemical analyses recently made at the
Xew York station indicate "that for the
greatest amount of nutriment, considered
from a chemical standpoint, corn should
not be cut before it has reached the milk
stago of the kernel." In Ohio is recommended by the station that "fodder corn
should be cut when tho corn begins to
glaze aud when the stalks begin to dry
near the ground.'' But in Kansas, where
intense heat and other climateic peculiarities hasten the ripening of tho crop, it is
thought that harvesting "should not be
delayed after the cornis in theearlydough
stato."
It is now quite generally thought better
to put both stalks and ears in the silo tban
to use the stalks alone for silage. Before
being placed in the silo the corn should be
cut into small pieces. Some experimenters prefer one-half inch lengths, as these
will pack more evenly and solidly than
longer pieces. It is a good practice to keep
a man in the silo while it is being filled to
see that tho silage is packed as closely in"
the corners and along tho sides as elsewhere. If the filling occupies much time,
so that the silage becomes heated, some of
tho heated silage near the sides should be
from time to time thrown into the center
and replaced with the warmest silage, so
as to keep the temperature of the whole
mass as oven as possible. It seem to make
little difference whether the filling is continuous or extended over several days,
provided the work is carefully and thoroughly done. There is no agreement
among experimenters  as to the  necessity
of weighting the silo. At the Ohio station
a wooden cover mado of ilooring boards
well fitted together was placed on the silo.
On this was placed about a ton of sand in
boxes, and round the edge of the cover
next the silo walls a piece of inverted sod
to prevent the entrance of air. After the
silage had settled about two feet, a ton of
grass was thrown over the boxes of sand.
In Kansas a layer of tarred paper, covered
about 18 inches deep with green grass, has
been as effectual as weighting heavily
with rocks.
FERMENTATION IN TIIE SII.O.
Becent investigations by Prof. Hurrill,
of tho Illinois station, emphasize and help
to explain the fact that silage is necessarily
a vory variable product, requiring careful
treatment. The corn or other material
used for silage varies in maturity, in
chemical composition, and in amount of
moisture. Numerous aud diverse chemicals changes take place in the silo, and the
fermentations due to the action of tho minute organisms classified as yoasts, bacteria
and molds, aro varied and complex.
The kinds of ferments which cause
changes in the silo include (1) yeasts,
which causo tho change of sugar into alcohol and other fermentations; (2) bacteria,
which cause the formation of acids and the
heating in the silo, and appear to aid in the
destructive changes, notably the semi-putrid decomposition, accompanied by bad
odors,-which so-oftcn occurs in old silage;
(3) molds, which also cause putrefaction.
The yeasts found in the silo do not appear
to be such as cause ordinary alcoholic fermentation, and it is doubtful if ordinary
alcohol occurs in silago. The hot fermentation which often takes place soon after
the silo is filled, though not yet fully explained, is not due to yeast. Two or more
species of bacteria appear to bo concerned
in the raising of the temperature. Theso
bacteria are similar to those which cause
butyric fermentation, i. e., the formation
of butyric acid which is found in rancid
butter. Tho high temperature does not
destroy the bacteria and molds which later
cause acid fermentation and putrefaction.
After the heating, however, the silage sot-
ties and the air is excluded. Tho initial
high temperature which theso bacteria induce is, thereforev probably most serviceable by causing this closer packing of the
silage and the exclusion of the air, rather
than by killing the germs of other ferments.
UNCLE SAM AS J. PITEB PLUVIUS.
It seems absurd for our National Congress to seriously attempt to control the
weather, but this august body has just
mado an appropriation of §2,000 to experiment in dynamiting the sky to produce rainfall. The money is to be used
under direction af the Department of Agriculture. It was given no doubt to show
an interest in the farmers. In the belief
that cannonading on the earth produces
rainfall it was thought by Senator Far-well,
who introduced the bill, that producing
heavy . concussions a thousand feet above
the earth would have a similar result and
perhaps be more efiicacions. So the experiment is to be tried at Government expense. We will watch the result with deep
interst.
But what if it succeeds? "Will not tho
big farmers get up a corner on showers,
and being able to send up bigger balloons
and set off heavier charges of dynamite
bring down the biggest rains, and leave
the small and poor farmers with still less
rainfall than nature's arrangements would
have allowed them? This matter will have
to be looked into carefully, and it should
be done too before science gets the upper
hand of Dame Nature iu the storm business.
Owing to au accident in the casting of
the (irant statue for Chicago, it will not be
ready for erection before September 1st.