& jefe os €: am —- 2 ~ heer hiem ert Cone N PED a eRr Pe Rohe heh ee ee en eo oto t-A=Fre A sal mist haf 3 =i: a ee arte en) Rediecl eer ee eeteses : - Fate? fated bs Or 2 OP a nae eho fiat ot Re-enter s _— —— : s Series. No.71. Dec.,1895. Monthly. Sub., $8.00. RAND, McNALLY & CO., Publisher: futered at Chicago Post Office as second-class matter. Chicago and New York. REPRESENTATIVE FARMERS THE MOST EXTENSIVE FARMERS THE MOST PRACTICAL FARMERS Endorse and Praise The FRONT VIEW. owas the principlesioet the: "7 original McCormick Reaper 4 serve as the type ‘ and pattern for all grain-cutting ma- chines, so the principle of the McCormick Corn Harvester is recognized asthe .on ly. “corfect . method for this class of REAR VIEW. machines. It takes a row of corn, keeps that row standing on end, binds it in its vertical position, and discharges it at one side from the machine. The bundles thus bound are square-butted, easy to shock, and are better shaped than bundles bound in any other way. Thoroughly tested in the World’s Fair field trials in 1893, when the judges recommended an award for Extreme Simplicity of Construction and Excellence in the Performance of its Work MORE THAN 10,000 IN USE Cet See illustration of machine at work, on page 94. Write for circular. McCORMICK HARVESTING MACHINE CO., CHICAGO. — ‘ Grain and | yuperior Fertilizer Drill s ** Double Force Feed Grain Distributer ’’ has no equal and successfully sows wheat, rye. » barley, flax-seed, sugar-beet seed, rice, oats, peas, beans, and corn. WWM The above cut represents the Plain Hoe Drill, but Shoe Drills, Disc Drills, as well as Hoe Drills, are furnished in different sizes, with and without Fertilizer Attachments. **THE ILLUSTRATED SUPERIOR ”’ Will be mailed free to any address on application. It gives full information about Superior Drills, Broadcast Seeders, Cultivators, Cider Mills, Hay Carriers, Hay Forks, etc. ES eee SS THE SUPERIOR DRILL Co., ~eee_ SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. | MANUFACTURED BY — EV ——— ee ‘SUL OOE ‘Ayoedeo $300} $7 ‘Jysjay ‘300; QE We}eWRIG “SIAM ‘ALNNOD WHSONAY ‘OTIS NAGOOM GNNOY A BOOK ON SILAGE 3s FW.WOLL, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Wisconsin. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. N OF CONp Co Rig NN we GY v. Y \ DEC.19 1895} / / /> «Od CHICAGO: Ranp, McNatty & ComMPANyY. 1895. ce . Copyright, 1895. by Rand, McNally & Co. . TABLE OF CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION, - : 3 : 5 CHAPTER I.—SILAGE CROPS, A. Indian Corn, - Development of the Gorn plait Varieties to be planted for the Silo, : Methods of Planting Corn, - Thickness of Planting, Planting in Hills or in Drills, Sowing Corn Broadcast, - Preparation of Corn Land, - B. Clover, - - - Time to Cut Clover for the Silo, C. Other Silage Crops, - CHAPTER IT.—S11os, : : General Considerations, - Descriptions of Different Kinds of Silos, - 1. Pits in the Ground, - 2. Silosin Barns, - - 3. Separate Silo Structures, A. Wooden Silos, - : Circular Wooden Silos, = : B. Stone or Brick Silos, - C. Grout Silos, - . - : D. Stave Silos, - - - E. Metal Silos, - - - F. Silo Stacks, - - = Preservation of Silos, - - - Cost of Silos, - - - - : be > TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER III.— SinaGE,-- - Filling the Silo, - : : Cutting the Corn in the Field, = Whole vs. Cut Silage, - - Siloing Corn ‘‘ Ears and All.’ The Filling Process, - Fast or Slow Filling. - Covering the Siloed Fodder, — - Dry Silage, - - . Clover Silage, - : Freezing of Silage, Cost of Silage, - - Chemical Composition of Silage, The Relation of Moisture and Acidity in Silage, Sweet vs. Sour Silage, = Digestibility of Silage, - = Losses of Food Materials in the Silo, - Losses in Field-Curing Fodder Corn, Necessary Losses in the Silo, = Necessary Losses in Siloing Clover, CHAPTER 1V.— FEEDING OF SILAGE, Silage for Milch Cows, Silage for Steers, - : - Si‘age for Horses, - Silage for Sheep, - : : 5 Silage for Swine, : Silage for Poultry, CHAPTER V.—COMPARISON OF SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS, 1. Economy of Production, - : Corn Silage vs. Roots, - Corn Silage vs. Hay, - - Corn Silage vs. Fodder Corn, - 2. Comparative Feeding Experiments, Corn Silage vs. Roots, - Corn Silage vs. Dry Roughage, CHAPTER VI.— THE SILO IN MODERN AGRICULTURE, PAGE 93 93 93 98 102 105 107 108 113 115 117 118 120 121 125 129 131 131 139 141 143 144 151 153 156 160 162 164 164 164 167 169 170 170 174 180 INTRODUCTION. The history of the silo dates back to an- tiquity. Ancient writers speak of the practice of burying grain in underground pits to save it for future use or to hide it from their ene- mies, and the evidence at hand goes to show that semi-barbaric peoples in the different parts of the world have known and practiced this method. Green forage was preserved in the same way in the early history of the races of Northern Europe, notably in Sweden and the Baltic provinces, where the uncertainty of the weather and the low summer temperature ren- dered difficult the proper curing of the hay. It was not, however, until toward the middle of the present century that the practice of pre- serving green fodder by means of pits in the ground became more known. The method was especially practiced in central Europe, where large quantities of green leaves and tops were available every fall in the sugar-beet districts ; also green forage, such as Indian corn fodder, green clover, grass, etc., was treated by this method ; the fodder being placed in pits ten to twelve feet square, or larger, and as many feet (7) 8 INTRODUCTION. deep; these were often lined with wood, and puddled below and at the sides with clay. The fodder was spread evenly in the pits, and well trampled down; when the pit was full the whole was covered with boards and a layer of earth one to two feet thick ; such pits would hold nearly ten tons when full. It is stated that the silage thus obtained ‘‘remained green and was well liked, even by sheep.’ This practice slowly spread; in the sixties over 2000 tons of Indian corn was thus made into silage annually in a single small German province where dairying is an important industry. One of the earliest advocates of the practice was M. Reihlen of Stuttgart, Germany. His communications on the subject gave an impetus to a large amount of experimentation and study along this line, both among German and French farmers. The French farmer, Auguste Goffart, whose name by most writers has been connected with the origin of silage, in 1877 published his book, ‘‘Manual of the Culture and Siloing of Maize and other Green Crops,’’ which book is the first monograph on the subject ever pub- lished, and embodies the experience and results of twenty-five years’ study of the problem by the author. While Goffart has no claim to priority in inventing the method of siloing ereen fodders, he perfected and applied it on a large scale, and, in publishing the results of his experience, brought the subject to the general INTRODUCTION. 9 attention of farmers ; he may, therefore, justly be called the ‘‘ Father of Modern Silage.”’ The earliest mention of the subject in the United States was through accounts of Euro- pean experience in our agricultural press; the first complete description of the system was given in a paper on ‘*“‘The French Mode of Curing Forage,’’ published in the Annual Re- port of the United States Department of Agri- culture for 1875. Goffart’s book was translated in 1879, by Mr. J. B. Brown of New York; This translation, as well as Dr. J. M. Bailey’s ‘¢ Book of Ensilage,’’ published in 1880, brought the subject of silos and silage to the general attention of American farmers, and the system soon found its enthusiastic adherents in the United States. Since that time a wave of silo discussion and silo building has spread over the whole continent, and, as a result, we find to-day silos practically in every State in the Union, thousands upon thousands being filled each year with green corn and clover, furnish- ing farm animals with a palatable, succulent feed through the winter and spring. The earliest silo in the United States is said to be that built by Mr. F. Morris of Maryland, in 1876. The number of silos in this country at the present time can not be stated with cer- tainty in the absence of official or other reliable statistics on the subject; but careful estimates— which, from the nature of things, are but good 10 INTRODUCTION. guesses — place the number at 50,000 or more. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wis- consin, and all other States where dairying is an important industry, each have numbers ranging from several hundreds up into the thousands. We find silos in Maine and in California, in Washington and in Georgia, in the North and in the South. They are at the present most abundant where the dairy industry is of prime importance; but wherever stock raising is fol- lowed we may, in general, expect to find them. In England, where the silo was introduced a little later than in the United States, there were only six silos in 1882; but according to official statistics the number was 600 in 1884, 1183 in 1885, 1605 in 1886, and 2694 in 1887. No later statistics are available. English farmers have the reputation of being, and doubt- less, as a rule are, more conservative in the changing of old methods or in the adoption of new ones than their American cousins; we can not, therefore, consider the figures given an overestimate of the present number of silos in the United States. Unwarranted claims for silage were often made during the early days of the silo move- ment by enthusiasts in this country and abroad. A German agricultural writer pre- dicted the day as likely to come when dry hay would only be obtainable in drug stores. While no American writer or speaker, to INTRODUCTION. 11 my knowledge, was so carried away by his enthusiasm, excessive statements and reports were, nevertheless, often indulged in, which could not stand the light of further experience and investigation. The process of siloing for- age, aS we have seen, is practically as old as hay-making; but it is only during the last couple of decades that the process has been systematically studied and perfected. Thanks to the zealous work of the agricultural experi- ment stations in this and other countries, and to the mass of practical experience accumulated, our store of definite knowledge on the subject has been enriched, and many problems previ- ously standing in the way of success have been solved. The siloing of green fodders is no longer an experiment; the results may be fore- told with as much certainty as in case of any industry depending on the action of ferments. With our present knowledge of the subject, we therefore believe that we can place the silo where it belongs and give it its due importance. The effort of the author will be to give, in the following pages, a plain and accurate account of the most important facts in connection with silage, and to furnish the beginner with such information concerning the building of silos, the making of silage, and its proper feeding, as will enable him to understand the important features of the method, and to adopt it in his system of farming. 12 INTRODUCTION. A few definitions of the terms used in this book may be in order at this place. In the modern meaning of the word, a silo signifies any air-tight structure used for the preservation of forage in a succulent condition. The feed taken out of the silo is silage form- erly and originally called ensilage). For the process of preserving fodders in a silo, several verbs are used by writers on agricultural topics and are given in our standard dictionaries ; among these the author prefers the verb, ¢o silo; we thus silo corn, clover, etc., and the product is corn silage, clover silage, etc. The term siloist, a farmer making and feeding Silage, is occasionally met with, and has also sometimes been used in this book. The dis- tinction made by some writers between silage, the feed, and ensilage, the process by which silage is made, is one rarely met with outside of books. By common usage, the prefix en has now been dropped in ensilage, the term silage having been generally adopted by farmers and agricultural writers. According to American custom, the term corn, spoken of in this book, means Indian corn, or maize (Zea Mays), and corn silage, silage made from Indian corn; fodder corn means the whole corn plant grown for forage, and corn fodder or corn stalks (stover), the husked plant grown for the sake of the ears, MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. CHAPTER I.—SILAGE CROPS. A. INDIAN CORN. Indian corn is, above all other plants, the main silage crop in our country, and is likely always to remain so. ) 8.3 | 674 | 1898 | 1896 | 3585) 187 | 677 © 23.../ 161 | 18.8 |1190 | 3249 | 4581 | 9301) 380 {1136 “© 30...| 276 | 32.8 |1978 | 4972 | 8194 |16884) 679 1727 Aug. 6...| 468 | 55.0 |3069 | 7215 [14420 |29266) 851 |2780 © 13...| 565 | 67.4 18576 | 8192 |17692 |36746| 865 |2735 «* 20...| 591 | 82.6 |8991 | 8848 |21164 |47357| 974 13369 Ce a Pe clean ae 108.7 |5131 {11369 |27394 |63232)1148 |4970 Sept. 3...]....../121.2 6215 12218 (28311 |73247/1729 |4722 “« 10...1 611 [119.4 15120 11554 |27023 |73473/1906 |8245 *1,000 grams equal 2.2 lbs. avoirdupois. Professor Ladd, in 1889, in a very exhaustive study of the corn plant, analyzed fodder corn cut at five different stages of growth, from full tasseling to maturity. The results obtained will nicely supplement the preceding data. CHEMICAL CHANGES IN THE CORN CROP. YIELD PER ACRE. Gross Weight Water in Crop Dry Matter “eee eee eeeeee ee ef ® e+ eee ©) 2) 0' 0) R)-@ 6 'e 6 8 ip ee ‘a. /9 Nitrogen-free Extract (starch, sugar, etc)...... Crude Fat a ae een wie Orem | See e, elim im Tas- | seled, July 30. ‘Pounds | 18045 Silked,| Milk, Aug. 9. Aug. 21) Pounds |Pounds 25745 |32600 22666 27957 3078 4645 201.3 232.2 436.8 478.7 872 .9)1262.0 1399.3 2441.3 Glazed,| Ripe, Sept. 7 |Sept. 23 Pounds | Pounds 82295 |28460 25093 |20542 7202 | 7918 302.5) 364.2 643.9) 677.8 1755. 9)1784.0 4239 .8)/4827.6 167.8! 228.9 260.0) 314.3 The data given in the preceding tables show | how rapidly the yield of food materials in- SILAGE CROPS. 17 creases with the advancing age of the corn and also that the increase during the later stages of growth comes largely on the nitrogen-free extract (starch, sugar, etc.). A number of American experiment stations have determined the increase during the stages previous to maturity, with the average results shown in the following computation: INCREASE IN Foop INGREDIENTS FROM TASSELING TO RIPENESS. | Gainin per cent | Stage of Maturity. | between first and last cutting. EXPERIMENT Variety. ee Se SoS Z STATION. ; First Last |pSisolse| Sa | Cutting. | Cutting. QS\RS|/FE| 55 | Slay | oF Cornell,N.Y.|Pride of the | North.... Bloom |Mature 10 90 129) 169 al ‘Pride of th» Nearly | | North .... fs mature 217 134 374; 300 Geneva, N.Y.|King Philip.|Tasseled|Mature 389183335) 462 New Hamp.jAv.of4Var.| “ Glazed 112) 50) 84| 130 Pennsylvania Av.of 10 Var. 2 Mature 155) Vermont. Av. of 2 Var. - Glazed 122) 50 7h ! e Bloom oe 204 ia Averages of | At ae 6 paces 193) 98.2 30| 265 We thus find that the largest amount of food materials in the corn crop is not obtained until the corn is well ripened. When a corn plant has reached its total growth in height it has, as shown by the results given in the last table, attained only one-third to one-half the weight of dry matter it will gain if left to grow to maturity ; hence we see the wisdom of post- poning cutting the corn for the silo, as in 2 18 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. general for forage purposes, until late in the> season. The tables given in the preceding, and our discussion so far, have taken into account the total, and not the digestible components of the corn. Early German digestion work goes to show that the digestibility of plants decreases as they grow older; the following average digestion coefficients for green corn, obtained in American digestion experiments, embody all work done by our experiment stations on this point up to date; the computation is made by Professor Lindsey of Massachusetts experi- ment station. DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS FOR GREEN DENT FODDER CorRN. No. of | Dry | Crude | Ciude | N-free | Ether STAGES OF GROWTH. | Trials. |Matter.|Protein| Fiber. |Kxtract|Extract Tmmature....:<.¥.25) 1 68 66 67 rg 68 mpi oe es beeen 9 70 61 64 76 78 Glazing. Sos. s the interstices between the siloed fodder, the bacteria will gradually die out, or only such forms will survive as are able to grow in the absence of the oxygen of the air. The biology of silage has received but very little attention from our scientists up to the present time, and we do not know which forms of bac- teria are favorable, and which are unfavorable to the proper run of the siloing process, or how many of the various conditions of siloing affect the final result. We know this, however, that no silage fit to be eaten can be made in the presence of air. The silo must therefore be air-tight, and the fodder in it well packed, so | as to exclude the air as far as practicable. | In the second place, the silo must have smooth, perpendicular walls, which will allow | the mass to settle without forming cavities | along the walls. In adeep silo the fodder will | settle several feet during the first few days after filling. Any unevenness in the wall will prevent the mass from settling uniformly, and air spaces in the mass thus formed will cause the surrounding silage to spoil. The walls’ must be rigid, so as not to spring when the siloed fodder settles; air would thereby be_ admitted, causing decay and loss of silage. | Other points of importance in silo-building, STmoOs: ot which do not apply to all kinds of silos, will be considered as we proceed with the discussion of the various kinds of silos inexistence. We shall now take up the different phases of the subject of silo building. Size oF StLos.—In planning a silo the first point to be decided is how large it shall be made. We will suppose that a farmer has a herd of twenty-five cows, to which he wishes to feed silage during the winter season, e. ¢., for 180 days. Wenote here, at the outset, that silage will not be likely to give best results for milch cows, or for any other class of farm animals, when it furnishes the greater portion of the dry matter of the feed ravion. As a rule, it will not be well to feed over forty pounds of silage daily per head. If this quantity be fed daily, on an average for'a season of 180 days, we have for the twenty-five cows 180,000 pounds, or ninety tons. On ac- count of the fermentation processes taking place in the silo, there is an unavoidable loss of food materials during the siloing period, amounting to about 10 per cent; we must therefore put more than the quantity given into the silo. If ninety tons of silage is wanted, about one hundred tons of fodder corn must be placed in the silo. Corn silage will weigh from thirty pounds, or less, to toward fifty pounds per cubic foot, according to the depth of the silo, and the amount of moisture contained in the 38 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. silage. We may take forty pounds as the average weight of one cubic foot of corn silage. One ton of silage will accordingly take up fifty cubic feet; and 100 tons, 5,000 cubic feet. If a rectangular one-hundred-ton silo is to be built, say 12x14 feet, it must then have a height of 30 feet. Ifa square silo is wanted, it might be given dimensions 12x12x35 feet, or 18x13x 30; if a circular silo, the following dimensions will be about right: Diameter, 16 feet; height of silo, 25 feet, etc. In the same way, a silo holding 200 tons of corn or clover silage may be built of the dimensions 16x 24x 26 feet, 20x 20x 25 feet; or, if round, diameter, 25 feet; height, 32 feet, etc. The following table will show the approxi- mate quantities of silage required for the feed- ing of herds of cattle of from ten to forty head for a period of 180 days, forty pounds of silage being fed daily per head. The dimen- sions of any silo of a capacity as given in the last column of the table may be easily calculated. QUANTITIES OF SILAGE REQUIRED FOR DIFFERENT HERDS. NUMBER OF Cows Weigut of Weight of Approximate No. IN THE HERD. Silage. Silage. of Cubic Feet. LBs. TONS. i ee ceareney ape tae 72,000 36 2,400 BLUSE. c taasl otew Sees 108,000 54 3,100 72 As Ae ane ie 144,000 72 4,100 nove tatea tans sete 180,000 90 4,800 OG tae a uate 216,000 108 5,400 10 Se eae ae Ute 252.000 126 6,300 AD acc onsite sn 288, DOO eae 7,200 _— “SONVYS 'NILHYNG LV ‘SONS S,LYvss09—'1 “DI4 ——— —_————————————— Ne NY A. LI i ) 40 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. Form or Sitos.— The first silos made in this country or abroad were rectangular, shallow structures, with a door opening at one end. Goffart’s silos were 5x12 meters wide, and 5 meters high (16.4x39.4x16.4 feet). Another French silo, one of the largest ever built, SD => ZA 1-30 eB AZ Zz AZ zB a ke A SFA AA Ss SS BE EB A, o Zk A, a A qi, A AA Za A om so A Z A 2 , A A Z A ' — 2 iF Z BZ BZ FA z= ' cS zB S Z : Z Z A Z : Z Z Z ZZ Z ZZ Z A Z Z Z Z FA Z BZ AA Ril A Z Z A Ni Z Z Z A ; A FA F A | A Z Z — Zz 7 SB Z 1 Ss FF A —— = —— Z ! ZZ Z F AA A A A Zz AA AA Zz F 1 2250. ZB A Z a 7 A A Z A S (AZ A EF a 3 |AAw ZZ A SS B), (}>AdzAB LZ AF BB I EI E AAS AA BZ, | EB ZB LA? CZ LZ” FIG. 2.— PLAN OF GOFFART’S SILOS. belonging to Vicomte de Chezelles, was 206x214 feet, and 15 feet high, holding nearly 1,500 tons of silage. Silos of a s'milar type, but of smaller dimensions, were built in this country in the early stages of silo building. Experience had taught siloists that it was — ———— eT eS Lc ee I — a SILOS. 41 necessary to weight the fodder heavily in these silos, in order to avoid the spoiling of large quantities of silage. In Goffart’s silos, boards were thus placed on top of the siloed fodder, and the mass was weighted at the rate of 100 pounds per square foot. It was found, however, after some time, that this heavy weighting could be dispensed with by making the silos deep, and gradually the deep silos came more and more into use. These silos were first built in this country in the latter part of the eighties ; at the present time none but silos more than eighteen to twenty feet deep are built, no matter of what form or material they are made. Since 1890 the cylindrical form of silos has become more and more general. These silos have the advantage over all other kinds in point of cost and convenience, as well as qual- ity of the silage obtained. We shall, later on, have an occasion to refer to the relative value of the various forms of silos, and shall here only mention one point in favor of the round silos. One of the essentials in silo building is that there shall be a minimum of surface and wall exposure of the silage, as both the cost and the danger from losses threugh spoiling are thereby reduced. The round silos are superior to all other forms in regard to the former point, as will be readily seen from an example: A rectangu- 42 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE, lar silo, 16x32x24 feet, has the same number of square feet of wall surface as a square silo, 94x24 feet, and of the same depth, or as a cir- cular silo 30 feet in diameter and of the same depth ; but these silos will hold about the fol- lowing quantities of silage: Rectangular silo, 246 tons; square silo, 276 tons; circular silo, 338 tons. Less lumber will, therefore, be needed to inclose a certain cubical content of silage in case of square silos than in case of rectangular ones, and less for cylindrical silos than for square ones, the cylindrical form being, then, the most economical of the three types. Silage of all kinds will usually begin to spoil after a few days, if left exposed to the air; hence the necessity of considering the extent of surface exposure of silage in the silo while it is being fed out. In a deep silo there is less silage exposed in the surface layer in proportion to the contents than in shallow silos. Experience has taught us that about two inches of the top layer of the silage must be fed out daily during cold weather in order to prevent the silage from spoiling; in warm weather about three inches must daily be taken off. The form of the silo must therefore be planned, accord- ing to the size of the herd, with special refer- ence to this point. Professor King estimates that there should be a feeding surface in the silo of about five square feet per cow in the herd; a herd of thirty cows will then require 150 SILOS. 43 quare feet of feeding surface, or the insides diameter of the silo should be 14 feet; for a herd of forty cows a silo with a diameter of toyteet will be required; for fifty cows, a diameter of 18 feet; for one hundred cows, a diameter of 25.25 feet, etc. LocatTInG THE S1Lo.—The question, where to build the silo, is most important and has to be settled at the start. The feeding of the silage is an every-day job during the whole winter, and twice a day at that. Other things being equal, the nearest available place is therefore the best. The silo should be as handy to get at from the barn as possible. The condition of the ground must be considered. If the ground is dry outside the barn, the best plan to follow is to build the silo there, in connection with the barn, going five or six feet below the surface, providing for a door opening and chute as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, in case of round silos. This connection can be made still more easily in case of square or rectangular silos, as the barn wall may then form one wall of the silo and a doorway open directly into the barn. The bottom of the silo should be on or below the level where the cattle stand, and, if practicable, the silage should be moved out and placed before the cows at a single handling. Bottom oF S1Lto.—The bottom of the silo may be clay, or, preferably, a layer of small 44 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. stones covered with cement. In some silos considerable damage has been done by rats burrowing their way into the silo from below, and destroying a great deal of silage, both directly and indirectly, by admitting air into the silo. The silo may be built four to six feet down into the ground, if this is dry. It is easy to build the silo deep by this arrangement, and there will be no need of extra length of carrier. By means of a ten- inch plank, provided with a number of cleats, the underground portion of the silo may easily be emptied, the feeder walking up the plank with the basket filled with silage. FoUNDATION AND WALL OF SILO — The silo should rest on a substantial stone foundation, to prevent the bottom of the silo from rotting and to guard against spreading of the silo wall. The foundation wall should be 18 to 24 inches thick. Professor Cook recommends making the bottom of the silo one foot below the ground, so that the stone wall on which it rests may be sustained by the earth on the outside, as shown Thala sla eae Sills made by two 2x10 planks (P) rest on the inside ten inches of the foundation wall; one of these projectsat each corner. The studdings (S), which are 2x10 planks, and as long as the silo is high, are placed 12 to 16 inches apart, large silos requiring the smaller distance. Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of the stone foun- SILOS. 45 dation wall, extending above surface of the ground. As there is a considerable lateral pressure in the silo before the fodder has settled, it is very important to make the wall rigid and to place D —— SAMA 7, LLL IIIWNS ) PSZZZZZL. oO Yt GSE CBS Led ISVS = UZ, UA a pee nee SZ | oe sash * ZZZARWiwhiWir WG FIG. 4.— FOUNDATION OF SILO. Wall extending above surface of the ground. (Cook.) cross partitions in his first silo. In addition to this, three courses of bridging in each side-wall were inserted. In spite of all, the pressure, when the silo was full, frequently forced out the sides from two to six inches in places, and SILOS. 47 on some occasions the air was thus allowed to penetrate the silage and impair its value. To insure ventilation in rectangular wooden silos, the sills may be two inches narrower than the studding, so as to leave air spaces between the sills and the lining; in the same way the plate is made narrower than the studding to provide for anescape at the top. The same end may be reached by boring a series ot holes at the bottom of the outside wall between every two studs, leaving an open space of about two inches on the inside, at the top of the plate. Wire netting should be nailed over ventilation openings to keep out rats and mice. ROOF OF THE S1Lo.— Where the silo is built in the bay of a barn, there will be no need of making any separate roof, which otherwise generally will be the case. The roof may be either board or shingle, and should be provided with a cupola, so as to allow free ventilation in the silo. In extreme cold weather it should be shut, to prevent freezing of the silage. MATERIAL FOR SILO BuILDING.—NSilos are at _ the present built almost exclusively of wood, _ stone, or concrete, or partly of one, partly of another of these materials. The material used will largely be determined by local conditions ; where lumber is cheap, and stone high, wooden silos will generally be built; where the op- posite is true, stone silos will have the advan- tage on the point of cheapness, while concrete 48 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. silos are likely to be preferred where cobble- stones are at hand in abundance, and lumber or stone are hard to get at a reasonable cost. So far as the quality of the silage made in any of these kinds of silos is concerned, there is no difference when the silos are properly built. The longevity of stone and concrete silos is usually greater than that of wooden silos, since the latter are more easily attacked by the silage juices and are apt to decay in places after a number of years, in spite of all precautions that may be taken to preserve them. We shall now consider somewhat in detail the various types of silos, and shall give direc- tions for their building in each case. Description of the Different Kinds of Silos. I. Pits in the Ground. The primitive form of silos was simple trenches or pits dug in the ground, in which the grain or fodder to be preserved was buried, and covered with boards and a layer of earth. Sometimes the trench was cemented; in the earlier stages of underground silos, it was not. Immense quantities of sugar beet tops and beet chips have been siloed in this way in European countries, especially in Germany and France. In this country, before silo structures proper became general, a few farmers, not wishing to | SILOS. 49 risk much money on a system they knew only from hear-say, obtained their first silo experi- ence in this simple way. An excavation about 30 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 2 1-2 feet deep was made in 1889, in a cornfield at the Kansas experiment station ; the soil was dry and sandy; corn stalks with ears on were carefully piled in this pit in Octo- ber, and the mass rolled with a heavy iron roller; the fodder was then covered with a four-inch layer of straw and twenty inches of earth. When the pit was opened late in De- cember, the silage was found to be in a very excellent condition. This rather crude method of preserving fodder will, however, always be accompanied by large losses on account of the excessive and faulty fermentations occurring during the siloing period. It can not, therefore, be reeommended. Much the better plan to follow for the farmer intending to try silage, is to travel about a little, and examine some modern silos before build- ing; with the wide distribution of silos at the present date, he will usually not have far to go to find one. II. Silos in the Barn. A large number of silos have been built in a bay of the barn. Where the necessary depth can be obtained and where the room can be spared, such silos can be built very easily and at less 50 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. cost than a separate structure, since lighter materials in this case may be used, and no roof will be required for the silo. Silos built in this manner have generally the advantage over other silos in being near at hand. This 1s a very important point; feeding time comes twice a day throughout the winter and spring, and a few steps saved in hauling the silage mean a good deal in the ageregate. Many farmers first made silos of this kind, and later on, when familiar with the process, built additional sep- arate structures. Bays of the barn may be easily changed into silos according to the following directions given by Professor Whitcher: ‘“Bemove floors, and if there is a barn cellar, place sills on the bottom of this and set 2x8 scantling vertically, bringing up the inside edges even with the sills of the barn. The bottom may or may not be ce- mented, according as the eround is wet or dry. -If to be cemented, three casks of cement and an equal amount of sharp sand or gravel will cover a bottom 16x16 and turn up on the sides two feet, which will give a tight silo. Common spruce or hemlock boards, square- edged and planed on one side, are best for boarding the inside of the silo; these are to be put on in two courses, breaking joints, and, if thoroughly nailed, will give a tight pit. No. tonguing or matching is needed. Tarred paper ee —_ - SILOS. 51 may be put between the boarding, if desired, but I doubt if it is of great utility. At some point most easily accessible, an opening extending nearly the height of the silo must be made to put in the corn and take out the ensilage. The courses of boards should be cut shorter than the opening, to allow loose boards to be set. in, lapping on the door studding and making an air-tight joint. For all this work medium lumber is good enough, and a very limited amount of mechanical skill and a few tools, which all farms should have, will enable most farmers to build their own silo. 1.00 SHAUN SG Gea, apse aiaks rer clapure wie Hee oe ae ree 9.00 ST CR TAM. s f.n visiens widciaity. sieoveas cine 17.00 MINA precise eno Sy See telig ase asc. sae aha ee ene ese sere wie 1.50 INCOMING ida crs fsigrcis «aie He Sake, ids eos wae 2 9.85 eMC Tega hes ayes atosio el = aro Bus ete the Shen ea 's hs 2.00 1 AI a Se a ea 50 Meliiitree Meet Rs ees 5 etc ea ss isa, Save weal hs sense 2.00 POU Maint: ott cpeaetah et Se ola gtr oe dS Sodss $42.85 ‘“This does not include my own labor for four and a half days.” Ill. Separate Silo Structures. A. Wooden Silos. In the Northwestern States wooden silos can as a rule be built cheaper than either stone or grout silos. While they may not last as long as the latter types, even with the best of care in both building and maintenance, they will last for a large number of years if necessary precau- 56 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. tions for their preservation are taken. They may be built by placing 2x10 pieces as stud- ding one foot apart, and boarding on the inside with matched boards or shiplap, or with two layers of siding with building paper between; and on the outside building paper, over which common boards are nailed. If double lining is used, the first one is nailed on the studding horizontally, and the second vertically. 3S > = SSS SS = — iS Ps <— NNIAN FIG. 5. RECTANGULAR WOODEN SILO. Dimensions, 48 x 24 feet, 22 feet high. (From a photograph.) There is a good deal of difference of opin- ion as to the silo lining, several observing farmers claiming that double boarding, with or without tarred paper between, will rot before a one-layer lining of sound matched lumber or shiplap, free from cracks and checks, put on horizontally. Mr. H. B. Gurler, the well-known Illinois dairyman, says on this SILOS. 57 point in a communication to the author: ‘‘ My first silo was built with a single boarding on inside of studdings. This wasa good quality of matched lumber, and it is still sound after hav- ing been filled eleven times ; I cannot find any signs oi decay, or at least could not before fill- ing last fall. The second silo I built was with double walls inside, with paper between. Jam confident that decay will sooner cause trouble with these walls, as I can see the effect of it now in some places, and this after nine fillings. I imagine moisture from the corn gets through the joints before it swells these tight, and saturates the paper, thus causing decay. I think if build- ing now I should select sound, kiln-dried lum- ber for the inside and put on one thickness.”’ Professor Robertson, the Dairy Commissioner of Canada, also recommends a single lining for wooden silos. He says: ‘‘I have found one ply of sound 1-inch lumber, tongued and grooved, and nailed horizontally on the inside of studs, 2 inches by 10 inches or 2 inches by 12 inches, to be sufficient. I did build silos with four ply of lumber and tar paper between them ; and I could not keep the silage any better than with one ply of lumber, tongued and grooved or planed on the edges.”’ No filling material is necessary or desirable in the dead air spaces formed by the studding and the outside and inside facing; air is a better non-conductor of heat than sawdust, chaff, or 58 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. any other material which has beenrecommended for this purpose. As before stated, deep silos are better than shallow ones, and square better than rectangular, as they require less lumber. For the same and other reasons circular silos are to be preferred to either of these forms. Another point in favor of the round silo is the absence of corners in this type of silos, the whole inside forming a smoothround wall; corners are always objection- able in a silo on account of the loss of silage through spoiling, which generally takes place there, the reason being the difficulty of perfectly excluding air by pressure at these points. To avoid the loss of silage in the corners of square or rectangular silos they should be partially rounded off by placing a square timber, split diagonally, in each of the corners; another plan is to bevel the edge of a ten-inch plank and nail it in the corners, filling in behind per- fectly with dry earth or sand; sawdust has been recommended, but it should not be used, as it will draw moisture and cause the plank and silo lining to decay; the space back of the plank may also be left empty. A PRIMITIVE CoLorapo S1Lo.—Professor Cooke describes a wooden silo, made at the Colo- rado College Farm, which is still cheaper than Mr. Gould’s silo, previously described—and also more primitive. ‘‘The climatic conditions in large sections of the West are such as to allow : SILOS. 59 silos to be built very deep into the ground and render roof unnecessary. The silo was built on a slight slope; a hole, 21 feet square and 8 feet deep, was dug out with the plow and scraper. The only hand work necessary was in the cor- ners and the sides. Inside this hole a 2x6 “sill was laid on the ground; 2x6 studding, 12 feet long, erected every 2 feet, and a 2x6 plate putontop. This framework was then sheeted on the inside with a single thickness of unmatched, unplaned, rough boards, such as can be bought almost anywhere for $12 per 1,000. ‘*The inside was lined with asingle thickness of tarred building paper, held in place by per- pendicular slats. The floor was made by wet- ting and tramping the clay at the bottom, while the heavens above made an excellent and very cheap roof. The dirt was filled in against the sides, and banked up to within two feet of the top, except on the lower side, where were doors, reaching from near the top to within four feet of the bottom. All labor was done by the farm hands and teams, and could as easily be done by any farmer on his own farm. ‘The bill for material stands as follows: 240 feet, 2x6, for sill and plate. 528 ‘* 2x6, 12 feet long, for studding. 960 ‘‘ rough boards for sides. Pies. + lumber at Sl2 per Miv sis... cce< ste $20.74 Nails lath and building paper:.c..:..... 7.00 60 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. ‘‘ Had the hole been two feet deeper, and the sides two feet higher, with one partition, the two pits would then have been each 10x20 feet, and 16 feet deep, with a total capacity of 100 tons of silage; while the cost of material would have been $44. Thus, a silo can be built in Colorado for less than 50 cents for each ton capacity.” SECOND STORIES. From a photograph. (King.) RounD WooDEN SILOos may conveniently be built inside of large, round barns in a similar manner, as described in the Eighth Report of the Wisconsin Experiment Station, in case of a three-hundred ton silo at Whitewater, Wis. The dimensions of this silo are 20 feet inside SILOS. 61 diameter, by 35 feet high. It was built from 2x6 studdings, sided up by two layers of fence boards, sawed in two. The illustrations, with legends given below, will explain further the details of the construction of barns of this kind. Round silos can be built cheaper than square ' '\ “al FIG. 7,— SHOWING ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF FIRST STORY. _ A, Wagon drives for cleaning barn; B, Feed manger; C, Platform for cattle; 2, 4, Method of | Ventilation ; 5, Method of placing joists. ones, both because of their greater relative capacity, and because lighter material may be used in their construction. The sills and stud- ding here do no work except to support the roof, since the lining acts as a hoop to prevent spreading of the wall. Professor King, of Wisconsin Experiment Station, who has given a great deal of study to the proper construction 62 - MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. of silos, and who first advocated the building of round silos, gives the following directions for their building. ‘* Houndation of the Silo.— The silo should be so situated that surface water can not drain | Sse HEE y == 2 = — = TTT STITT VITO TMT, —<— SS <> SS ss =— INES , FS a je, U.STINGUK ENG a JAWG/A=Z FIG. 9.— CONSTRUCTION OF ALL-WOOD, ROUND SILO. | A, Ventilators between studding. be thoroughly plastered with a good cement, in the proportion of two of cement to three of sand, plastering up flush with the inner face of the lining, so as to effectually close all air passages under the sill. Finally, when the plaster has set, it will be well to whitewash with 64 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. a coat of pure cement, and to repeat this treat- ment every one or two years, the object being to neutralize the acid of the silage, and thus prevent it from attacking the wall itself, which it will certainly do unless protected in some way. “Sls and Plates. —These may be made of 9x4’s cut into about two-foot lengths, on a slant of two radii of the circle of the silo, the sections of the sills being toe-nailed together on the wall, and then bedded in mortar and leveled. The pieces for the plate may be spiked directly upon the tops of the studding. One thick- ness for either sill or plate is all that is needed, and it is unnecessary in either case to cut the pieces to a circle. “« Studding.—The studding for the round silo, unless more than 35 feet in diameter, need never be larger than 2x4’s, and should be placed a trifle less than 12 inches from center to center, in order that lumber bending around aslightly larger circle may not cut to waste. If lengths of studding greater than 20 feet are re- quired, these may be procured by nailing two shorter lengths together, lapping them about two feet. ‘To put the studding in place, seta strong post in the center of the bottom of the silo, reaching, say, six feet above the level of the sill. Set in place every alternate stud, toe-nailing at the bottom, and staying by a single board to SILOS. 65 the center post. After the stud has been made plumb, stay the studding sidewise with strips of lining, binding around the outside, and tacking to each stud. After this is done, the intermediate studs may be set up, and simply tacked to the bent strips, and toe-nailed to the sill. At this stage, the sheeting outside may begin at the bottom, and be carried to the height of the first staging, when the siding may be started, and carried to nearly the same height. ‘* Lining and Siding.—The lining of the silo, of whatever size, is best made of fencing split in two, making a little less than half-inch lum- ber, and it is best to have the fencing first sized, so that it will all be of the same width ; but it need not be surfaced. Three layers of this lumber should be used on the inside, with a. layer of good quality tar paper between each layer of boards, the first two layers being nailed with eight-penny wire nails, and the last layer with ten-penny nails, in order that the boards may be drawn very firmly together. The sheet- ing outside should also be of the same lumber for diameters less than thirty feet, and if extra warmth is desired, a iayer of paper may be placed between this and the siding. The siding for small silos should be the ordinary beveled type, rabbeted on the thick edge deep enough to receive the thin one; but for silos twenty-eight or more feet in diameter, ship-lap or drop siding of the ship-lap type may be used instead. 6 66 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. As the outside sheeting is carried up, the stud- ding should be kept plumb sidewise by tacking on strips of sheeting as already described ; and the plate need not be put on until the last stag- ing has been erected. To carry siding and sheeting up together saves staging. ‘Tf the weather permits, it is usually best to put on the lining before the roof, and to cut out the doors afterward, except one at the bottom for convenience in work. ‘ = SS AP asi ctiee. = 1 Et eel SOS a LL : : | | il | : | | + — oe" eh fT Mt SOS Z S44 Y PLS Ves XG? SAN i ‘ % I, lat es ar \ i Wig Jo 3 | UA SS MN | WY fi) a a | EF - Aig, ,? en rH fA S a ye Z wit Zab yoy | LAMA ‘ SSESS ee ——"%.. ln pe WHT st tiepenerey a rH = : ==) OOUMROREA LED OES a5 2th — ras = Ss ————— =. = a FIG. 19.— RAMSTROM’S SILO STACK. to preserve it. This holds good of all kinds of silos, but more especially of wooden ones, since a cement coating ina stone silo, even if only fairly well made, will better resist the action of the sil- age juices than the woodwork will be able to keep sound in the presence of moisture, high tem- perature, and an abundance of bacterial life. SILOS. 85 We have seen that the inside of the walls of stone silos should be given a whitewash of pure cement as often as found necessary, which may be every two years, and perhaps not as often. The degree of moisture and acidity in the silage made is, doubtless, of importance in this re- spect, aS a very sour silage made from imma- ture corn will be likely to soften the cement coating sooner than so-called sweet silage made from nearly mature corn. In case of wooden silos it is necessary to ap- ply some material which will render the wood impervious to water, and preserve it from decay. A great variety of preparations have been re- commended and used for this purpose. Coal tar has been applied by a large number of farmers, and has been found effective and dur- able. It may be put on either hot, alone, or mixed with resin, or dissolved in gasoline. If it is to be applied hot, some of the oil contained in the tar must previously be burnt off. The tar is poured into an iron kettle, a handful of straw is ignited and thrown into the kettle, which will cause the oil to flash and burn off. The tar is sufficiently burnt when it will string out in fine threads, a foot or more in length, from a stick which has been thrust into the blazing kettle and afterwards plunged into cold water. The fire is then put out by placing a tight cover over the kettle. The kettle must be kept over the fire until the silo lining has been 86 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. gone over. A mop or a small whisk broom cut short, so it is stiff, may serve for putting on the tar. Coal tar and gasoline have also been used by many with good success. About half a gallon of coal tar and two-thirds of a gallon of gaso- line are mixed at a time, stirring it while it is being put on. Since gasoline is highly inflam- mable, care must be taken not to have any fire around when this mixtureisapplied. Lathing and plastering of the silo walls are used by some farmers; the method can not, however, be recommended, since the plastering is very apt to crack and break off, even if great care is taken to preserve the walls intact. I have not seen any silo walls in better condi- tion than those of anumber of Wisconsin silos, preserved by application of a mixture of equal parts of boiled linseed oil and black oil, or one part of the former to two of the latter. This mixture, applied every other year, before filling time, seems to preserve the lining per- fectly. In building round silos, Professor King recommends painting the boards with hot coal tar, and placing the painted sides face to face. Ordinary red ochre and linseed oil have also been used by some farmers; others prefer to line the whole inside with building paper every time the silo is to be filled, in the manner ex- plained by Mr. Gould. (See page 59.) Walls of wooden silos that have been pre- SILOS, 87 served by one or the other of these methods will only keep sound and free from decay if the silos are built so as to insure good ventilation. Preservatives will not save a non-ventilated silo structure from decay. Cost of Silos. The cost of a silo will depend greatly on local conditions, as to price of labor and materials; how much labor has to be paid for; the size of the silo, etc. The author, in the spring of 1895, made some inquiries in regard to this point among farmers in different States of the Union who have builtsilos, with the following results: The cheapest silos are those built in bays of barns, as would be expected, since roof and outside lining are here already at hand. Num- ber of silos included, fourteen; average capac- ity, 140 tons; average cost of silos, $92, or 65 cents per ton capacity. Next come the square or rectangular wooden silos. Number of silos included, twenty-five; average capacity, 194 tons; average cost of silos, $285, or $1.46 per ton capacity. The round silos follow closely the square wooden ones in point of cost. Only seven silos were included, all but one of which were made of wood. Average capacity, 237 tons ; average cost, $368, or $1.54 per ton capacity. The data for the six round wooden silos are as follows: Average capacity, 228 tons ; average cost, $346, 88 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. or $1.52 per ton capacity. The one round ce- ment silo cost $500, and had a capacity of 300 tons (dimensions: diameter, 30 feet; depth, 21 feet); cost per ton capacity, $1.67. _ The stone or cement silos are the most expen- sive in first cost, as is shown by the data ob- tained. Number of silos included, nine; aver- age capacity, 288 tons; average cost, $577, or $1.93 per ton capacity. The great difference in the cost of different silos of the same kind is apparent without much reflection. Therangein cost per ton capacity in the twenty-five wooden silos included in the preceding summary was from 70 cents to $3.60. The former figure was obtained with a 144-ton silo, 20x18 x 20 feet ; and the latter with a 140- ton silo, built as follows : Dimensions, 14x 28x 18 feet ; 2x 12x18 feet studdings, set 12 inches apart ; two thicknesses of dimension boards in- side, with paper between, sheeting outside with paper nailed on studding ; cement floor. Par- ticulars are lacking as regards the first silo, beyond its dimensions. A good many figures entering into the preced- ing summaries are doubtless somewhat too low; if all labor put on the silo is to be paid for, for in some cases the cost of work done by the farmers themselves was not figured in with the other expenses. As most farmers would do some of the work themselves, the figures given may, however, be taken to rep- SILOS. 89 resent the cash outlay in building silos. In a general way, it may be said that a silo can be built in the bay of a barn for less than 75 cents per ton capacity; a round ora good square or rectangular wooden silo for about $1.50, and a stone or cement silo for about $2 per ton capac- ity, all figures being subject to variations ac- cording to local prices of labcr and materials. I believe that cheap, poorly-constructed silos have done more to prejudice large numbers of farmers against silage, and impede the progress of the silo, than any other one cause ; if it pays to build a silo at all, it pays to build a good one, and none but silos built to last should be putup. Many of the early wooden silos built were not made with an eye to the future, or rather, it was not then suspected that silos are as easily destroyed as a few years’ experience plainly showed them to be. We now provide against the decay of the silo, as we have seen, by securing good ventilation, and by preserving the woodwork ; in the cement or stone silo we whitewash with pure water-lime. In either case, it is often found convenient and advantageous to put in a cement or concrete floor. All these matters increase the cost of the silo, but in return, silos thus built will last for an indefinite length of time, and will not require much out- lay after first cost. Professor King figures that round silos will cost about 14 cents per square foot of surface, 90 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. and on basis of this figure arrives at the follow- ing cost of round silos of different dimensions. APPROXIMATE Cost oF RouND WOODEN SILos, THIRTY FEET DEEP, THEIR CAPACITIES AND CosT PER TON oF SILAGE. Outside Diam. of Silo. Cap. in Tons. Total Cost. Cost per Ton, Outside Diam. of Silo Cap. in Tons Total Cost. Cost per Ton. | 16 feet....]| 105/$2389. 268 28/24 feet... .| 247/$379. 96 $1.54 15||25 feet... .| 269) 398.58) 1.48 3/|26 feet... .| 292} 417.34) 1.48 2/27 feet....| 315] 4386.52) 1.38 3/28 feet... | 340) 455.70) 1.34 ar : 4/29 feet....| 366} 475.16) 1.30 22 feet....| 206) 343.42 7 0 [30 feet... 392| 494.76) 1.26 23 feet....| 226} 361.48 31 feet....| 419} 514.78] 1.23 2. 2. 19 feet....| 150) 290.36] 1. ai il ike i ue The data given in the preceding table show plainly that large silos are more economical than small ones. The expense per ton capacity of a 400 ton silo is thus only a little more than half of that of a 100-ton silo; the cost per ton capacity of the two silos being $2.28 and $1.23, for a 100 and 400-ton silo, respectively. The following statements of the cost of the three types of silos were prepared by the same writer ; comparisons are made with a stone silo of 200 tons capacity, costing $500; the silo is 14x 24 feet inside, and 30 feet deep, 22 feet above ground. It is covered on the outside with dimension boards, battened, extending up and down, and nailed to 2x 4 studding, held in place by hooked pieces of band irons laid in the wall, SILOS. RECTANGULAR S110, 200 Tons. Foundation, 13.44 perch at $1.20............ $ 16.18 Studding, 2x12, 28 feet, 8,736 feet at $20..... 174.72 Sills, etc., 2x10, 26 feet, 206 feet at $19....... 4.94 Sills, etc., 2x10, 16 feet, 426 feet at $14..... 5.96 Rafters, etc., 2x4, 20 feet, 400 feet at $16..... 6.40 Roof boards, fencing, 450 feet at $15......... 6.75 pa ledy OM MEAG tsetse cs ca,- 5 Slew 5, d.6s:c1w'o os 15.00 Drop siding, 8 inch, 2,779 feet at $16........ 44.46 Lining, sur. fencing, 4,256 feet at $15........ 63.84 marred paper, 426 lbs. at 2 cents....... ..... 8.52 Woasltar VuDATTE). op. )oe c's 3 acess oie SS ee ee 4.50 iRaimtines GO cents per SQUAaTC.....5.. oes. oe ets 15.00 PER AMOM DIN OES. cy. ers oe ss sials os eae ake < dinar 10.00 WP SMIEMEIN GO DORLOMN se. «vos cieJo.clsie eo Seats 6he%ei0 0 5.00 Eighteen 3-4 inch bolts, 18 inches long........ 2.70 Carpenter labor at $3 per M, and board...... 41.16 MG ete hates ete ocsie's = oidinice Sages © Ceainloe $425.08 RounpD S110, 200 Tons, 20 feet inside diameter, 30 feet deep. 91 Moundation, 1-o.perch at $1.20... 2.22 cee. ae... $ 9.00 Studs 2x4, 14 and 16 feet, 1,491 feet at $14..... 20.93 Rafters, 2x4, 12 feet, 208 feet at $14.......... 2.91 Roof boards, fencing, 500 feet at $15......... 7.50 SIM SIES BO MAU DOr. aces ovis sea dite aie te es 18.00 Siding, rabbeted, 2,660 feet at $23............ 61.18 Lining, fencing, ripped, 2,800 feet at $18...... 50.40 » Tarred paper, 740 lbs. at 2 cents.............. 14.80 (CORAM TS aI One gel its ae ee ae ere or 4.50 ELST OR AOTUE LG 3 ls vc CR ee Ie a aI 6.00 Painting, 60 cents per square...........--.+.. 13.20 Wementing DOUOM, .0...:5:6 655 cele wns oe ee eos ne 5.00 Carpenter labor at $3 per M, and board...... 33.17 Mae ee eo ale ee san 8 sina apeawrow 92 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. ‘“The three silos are outside, and wholly in- dependent structures, except the entrance and feeding chute shown in Fig. 10, which con- nects with the barn. This method of connec- tion for outside silos, while a little more costly, is, I feel confident, much the best in the long run.’’ It may be in order to state, In comparing the figures given in the preceding statements with the average data for the cost of the different silo types obtained by the writer, that the round silos in the latter summary were built uniformly better than the rectangular wooden silos included, and according to modern re- quirements, while many of the latter were old and of a comparatively cheap construction, so that the figures cannot be taken to represent the relative value of rectangular and round silos built equally well. CHAPTER III.— SILAGE. Filling the Silo. Having built our silo, we proceed to fill it with the fodder grown for the purpose. Since Indian corn is our main silage crop, we shall first consider the siloing of corn, and after- ward take up other crops. We saw before that corn should be allowed to pass through the dough stage before cutting, 7. e., when the ker- nels are well dented, or glazed, in case of flint varieties. Where very large silos are filled, and in cases of extreme dry weather when the corn is fast drying up, it will be well to begin filling the silo a little before it has reached this stage, as the greater portion of the corn would other- wise be apt to be too dry. There is, however, less danger in this respect now than formerly, on account of our modern deep silos, and because we have found that water applied directly to the fodder in the silo acts in the same way as water in the fodder, and keeps the fermenta- tions in the silo in the right track. CUTTING THE CoRN IN THE F1ELD.— The cut- ting of corn for the silo is usually done by hand by means of a corn knife. Some farmers are (93) 94 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. using a self-raking Champion reaper for this purpose, while others report good success with a sled or platform cutter. If the corn stands up well, and is not a very large variety, the end sought may be reached in a satisfactory manner by either of these methods. If, on the other hand, much of the corn is down, resort must be had to hand cutting. A number of FIG. 20.— McCORMICK'S CORN HARVESTER. different makes of corn harvesters and corn cutters have been placed on the market during the past season; it is very likely that hand cut- ting of fodder corn will be largely done away with in years to come, at least on large farms; indeed, it looks as if the day of the corn-knife was passing away, and as if this implement that has figured so long will soon be relegated to obscurity with the sickle of our fathers’ time. FILLING THE SILO. 95 Fig. 20 shows the latest and most im- proved machine that cuts corn and binds it into bundles of a convenient size, thus saving one-third of the work necessitated by handling loose stalks in the field and at the cutter. The corn is bound whilst standing on end, thereby assuring a square butt to the bundles and making a secure shock. The machine is built by the McCormicks in Chicago, and, according to the testimony of the farmers who have in use the 8,000 that were manufactured last season, it 1s a perfect machine for its purpose. A platform cutter, which has been used with great success, is described by the veteran Wis- consin dairyman, Mr. Charles R. Beach, in a communication to the author: ‘“We use two wagons, with platforms built upon two timbers, eighteen feet long, sus- pended beneath the axles. These platforms are about eighteen inches from the ground and are seven feet wide. The cutting-knife is fastened upon a small removable platform, two feet by about three and one-half feet, which is attached to the side of the large platform, and is about six or eight inches lower. One row is cut ata time, the knife striking the corn at an angle of about forty-five degrees. One man kneels on the small platform and takes the corn with his arm; two or three men stand upon the wagon, and as soon as he has gotten an armful, “he 96 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. men, each in turn, take it from him and pile it on the wagon. If the rows are long enough a load of one and one-half to two tons can be cut and loaded on in about eight to ten minutes. The small platform is detached from the wagon, the load driven to the silo, the plat- form attached to the other wagon, and another load is cut and loaded. None of the corn reaches the ground; no bending down to pick up. One team will draw men, cutter, and load, and I do not now well see how the method could be improved. With a steam engine, a large cutter, two teams and wagons, and ten men, we filled our silo, 22x24x18 feet (190 tons), fast, in less than two days. Mr. —— owned the whole outfit, and filled his own and several silos for his neighbors, the same gang of men doing the work.” Professor Georgeson of Kansas Experiment Station has described a one-horse sledge-cutter which has given better satisfaction than any fodder-cutter tried at that station. It is pro- vided with two knives, which are hinged to the body of the sled, and can be folded in on the sled when not in use. It has been improved and made easier to pull by providing it with four low and broad cast-iron wheels. It is pulled by asingle horse and cuts two rows at a time. Two men stand upon the cutter, each facing a row; as the corn is cut they gather it into arm- fuls, which they drop in heaps on the ground. FILLING THE SILO. 97 A wagon with a low, broad rack follows, on which the corn is loaded and hauled to the silo. A low-down rack for hauling the cut corn to the cutter is shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 22). It has been used for some years past at the Wisconsin Experiment Station, and is a great convenience in handling corn, saving both labor and time. Professor King states that these racks not only dispense with a man upon the wagon when loading, but FIG. 22— LOW-DOWN RACK FOR HAULING FODDER CORN. they materially lessen the labor of the man who takes the corn from the ground, for it is only the top of the load which needs to be raised shoulder-high; again, when it comes to unloading, the man can stand on the floor or eround and simply draw the corn toward him and lay it upon the table of the cutter, without stooping over and without raising the corn up to again throw it down. A plank that can easily be hitched on behind the truck will prove convenient for loading, so that the loader 0 98 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. ean pick up his armful and, walking up the plank, can drop if without much exertion. A very cheap and convenient s!ed for hauling fodder corn from the field has been recommended - by Professor Hickman of Ohio Experiment Sta- tion; it is said to answer all purposes if the silo corn is not too far from the silo: The sled can be made out of a couple of 2x10 or 2x 12 planks, say twelve feet long. Four2x4 cross pieces, well mortised into the planks, and fastened by 20-penny nails, will finish the sled, except the trimming of the runners so that they will have a well-formed curve on the front end. Loose boards thrown upon this kind of sled will enable one to haul very easily a ton of fodder at a load; and by placing the butts of the fodder corn all one way and putting a 3x8 scantling under the tops the load can be unloaded when it arrives at the cutter by two hands taking each an end of the scantling, and raising that side of the load until the fodder corn is turned completely over. In hauling the fodder corn long distances a low-down rack similar to the one shown in Fig. 22 should be used. If wilted fodder corn is to be siloed it should be shocked in the field to protect it as much as possible from rain before hauling it to the cutter. 3 WHOLE AGAINST Cut SILAGE.— One import- ant matter to be decided at this point is whether FILLING THE SILO. 99 or not the corn is to be cut before being filled into the silo. In the large majority of cases corn is run through a feed-cutter on being siloed. This is, however, by no means neces- sary, as it may be siloed whole with perfect success; in some localities and by some farmers, this practice is followed exclusively. The advocates of whole silage claim, with a good deal of plausibility, that there will be smaller losses from fermentations with whole than with cut silage, and that silos will be less subject to decay when corn is siloed whole than the other way. No direct proof of either of these state- ments is, however, at hand, and the practice followed must be decided by the greater advan- tages of one system or the other in the opinion of each farmer. In experiments with whole and cut corn silage, conducted at the Massachusetts Experi- ment Station in 1884-85, the conclusion drawn was that the silage obtained from whole plants was in a better state of preservation than that which had been obtained from the same quality of corn previously cut into pieces of from 14 to 14 inches in length. The mechanical condition of the whole corn silage was less satisfactory for feeding purposes, as far as an economical consumption of the same weight of both is concerned, than that pro- duced from corn previously cut. The saving of machinery, cutter, and carrier 100 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. makes an important point in favor of the whole silage, especially for small farmers, while the greater ease with which the cut silage may be fed out is in favor of the cutting of the corn crop. Professor Cook of Michigan says on this point: ‘‘My silo, fifteen feet square and twenty feet high, cost less than €130, and my feed-cutter, with an eighteen-foot carrier, also costs more than $100. But the same tread-power enables me to cut all my dry corn stalks and oat straw ata great saving, and to grind all my oats and corn at a slight expense, with one of the excellent Amer- ican grinders, while the cutter is also used as just indicated. For safety and convenience in feeding I prefer to run all the corn through a cutter. I believe that silos will soon be so common that engines and cutters will go from farm to farm, as threshers do now; then even the small farmers may cut the mate- rial for the silo, and yet not need to own the expensive machinery. I believe that it will pay even the small farmer to own the machin- ery, if he can purchase without incurring debt.’’ In siloing fodder corn whole, it is well to grow the smaller varieties and to plant rather thickly. One successful whole-silage farmer thus uses as much as twenty to twenty-four quarts of seed to the acre, which gives a stalk of corn nearly every inch, with rows 3% feet FILLING THE SILO. 10] apart. We have seen that a maximum of food materials per acre can not be expected from such close planting. Others use only half this amount and have equally good, or most likely better, whole silage. Too close planting is to be avoided, both on account of the decreased yield of dry matter from the land and the large amount of acid found in silage made from very immature corn. A medium thick planting, obtained by using, e. g., ten to twelve quarts per acre, is profitable for whole silage, for two reasons —the corn may be handled more easily, both in filling it into the silo and in feeding it out, and there is no waste in feeding, since cattle will eat the slender stalks and leave nothing of the silage. In siloing corn whole it.is put into the silo in a systematic manner; beginning with a small armful in one corner of the silo, bundles of the same size are placed along the wall ina tier; then another tier is formed close up to the first one, being laid in the opposite direc- tion, and successive tiers: are formed in the same way until the whole bottom of the silo is covered. When the first layer has been formed, a second one is put on top of it, starting with bundles where the first layer was finished, and completing it where the first layer was begun; in the same way layer after layer is put on until the silo is full. Every time a corner is reached a number of stalks are bent in the middle and 102 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. pressed down solidly in the corner, so as to leave noempty space. When the silage is to be fed out, the silo is emptied from the top in exactly the opposite direction from that in which it was filled; the different bundles and tiers will then separate from the rest of the silage without much trouble, although at best the process of feeding out whole silage must be considered back-aching work. Farmers who can not very well afford to buy the machinery necessary for cutting corn for the silo should make whole silage until they find themselves able to invest in a cutter, if they should prefer a change. While siloing whole corn may not be any saving in the end, the first cost of making silage will be greatly lessened by following this method. Better whole silage than none at all; better cut silage than whole, in the majority of cases, at least. SILOING Corn ‘*‘ EARS AND ALL.’’—It is the practice of a great many farmers to silo the whole corn plant without previously husking it. If the ear corn is not needed for hogs and horses, or for seed purposes, this practice is in the line of economy, as it saves the expense of husking, cribbing, shelling, and grinding the ear corn. The possible loss of food materials sustained in siloing the ear corn speaks against the practice, but this is, as we shall see, very small, and more than counterbalanced by the advantages gained by this method of pro- FEGOENG THE SILO: 103 cedure. In proof of this statement it may be well to give here briefly the results of a some- what extended feeding trial with milch cows, conducted by the author in 1891, at the Wis- consin Experiment Station. Corresponding rows of a large corn field were siloed, ‘‘ears and all’’ and without ears, the ears belonging to the latter lot being carefully saved and air-dried. The total yield of silage with ears in it (whole-corn silage) was 56,459 pounds ; of silage without ears (stover silage), 34,496 pounds, and of ear corn, 10,511 pounds. The dry matter content of the lots obtained by the two methods of treatment was, in whole corn silage, 19,950 pounds; in stover silage 9,484 pounds, and in ear corn 9,122 pounds, or 18,606 pounds of dry matter in the stover silage and ear corn combined. This shows a loss of 1,344 pounds of dry matter, or nearly 7 per cent, sustained by handling the fodder and ear corn separately instead of siloing the corn ‘‘ears and all.” In feeding the two kinds of silage against each other, adding the dry ear corn to the stover silage, it was found that seventeen tons of whole-corn silage fed to sixteen cows produced somewhat better results than fourteen tons of stover silage, and more than two tons of dry ear corn, both kinds of silage having been sup- plemented by the same quantities of hay and grain feed, The yield of milk from the cows 104. MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. was 4 per cent higher on the whole-corn silage ration than on the stover silage ration, and the yield of fat was 6.9 per cent higher on the same ration. It would seem then that the cheapest and best way of preserving the corn crop for feeding purposes, at least in case of milch cows, is to fill it directly into the silo; the greater portion of the corn may be cut and siloed when the corn is in the roasting stage, and the corn plat which is to furnish ear corn may be left in the field until the corn is fully matured, when it may be husked, and the stalks and leaves may be filled into the silo on top of the corn siloed ‘‘ears and all.’’ This will then need some heavy weighting or one or two applications of water on top of the corn, to insure a good quality of silagefrom therather dry stalks. (See page 109.) An experiment similar to the preceding one, conducted at the Vermont Experiment Station, gave results going in the same direction. The product from six acres of land was fed tomilch cows; the results showed that corn siloed ‘fears and all’’ produced 3.3 per cent better results than siloed stalks and ground ear corn from the same; when the yield of milk and fat per acre of corn was considered in either case, the whole corn silagefrom an acre of land, fed with 4,313 pounds of clover rowen and 2,157 pounds grain, produced 8,118 pounds of milk and 333 pounds fat; while in case of the FILLING THE SILO. 105 stover silage fed with ground earsand thesame quantity of other feed, 6,399 pounds of milk and 264 pounds of fat were produced ; that is, it would have taken the product from 1.26 acres to give anequal amount of milk and milk prod- ucts in the latter case as was produced by the silage from whole corn plant. This shows that husking, shelling, and grinding the corn, processes that may cost more than a quarter of the market value of the meal, are labor and ex- pense more than wasted, since the cows did better on the corn siloed ‘‘ears and all’ than on that siloed after the ears were picked off and fed ground with it. THE FILLING PRocrEss.—If the corn is to be cut before being filled into the silo, it is un- loaded on the table of the fodder-cutter and run through the cutter, after which the carrier elevates it to the silo window and delivers it into the silo. The length of cutting practiced differs somewhat with different farmers, and according to variety of corn to be siloed. The general practice is to cut the corn in one- half to one-inch lengths ; a few cut in two-inch lengths. The corn will pack better in the silo the finer it is cut, and cattle will eat the larger varieties cleaner if cut into inch lengths or less. On the other hand, it is possible that fine cut- ting implies larger losses through fermenta- tions in the silo; fine cut silage may, further- more, not keep as long as silage cut longer after 106 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. having been taken out of the silo. There is, however, not sufficient experimental evidence at hand to establish either of these points; the majority of farmers filling silos, at any rate, practice cutting corn fine for the silo. The carrier should deliver the corn as nearly in the middle of the silo as possible; by means of a chute attached to the carrier, the cut corn may be delivered to any part of the silo desired, and the labor of distributing and leveling the corn thus facilitated. If the corn is siloed ‘‘ears and all,’’ it is necessary to keep a man or a boy in the silo while it is being filled, to level the surface and tramp down the sides and corners; if left to itself, the heavier pieces of ears will be thrown farthest away and the light leaves and tops will all come nearest the dis- charge; as a result, the corn will not settle evenly, and the feeding value of different layers of silage will differ greatly. To assist in the distribution of the corn it is recom- mended to hang a pyramidal box in front and below the top of the carrier; this may be made about three feet square at the base and tapering to a point, at which a rope is attached for hanging to rafters. The descending mass of cut corn will strike the top of the box and be divided so as to distribute to all parts of the silo. Another simple device is to place a board vertically, or nearly so, in front of the top of the carrier, against which the cut corn will strike. FILLING THE SILO. 107 Fast or SLow FILLiInG.— The original prac- tice in filling silos was to fill as rapidly as the conditions present would possibly admit; other outdoor farm work was therefore dropped at the time of silo filling, and all energies con- centrated on completing this job. It was, how- ever, found later on, perhaps by accident, that no harm will result if the filling be interrupted for some time, and -the practice of slow filling gradually developed. The theory of the prac- tice was worked out by Prof. M. Miles of Michigan, and he was one of the early cham- pions of the slow-filling process in this coun- try. The advantage claimed for the slow filling was, besides appreciably facilitating the work of filling the silo, the superior quality of the silage produced, viz., so-called sweet silage. We shall be able to discuss this subject more fully when we have considered the chemical composition of silage, and the changes occur- ring in the silo. (See page 120.) It will only be necessary here to state, concerning the slow or rapid filling of silos, that the silage produced by either method will be good, provided the cornis not too immature. It is, therefore, mainly a matter of convenience, which method proves preferable. Generally speaking, rapid filling has the advantage in point of economy, both of ‘labor and of food materials. The fermentations are left to proceed farther in case of slow filling than when filled rapidly, being greatly aided 108 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. by the oxygen of the air, which then has better access to the separate layers; this is plainly shown by the higher temperature reached in slowly filled silos. The rise in the temperature is due to the activity of bacteria, and a high temperature, therefore, means greater losses of food constituents. As there may be some farmers who still hold slow filling to be preferable, we give the direc- tions for filling the silo in this way: When enough corn has been added to fill about three feet of the silo, the filling is discontinued and the mass allowed to heat up to 120° to 140° Fahrenheit. This may take a day or two; the filling is then continued, and another layer of about three feet filled in, which is left to heat as before. This method of intermittent filling is continued until the silo is full. COVERING THE SILOED FoppER.—A great many devices for covering the siloed fodder have been recommended and tried, with varying success. The original method was to put boards on top of the fodder and to weight them heavily by means of a foot layer of earth or sand, or with stone. The weighting having later on been done away with, lighter material, as straw, marsh hay, sawdust, etc., was sub- stituted for the stone or sand. Building paper was often placed over the fodder, and boards on top of the paper. There is no special advantage derived from the use of building FILLING THE SILO. 109 paper, and it is now rarely used. Many farm- ers run some corn stalks or green husked fodder through the cutter after the fodder is all in. None of these materials or any other rec- ommended for the purpose can perfectly pre- serve the uppermost layer of silage, as far as my experience goes, some six to eight inches of the top layer being usually spoilt. Occasion- ally this spoilt silage may not be so bad but that cattle or hogs will eat it up nearly clean, but it is at best very poor food and should not be used by any farmer who cares for the quality of his products. The wet or green materials are better for cover than dry substances, since they prevent evaporation of water from the top layer; when this is dry, air will be admitted to the fodder below, thus making it possible for putrefactive bacteria and molds to continue the destructive work begun by the fermentation bacteria. During the past couple of years the practice of applying water to the surface of the fodder in the silo has been followed in a large number of cases. The surface is tramped thoroughly and a considerable amount of water added. In applying the method at the Wisconsin Experi- ment Station, Professor King, a few days after the completion of the filling of the silo, added water to the fodder corn at the rate of about ten pounds per square foot of surface, repeat- 110 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. ing the same process about ten days afterward. By this method a sticky, almost impervious layer of rotten silage, a couple of inches thick, will form on the top, which will prevent evap- oration of water from the corn below, and will preserve all but a few inches of the top. The method seems to have worked very satisfacto- rily, and can be recommended in cases where the corn or clover goes into the silo ina rather dry condition, on account of drought or extreme hot weather, so as not to pack sufficiently by its own weight. While weighting of the siloed fodder has long since been done away with, it may still prove advantageous to resort to it where very dry fodder is siloed, or in case of shallow silos. Under ordinary conditions neither weighting nor applications of water should be necessary. None of the different methods given in the preceding will preserve all of the silage intact, and the author knows of only one way in which this can be accomplished, viz.: by begin- ning to feed the silage within a few days after the silo has been filled. This method is now practiced by many farmers, especially dairymen, who in this manner supplement scant fall pastures. By beginning to feed at once from the silo, the siloing system is brought to perfection, provided the silo structure is air-tight and con- structed so as to admit of no unnecessary losses Sts FILLING THE SILO. MB of nutrients. Under these conditions there is a very considerable saving of food materials over silage made in poorly-constructed silos, or over field-cured shocked fodder corn, as we shall presently see. Before leaving the subject of filling and covering the silo it may ve of interest to give an extract of a recent address by the well- known Ohio siloist, Mr. John Gould, in regard to these points: ‘‘I have flung aside all ma- chinery for cutting the standing corn, and now have the crop hand-cut. I get it cut for about 80 cents an acre and the board of one man. A corn harvester costs $130, and will not last more than eight years, and $18 interest on money and wear of the machine yearly will cut my corn by hand twice over each year., A man cutting by hand can take three rows at a time, and a good man can cut three acres a day if he works alone. Never allow corn when cut to drop into the furrows. Let itbe put crosswise of the rows, so that the man who comes along to take it up can do so without using his finger nails for a rake. In picking up the corn we do not usea low wagon, but an ordinary high one, and one man loads and unloads his own wagon. We have four men in the field—the cutter, a loader, and two ‘ pick-me-ups.’ A great deal depends upon careful loading. Get the driver to load his wagon seven bundles high, and keep it there until the wagon is loaded. Formerly in 112 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. operating the cutting machine we had two men to feed it and one man to boss the job. Now we have one man to feed the machine and no one to boss him. He must simply keep gang the machine or get buried. ‘We used to put two men in the silo when filling; now we find that one man can attend to that part of the work, look after the engine, and do odd jobs. A \Adid< Dry oUlage,. -. seeccie 30.76)4.38/6. 18/21 .48/35.84)1.36).14)... Partly Cured Fodder Comttraneasceon: 34.77/38 .52)4.87'23 .37/82.51] .96)...]... Scattered reports of success in siloing wilted corn fodder are at hand. Professor Sanborn, late director of Utah Experiment Station, re- ports very favorable results from silage pre- pared from such fodder. Hesays: ‘‘ In seven- teen years’ experimental work in animal nutri- tion, during every year of which there has been some feeding trial or trials with fodder corn or corn fodder, and during the time several trials with methods of preserving the corn plant, I have never found a method of preserving this plant that has given so much satisfaction. Not the slightest change of the plant in Silo 3 was visible to the eye except that it was softer or more pliable. It was eaten better than I have ever known corn fodder to be eaten; fully as well as hay is usually eaten. I believe that no appreciable loss occurred under this system of storage, and I am sure that it is far less than by the regular silo system of green storage.”’ Mr. John Gould says in regard to dry silage: ‘While those who have tried this dry fodder Silage are satisfied with it, none claim it as superior to putting up the green fodder. It is SILAGE. 115 far more difficult to cut. The silo cannot restore to the dry fodder what it has lost, nor its original digestibility, but it does make it more palatable and easier fed, creating a large saving by having the coarser parts consumed. Instead of cutting fodder each day for the stock, the fodder is cut at one job and time economized. The chief point is, that it is pos- sible by this process to save a big surplus corn crop, which otherwise would rapidly deterio- raste.’’ Clover Silage. Green clover may be siloed whole or cut; when the former method is followed, it should be put into the silo in a systematic manner, in a similar way as explained in case of whole silage (101).. The silo may be filled by means of a hay fork, or by hand; the hay fork makes harder work of the feeding out of the silage, so that generally it is preferable to fill by hand. Since whole clover does not pack very solidly, most farmers either fill the lower half of the silo with whole clover, putting clover cut in two-inch lengths in the upper half, or cut all the clover put into the silo. The arguments for and against whole clover silage are the same as in case of whole corn, although whole clover silage is more easily handled than whole corn silage. The clover should not be left to wilt between cutting and siloing, and the silo should 116 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. be filled rapidly, so as to cause no unneces- sary losses by fermentations. The different species of clover will prove sat- isfactory silo crops; ordinary red or medium clover is most used in Northwestern States, along with mammoth clover; the latter ma- tures later than medium or red clover, and may therefore be siloed later than these. Alfalfa or lucern is often siloed in the West; on account of its coarser stems it had better be cut for the silo. Under the conditions present in the Western States it will generally produce much larger yields than corn, and, preserved in a Silo, will furnish a rich supply of most valuable feed. Prof. Neale recommends the use of scarlet clover for summer silage, for Delaware and states under similar climatic con- ditions. By filling clover into the silo at midsummer, or before, space is utilized that would otherwise beempty ; the silage will furthermore be avail- able for feeding in the latter part of the sum- mer and during the fall, when the pastures are apt to run short. This makes it possible to keep a larger number of stock on the farm than can be the case if pastures alone are to be relied upon, and thus facilitates greatly inten- sive farming. In several instances where there has still been a supply of clover silage in the silo, green corn has been filled in on top of the clover, and SILAGE. 117 the latter has been sealed and thus preserved for a number of years. = eI on Sn ia) Ay 4 2102 sat Total nitrogen.| .42} 1.45) .34| .32) .37) .86) .37) .3d Amide nitro- POM oes ome: 08) .42). .14) °.12) .10)° 22) fo) 1 Per cent loss in gross weight.|..... 73.97) 9.10, 9.2818.40/60.61] 4.50) 9.89 | ‘“No. 3. Sweet Hnsilage—made by carting the grass as cut direct to the silo, treading it well in at the sides, but not in the center. Temperature regulated from 140° to 150° F. This should produce a fruity type of sweet ensilage. ‘“No. 4. Sweet Ensilage — the grass allowed SILAGE. 125 to lie in the field one day after cutting, and then made in the same way as No. 3. In- tended to produce an aromatic type of sweet ensilage. “No. 5. Sour Ensilage—the grass to be chaffed and the silo filled at once and covered, as in No. 1. ‘“No. 6. Sweet Hnsilage— the sameas No. 3 silage, with the exception that the grass is to be chaffed.”’ We notice that the analyses by Doctor Voelcker, given in the preceding table, do not corroborate the predictions made concerning the acidity of the different kinds of silage. On the other hand, the largest amount of acetic acid was obtained in No. 1 silage, which was not expected to have any volatile acid, while No. 6 silage, made at a temperature from 140° to 150° F., contains the same amount of acetic acid as No. 1 and two-tenths of one per cent more lactic acid. The average losses of dry matter in the different kinds of silage were about 14 per cent. SwEET AND Sour SiLaGE. — The analyses of silage given in the preceding do not show the differences between sour and sweet silage as we understand the terms. The former is rich in water and in volatile organic acids, while the latter is as a rule comparatively dry, only slightly acid, and contains especially but a very small quantity of acetic (volatile) acid. There 126 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. has been a good deal of discussion on the sub- ject of sweet and sour silage, and various theories have been advanced in explanation of the fermentations taking place in the silo at different temperatures. Mr. George Fry was one of the earliest advo- cates of sweet silage; his book, ‘‘The Theory and Practice of Sweet Ensilage,’’ published in 1885, has been translated into German, and has had a good deal of influence in England and on the European continent. His practice was in general much better than his theories explain- ing the same. It may be stated in passing that the term sweet silage, correctly speaking, is a misnomer, as any kind of silage will contain a quantity of acid. Acetic acid seems to be present in the sour silage in larger quantity than in sweet silage, and being volatile, will at once be noticed. The pop- ular idea that there is no acid in sweet silage may come from the fact that it does not give off a strong acid odor like sour silage. The English have made careful observations concerning the question of temperature in silage making. In the silo stacks which are very common in England, the temperature of the mass may be closely followed without any difficulty, and may be largely governed by applications of ereater or smaller pressure. Doctor Fream, in his ‘‘ Elements of Agriculture,’’ gives the fol- lowing discussion of the appearance of silage SILAGE. 127 in different layers, and of the relation of tem- perature to acidity in the silo: ‘‘If an open-air silage stack is viewed in section from top to bottom, the lower layers will be seen to be greener than the upper, whilst the color gradually becomes browner toward the top, which will be almost of a burnt-coffee color. The bottom layers have been converted into green or sour silage, because the pressure of the material above has excluded the air, and fermentation has taken place at a low temperature, there not having been sufficient air to supply the oxygen for a high-temperature fermentation. As less weight was applied to the upper portion, there was freer access of air to it, and more air was retained among the mass, hence a higher fer- mentation. The color thus affords an indica- tion of the temperature at which the fermenta- tion took place. It is generally recognized that silage made at a temperature below 120° Fahrenheit is sour silage, whilst that which has not risen above 90° Fahrenheit is com- monly spoken of as ‘low-temperature sour,’ and that which has exceeded 90° Fahrenheit as ‘high-temperature sour.’ Between 120° and 130° there are generally veins or seams of sweet and sour silage intermingled. From 130° to 140° a shade of brown is discernable. Between 140° and 160° it is decidedly brown, and above 160° it is over-heated and very similar in 128 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. appearance to over-heated hay, whilst the flavor denotes burning. In any case fermen- tation ceases as soon as all available oxygen is used up, the air that exists amongst the herbage being then rich in carbonic acid Gass” In our modern system of siloing fodders in separate silo structures we rarely have low- fermentation silage, since the somewhat dry condition of the siloed fodder necessarily admits of considerable air in the silo, which gives the bacterial life a chance to flourish for a short time. On the other hand, our deep silos increase the pressure of the mass so as to hold the fermentations in check to a certain extent. The temperature in most of our silos will not be likely to exceed 180° Fahrenheit, at least not in the lower layers. While silage pro- duced at this temperature would not be termed sweet silage according to the preceding defini- tions, the comparative absence of free volatile acids in it, its pleasant aromatic odor and not marked sour taste, properly bring it within the term as used by American writers. In the system of slow filling of silos, the various layers of silage have ample time to heat up and temperatures above 150° are reached. Silage produced at this temperature contains less acid than that produced below 150°, but the losses of food materials are at the same time larger. SILAGE. 129 Digestibility of Silage. A considerable number of digestion experi- ments with various kinds of silage have been ~made. The author, in 1888-89, conducted a digestion experiment with corn silage and with corresponding field-cured fodder corn, feeding two cows exclusively on these feeds in two successive periods. The average digestion coefficients obtained for both cows were as follows: DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS OF CORN SILAGE AND FODDER Corn. Dry Crude | Crude | Nitro 2-0! Ether |Albumi- Matter | AS}. |Protein.| Fiber. pies * \extract| noids. Corn silage.| 63 20 54 47 72 82 24 Cured fod- _ der corn. 60 19 49 56 65 69 30 This statement shows a somewhat lower digestibility of the dry matter, protein, nitro- gen-free extract, and ether extract of the field- cured fodder corn, and a higher digestibility of the crude fiber and the true albuminoids. As these data were obtained with only two cows, in one trial with each cow, too much import- ance should not be attached to the detailed results. We may only call attention to the fact that the digestibility of the corn silage proved fully equal to that of the dry fodder corn of the same origin. 9 130 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. Since this experiment was conducted, a num- ber of digestion experiments have been. made with different kinds of silage and fodder corn. The average digestion coefficients obtained have been computed by Jordan, and include the work done with twenty-four samples of fodder corn and seventeen samples of corn silage, fifty and thirty-seven single trials, for fodder corn and corn silage respectively, having been made. The average digestion coefficients for green fodder are also given, and include thirty trials, with fifteen different samples. AVERAGE DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS FOR CORN SILAGE AND FOR GREEN AND CURED FODDER CoRN. Crude | Crude | N. Free} Ether Dry z Ash. | protein| Fiber. | Extract| Extract Matter. Green fodder corn..| 68 35 | 61 61 74. 74 Cured fodder corn..| 66 at 55 66 69 72 Corn silage: 2.5.2.5 66 dl 53 67 70 81 While the dry matter of green fodder is slightly more digestible than that of cured fod- der corn or corn silage, there is no difference between the digestibility of the dry matter of the two latter. The coefficients for protein, crude fiber, and nitrogen-free extract are practically the same for corn silage and for cured fodder corn, since the differences in any case are below 2 per cent. The higher coeffi- cients found for the ether extract in the silage are due to the lactic acid formed during the siloing period, which is wholly digestible. SILAGE. Lt It may, therefore, be said in general that so far as our present knowledge goes, there is no appreciable difference in the digestibility of corn silage and dry fodder corn, and that both of these foods are somewhat less digestible than the green fodder corn. Losses of Food Materials in the Silo. In the early stages of the silo movement in this country and abroad, a great deal was said about the losses of food materials in the silo, and scientific men were rather inclined to take a stand against the silo on account of the results of the investigations made on this point. Neither is this to be wondered at when we remember that chemical analyses had repeatedly shown that one-third to one-half of the total dry matter put into the silo had disappeared during the siloing period through the fermenta- tion processes taking place in the silo. Later investigations with deep silos, where modern siloing methods were followed, have shown, however, that these results were due to the im- perfect silo methods followed, and not inherent in this process of preserving green forage. It was furthermore not known at that time that similar, or, in fact, still greater losses take place in ordinary field-curing and handling of dry fodder corn. LosskEs IN FIELD-CuRING FoDDER CorN.— The experiments conducted at the Wisconsin 182 MAKING AND FEEDING SiLAGi. Experiment Station in 1887 by Professor Henry and myself were, as far as [ know, the first attempts to ascertain the amount of the loss of nutritive elements of fodder corn, on being field-cured in Jarge shocks and stored during the greater portion of the winter. Corn fod- der was left shocked in the field for a month, and then stored in a barn until fed out. By analyses of the fodder as it was shocked, and when fed out, it was found that a yellow dent corn had lost in the interval 18.55 per cent of the dry matter originally contained in it, while a large sweet corn, that had to be reshocked in the field on account of its begin- ning to heat, lost 36.61 per cent of dry matter. Nearly nine tons of green fodder was cut and shocked in each case. These losses were surprisingly large, and the work was carefully repeated the following year in a similar way as before. The quanti- ties of fodder corn shocked, and the losses of dry matter and protein obtained are shown below. At the same time that these shocks were put up, strictly comparative Icts of the same varieties were cut for the silo, and the quantities of dry matter and protein put into and taken out of the silo determined as in case of the shocked fodder. The results obtained with both lots of fodder are shown in the fol- lowing table. SILAGE. 133 LossEs IN FIELD-CURING AND IN SILOING INDIAN Corn.— 1887-88. Field-Cured Fodder Corn. Siloed Fodder Corn. VARIETY OF CORN. ae S H Loss. ce a Logs. Rr cs) 3} as © a ae S s n zs wn z wa aS wo = L. h a mo =) ; —= 2 é6f2l6e2| 4 oléee!| 2 | a led Warmnows MuINT...-111.401 13,847 | 7,554. |... 0]. 0. cece lewccees fevsseee|eece Dry Matter....... 2,552 .7/2,256 DOG Rail le Glee eel we ool eno ees Crude Protein...| 159 138 Oe WGA eee wacilNerioe gle cce set leeas SHEEP'S TooTH....|14,972 5,142 5) 9 829.5}... .|14,002 112,225 [1,777 {12.7 Dry Matter... ..| 4,689 63,669 | 1,020.6/21.8] 3,431.5) 2,800.7] 630.8 18.4 Crude Protein. ..| 322.1] 308.9 | 18 2| 4.1] 235.8] 182.9] 42 9122.4 SMEDLEY YELLOW DENT....:..../15,464 [5,076 |10,888 |..../15 288 12,151 |3,137 |20.5 Dry Matter.... ..| 8,997 .9|8,483 514.9/12.9) 4,150.3) 3,373.5) 776.8 16 7 Crude Protein....| 292.2) 277 15.2| 5.2) 303 3] 231.7] 71.6/23.6 YELLow Fuint..../14,890 (4,358 .5)10,531.5 117,218 [14,540 [2,677 15.5 Dry Matter...... 4,197 |3,357 840 (20 3,844 3,355 489 {12.7 Crude Protein...| 343.4] 282 61.4/17.9| 314.4) 258.3) 56.1/17.8 AVERAGE LossEs.. Dry MALter =. 0. .|\..- +0. s|sescees [eos eens 16: Biers ctot | sce onteactc seca 15 9 @ridererotelMeen|ee ess ales. ssi ver Oe aL Oy lilistetie oer al ottSece ser | asta 21.3 As shown by the table, the average loss of dry matter in the shocked corn was but slightly higher than in the small experimental silo used (8x7, 14 feet deep ; capacity about 12 tons), while the loss of crude protein was less than half as much. These results led to a further study of the losses in field-curing and siloing fodder corn during 1889, when the problem was investi- gated in a more systematic manner and under a greater variety of conditions than before. We can not here give the results in detail ; suffice it to say that 149 shocks of corn, of nine different varieties, were put up in all, and the 134 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. amounts of dry matter and protein contained in the shocks when fresh and when cured were determined in all cases; the shocks presented a large variety of conditions, small and large, husked and unhusked corn, shocks left in the field for different lengths of time, and shocks cured indoors, etc. The losses of dry matter found ranged from 6.9 per cent to 383.9 per cent. The former result was obtained in case of four shocks of Pride of the North, yellow dent corn, and the latter in case of ten shocks of Stowell’s Evergreen sweet corn, husked and left in the field for 24 months, on the average. Eleven shocks of large sweet fodder corn, cured under cover, lost, on the average, 8.2 per cent of dry matter. The averages of the results obtained during this year at the Wisconsin Station are given below. LossEs IN FIELD-CURING AND IN SILOING INDIAN CORN. Field-Cured Fodder Corn. Siloed Fodder Corn. Loss. ; mH a a = av oh) a od o ou ov +/|50 on 5 +3 oD - HOD n Al ov Ca Ring ox m)s R 2 4 n = 2 2 Se£2 ie 5 |holon2| we 4 lho Av. for 9 Varieties, Tae 149)ShHoOcKsSines co DryaVatters 2s. 14,906 /|11,979.212,926.8)i9.6)12,781 (10,040 12,741/21.5 Crude Protein...... eee 905.7] 266.8)/22.8) 1,024.6 876.6) 158/15.4 This investigation was continued during the season of 1890, on a larger scale than in previ- ous years. Sixty-five tons of green fodder corn was siloed, and the same quantity was cut SILAGE. 135 e and shocked in the field. The resulting losses of dry matter and protein found in both cases are shown in the following table, with a sum- mary of the work done in this line for four consecutive years. LossEs IN FIELD-CURING AND IN SILOING INDIAN CorN. Field-Cured Fodder Corn. Siloed Fodder Corn, ey at Ke __ Loss. Fie Loss. ce] -| qo o —_—_—_—— se) oS 5 5) 5s : g3.(23.| 2 lsel eel 2a | 2 [ss 4, Os B Of 2 ool ®#O@ — 2 2 > oO eS ee aes ed! Z Mes AY. FoR Two VAR., — ToTAL WEIGHT. |129,014 }31,738 |..-..-.|.--- 129,014 |105,824 |23,190 |18 Dry Matter....... 32,432 (23,270 | 9,162 |28.3) 32,432 | 29,090 3,342 |10.3 Crude Protein....| 2,580.5} 1,682 898 5134.8] 2,580.5} 2,557 | 823.5)12.5 REsutts OF FOUR - YEARS’ WORK.. Dry Matter....... 12,164 |54,937 |17,227 |23.8) 68,034 | 5 4 : Crude Protein....| 5,706.4 4,317 .5)1,888 .9|24.3 5,490.8] 4,569.5 921 .3\16.8 pee ee The results given in the preceding table show that 15.6 per cent and 23.8 per cent of dry matter were lost in the siloing and the field-curing of fodder corn, respectively, while the protein (flesh-forming substance) lost amounted to 24.3 per cent in the field-curing process, and 16.5 per cent in the siloing pro- cess. Later researches have proved that these aver- age figures must be considered rather low losses for the field-curing of fodder corn, and rather high losses for the silo. The results given in the last table concerning the losses in field- curing fodder corn have been corroborated by similar work at the New Jersey, Vermont, 136 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. Pennsylvania, Colorado, and other experiment stations, where shocks of fodder corn were carefully kept in the field, or under cover, fora period of one to several months, and the dry matter contents at shocking time, and when the shocks were taken down, were carefully determined by chemical analysis. As the con- ditions described in the investigation at the Colorado Experiment Station will apply to most places on our continent, particularly in the Northwest and West, we quote rather fully from the account of the experiments given by Professor Cooke: ‘Tt is believed by most farmers that, in the dry climate of Colorado, fodder corn, where cut and shocked in good shape, cures without loss of feeding value, and that the loss of weight that occurs is merely due to the drying out of the water. 2% me, Bear aleiolesnseratens oe PMA NM COLM 2 2. a5, i222 © BERG has he A yaesies Sebo areas Indian corn, chemical changes in, with maturity........ Indian corn, comparative yields of Northernand Southern VELOC ocr See Cones See ee ra ave Indian corn, AEeclopme nt Ol Pees wiainsiciedcrss cts Le laren Cae Indian corn, increase in food ingredients from banealinne OBI AND CINE Sete vetel icles fuoiejsiey (era's siniciv nie) >eig'e s 0% 0 v0'e onie 9s 187 130 Wi 188 INDEX. Indian corn, varieties of, to be planted for the silo....... ue) Indian corn, see also Corn and Fodder Corn. Inbroductione yt 2.6% oGi ee sts Sp -a\ae.5 SSS Eos tes gattoneratetae 7 DBateral> pressure in silos. 5 occ s cen erence 45 Losses in field-curing fodder ‘corm... 2 sec. nie ee ee 131 Losses:in ‘silome clover 220 2¢e/0s.0 es aa seit eine eee 141 Losses of food materials in ‘silo; oc 0... 1s cs lap ee 131 Metall SilO8s.f5.65 Sicsesoc coed oie etal «geste ays emecee tee re eee io Milch cows, American silage rations for................. 148 Milch cows, silage for......... Jn Stn a: Gtteie eats odie O bee eer aie 144 Pits in: the-cround:as silos, 22). oe. oie om care eee 48 Planting corn; in hills or in-drills.. ..5.-haceece eee 20 Planting corn, methods of:........- sre: Bie taueye aga Reed pepe 23 Planting corn, thickmess Obs, 025 /s< iy «ss eke se ere 23 | ‘*Poultrymien’s silos "2.5.23 sins ccc eee eee 163 Poultry, slave fOr.s .’c isk Sess bist aa eee ates aerate eee 162 Preparation of corn land... 0--56 Beste ee ee eee 90 Sheep silage fors'...c4 F< asslec ao etd eso puis eat eerie 156 Silage and other feeds, comparative feeding ee Withers cc Re Seah eae OO aot oe eel eee ie ene 170 Silage and other feeds, comparison of economy of pro- duction: Ofy.ic.o 0s ds os ais le ee ee eee eee 164 Silage: Carte iss Fhe eye seen weiss Seine Snes eee ear 145 Silage, chemical composjbion Of-25.j50 26 oe ye oie 120 SilaSe; COSE OF Snide be ae eis aie oe vie\eslr Scie 6 6'a a. 151 SU COMO OM MG wires c caaye eters cs siaccvaeres tere"! oe 44's e's ace, «oe 160 pil Ve nL CE Ziel On Ollie Serato ie ee eugene cht sary 0 Si ola ay) Sveley/elsle teats 117 Dilase nob CetOUs: tO, CONSICCTEM... 6.4% aac «ono 6a wielote a 146 Silage, quantities of, required for different herds........ 38 Silace, cations for milCM COWS: .< soy. aoe os nee oe eee ees 148 Silage, relation of moisture and acidity in............... 121 Per SWE HIV. COULD 6 acim s act's s.anss slots yee 6 6, « aye.6, sie wielee 125 Pil a Mem WOE BVSerCUL,. os ia actin, s\n ace CLS « ees « Gi we eie's, Ss ees 98 Rilom auvati aA GeSOtNcenenwisnge sc «foes Seine cece aye 180 Silos, PEIMMIGIVe WOOUCMoe amie. ars a a6 =, ors Mierer= ede ecana pa ai 58 SHOMDOMOMVOl set. a. c om Aerancre eens sso teri er she Ree rater 43 Silo sou ey Material Oasys 2. ci cerclsi< 12 oes 0 aes 3 ais ere 47 Sal meAUlNaa Os O fe erege ci Wa/eyener weepeieie vce 6 once = aisle cs ee 108 MOS MIO TIC Kerrey ye ctree ate Saeed na Sa se wile ei o's) «61a \9)5 © one "ola 73 Silos, coal-oil barrels den WITH OO. 2 eee ES erase otcus See eave 162 SUOGCOMCTCLE sfc ccc. cess. js see est nas etinns s celes ceca 75 BIOSeGOSt Olas ess coho. te ei ome 2 eee 2 ‘leone oblan oe 87 Silos, description of different kinds of ................-- 48 BOSS MOOTS OL oo. vena sa eee else sce od ose sens busine cere 69 STORY SITE ITH) Ea RIESE ICIAIOC COU CERIO oO SIO omen 40 Silos, general considerations .......... cess eee eee eeereee 35 SOS TOU ary toler win ciole Sols) sie.s wie ate «i eieielnieielosin wines sr eisie * 2 75 190 INDEX. Silos in: the barn. <2). ..0s. <0. 2s. ee ke kee Ce een Es 49 Silos, line and siding Of |. <2. came = ieee eee 65 Sil@e; metal sccm. ciena's tars: covets wigheiciesta oe otetene eee arcing 79 Silos, preservablomiol oo 25s icles san sate tose eee eee rte 84 Silos, rectangular and round, statements of cost of...... 91 Silos, round wooden... 455. ce-s% se ses pa ere oe 60 Silos, round wooden, capacity Of « S re ae ae eet Aid i i 6-5 seo, yee eed. G2 Bc Mothctn ee > sohet Chott a Diple te Broh- at dhe & Be Goes bs tins ei =a od Hh Hag IO Feb b pact ae bigs to he etetet Fane we Sa" Both npc bet got fin G:¢-5\| Ge aeuray +h -shothe died Medipictiateee ts O88 i eta k