The corn fodder was raised under the same conditions, as far as the soil and the fertilizers used were concerned, as the corn for the silos. The same variety of corn, Clark, was planted in both instances. CORN ENSILAGE. From the Silos of the Experiment Station (1885-1886). The above analysis represents the mean composition of the ensilage obtained from the silos described in previous BULLETINS. The contents of the different silos were fed in direct succession, beginning with the one which had been filled slowly. The corn was about six months in the silos when the feeding of the ensilage commenced. 1:9.3 Nutritive Ratio. The roots were raised on a soil in good condition, and were of a good quality. The hay consisted largely of Herds-grass (Timothy), and Red-top, with a fair admixture of clover. 122.4 1:9.5 350.20 1027.8 647.51 63 46 57 100.00 2000.00 1132.32 WHEAT BRAN. Amherst mill, 1885. 81.93 per cent. passed through mesh 144 to square inch. The above analysis represents the average quality of the wheat bran fed during the time of the experiment. The above named material, which furnished the sample sent on for an examination, had been bought of a corn starch factory at Long Island, N. Y., for feeding cattle. Forty tons had been landed at New Bedford, at $8.00 per ton, of forty bushels. Some doubts had been expressed in regard to its fitness as a feed for milch cows. The sample we received, was apparently in a fair state of preservation, and consisted mainly of a soft yellowish white mass, interspersed with coarse fragments of the skin of the corn. The entire mass in an air dried state was quite soft and friable, and of a peculiar vegetable, yet not offensive odor. The composition of the vegetable matter contained in the article, is that of a valuable ingredient for the compounding of a suitable diet for various kinds of farm live stock, and in some respects similar to that of the refuse grain from breweries. The main objectionable feature of the fresh factory refuse consists in the presence of a large amount of moisture, and its liability to suffer a rapid and serious deterioration in consequence of a careless keeping in particular during the warmer seasons of the year. Two modes of treatment for the preservation of fodder articles, like the one here under discussion suggest themselves in this connection, the silo system or the drying apparatus. The above described corn starch factory refuse, in its dried state, could command a price from $16 to $18 per ton in our fodder market. The fitness of this class of refuse material from glucose and starch factories, as well as that from brewers' grain, as an ingredient of a daily fodder ration for all kinds of farm live stock, the dairy cow included, is quite generally conceded, provided they are in a fair state of preservation. Excessive and exclusive feeding of many fodder articles is an objectionable practice; this applies as much to corn ensilage, roots, apples, as to the waste products of the factories above enumerated. All fodder articles of a perishable character deserve the serious attention of farmers, for they are apt to become objectionable sooner or later, if carelessly kept. In an advanced state of fermentation they are decidedly objectionable for various reasons; they may become even poisonous in consequence of their liability to turn into hot beds of a dangerous parasitic growth. Musty corn meal, oil cakes, etc., are known to have been the direct cause of the death of cows. 411. "SELF-HUSKING" CORN. Experiment Station, 1885. Ears eight inches in circumference; and eight to ten inches long. Kernels of a reddish, or brownish red color. Weight of an average ear, 142.7 grammes; consisting of 88.08 per cent. kernels; and 11.92 per cent. cob. Average weight of a single kernel, 37 grammes. |