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PUBLISHERS’ STATEMENT
We DO NOT manufacture or handle silos, and are not
interested in silos in any way except from an educational
standpoint. This attitude enables us to discuss the various
types of silos in an entirely impartial manner.
We have been publishing educational literature on silos
and silage for over thirty years, fully two decades before
the farm papers of the country began to boost the subject.
This pioneer work explains why ‘Modern Silage Methods”
has become the standard text book now used in so many
State Agricultural Colleges for class-room use.
We do however manufacture the famous line of Silver’s
“Ohio” Silo Fillers and Feed Cutters as illustrated and de-
scribed in the back part of this volume, and if the reader will
kindly investigate and consider the merits of this line of
Silo Fillers when in the market, we will feel amply paid for
the trouble and expense of publishing this valuable book.
Respectfully,
THE SILVER MANUFACTURING CO.
Salem, Ohio, Jan. 1917
ame ae
aveettcs.f
MODERN
SILAGE METHODS
LATEST REVISED EDITION
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
An entirely new and practical work on Silos, their construction
and the process of filling, to which is added complete
and reliable information regarding Silage and its
composition; feeding, and a _ treatise
on rations, being a
FEEDER’S AND DAIRYMEN’S GUIDE
COPYRIGHT
AND PUBLISHED BY
THE SILVER MANUFACTURING CO. '
SALEM, OHIO, U.S. A.
4
Pro
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Revised and Brought Up to Date by
WILLIAM L. WRIGHT, Advertising Manager
-
Copyright, January 1917, by
r THE SILVER MANUFACTURING Co.
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JAN A TART Oe
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' PREFACE.
This book has been written and published for the purpose of fur-
nishing our patrons and others with accurate and full information
on the subject of silo construction and the making of silage. It
has been our aim to present the subject in a clear, matter-of-fact
manner, without flourish or rhetoric, believing that the truth con-
cerning the advantages of the siloing system is good enough, The
testimony presented, which is purposely kept close to the experi-
‘ence of authorities on feeding subjects in and outside of experi-
ment stations, will abundantly prove, we believe, that the equip-
ment of a dairy or stock farm in almost any part of the world is
no longer complete without one or more silos on it.
The chapter on “Silage Crops for the Semi-Arid Regions and
for the South” will be. of widespread interest to thousands in
the Great Southwest, and the chapters on “The Summer Silo,”
and “The Use of Silage in Beef Production,” will be found espe-
cially timely. Chapter III. covers a great variety of silos made of
material other than wood. In these and all other respects the
book has been revised and brought up to date.
In order that a work of this kind be accurate and reliable, and
bear the scrutiny of scientific readers, the use of a number of
scientific terms and phrases is rendered necessary, and in order
that these may be more readily comprehended by agriculturalists,
a comprehensive glossary of such terms is included, following the
last chapter, which can be referred to from time to time, or can
be studied previous to reading the book.
In the compilation of certain parts of the book and in the
revision of the “Feeder’s Guide” we have had the valuable assist-~
ance of Prof. Woll, of California Experiment Station, formerly of
Wisconsin, author of “A Book on Silage” and “A Handbook for
Farmers and Dairymen.” Free use of the former book has been
made in the preparation of this volume, as well as of experiment
station publications treating the subject of silage.
Hoping that this latest revision of “Modern Silage Methods”
will prove helpful to our patrons;’ and incidentally suggest to them
that the “OHIO” Silage Cutters and Blower Elevators are manu-
factured by us, we are, ;
Very truly,
THE SILVER MFG. CO.
. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PP FURS HOARY acavitiate Sins cei el onc gee ee eater ona) oheeattianens an NOE SR OTE ee
INTRODUCTORY LAY ED, Ae ER eR etc lt a ar tens eae La Ret Re eee
Advantages of the Silo—Preservation of a larger quantity
CHAPTER I.
original food value enabled by the use of the Silo than a
method known—Losses of nutritive value in dry curing—S
losses in the Siloing Process—The Silo furnishes a feed of ©
form quality—Economy of making—Economy of storag —n
danger of rain—No danger of late summer droughts—F¢
from thistles—Value in intensive farming—Other advant-
CHAPTER II. :
How to Build a Silo.
Modifications of the Wisconsin Silo—Plastered 1 ee
Silos—Brick-lined Silos—Stave Silos—Cheap Stave S
CHAPTER, III. tee |
Silos Other Than Wood. Ba wat
roof—Hy-Rib concrete reinforced atten ae
-silos—Modifications, double and single wall—Cem
silos, one- and two-piece—Patented sectional b Y
Cement Stave silos—Vitrified Tile silos—Brick silos, :
double wall—All-Metal silos—Underground or ‘Pi
dations and Roofs ‘for
Linings
ya's ole a bem ols! &, afdvald valbty ata mere
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 5
CHAPTER IV.
Summer Silos.
Necessary in supplementing summer pastures and in tiding herd
over period of drouth, heat and flies—Reduces pasture acre-
age required—Avoids labor of soiling crop system—Oregon
results—Purdue Station Experiments—Solves summer drouth
problem—Permits night pasturing—Storage of surplus crops—
Comments by the agricultural press—Feeding of summer
Silage. 22 Vier ee Ee Po Re ee RC pers Se ey Te ae 112-118
CHAPTER V.
Silage in Beef Production.
Value and Economy of Silage for fattening steers—Experiments
made twenty-five years ago—Beef producing area vastly in-
creased by use of silo—Stock-Yards are strong boosters for
silage—Results by Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Missouri, South
Carolina, North Carolina, Illinois, Indiana and South Dakota
Stations—Results in Saskatchewan, Kansas, Iowa, and Texas—
Reésults cin theacSaubhigs poe Ce eT tee ee «.119-130
CHAPTER VI.
Silage System and Soil Fertility.
Helps maintain soil fertility—Every crop grown robs soil of fer-
tilizing elements—Value of Such Fertility Lost—Restoration
has vital bearing on our crop yields—Stock, dairy and mixed
farming vs. hay and grain farming—Value of barnyard ma-
nure—Every farm a manure factory with silage—Keeping fer-
tility on the farm—Restoring Fertility in the South....131-139
CHAPTER VII.
Silage Crops.
Indian corn—Soils best adapted to corn culture and preparation
of land—Varieties of corn for the silo—Time of cutting corn
for the silo—Dry Matter in Corn at Different Stages—Methods
of planting corn—All other silage crops............- .....140-160
6 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
Silage Crops for the Arid and Semi-Arid Regions.
Importance of Sorghum, Kafir and Milo for silage—Mixtures |
the sorghums and other crops—Cowpeas, field peas, soy bea
alfalfa, beet leaves and tops, Russian thistle, ete. —Conditions —
in the Great Southwest—Silage crops for the Southe
Stated) st. winsh oy suleplew sib snns tld MeaNp Sak iy bre = ial east 161-173 "
CHAPTER IX.
Filling the Silo—Indian Corn—Siloing corn “ears and all”’—T
filling process—Proper method of unloading—The proper dis-
tribution of cut material in the silo—Tramping—Size of cutter.
and power required—Length of chain elevator required—Direc-
tions for operating “Ohio” Blower Cutters—Danger from car-
bonic-acid poisoning in silos—Covering the siloed fodder—Us
of water in filling silos—Clover for summer silage—Freezing oO
silage—Steamed silage—Silage from Shock Corn—Temperatures ai
in Silos—Acid bacilli in Silos—Transferring Silage....174-19
CHAPTER X. a
How to feed silage—Silage for milch cows—Silage in the. produc
tion of certified milk—Silage for beef cattle—for Horses a
Mules—for Sheep—for Swine—Silage for poultry—A dditior
testimony as to the advantage of silage—Corn silage as co n
pared with root crops—Corn silage as compared with hay—Co
Silage compared with fodder corn—Cost of Producing Succule n
Crops—How to Estimate Cost of Silage—Cost of Fi ;
PSLLOS.T oe she ove 0. levee eure ib; de ayy one tat Vey eile ia ae NSS ae
crops of different kinds, in per cent—Analysis of
stuffs—Ready reference tables..........
GLOSSARY
rf
Modern Silage Methods
INTRODUCTION.
Thirty years ago few farmers knew what a silo was, and fewer
still had ever seen a silo or fed silage to their stock. Today silos
are as common as barn buildings in many farming districts in this
country, and thousands of farmers would want to quit farming
if they could not have silage to feed to their stock during the
larger portion of the year. Thirty years ago it would have been
necessary to begin a book describing the siloing system with
definitions, what is meant by silos and silage; now all farmers
who read agricultural papers or attend agricultural or dairy con-
ventions are at least familiar with these words, even if they have
not had a chance to become familiar with the appearance and
properties of silage. They know that a SILO is an air-tight struc-
ture used for the preservation of green, coarse fodder in a succu-
lent condition, and that SILAGE is the feed taken out of a silo.
We shall later see which crops are adapted for silage making,
but want to state here at the outset that Indian corn is pre-
eminently the American crop suited to be preserved in silos, and
that this crop is siloed far more than all other kinds of crops put
together. When the word silage is mentioned we, therefore, in-
stinctively think of corn silage. We shall also follow this plan in
the discussions in this book; when only silage is spoken of we
mean silage made from the corn plant; if made from other crops
the name of the crop is always given, as clover silage, peavine
silage, ete.
History of the Silo.—While the silo in one form or another
dates back to antiquity, it was not until the latter part of the
seventies that the building of silos intended for manufacture of
silage began in this country. In 1882 the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture could find only ninety-one farmers in this
country who used silos. During the last twenty-five years, how-
ever, silos have gradually become general in all sections of the
country where dairying and stock-raising are important indus-
tries. Statistics and estimates gathered by the publishers of this
book from every Agricultural College, State Board of Agriculture
and from scores of farm publications and county agents indicate
7
rae Reig CNG?
* a
that there were at the end of 1916 approximately 591, 000 silos
the United States. Wisconsin alone had 55,992 silos at the end o
1915, one county having 2,772 and the Wisconsin total at the e
1916 probably exceeded 62,000 silos. This means an average of fiv
silos for every fourteen farms in the state. Counting the aver ig
silo 14x28 feet, the contents would amount to 5,146,000 tons. On ?
Jan. 1, 1916, the New England states had 25,756 silos, or one to
every seven farms. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Dela-
ware, Maryland, and West Virginia had 81,741 silos, or one to
almost eight farms. The Southeastern states east of the Missis
sippi had about 19,000 silos, or one to every 88 farms. In this sec-
tion Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina are par- :
ticularly active in silo building. The central states of Ohio,
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and :
Nebraska showed 198,115 silos, one to every 9.8 farms. 58,172 silos
were credited to the southwestern states, one to each 15 farms, and .
nearly the same ratio was shown for the states of Minnesota, the
Dakotas, Montana and Idaho, with 25,630 silos. Not only has the
use of silos spread to every section of the United States, but the Pie
corn belt has been pushed steadily northward with the result tha bate
the building of silos is making headway in Manitoba, Saskatche-
wan, British Columbia and the Canadian northwest generally (
ee the past two years or has he a wonderful es ail
atte: set by the Canadian RES) ee porieeeel Hamed
the literature available from them. In eastern Ontario ‘offic
figures show that 1,258 new silos were built during 1915, and |
total for the Province for that year alone probably exceeded |
silos. p
The use of the silo has spread through all parts of.
Hundreds, even thousands, are in use in Australia, New Zeala
South Africa, India, South America, Spain, Norway, Sweden,
in other parts of Europe. In England the interest in silos 3
been increasing rapidly, some forty modern silos having : een
erected in East Anglia alone during the past two years. I 1b oO
silos are used in Japan. Concrete is very popular in many pai
nH the world. ego are thirty- ee or forty edi in the ‘fin
INTRODUCTORY. 9
other countries silos are being filled every year with “OHIO” silo
fillers manufactured by the publishers of this book.
The silo stands today among the most important, practical and
profitable adjuncts of the farm. It is a big dividend-paying in-
vestment—not an expense. It has long been considered a necessity
on thousands of dairy farms and we find most of them in the
states that rank first as dairy states, viz.: New York, Wis-
consin, Iowa, Illinois, Pennsylvania, etc. The farmers that have
had most experience with silage are the most enthusiastic advo-
cates of the siloing system, and the testimony of intelligent dairy-
men all over the country is strongly in favor of the silo. ' Said a
New York farmer recently in one of our main agricultural papers:
“IT would as soon try to farm without a barn as without a silo,”
and another wrote, “I wouldn’t take a thousand dollars for my
silo if I could not replace it.” Louis F. Swift, head of the Swift
Packing Co., says:
“Probably the silo is one of the most important elements that
has been introduced into the stock feeding situation in late years.
Its value was first recognized in feeding for milk production; but
hundreds of tests conducted by state and federal experiment sta-
tions and by individuals operating on a commercial scale, have
established the fact that ensilage is the key to profitable and
economic feeding for beef. Not only does it contribute immensely
to the health of cattle but, in combination with concentrates, it
results in astonishing gains of weight at greatly reduced cost.
. The silo also has a most direct and important relation to the fer-
tility of the farm. Then, too, it often operates as an insurance
against loss by reason of a short corn season. There is no sign
upon the skyline of American meat production and American
agriculture in general more important than the silo.”
Our first effort in writing this book will be to present facts
that will back up these statements, and show the reader the many
advantages of the silo over other systems of growing and curing
crops for the feeding of farm animals. We shall show that up-
to-date dairy or stock farming is well nigh impossible without
the aid of a silo. The silo enables us to feed live stock succulent
feeds the year around, and preserves the fodder in a better con-
dition and with less waste than any other system can. We shall
see the why and wherefore of this in the following pages, and
shall deal with the best way of making and feeding silage to
farm animals. We wish to state at the outset that we do not
propose to make any claims for the silo that will not stand the
)
10 pis ; INTRODUCTORY.
closest investigation. In ‘the early days of the history of
isk aden a - was thought necessary to make exagge
equipment of a modern dairy or stock farm. In discussing»
silo we shall keep close to what has been found out at our expe
minded reader that the silo is the greatest boon that has come ~
to modern agriculture since the first reaper was manufactured, —
and that with competition and resulting low prices, it will be ¢
likely to become more of a necessity to our farmers in the future
than it has been in the past. We aim to convince our readers |
that the most sensible thing they can do is to plan to build a silo , :
at once if they do not now have one. It is unnecessary to argue
with those who are already the happy possessors of a silo, for —
it is a general experience where a farmer has only provided for x
immediate wants in building his silo that he will build another as Bi .
soon as he has had some experience with silage and finds out how — :
his stock likes it, and how well they do on it. ;
The life of the silo should always be carefully considered i
connection with its initial cost. A silo might be built for $
which would last ten years, the cost exclusive of upkeep being $
a OaFs, deh Me use ee better ci its or construction |
additional outlay of perhaps $50, which it will be readily
much cheaper per year. Quality usually goes hand.in han¢
price and the farmer who can afford it should not make th
afford a silo,” because any farmer ate is at all hands with L
mer and saw can ope a silo large enough for modera
of such silos are given in the following pages. It mu
expected that they will last as long or will prove as €
in the ae run as more yeep. built i rgiten 4
INTRODUCTORY. ; . pla
oe
feeding silage will be gained at much less cost by using a good
silo in the beginning. ; :
We mention this fact here to show farmers who may be con-
sidering the matter of building a silo, or who may be inclined to
think that the silo is an expensive luxury, only for rich farmers,
that the cost of-a silo need not debar them from the advantages
of having one on their farm, and thus secure a uniform succulent
feed for their stock through the whole winter. Farmers who have
not as yet informed themselves in regard to the value of the
silo and silage on dairy or stock farms, are respectfully asked
to read carefully the following statements of the advantages of
the silo system over other methods of preserving green forage
for winter or summer feeding.
It has been said that “Whoever makes two blades of grass grow
where but one grew before is a benefactor to mankind.” A silo
makes it possible to keep two cows where but one was kept be-
fore, and who would not gladly double his income? Does not this
interest you? j
CHAPTER I.
ADVANTAGES OF THE ‘SILO.
ane silo enables us to preserve a ihe quantity of the |
able more than a few months in the year. The same holds
with all soiling crops or tame grasses as well. When made
hay the grasses and other green crops lose some of the food ma-
terials contained therein, both on account of unavoidable lossei
of leaves and other tender parts, and on account of fermentation
which takes place while the plants are drying out. ra
In cases of Indian corn the losses from the latter source 2
considerable, owing to the coarse stalks of the plant ‘and het oe
large numbers of air-cells in the pith of these. Under the | best —
of conditions cured fodder corn will lose at least ten per cen ;
its food value when cured in shocks; such a low loss can
be obtained when the shocks are cared for under cover, or out
the field under ideal weather conditions: In ordinary farm p
tice the loss in nutritive value will approach twenty-five per cel
and will even exceed this figure unless special precautions “d
taken in handling the fodder, and it is not left exposed t
kinds of weather in shocks in the field through the whole
These figures may seem surprisingly large to many farmers» Ww
have left fodder out all winter long, and find the corn inside
shock bright and green, almost as it was when put up. But
pearances are deceitful; if the shocks had been weighed as. the
were put up, and again in the late winter, another story would b
told, and it would be found that the shocks only weighed a1
where from a third to a half as much as when they were cured
and ready to be put in the barn late in the fall; if chemical
analysis of the corn in the shocks were made late in the fall, an
when taken down, it would be seen that the decrease in weigh
was not caused by evaporation of water from the fodder, bu
waste of food materials contained therein from fermenta
or action of enzymes. (See Glossary.)
The correctness of the figures given above Hay been oan
ently, proved ee careful ye periments conducted os a num
“LOSSES IN DRY CURING. : 13
summary of the main work in this line is given in Prof. Woll’s
Book on Silage. In the Wisconsin Experiments there was an aver-
age loss of 23.8 per cent. in the dry matter (see Glossary) and
24.3 per cent. of protein, during four different years, when over
56 tons of green fodder had been put up in shocks and carefully
weighed and sampled at the beginning and end of the experiment.
These shocks had been left out for different lengths of time, under
varying conditions of weather, and made from different kinds of
corn, so as to present a variety of conditions. The Colorado ex-
periments are perhaps the most convincing as to the losses which
unavoidably take plece in the curing of Indian corn in shocks.
The following account is taken from Prof. Cook’s report of the
experiments. As the conditions described in the investigation will
apply to most places on our continent where Indian corn is cured
for fodder, it will be well for farmers to carefully look into the
results of the experiment.
‘It 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 oc-
curs is merely due to the drying out of the water. A test of this
question was made in the fall of 1893, and the results obtained
seemed to indicate that fully a third of the feeding value was lost
in the curing. This result was so surprising that the figures were
not published, fearing that some error had crept in, though we
could not see where there was the possibility of a mistake.
“In the fall of 1894 the test was repeated on a larger scale.
A lot of corn was carefully weighed and sampled. It was then
divided into three portions; one was spread on the ground in a
thin layer, the second part was set up in large shocks, containing
about five hundred pounds of green fodder in each, while the rest
was shocked in small bundles. After remaining thus for some
months, until thoroughly cured, the portions were weighed,
sampled and analyzed separately. The table gives the losses that
occurred in the curing.
Table I. Losses in Curing.
Large Shocks Small Shocks On the Ground
Total Dry Total Dry Total Dry
Weight Matter Weight | Matter | Weight | Matter
| Lbs. Lbs Lbs. Lbs Lbs Lbs.
When Shocked ......... | 952 217 294 17 ‘186 42
After Curing 2s, cea 258 150 64 44 33 19
Loss in Weight ........ 694 67 | 230 33 1632") " 235
Per Cent of Loss.......- aes ath “ea | | 78 43 82 5Sts
14 ADVANTAGES OF THE SILO.
“So far as could be told by the eye, there had been no loss.
The fodder had cured in nice shape, and the stalks on the inside
of the bundles retained their green color, with no sign of molding
or heating. And yet the large shocks had lost 61 per cent. of
their dry matter, or feeding value; the small shocks 45 per cent.
and the corn spread on the ground 55 per cent.
“On breaking or cutting the stalks these losses were explained.
The juice was acid, and there was a very strong acid odor, show-
ing that an active fermentation was taking place in this seemingly
dry fodder. We had noticed this strong odor the fall before and
all through the winter. When the fodder corn for the steers is
put through the feed cutter that same strong smell is present.
“Tt can be said, then, that the dryness of the climate in Colo-
rado does not prevent fodder corn from losing a large part of its
feeding value through fermentation. Indeed, the loss from this
source is fully as great as in the damp climate in New England.
“As compared with the losses by fermentation in the silo, the
cured fodder shows considerably the higher loss.”
In experiments at the Wisconsin station eleven shocks cured
under cover in the barn lost on an average over 8 per cent. of
dry matter and toward 14 per cent. of protein. In an experiment é;
at the Maine Station over 14 per cent. of dry matter was lost in
the process of slow drying of a large sample of fodder corn under
the most favorable circumstances. “It is interesting’ to note that
this loss falls almost entirely on the nitrogen-free extract, or
carbohydrates (see Glossary), more than two-thirds of it being
actually accounted for by the diminished percentage of sugars.”
Since such losses will occur in fodder cured under cover with
all possible care, it is evident that the average losses of dry mat-
ter in field-curing fodder corn, given in the preceding, by no means
can be considered exaggerated. Exposure to rain and storm,
abrasion of dry leaves and thin stalks, and other factors tend to
diminish the nutritive value of the fodder, aside from the losses
from fermentations, so that very often only one-half of the food
materials originally present in the fodder is left by the time it
is fed out. The remaining portion of the fodder has, furthermore,
a lower digestibility and a lower feeding value than the fodder
corn when put up, for the reason that the fermentations occurring
during the curing process destroy the most valuable and easily
digestible part, i. e., the sugar and starch of the nitrogen-free ex-
tract, which are soluble, or readily rendered soluble, in the process
of digestion.
LOSSES IN DRY CURING. 16
2. Losses in the Siloing Process.—As compared with the
large losses in food materials, in field-curing of Indian corn there
are but comparatively small losses in the silo, caused by fermen-
tation processes or decomposition of the living plant cells as they
are dying off. The losses in this case have been repeatedly de-
termined by experiment stations, and, among others, by those men-
tioned in the preceding. The average losses of dry matter in the
fodder corn during the siloing period, of four seasons (1887-97)
as determined by Prof. Woll at the Wisconsin Experiment Station
was about 16 per cent. The silos used in these trials, as in case:
of nearly all the early experiments on this point, were small and
shallow, however, only 14 feet deep, were rectangular in form, and
not always perfectly air-tight, a most important point in silo con-
struction, as we shall see, and a portion of the silage therefore
came out spoilt, thus increasing the losses of food materials in
the siloing process. The losses reported were, therefore, too great,
and there is now an abundance of evidence at hand showing that
‘the figures given are higher than those found in actual practice,
and the necessary loss in the silo comes considerably below that
found in the early experiments on this point. There are plenty
of cases on record showing that ten per cent. represents the maxi-
mum loss of dry matter in modern deep, well-built silos. The
losses found in siloing corn at a number of experiment stations
during the last ten years have come at or below this figure. It
is possible to reduce the loss still further by avoiding any spoilt
silage on the surface, by beginning to feed immediately after the
filling of the stlo, and by feeding the silage out rather rapidly.
Experiments conducted on a small scale by Prof. King in 1894
gave losses of only 2 and 3 per cent. of dry matter, on the strength
of which results, amongst others, he believes that the necessary
loss of dry matter in the Silo need not exceed 5 per cent.
Summarizing our considerations concerning the relative losses
of food materials in the field-curing and siloing of Indian corn,
we may, therefore, say that far from being less economical than
the former, the silo is more so, under favorable conditions for
both systems, and that therefore a larger quantity of food ma-
terials is obtained by filling the corn crop into a silo than by any
other method of preserving it known at the present time.
What has been said in the foregoing in regard to fodder corn
applies equally well to other crops put into the silo. A few words
16 ADVANTAGES OF THE SILO.
will suffice in regard to two of these, clover and alf ]
few accurate siloing experiments have been conducted 1
fut enough has been done to show that the necessary F
siloing this crop do not much, if any, exceed those of Indi i
Lawes and Gilbert, of the Rothamsted Experiment Statio
land, placed 264,518 pounds of first and second crop elo
one of these stone silos, and took out 194,470 - ‘pounds
clover silage. Loss in weight, 24.9 per cent. This los:
ever, largely on the water in the clover. The loss
amounted to only 5.1 per cent., very nearly the same }
eae as that Aaah the same experimenter found had tak
in gross weight, 7.6 per cent.; a of dry matter, 9.7
of crude protein, 7.8 per cent. ;
In a siloing experiment with clover, ‘conducted at
sin Station, on a smaller scale, Mr. F. G. Short. obtained the |
lowing results: Clover put into the silo, 12,279 pounds; si
taken out, 9,283 pounds; loss, 24.4 per .cent.; loss. of : t
15.4 per cent.; of sei ar 12.7 per cent.
siloing of green clover as an economical ne a ek
hand, we conclude that this method of preserving inh
is highly valuable, and, in most cases, to be prefer
hay of the crop.
silo are taken. According to the testimony of Prof ‘
of the Colorado Experiment SS the minimum loss
‘THE SILOING PROCESS. Ae
small loss through fermentation occurs, under ordinary favorable
conditions, amounting to about 10 per cent. or less.
There is this further advantage to be considered when the
question of relative losses in the silo and in hay-making or field-
curing green forage, that hay or corn fodder, whether in shocks
or in the field or stored under shelter, gets poorer and poorer the
longer it is kept, as the processes of, decomposition are going on
all the time; in the silo, on the other hand, the loss in food sub-
stances is not appreciably larger six months after the silo was
filled than it is one month after, because the air is shut out, so
that the farmer who put up a lot of fodder corn for silage in the
fall can have as much and as valuable feed for his stock in the
spring, or in fact, the following summer or fall, as he would have
if he proceeded to feed out all the silage at once.
“Generally speaking, 5 tons of silage are equal in feeding value
to one ton of hay. On this basis a much larger amount of digest-
ible food can be secured from an acre of silage corn than from
an acre of hay. The food equivalent of 4 tons of hay per acre can
easily be produced on an acre of land planted to corn.”—(Plumb.)
3. Succulence. Succulent food is nature’s food.—We all know
the difference between a juicy, ripe apple and the green dried fruit.
In the drying of fruit as well. as of green fodder water is the
main component taken away; with it, however, go certain flavor-
ing matters that do not weigh much in the chemist’s balance, but
are of the greatest importance in rendering the food material pal-
atable. It is these same flavoring substances which are washed
out of the hay with heavy rains, and renders such hay of inferior
value, often no better than so much straw, not because it does
not contain nearly as much food substances, like protein, fat,
starch, sugar, etc. (see Glossary), but because of the substances
that render hay palatable having been largely removed by the rain.
The influence of well-preserved silage on thé digestion and
general health of animals is very beneficial, according to the unan-
imous testimony of good authorities. It is a mild laxative, and
acts in this way very similarly to green fodders. The good ac-
counts reported of the prevention of milk fever by the feeding of
silage are explained by the laxative influence of the feed.
4. Uniformity. The silo furnishes a feed of uniform quality,
and always near at hand, available at any time during the whole
year or winter. No need of fighting the elements, or wading
18 ADVANTAGES OF THE SILO.
through snow or mud to haul it from the field; once in the silo :
the hard work is over, and the farmer can rest easy as to the
supply of succulent roughage for his stock during the winter. An
ample supply of succulent feed is of advantage to all classes of
animals, but perhaps particularly so in case of dairy cows and
sheep, since these animals are especially sensitive to sudden
changes in the feed. Also, stock raisers value silage highly on this
account, for silage is of special value for feeding preparatory to
turning cattle onto the watery pasture grass in the spring. The
loss in the weight of cattle on being let out on pasture in spring
is often so great that it takes them a copule of weeks to get back
where they were when turned out. When let out in the spring,
steers will be apt to lose weight, no matter whether silage or dry
feed has been fed, unless they are fed some grain during the first
week or two after they are turned out. For more detailed in-
formation regarding the feeding of silage for beef production, see
chapter V.
5. Economy of Storage.—Less room is required for the storage
in a silo of the product from an acre of land than in cured condi-
tion ina barn. \7 Ss = om Op
Ye sof Hae | Bee -8, | fae age ey
; at| wos 225 ae Sos eas ass
= Ba [ege [gee oO] Be: |) Seb Steele ae Ses
4 fae Ys goo | 38" he Zoe ery
og BS a Ba = ua
. ee ee ed ee ee Lbs
WS Leieds.7 18.7 13 37.3 28.3
al Boa 19.6 14 38.7 29.1
ii a Rte 20.6 | 15 | 40.0 29.8
: 4 | 23.7 91.2 J.:16 | 41.5 30.5
i 5 | 25.4 22.1 | 17 | 42.6 31.2
> 6 | 27.0 22.9 | 18 | 43.8 | 31.9
et 71 9RG 23.8 | 19 | 45.0 32.6
a gs | 301 | 245 | 20 | 462 | 33.3
‘ 9 | 31.6 255 Veh \" 474 33.9
x 10 | 33.1 26.1 | 22 | 48.5 34.6
11 | 34.5 26.8 | 23 | 49.6 35.5
a F 12 | 35.9 276 | 24 | 50.6 35.9 -
Location of the Silo.
vf. The location-of the silo is a matter of great impor
has to be decided upon at the start. The feeding, of the age i
a day at that. Other things being equal, the pias. va
f place is therefore the best. The.silo should be as h
A at from the barn as possible. The condition of the
| be considered. If the ground is dry outside the ‘ba
plan to follow is to build the silo there, in connection
barn, going four feet to six feet below the surface, and 1
for door opening directly into the barn. The bottom
should be on or below the level where the cattle sta
practicable, ante silage spon i pany kab and pl
: €3
‘i near at hand, it should be so located, in case the silage
for milk He ae alee that silage pao BP not penetrate P
milking, ithére will be a silage flavor Er
be sufficiently pronounced to be noticed by
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SILO STRUCTURES. 33
some people cannot notice it at all; but when a person is sus-
2vicious, he can generally discover it. So far as is known this
odor is not discernible in either butter or cheese made from
silage-flavored milk, nor does it seem to affect the keeping qualities
of the milk in any way.
Different Types of Silo Structures.
Silos may be built of wood, stone, brick, cement, til2 or metal,
or partly of one and partly of another of these materials. Wooden
silos may be built of several layers of thin boards nailed to up-
rights, or of single planks (staves), or may be plastered inside.
The materials used will largely be determined by local conditions;
where lumber is cheap, and stone high, wooden silos will gener-
ally be built; where the opposite is true, stone or brick silos will
have the advantage in point of cheapness, while concrete and clay
block silos are likely to be preferred where great permanency is
desired or where cobble-stones are at hand in abundance, and
lumber or stene 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 con-
cerned, there is no difference when the silos are properly built.
The longevity of concrete and tile 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, unless special precautions are taken to preserve them.
A well-built and well-cared-for wooden silo should, however, last
almost indefinitely.
As regards the form of the silo, it may be built in rectangular
form, square, octagon or round. We have already seen that the
most economical of these is ordinarily the round form, both be-
cause in such silos there is less wall space per cubic unit of
capacity, and in case of wooden round silos, lighter material can
be used in their construction. The only place where silos of
square or rectangular form are built now is inside of barns, where
they fit in better than a round structure. We shall later on give
directions for building silos inside of a barn, but shall now go
over to a discussion of the various forms of round silos that are
apt to be met with. More round wooden silos have been’ built
during late years in this country than of all other kinds of silos
combined, and this type of silo, either built of uprights lined in-
side and outside with two layers of half-inch boards, or of one
1
34 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
thickness of staves, will doubtless be the main silo type of the
future; hence we shall give full information as to their building,
and shall then briefly speak of the other forms mentioned which
may be considered preferable in exceptional cases.
Round Wooden Silos.
Round wooden silos were first described, and their use adyo-
cated, in Bulletin No. 28, issued by the Wisconsin Station in
July, 1891, at a time when lumber of a good quality could be se-
cured at much less cost than at present. This type has come to "
be known as the Wisconsin or King silo, named after the late
Prof. King, the originator. The first detailed and illustrated de-
scription was published in the above bulletin; since that time
it has been described in several bulletins and reports issued by
the Station mentioned and in numerous publications from other
Experiment Stations. This type, and the one to be described in
the following, the stave silo, are practically the only kind of
wooden silos that have been built in this country during late
years except where unusual conditions have prevailed that would
make some other kind of silo construction preferable.
The Kind of Woods for Silos.—Conclusions drawn from Bulletin
No. 100, Iowa State College, place the merits of woods for silo
use as follows: 1, Redwood; 2, Cypress; 5, Oregon Fir; 4, Tam-
arack; 5, White Pine; 6, Long-leaf Yellow Pine. ore
The following description of the King silo is taken from ‘Bul-.
letins Nos. 835 and 125 of the Wisconsin Station: .
The Foundation.—There should be a good, substantial cement
foundation for all forms of wood silos, and the woodwork should
everywhere be at least 12 inches above the earth, to prevent décay
from dampness. There are few conditions where it will not be
desirable to have the bottom of the silo 3 feet or more below the
feeding floor of the stable, and this will require not less than 4
to 6 feet of stone, brick, or concrete wall. For a silo 30 feet deep
the foundation wall of stone should be 1.5 to 2 feet thick. sbeekate
Bottom of the Silo.—After the silo has been completed the
sround forming the bottom should be thoroughly tamped so as to.
be solid, and then covered with two or three inches of good con '
crete made of 1 of cement to 3 or 4 of sand or gravel. The
amount of silage which will spoil on a hard clay floor will not be
large, but enough to pay a good interest on the money invested
in the cement floor. If the bottom of the silo is in dry sand or
gravel the cement bottom is imperative to shut out the soil air,
The Superstructure.—The wood superstructure of the King silo”
has a wall 5 or 6 inches thick, whereas the foundation wall is
co
ROUND WOODEN SILOS. 35.
Fig. 1—Showing two methods of placing the wood, brick lined or
lathed and plastered silo on a stone foundation. A shows the
silo set with upper portion flush with the inside of the stone
wall, and B shows the upper portion flush with the outside of
the stone wall. A is the right way; B is the wrong way.
18 to 24 inches thick; it is evident, therefore, that there must be
a shoulder of the wall 12 to 19 inches wide that must project
either into the silo pit or outward beyond the sill.
How to Place the Frame on the Foundation.—Figure 1 illus-
trates two methods of placing the frame on the foundation. A
is the right way. B is the wrong way. In B Fig. 1 the shoulder
of the foundation wall projects into the silo pit. This method is
permissible when the silo floor is not more than 1 foot below the
top of the wall. If the floor of the silo is three feet or more below
the top of the wall as in B Fig. 1, then this shoulder interferes
with the proper settling of the silage and the silage molds or
rots just above the shoulder next to the silo and usually below
the shoulder also. This rotting is commonly ascribed to the loosen-
ing of the sill or the foundation allowing air to enter. In most
cases, however, it is plainly not due to this cause, but is due to the
projecting shoulder which interferes with the settling of the
silage. Many silos have been abandoned on this account, so
serious has been the loss from rotting. This shoulder should
never project into the silo pit.
Forming the Sill.—The sill may be made of a single 2x4 cut
into two foot lengths with the ends beveled so that they may be
toe-nailed together to form a circle. Two other methods are also
illustrated in Fig. 2, one being a double thickness with broken
36
HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
Fig. 2.—Showing three methods of making a sill or plate for
Gurler or King Silo. A shows sill made of a single thickness
of 2x4’s cut in two-foot lengths; B shows sill made of two
thicknesses of 2x4’s laid to break joints; CG shows 2x4 sawed
out of 2x6 plank. C is the best method, since the sheeting then
fits the sill making a tight joint, whereas in A and Ba tight
joint between sheeting and sill or plate cannot be secured. Ob-
me that the sill is placed near the inner edge of the founda- —
ion. ; i REE
THE “WISCONSIN” SILO. . ' 37
joints and the other using pieces cut to the curvature of the silo.
It will be noted that the latter construction eliminates the air-
spaces between the silo and the outer sheeting which are evident
in the first two mentioned. These spaces admit air so that the
space between the studding is not a dead air space.
Setting the Studding.—The studding of the all-wood round silo
need not be greater than 2x4, but they should be set as close
together as one foot from center to center, as represented in
Fig. 6. This number of studs is not required for strength, but
they are needed in order to bring the two layers of lining very
Sl Ma
a
titeccccEE
WSS CAEL ELA LE LADD PO SISSIES:
Sse
22S
SSAA
BB PLLPLSA SOL LL LLP: WEIS ELI
(Cae
it
Fig. 3.—Detail of construction of wall of King silo. Three thick-
nesses of %” sheeting inside with 2 thicknesses of acid-proof
paper, and on the outside one thickness of sheeting, 1 of tar
felt, and 1 of clap boards. Observe that the shoulder of the.
foundation is outside.
38 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
close together, so as to press the paper closely and prevent air
from entering where the paper laps.
Where studing longer than 20 feet are needed, short lengths
may be lapped one foot and simply spiked together before they
are set in place on the wall. This will be cheaper than to pay
the higher price for long lengths. All studding should be given bag
exact length desired before putting them in place.
To stay the studding a post should be set in the ground in the
center of the silo long enough to reach about five feet above the
sill, and to this stays may be nailed to hold in place the alternate
studs until the lower five feet of outside sheeting has been put on.
The studs should be set first at the angles formed in the sill and
earefully stayed and plumbed on the side toward the center. When
a number of these have been set they should be tied together
by bending a strip of half-inch sheeting around the outside as
high up as a man can reach, taking care to plumb each stud on
the side before nailing. When the alternate studs have been set
in this way the balance may be placed and toe-nailed to the
sill and stayed to the rib, first plumbing them sideways and
toward the center.
Fig. 6.—Showing the plan of studding for the all-wood, brick-lined
or lathed-and-plastered silo.
SF
eS
THE’ “WISCONSIN” SILO. 39
Setting Studding for Doors.—On the side of the silo where the
doors are to be placed the studding should be set double and the
distance apart to give the desired width. A stud should be set
“between the two door studs as though no door were to be there,
and the doors cut out at the places desired afterwards. The con-
struction of the door is represented in Fig. 7.
The doors are usually made about 2 feet wide and from 2%
nm
* to 5 feet high, and placed one above the other at suitable dis-
tances apart. It has been suggested that to insure security a
strip of tar paper should be placed the entire length of the silo
on the inside over the doors.
ELL ALLL IV LL IV LL VV LSS LLL LE
40 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
Silo Sheeting and Siding..—The character of the siding and
sheeting will vary considerably according to conditions and the
size of the silo.
Where the diameter of the silo is less than 18 feet inside and
not much attention need be paid to frost, a single layer of beveled
siding, rabbetted on the inside of the thick edge, deep enough
to receive the thin edge of the board below, will be all that is
absolutely necessary on the outside for strength and protection
against weather.
If basswood is used for siding, care should be taken to paint
it at once, otherwise it will warp badly if it gets wet before
painting.
In applying the sheeting begin at the bottom, carrying the
work upward until staging is needed, following this at once with
the siding. Two 8-penny nails should be used in each board in
every stud, and to prevent the walls from getting “out of round”
the succeeding course of boards should begin on the next stud,
thus making the ends of the boards break joints.
When the stagings are put up, new stays should be tacked
to the studs above, taking care to plumb each one from side
to side; the siding itself will bring them into place and keep them
plumb the other way, if care is taken to start new courses as
described above. .
Forming the Plate-——When the last staging is up the plate
should be formed by spiking 2x4’s cut in two-foot lengths, in the
manner of the sill,.and as represented in Fig. 8, down upon the —
tops of the studs, using two courses, making the second break —
joints with the first. A still better method is to use 2x6 plank, —
cut to the circle as shown in C, Fig. 2.
The Lining of the Wooden Silo.—There are several ways of
making a good lining for the all-wood round silo, but whichever
method is adopted it must be kept in mind that there are two
very important ends to be secured with a certainty. These are
(1) a lining which shall be and remain strictly air-tight, (2) a
lining which will be reasonably permanent.
Lining of Half-inch Boards and Paper.—Where paper is used
to make the joints between boards air-tight, as represented in
Fig. 5, it is extremely important that a quality which will not .
decay, and which is both acid and water-proof be used. A paper
which is not acid and water-proof will disintegrate at the joints
in a very short time, and thus leave the lining very defective.
The best paper for silo purposes with which we are acquainted
is a 5-ply Giant P. and B. brand manufactured by the Standard
Paint Co., of Chicago and New York. It is thick, strong, and acid
and water-proof. A silo lining with two thicknesses of good
fencing having only small knots, and these thoroughly sound and
not black, will make an excellent lining. Great care should be
taken to have the two layers of boards break joints at their
centers, and the paper should lap not less than 8 to 12 inches. :
-
THE “WISCONSIN” SILO. 41
The great danger with this type of lining will be that the
boards may not press the two layers of paper together close
enough but that some air may arise between the two sheets
where they overlap, and thus gain access to the silage. It would
be an excellent precaution to take to tack down closely with
- small carpet tacks the edges of the paper where they overlap, and
if this is done a lap of 4 inches will be sufficient.
The first layer of lining should be put on with 8-penny nails,
two in each board and stud, and the second or inner layer with
10-penny nails, the fundamental object being to draw the two
layers of boards as closely together as possible.
Such a lining as this will be very durable because the paper
will keep all the lumber dry except the inner layer of half-inch
boards, and this will be kept wet by the paper and silage until
empty, and then the small thickness of wood will dry too quickly
to permit rotting to set in.
Fig. 8—Showing construction of conical roof of round silo, where
rafters are not used. The outer circle is the lower edge of the
roof, the second is the plate, the third and fourth circles are
hoops to which the roof boards are nailed. The view is a plan
looking up from the under side.
42 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
‘A still more substantial lining of the same type may be se-
cured by using two layers of paper between three layers of boards,
as represented in Fig. 35, and if the climate is not extremely severe,
or if the silo is only to be fed from in the summer, it would
be better to do away with the layer of sheeting and paper outside,
putting on the inside, thus securing two layers of paper and three -
layers of boards for the lining with the equivalent of only 2 inches
of lumber.
The Silo Roof.—Roofs on silos make big savings, in keeping ~
the silage from drying out and blowing around. They keep
the wind out and make the silo warm in winter, free from snow
and freezing, and the silage in good shape for feeding. The roof —
adds to the life, appearance and stability of the silo and it will
prevent making the silo a neighborhood feeding ground for pigeons.
The roof of cylindrical silos may be made in seyeral ways, but
the simplest type of construction and the one requiring the least
amount of material is that represented in Fig. 8, which is the cone.
If the silo is not larger than 15 feet inside diameter no rafters —
need be used, and only a single circle like that in the center of
Fig. 8, this is made of 2-inch stuff cut in sections in the form
of a circle and two layers spiked together, breaking joints.
The roof boards are put on by nailing them to the inner circle ©
and to the plate, as shown in the drawing, the boards having been —
sawed diagonally, making the wide and narrow ends the same
relative widths as the circumference of the outer edge of the
roof and of the inner circle. Thus a 10-foot board 8 inches wide —
would be sawed so as to make two 10-foot lengths; each being 634
inches wide at one end and 14% inches wide at the other. arty
ROOF SIDE VIEW.
LE SENTER OF BORRD.
S/OE RIND END VIEW OF HENDER :
'
; ee Tr
Fig. 9.—Showing construction and details of one style of roof.
(From Nebr. Bul. No. 138.) ve
c
THE “WISCONSIN” SILO. 43
If the silo has an inside diameter exceeding 15 feet it will be
necessary to use two or three hoops according to diameter.
~
The conical roof may be covered with ordinary shingles, split-
ting those wider than 8 inches. By laying the butts of the shingles
4% to % of an inch apart it is not necessary to taper any of the
shingles except a few courses*near the peak of the roof.
The prepared roofings, such as “Ruberoid” or “Paroid” or pre-
pared gravel roofing are preferred to shingles for a silo roof, since
they make a tighter roof which retains the heat in winter.
In laying the shingles to a true circle, and with the right
exposure to the weather, a good method is to use a strip of
- wood as a radius which works on a center set at the peak of the
roof and provided with a nail or pencil to make a mark on the
shingle where the butts of the next course are to come. The
radius may be bored with a series of holes the right distance
apart to slip over the center pivot, or the nail may be drawn and
reset as desired. Some carpenters file a notch in the shingling
hatchet, and use this to bring the shingle to place.
Ventilation of the Silo.
Every silo which has a roof should be provided with ample
ventilation to keep the under side of the roof dry, and in the case
of wood silos, to prevent the walls and lining from rotting. One
of the most serious mistakes in the early construction of wood
silos was the making of the walls with dead-air spaces, which,
on account of dampness from the silage, led to rapid “dry-rot’
of the lining.
In the wood silo and in the brick lined silo it is important to
provide ample ventilation for the spaces between the studs, as
well as for the roof and the inside of the silo, and a good method
of doing this is represented in Fig. 4, where the lower portion
represents the sill and the upper the plate of the silo. Between
each pair of studs where needed a 1% -inch auger hole to admit
air is bored through the siding and sheeting and covered with
a piece of wire netting to keep out mice and rats. At the top of
the silo on the inside, the lining is only covered to within two
inches of the plate and this space is covered with wire netting
to prevent silage from being thrown over when filling. This
arrangement permits dry air from outside to enter at the bottom
between each pair of studs and to pass up and into the silo, thus
keeping the lining and studding dry and at the same time drying
the under side of the roof and the inside of the lining as fast as
exposed. In those cases where the sill is made of 2x4’s cut in
44 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
2-foot lengths there will be space enough left between the curved
edge of the siding and sheeting and the sill for air to enter so that
no holes need be bored as described above and represented in
Fig. 4. The openings at the plate should always be provided and
the silo should have some sort of ventilator in the roof. This _
ventilator may take the form of a cupola to serve for an orna-
ment as well, or it may be a simple galvanized iron pipe 12 to 24 %
inches in diameter, rising a foot or two through the peak of the ;
roof. Pe
A word of caution is sounded in the Wisconsin Bulletin No.
125 regarding the above method of ventilation: a
“It will be readily understood that if these ventilators between
the studs are left open in winter they will act as chimneys; they
will maintain a constant draft between the studding, which With M
cool off and freeze the silage more severely than it would if there Ay
were no sheeting at all outside the studding. If the silage is for
winter feeding, and 99 per cent. of the silage is so fed, then moré
eare should be exercised than at present in Wisconsin to prevent ‘
this severe freezing. In order to do this, provision must be made oS
for closing these ventilators both at the top and at the bottom, 4
so as to convert the hollow wall into a real dead-air space. There
is no need of building the wall air-tight outside, as shown in Fig.
5, with two thickness of sheeting with paper between, unless there
is provision for closing the ventilators in winter. pee
“The writer has seen a number of these silos in which the
silage froze severely. In most instances no attempt was made ee
to close the ventilators, and the few instances when it was at-
tempted only the lower ventilators on the outside were closed. —
This is not enough for if the upper ventilators at W, Fig. 4, are © is
left open the hollow wall will cool off rapidly and the air space ‘
serve no purpose as protection against frost. ‘tA is
“The invention of the King silo came in response to an urgent — a)
demand for a type of construction that would-avoid the corners. ie
and other serious and aggravating defects of silos, as preva
constructed. It marked an epoch in silo building. Hundreds cf
silos of this type have been constructed. They have not. heen 2 +
confined to Wisconsin, but have been widely distributed. They
have been in use the past ten years, and have dempastratedaag
their success, They are no longer an experiment. However, that =: ::
very wide and general use of this type of silo under a great. i
' THE “WISCONSIN” SILO. 45
Fig. 4.—Showing the method of ventilating between studding. An
auger hole is bored through the outer siding just above sill,
between jeach pair of studding as at X, and a screen nailed
over hole inside to keep out mice. A similar hole is bored
through the inner sheeting between each pair of studs at the
top of the silo just under the plates, as at W. Auger holes are
used at X and W, so that the holes may be closed in cold’
weather with corks.
46 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
variety of conditions of climate and local environment has brought
out some of the demerits of this type of construction which at
the outset could not have been foreseen. For instance, the wood
lining has been found less satisfactory than cement, and hence
it is recommended that these silos be cement lined. Many of the *;
King silos are lathed and plastered and have proven very satis-
factory, having done service for ten years. me
“Clap boards have been found unsatisfactory for the outer —
siding and it is recommended that steel siding or some of the x
roofing paper, ruberoid, or lath and plaster be used in their stead
as will be described later.”
Po 2
Painting the Silo Lining.
It is impossible to so paint a wood lining that it will not become
wholly or partly saturated with the silage juices. This being true,
when the lining is again exposed when feeding the silage out,
the paint greatly retards the drying of the wood work and the
result is decay sets in, favored by prolonged dampness. For this
reason it is best to leave a wood lining naked or to use some anti-
septic which does not form a water-proof coat. .
The cost of such a silo as that described in the foregoing —
pages, is estimated: by Prof. King at about 12 cents per square
foot of outside surface, when the lining consists of. two layers
of half-inch split fencing, with a 5-ply Giant P. and B. paper be-
tween, and with one layer of split fencing outside, covered with
rabbetted house siding. If built inside of the barn, without a roof
and not painted, the cost would be reduced 3 cents per square foot,
or more. Silos of this type, 30 feet deep, built outside, provided ;
with a roof and including 6 feet of foundations are stated to cost
as follows: 13 feet inside diameter (80 tons capacity), $183.00; - i"
15 feet diameter (105 tons capacity), $211.00; 21 feet diameter
(206 tons capacity), $298.00; and 25 feet diameter (300 tons” 86
capacity), $558.00. : ; ory
Complete specifications and building plans for a. 500-ton silo,
of the kind described in the preceding pages, are given in Prof.
Woll’s Book on Silage. The dimensions of this silo aret Diameter,
26 feet; height, 30 feet. x
THE “WISCONSIN” SILO. 47
costs more than other kinds of wooden circular silos, especially
more than the stave silo soon to be described; but once built
needs but little attention and it is durable and economical; being
practically air-tight, the losses of food materials in the siloed
fodder are reduced to a minimum.
Modifications of the Wisconsin Silo.
Several modifications of the Wisconsin Silo have been proposed
and have given good satisfaction; one is described by Prof.
Plumb in Purdue Experiment Station Bulletin No. 91, as follows:
The studs are 18 inches apart, and for ‘about half way up there
are three layers of sheeting against the studs with tarred paper
between. The upper half of>the studs has but two layers of
sheeting. The sheeting was made by taking 2x6-inch white pine
planks and sawing to make four boards. The silo rests on a
stone wall 18 inches deep and 16 inches wide. It is 30 feet high,
18 feet 4 inches inside diameter, and holds about 150 tons. An
inexpensive but durable roof was placed upon it. The cost of
this structure is as follows: As the work was all done by-the
regular farm help at odd hours, the item of labor is given at
estimated cost: Studding, $135.05; sheeting, $63.00; 5 rolls of
paper, $6.25; nails, $2.40; cement for wall, $2.40; labor, $20.00;
total, $107.08. The owner of the silo was so pleased with the
service this one had rendered since its construction, that he built
another like it during the summer of 1902. This silo is connected
by a covered passage and chute with the feeding floor of the
eattle barn.
The construction of this type of silo calls for as much care
in putting on sheeting, making doors and keeping out the air at
these places and at the foundation, as is required with the more
expensive forms previously described. The need for outer siding
will depend in a large measure on circumstances. The farmer
building the silo (living in Central Indiana) has had no trouble
with his silage freezing. In Northern Indiana the siding would
naturally be more necessary than in the southern part of this
state, but generally speaking, siding is not necessary, although it
does materially add to the attractiveness of the silo.
Plastered Round Wooden Silos.
Plastered round wooden silos have met with favor among
farmers who have tried them, and are preferred by many for
,
48 HOW TO BUILD A SILO. }
either the original or the modified Wisconsin silo, on account of |
their ease of construction and their durability. In the experience :
of H. B. Gurler, a well known Illinois dairyman, who has built ©
several silos on his farm in the course of the last dozen years, the
walls of plastered silos keep perfectly and there is no waste
from moldy silage along the wall;
neither is there any difficulty —
about cracking of the plaster, if this is put on properly and a ~
good quality of cement is used. Gurler described the construc-
x ¥
tion of his plastered silo in Breeder’s Gazette, accompanying his —
description with building plans of his silo. We have reproduced
FE}
the latter changed and improved in some points of minor im- ;
portance, and give below a brief description of the method of
building silos of this type. (See Figs. 10 and 11.)
The foundation may be made of stone, brick or cement, and —
is carried to the proper distance above ground. Sills donineual”
of pieces of 2x4, two feet long, beveled at the ‘ends so as to be
toe-nailed together to form a circle of the same diameter as the >
ICCTA
TM HII
|
WATE ESE ULE
SUMMIT
INTRA
WET =
ONO =< 8H
TTT
HOLT TTT
Llevolion soa Io e/ 10".
Fig. 10.—Elevation and section of plastered round wooden ‘si
THE “WISCONSIN” SILO. 49
interior diameter of the silo, are placed on the foundation bedded
in asphalt or cemented mortar, and on this the studding is
erected, using two by fours, placed 15 or 16 inches apart. Inside
sheeting was secured by having 6-inch fencing re-sawed, making
the material a little less than %-ineh thick. On this was nailed
laths made from the same material, the laths being made with
beveled edges so that when nailed onto the sheeting horizontally,
the same ways as the sheeting is put on, there are dove-tailed
joints between the laths to receive the cement, preventing its
loosening until it is broken. The patent grooved lath might be
used, but they cannot be sprung to a twenty-foot circle. Better
than either kind of wooden laths, however, is wire netting or
metal lath of one form or another, such as is now generally used
in outside plastering of houses, nailed on strips of 1x2’s which are
placed 15 inches apart, and nailed onto the studding through the
sheeting. Metal lath will not take up moisture from the silage
juices, and thus expand and possibly cause the plaster to crack,
Qnerete Faudafion _ 2 P
libad Hoges $6, or [2x 6~ 4-0 dpert ~ Two ply Then
Qu shoe's 12" centers.
+ Ya Pside. hang GC wrde.
Nore I Gh
Pestcrs tre © herek we
Boops mote Iho Tharness ‘
Te Rie cabin Wie Gastians: the’ laeer | Sectn) tom ‘ .
12d Ke’ haghhs ond upper section lermiiing we 14
Fig. 11._Foundation plan and section of plastered round wooden — san
ie
silo.
50 HOW TO BUILD’A SILO. |
as would be likely to occur in case of wooden laths. For outsid
sheeting similar material to that used for inside sheeting
be used. If built inside of a barn or ina sheltered place, no |
side sheeting would be required, although it would add greatl
the looks of the silo. Not being certain that the inside sheeting
laths and cement offered sufficient resistance to the outward
pressure in the silo, Mr. Gurler put on wooden hoops outside of
the studding, of the same material as for the inside sheeting
putting it on double thickness and breaking joints. The silo d
be filled before the silo is filled again. ;
The Gurler silo uses much less lumber than the Wisconsi
King silo, one thickness of sheeting instead of four or five th
nesses oe sufficient. The Gurler must BS. cement lined, h
whereas the Wisconsin silo is intended to stand sutias. 3
Brick Lined Silos.
As an illustration of silos of this type we give below a. a
scription of the silo built in connection with the Dairy Bar
the Wisconsin Experimental Station; the accompanying figu
12 and 15,- will show the exterior appearance of the barn
silo, and a plan of the eastern half of the first floor of this barn.
The silo is circular in form, 18 feet inside diameter and
feet deep. It is a framed structure lined inside and outside wi
brick. On 2x6-inch uprights, two wrappings of 36 - inch stuff, 6
inches wide, are put, breaking joints, with_ no paper between.
Brick is laid tight against this lining, and on n the brick ‘surface is
a heavy coating of Portland cement (1 part cement, 7 part sand).
On the outside brick is laid up against the lining with a smal
open space between (about % inch). The silo is filled from th:
third floor of the part. the loads of corn being hauled cree
onto this floor over the trestle shown to the right in Fig. 12,
there run through the feed cutter. When the silage is taken Es
ies peeting, falls Ove a box si a we main floor wher
mangers of the animals.
51
THE “WISCONSIN” SILO.
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HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
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54 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
An illustration and description of the original round silo, with
a capacity of 90 tons, built at the same Station in 1891, are given
in Prof. Woll’s Book on Silage, where descriptions and illustra-
tions of a number of other first-class round wooden silos will also
be found, like those constructed at the Experiment Stations in
New Jersey, Missouri, and South Dakota.
Stave Silos.
The stave silo is the simplest type of separate silo buildings,
and partly for this reason, partly on account of its cheapness of
construction, more silos of this kind have been built during the
past few years than any other silo type.
Since their first introduction Stave Silos have been favorably
mentioned by most writers on agricultural topics, as well as by
experiment station men. In the recent bulletin from Cornell Ex-
periment Station, we find the stave silo spoken of as “the most
practical and successful silo which can be constructed,” and the
Ottawa Experiment Station is on record for the following state-
ment in regard to the stave silo: “From extensive observation ©
and study of silos and silo construction, and from experience here
with a number of different silos, it would appear that the stave
silo is the form of cheap silos that for various reasons is most
worthy of recommendation. It combines simplicity and cheapness
of construction with the requisite conditions to preserve the
silage in the very best condition for feeding.”
Stave silos are, generally speaking, similar to*large railroad
or fermentation tanks, and to make satisfactory silos should be
built as well as a No. 1 water tank. The first stave silos were
built in this country in the beginning of the nineties; they soon
found some enthusiastic friends, while most people, including
nearly all writers and lecturers on silo construction, were in-
clined to be skeptical as to their practicability. It was objected
that the staves would expand so as to burst the hoops when the
silo was filled with green fodder; that they would shrink after
having been left empty during the summer months, so that the
silo would fall to pieces, or at least so that it could not again
be made air-tight; and finally, that the silage would freeze in
such silos, and its feeding value thereby be greatly lowered. In
addition to this, it was claimed that a substantial stave silo
would cost as much as a first class ordinary all-wood silo of the
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THE STAVE SILO. 55
Same capacity, which would not have the objectional features of
the former.
In spite of these objections the stave silo has, however, grad-
ually gained ground, until of late years it has quite generally
been adopted in preference to other kinds of silos, particularly in
the Eastern and Central states. This being a fact, it follows that
the objections previously made to the stave silos cannot be valid,
that the staves do not swell so as to burst the hoops, or shrink
so as to cause the silo to fall to pieces, or become leaky. As re-
gards the danger from freezing of the silage, the criticisms of the
stave silo are in order, as silage in outdoor stave silos will be
likely to freeze in cold weather, in any of the northern states or
Canada; but, according to the testimony of farmers who have
had experience with frozen silage, this is more an inconvenience
than a loss. The freezing does not injure the feeding value of
the silage, or its palatability. When the silage is thawed out it
is as good as ever, and eaten by cattle with a relish.
Why Stave Silos Have Become Numerous.
~ The main reason why stave silos have been preferred by the
majority of farmers during late years are that they can be put
up easily, quickly and cheaply, and the expense for a small silo
of this kind is comparatively small. Many a farmer has built a
stave silo who could not afford to build a high-priced silo, and
others have preferred to build two small silos for one large one,
or a small one in addition to an old, larger one that they may
already have. Manufacturing firms have, furthermore, made a
specialty of stave silo construction, and pushed the sale of such
silos through advertisements and neat circulars. Having made a
special business of the building of stave silos, and having had
several years’ experience as to the requirements and precautions
to be observed in building such silos, these firms furnish silos
complete with all necessary fixtures, that are greatly superior to
any which a farmer would be apt to build according to more or
less incomplete directions.
It follows that the stave silos sent out by manufacturing firms
will generally be more expensive that such a farmer can build
himself, because they are built better. It does not pay to build
a poor silo, however, except to bridge over an emergency. Poor,
cheap silos are a constant source of annoyance, expense and
HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
net trouble, whether built square, rectangular or round. The cheap a
silos described in other places of this book have not been given — 7
for the purpose of encouraging the building of such silos, but — : rf
rather to show that if a farmer cannot afford to build a perma- — t
nent good silo, he is not necessarily barred from the advantages ear
of having silage for his stock, since a temporary silo may be built ae
at a small cash outlay. =
We can therefore consistently recommend that parties intend- —
ing to build stave silos patronize the manufacturers who have °
made silo construction a special business. These firms furnish |
all necessary silo fittings, with complete directions for putting»
up the silos, and, if desired, also skilled help to superintend their
building. Perhaps a large majority of the farmers of the country a
cannot, however, patronize manufacturers of stave silos because — Ne j
the expense of shipping the lumber and fixtures would be pro- x
hibitory. For the convenience of such parties and others who
may prefer to build their own stave silos, directions for their —
construction are given in the following: The specifications for his:
100-ton stave silo, printed below, which are taken from Woll’s :
Book on Silage, were furnished by Claude & Starck, Architects,
Madison, Wisconsin. ne
Specifications for 100-ton Stave Silo.
MASONRY.
Excavate the entire area to be occupied by the silo to a depth
of 6 inches; excavate for foundation wall to a depth of 16 inches;
in this trench build a wall 18 inches wide and 20 inches high, of
field stone laid in rich lime mortar. Level off top and plaster in-
side, outside and on top with cement mortar, 1 part cement to 1
part sand. Fill inside area with four inches of good gravel, thor-
oughly tamped down; after the wood work is in place coat this —
with one inch of cement mortar, 1 part cement to 1 part clean =—
sand, Cement shall be smoothly finished, dished well to the os “oy
center and brought up at least 2 inches all around inside png i at
outside walls. rt sie.
CARPENTRY.
All staves shall be 26 feet long in two pieces, breaking joints,
and made from clear, straight-grained cypress, 2x6 inches, bev-
eled on edges to an outside radius of 8 feet, mill-sized to the
THE STAVE SILO. 57
exact dimensions and dressed on all sides. There shall be three
doors in the fifth, eighth and tenth spaces between the hoops,
made by cutting out from staves 28 inches long cut to a 45-degree
bevel sloping to the inside. (See Fig. 15.) The staves shall then
be fastened together with two 2x4 inch battens cut on inside to
an 8-ft. radius and bolted to each stave with two 4-inch diameter
earriage bolts with round head sunk on inside and nut on outside.
The staves between the doors shall be fastened together top and
bottom, with %-inch diameter hardwood dowel pins, and abutting
ends of staves shall be squared and toe-nailed together.
Bottom Plates.—Bottom plates shall be made of 2x4-inch
pieces about 2 feet long, cut to a curve of 7 feet 10 inches radius
WWW)
mn il
Fig. 15.—Appearance of door in stave silo after being sawed out,
and side view in place. The opening is largest on the inside
of silo. (Clinton.)
58 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
outside. They shall be bedded in cement mortar and the staves
shall then be set on the foundation and well spiked to these
plates.
Hoops.—Hoops shall be made from two pieces of %-inch diam-
eter round iron with upset ends, threaded 8 inches, with nut and
washer at each end; as a support for the hoops a piece of 4x6
shall be substituted for a stave on opposite sides and holes bored
in it and the ends of hoops passed through these holes and tight-
ened against the sides of the 4x6-inch. The hoops shall be twelve
in number starting at the bottom 6 inches apart and increasing
in distance 6 inches between each hoop until a space of 3 feet
6 inches is reached; from this point up this distance shall be
preserved as near as possible to the top.
Roof.—Roof shall be made to a half-pitch of 6-inch clear
nA
lin
Fig. 16.—A cheap roof of a stave silo. (Clinton.)
siding lapping joints, nailed to 2x4-inch rafters, 2-feet centers -
1-foot by 4-inch ridge, and 2x4-inch plates. These plates to be
supported on two 4x4-inch pieces resting on top of hoops. Three
1x4-inch collar beams shall be spiked to end and middle rafters
to tie side of roof together. (See Fig. 12.) Fig. 16 shows an-
other simple construction of roof on a stave silo.
ar
4 Re he
te
Ce oe eee
MATERIALS FOR THE SILO. 59
PAINTING.
The entire outside of the silo, including roof, shall be painted
two coats of good mineral paint; the entire inside surface of the
staves and doors shall be thoroughly coated with hot coal tar.
Note.—Before filling silo, tar paper should be tacked tightly
over doors and the entire inside of silo examined and cracks
tightly caulked.
The method of construction specified in the preceding may of
course be modified in many particulars, according to the condi-
tions present in each case, cost of different kinds of lumber,
maximum amount of money to be expended on silo, ete.
The following directions for the construction of stave silos
are taken from two bulletins on this subject, published by the
Cornell and Ottawa Experiment Stations. For a silo 20 feet in
diameter, a circular trench 18 inches to two feet wide and with
an outer diameter of 22 feet is dug about 2 feet deep, or below
the frost line. The surface soil over the whole included area,
and for 2 feet outside, is removed to a depth of 10 or 12 inches _
at the same time. The trench is then filled to the level of the
interior with stone, well pounded down, the surface stone being
broken quite small, and thin cement (1 part of cement to 4 of
sand thoroughly mixed) poured over, well worked in and left
for a few days. This is followed by a coat of good cement (1
part cement to % sand), care being taken when finished to have
the surface level and smooth.
The silo is set up as shown in Fig. 17, which shows a cross-
section of one method of construction.
The posts (a, a, a, a) should be of 6x6 material and run the
entire length of the silo. These should be first set up vertically
and stayed securely in place.
The scaffolding may be constructed by setting up 2x4 scantling
in the positions shown in Fig. 17, as b, b, b, b. Boards nailed
from these 2x4 scantling and to the 6x6 posts will form a rigid
framework, across which the planks for the scaffold platform may
be laid. Before the scaffolding is all in place the staves should be
stood up within the inclosure; otherwise difficulty will be ex-
perienced in getting them into position.
It is probable that no better material can be obtained for the
staves than Southern cypress. This, however, is so expensive in
the North, as to preclude its use in most cases. Of the cheaper
HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
Pin
“probably : as good as any of the cheaper materials. It should be
ait sound and free from loose knots.
If the silo is to have a diameter of 12 feet or less, the Stara
‘should be made of either 2x4 material, unbeveled on the edges
oi) and neither tongued nor grooved, or of 2x6 material beveled
_ slightly on the edges to make the staves conform to the circular Eres:
TeRARS of the silo. If the silo is to have a Die ayo 43 more aoe
“nor Heated and grooved on the edges. The staves should ©
a =A surfaced on the inside so that a smooth face may be presented _
gs sf which will facilitate the settling of the silage. The first stave se
uy a up should be made plumb, and should be toe-nailed at the
=v
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wf we
enr7 : A ., 7 te
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‘ iF
‘ av
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4 ! 1 1
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ty ' : QR) 1
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: Gk aieitte | o
. SS "2 y | “ao
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os Cera | i!
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vv
Fig. 17.—Cross section of stave silo. The dotted lines Sie “now
scaffolding may be put up. :
IRON HOOPS FOR SILOS. 61
to one of the posts originally set. Immediately a stave is set in
place it should be toe-nailed at the top to the preceding stave set.
It has been found that the work of setting up and preserving the
circular outline may be materially aided by the use of old barrel
staves (see Fig. 18). For a silo 12 feet in diameter the curve in
the stave of the sugar barrel is best adapted; for a 16-foot silo
the flour barrel stave is best, and for a silo 20 feet or more in
diameter the stave of the cement barrel is best. If when the silo
staves are put in place they are toe-nailed securely to the ones
previously set if they are fastened firmly to the permanent up-
right post (Fig. 17, a, a, a, a); if the barrel staves are used as
directed above, the silo will have sufficient rigidity to stand until
the hoops are put in place. However, if it becomes necessary for
any reason to delay for any considerable time the putting on of
the hoops, boards should be nailed across the top of the silo.
When it is found impossible to secure staves of the full length
desired, a joint or splice must be made.
For a silo 50 feet deep, staves 20 feet in length may be used.
A part of these should be used their full length and part should
be sawed through the middle, thus making staves of 20 and 10
feet length. In setting them up the ends which meet at the splice
should be squared and toe-nailed securely together. They should
alternate so that first a long stave is at the bottom then a short
one, thus breaking joints at 10 feet and 20 feet from the base.
For the hoops, %-inech round iron or steel rods are recom-
mended, although cheaper substitutes have been found satisfac-
tory. Each hoop should be in three sections for a silo 12 feet in
diameter, in four sections for a silo 16 feet in diameter. If the
method of construction shown in Fig. 17 is followed, the hoops
will need to be in four sections each, the ends being passed
through the upright 6x6 posts, and secured by heavy washers and
nuts. The bottom hoop should be about six inches from the base
of the silo; the second hoop should be not more than two feet
from the first; the third hoop two and one-half feet from the
second, the distance between hoops being increased by one-half
foot until they are three and one-half feet apart, which distance
should be maintained except for the hoops at the top of the silo
which may be four feet apart. The hoops should be drawn fairly
tight before the silo is filled, but not perfectly tight. They must
be tight enough to close up the space between the staves, thus
62 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
preventing any foreign matter from getting into the cracks
would prevent the staves from closing up as they swell, and al
air to enter. To Hold hoops and staves in place duting the s
hoops into the staves. If a sucnerane number of staples are u
they will prevent the sagging or dropping down of the noms
they will hold the staves securely in place.
silo. They should be removed before the silo is filled. —
The hoops should be watched very closely for a few |
after the silo is filled. If the strain becomes quite intense thi
- nuts should be slightly loosened. If during the summer wh
the silo is empty and the staves thoroughly dry the hoops.
tightened so that the staves are drawn closely together
the silo is filled and the wood absorbs moisture and begii
swell, the hoops must be eased somewhat to allow for
expansion. <
The doors, 2 feet wide by 2% feet high, should be He 6
-
where convenience in feeding dictates. The lower door * ud
4
ANOTHER DOOR FOR STAVE SILO. 63
other doors will usually be needed in every second space be-
tween there and the top, except that no door will be needed
in the top space, as the silage when settled will be sufficiently
low to enable it to be taken out at the door in the space below.
Plans should be made for the doors at the time the staves are set.
When the place is reached where it is desired to have the doors,
a saw should be started in the edge of the stave at the points
Where the top and bottom of the doors are to come. The saw
should be inserted so that the door can be sawed out on a
bevel, making the opening larger on the inside of the silo. (See
Fig. 15.) This will enable the door to be removed and put in
place only from the inside, and when set in place and pressed
down with silage the harder the pressure the tighter will the
door fit. After the silo is set up and the hoops have been put
on and tightened the cutting out of the doors may be completed.
Before doing this, cleats 2 inches by 5 inches and in length equal
to the width of the door, should be made which will conform
to the circular shape of the silo. One of these cleats should
be securely bolted to the top and one to the bottom of where
the door is to be cut. (See Fig. 15.) After the bolting, the
door may be sawed out, and it is then ready for use. When
set in place at time of filling the silo a piece of tarred paper
inserted at the top and bottom will fill the opening made by the
saw and prevent the entrance of any air around the door.
Another Door for Stave Silo.
Silage being heavy to handle and pitch up, has made contin-
uous doors a popular feature of a few factory-built silos, as it
is much easier to get the silage out of the silo for feeding. The
illustration, Fig. 19, shows a method of making a door in home-
made silos which is continuous with the exception of a narrow
brace piece extending across the opening, under each hoop,
to give rigidity to the structure. These pieces should be
securely toe-nailed at each end to the staves. The jamb pieces,
e, e, should be 2 inches thick, beveled off on the side away
from the door, securely spiked to the inside of the stave, as
shown, so as to leave a rabbet 2x2 inches. Great care should
be taken to have these pieces exactly the same distance apart
throughout the entire length, so that the door boards, being
sawed the exact length, will fit alike and properly all the way
HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
5 NR
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Pe aay: 19.—a, a, Staves. b, b, Door Boards. ec, Brace 2
a } ° ’ ? fe ’ ‘
in. d, d, Hoops. e, e, Jamb Pieces. esd
CHEAP ROOF FOR STAVE SILO. 65
up, and if care be taken in this regard it will not be necessary
to replace them in the same order at each successive filling of
the silo. The door boards should be matched, two inches thick
the same as the staves, and if surfaced and well seasoned there
need be no fear of the silage spoiling around such a door. A
strip of acid and water-proof paper may be placed in the rabbet,
between the ends of the door boards and the stave, as an extra
precaution, but if the carpenter work is well done it is not
absolutely necessary.
Such a door can be adapted to any form of stave silo, and, if
not more than two feet wide, the fact that the door section
is straight instead of curved will make no difference.
If the silo is built outside. of the barn some sort of a roof
is desirable. This should be sufficiently wide to protect the
walls of the silo as thoroughly as possible. A very satisfactory
roof is shown in Fig. 16. Two other constructions of a cheap
roof for a stave silo are shown in Figs. 20 and 21. The latter
m PAE
Y wD sno, IS
1 ‘eth “at Be =S
| i aa CL fre es Wiles ae de
Sl 7 te
alll) BN
Fig. 20.—A cheap roof for stave silos. ;
_ HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
_ and toe-nailed to the top of the staves they rested on; —
a projection is for supporting the carrier at filling time. tC
7 ‘are tied together by the short pieces E. The roof is in tl
‘ Ie sections, G. H. and Il. G and H are hinged to the frame
and may be tipped up when the silo is nearly full, to allow
to the top. The narrow middle section is light enough t
_ off on either side, and leaves the opening for the carri
deliver into.
On the framework B, B, and C, C, cheap sheeting
are nailed. This is then covered with tin, soldered joints |
painted. The sections should be fastened down by mean:
staples and hooks, or other device; the hooks are used on th
one. On the inner edge of G and H, 2x2-inch strips, K, are
ee, Fig. 21.—A CHEAP ROOF OF STAVE SILO. —
eee A, B, and BR, 2x6 ID. Cyp2ee ine:
eh Hinges; G, H, I, Sections of Roof:
MODIFICATION OF STAVE SILO. 67
Close to these are placed similar strips, J, to which the cross-
boards are nailed, forming the section I of the roof. The tin
on the section I should come over to the side of J. On the
other sections it should run up on ae side of K, making u
water-tight joint.
The sections G and H have slope of nearly 3 inches, being
the difference in height of A and C. C is notched one inch at
the outer end. (Van Norman.)
A Modification of the Stave Silo.
Stave silos are admittedly cheap and readily put up, but
unless hoops are tightened as they dry out, they may be easily
blown into a shapeless mass in case of a heavy gale. The
modification of the stave silo described in the following has the
advantage of being more rigid and substantial; it has been put
up in a number of places in the East, and has apparently given
good satisfaction for several years at least. In building this
silo some good tough oak plank two inches thick and of any
convenient length are procured. Rock elm will do, although
not as good as oak. The planks are sawed into strips half an
inch thick. The foundation of the silo is made of concrete, and
a little larger than the outside diameter of the silo. A stake
is set in the center and on this a piece is nailed, just long enough
to act as a guide in setting scantling when erecting sides, For
sides 1144x4-inch hemlock of any desired length is used. These
are set up on the circumference of the silo, perpendicular to the
bottom, 3 feet and 7 feet up nail on the outside one of the half-
inch strips mentioned before, being sure to keep the circle
regular. This will keep upright pieces in place until the circle
is completed. On each hoop so started other half-inch pieces
are nailed, lapping them in different places until each hoop is
three inches thick. Other hoops are now put on in the same
manner, placing them one foot apart at bottom up to the
three-foot hoop, 16 inches apart from three to the 7-foot
hoop, then increasing the distance between each hoop two inches,
“until they are 30 inches apart, at which distance they should
be kept. If staves are to be spliced it should be done on the
hoop. When this is done, a silo ‘will be made of 1%4x4-inch,
thoroughly hooped with wooden hoops 2x3 inches.
The inside may be covered with the best quality of felt,
well tacked to the staves, on which a thick coat of thick coal
ee 9 | "HOW TO BUILD A’SILO.
‘ tar is spread; over this another thickness of felt is put while th
pee tar coating is still green. The silo is lined with %-inch Georgia:
pine ceiling, nailing thoroughly and the lining coated with twe
coats of coal tar, putting on the first one quite thin, but usin;
ry all the wood will take in, and for a second coat tar as thick
as can be spread. Give plenty. of time to dry before filling.
The outside. of the silo may be boarded up with vertiea
boarding, or it may have strips nailed on hoops and be boarde:
with novelty siding. The latter method will make a stronger yi
and better looking silo. If the hoops are well nailed to th
staves when being made, we shall have a silo in which it
impossible for the staves to shrink or get loose. (Woodward.)
Protection against freezing.—If the silo is built out- doors
any of the Northern states, it is necessary to provide ‘some
ee special means to keep the silage from freezing in case this ©
ts considered a very objectionable feature. The silo may be it !
closed by a wide jacket of rough boards nailed to four up’ igh er:
, leaving the section of the silo where the doors are ea of
; access; the space between the silo and outside jacket ‘is 1
with straw in the fall; this ey be taken out and used for bed a
out during the summer, and preventing the silo from deat FAN:
Number of ere required for De ape pe g
areas which these will give:
Table VI— Circumference and Areas of Circles.
a=
Diameter, Cireumfer- Area. Square Diameter. Circumfer- Area, Squar: re. ‘
Feet ence, Feet Feet Feet ence, Feet | Feet ae
8 pee 8 ices | 50.3 21 66.0 546.4
tn 9 |. 28.3 65.6 22 | 69.1 580.1
on 10 | 51.4 78.5 25 | (2.0
Pinan ilk 54.6 95.0 24 | 75.4
heat 12 37.7 Ans :1 sgn ee fs
: 15 40.8 > 132.7 26 81.7
14 44.00 153.9 27 .. 84.8
: 15 a 79.7 28 88.0
16 | 50.3 201.1 29 Sits
“9 17 55.4 227.0 50 94.2
ive 18 56.5 254.5 31 97.4
Si 19 DO ey 283.5... 52 100.5
4d sh 20 62.8 514.2 bs Snail | | :
To find the find the circumference of a circle, multiply the quanto:
by 3.1416. ey i th alata
OTHER FORMS OF ROUND SILOS. 69
To find the area of a circle, multiply the square of the
diameter by 0.7854.
To find the cubical contents of a cylinder, multiply the area
of the base (floor) by the height.
_Example.—A silo 16 feet in diameter and 26 feet high is
wanted; how many staves 2x6 inches will be needed, and what
will be the feeding area in the silo and its capacity?
The circumference of a circle 16 feet in diameter is 50.3 feet;
there will therefore be required 50.3 %=—101 staves, 2x6 inches,
26 feet high, or if staves of this height cannot be obtained, 155
staves 20 feet long, or 50 each of 12 and 14 feet long staves.
The feeding area will be 16X16 0.7854=201.1 square feet, and
the cubical contents of the silo, 201.1 26—5228.6 cubic feet. Es-
timating the weight of a cubic foot of corn silage at 40 pounds,
5228.6 eubice feet of silage would weigh 209,164 pounds, or about
>
Fig. 23.—Showing method of bedding iron rods in stone, brick, or
concrete walls, to increase the strength. The ends of rods
should be firmly linked together as shown.
70 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
100 tons, which is the approximate capacity of a round silo of
the dimensions given.
Connecting Round Silos with Barn.—The location of the silo
with reference to other farm buildings has already been dis-
cussed. The silo must be easy to get at from the stable, and
the silage, if possible, handled only once in being placed before
the stock. A round silo is most conveniently built just outside
of the barn and connected with this by means of covered pas-
sageway. The method of joining silos to barns is illustrated in
numerous pictures of silos given in, this book.
Details concerning the construction of stone, brick, and ce-
ment silos are given in Prof. Woll’s “Book on Silage,” and in
Bulletin. No. 83 of Wisconsin Experiment Station by Prof.
King, as well as in numerous other pamphlets, and we shall
not take up further space here with the discussion thereof. The
same holds true with all other forms of silo construction than
those already explained. We wish to briefly mention, however,
the octagonal type of silo.
Octagonal Silos.
A number of octagonal silos have been built in recent years, :
and find favor with their owners in most instances. If properly
put up and care taken to fasten the girts securely at the corners
with plenty of spikes, the octagonal silo is greatly superior to
the square type, and has nearly every advantage of the round
silo, and can readily be constructed by anyone handy with tools
with the assistance of the ordinary farm help.
The foundation should be of stone or brick as described for
various other forms of silos, and should be laid out with proper
dimensions for the size decided upon. Brief details are here
given for an octagonal silo of about the same capacity as a
round silo, 20 feet in diameter and of equal height.
If the foundation is laid out so that the corners are in the
circumference of a circle 21 feet in diameter the horizontal girts
will be about 8 feet long, and will be much stronger and better’
able to withstand the lateral pressure than the sides of a
square silo of equal capacity. Details of construction are shown —
in the drawings, Figs. 25 and 26. The girts should be 3x8
inches and spiked at the corners with 6-inch spikes, up to
al erties
OCTAGONAL SILO. 71
nearly one-half of the height of the silo, and 2x8 in. the rest of
the way, fastened with 20 penny spikes. The girts should be 16
inches apart at the bottom for one-third of the height of the
silo. They may be 18 inches apart the second third of the dis-
tance, and above that the distance between them can be in-
creased till they are 2 feet or more at the very top.
COST OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SILOS. 75
S
soe OU Ey
Ss) 6
4bsat iene |
-- ao === 5
~
1
|
/Z.
|
|
|
'
aN
Fig. 22.Skeleton showing method of framing.
RY
=
LILLIES
ay
Fig. 24.—Showing plan
of joints.
16, 24 inches apart, and No. 16 to
19, 32 inches apart. Fig. 24 shows the
method of jointing and spiking the
ends of chords, also the 2x8-inch up-
right support between the ribs. The
shiplap outside and the 1x4-inch floor-
ing inside are also shown.
The regular chord in ribs No. 2
to No. 18 and part of rib No. 19 is
shown in the larger drawing, Fig. 32.
The smaller drawing represents the
chord for ribs No. 1 and No. 19. The
%-inch bolt holes shown are for bolt-
ing sill or rib No. 1 to the foundation.
Another type of octagonal silo that has found favor in some
sections of the corn belt because of the fact that the material
76
Fig. 32.—Pattern
for chords, vor
ribs. The smail
size is used only
for sill and plate
ribs.
HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
is easily obtainable from any lumber yard, is
built by simply placing one 2x4 on top of an-
other interlocking the corners and nailing
together. The 2x4’s are sawed at the proper
angle to fit silos from 10 to 20 feet in diam-
eter. The lining consists merely in placing
prepared roofing on the inside to make it
air-tight. It is said that this silo may be
built with but 15 to 20 tons capacity and at
any later time may be increased in capacity
by building it higher.
Cost of Different Kinds of Silos.
The cost ofa silo will depend on local
conditions as to price of labor and mater-
ials; how much labor has to be paid for; the
size of the silo, ete. The comparative data for the cost of two
round silos, 15 and
25 feet in diameter, and 50 feet deep, is given
by Prof. King, as shown in the following table:
Table VII.
’ 13 Ft. Inside Diameter | 25 Ft. Inside Vinweae :
inde ee Without | with | Without | with
Roof Roof « Roof | Roof
| |
Stone Silow fi, fides Pee eh $151 $175 $264. | $328
Brick Silo iges 4hb aghast -Gaaee's 245 273 437 494
Brick-lined Silo, 4 inches | |
[LOUK EL oP, eS oa Mah caeiaala haea 142 250 510 442
Brick-lined, 2 inches thick...| 151 | 190 239 569
Lathed and plastered Silo.... 133 185 244 565
Wood. Silo with galvanized |
TTOT 77 eesti tobe, Sask Fae a toa | 168 | 185 508 452
Wood Silo with paper........ 128 | 222 235 558
SOLS LOM scenes ye teens: ech Senke bis a4 fee | rear 353 136 | | 289
Cheapest wood Silo........... 101 | 144 LOS tee 0
| |
COST OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SILOS. vir
we During the spring of 1895 Prof. Woll made inquiries in regard >
i to the cost of silos of different kinds (not only circular ones)
; built by farmers in different states in the Union. The. results
ra of this inquiry are summarized briefiy below.
; ‘The cheapest silos were those built in bays of barns, as would
on be expected, since roof and outside lining are here already at
ae hand. Number of silos included, fourteen; average capacity,
Fach EAD tons; average cost of silos, $92, or 65 cents per ton capacity.
pe
Next comes the square or rectangular wooden silos. Number
of silos included, twenty-five; average capacity, 194 tons; av-
- erage cost of silos, $285, or $1.46 per ton capacity.
&
The round silos, follow closely the square wooden ones in
ns point of cost. Only Seven silos were included, all but one of
; _ which were made of wood. Average capacity, 257 tons; average
= cost, $568, or $1.54 per ton capacity. The data for the six round
wooden silos are as follows: Average capacity, 228 tons; aver-
“age cost, $540, or $1.52 per ton capacity. The one round cement
Es silo cost $500, and had a capacity of 500 tons (dimensions: diam-
: eter, 50 feet; depth, 21 feet); cost, per ton capacity, $1.67.
a The stone or cement silos are the most expensive in first cost,
as is shown by the data obtained. Number of silos ineluded,
mine; average capacity, 288 tons; average cost, $577, or $1.95
Mei Der ton capacity.
The great difference in the cost of different silos of the same
kind is apparent without much reflection. The range in cost per
ton capacity in the 25 square wooden silos included in the pre-
ceding summary was from 70 cents to $5.60. The former figures
+ were obtained with a 144-ton silo, 20x18x20 feet; and the latter
with a 140-ton silo, built as follows: Dimensions, 14x28x18 feet;
2x12x18 feet studdings, set 12 inches apart; two thicknesses of
dimension boards inside, with paper between, sheeting outside
with paper nailed on studding; cement floor. Particulars are
jacking as regards the construction of the first silo beyond its
dimensions.
It hiaiy be in order to state, in comparing the average data
for the cost of the different silo types, that the round silos were
uniformly built better than the rectangular wooden silos included,.
and according to modern requirements, while many of the latter
were old and of comparatively cheap construction, so that the
78 “HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
figures cannot be taken to represent the relative value of rec-
tangular and round silos built equally well.
A good many figures entering into the preceding 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 us
farmers themselves was not figured in with other expenses. As
most farmers would do some of the work themselves, the figures
given may, however, be taken to represent 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 ov a good square or rectangular wooden silo
for about $1.50, and a stone or cement silo for about $2 per
ton capacity, all figures being subject to,variations according to
local prices for labor and materials.
Rennie, a Canadian writer, gives the following comparative
yt
figures as to cost of silos: Round stave silos, 75 cents per ton Rec Pi
capacity; round wooden silos, $1.25, and cement silos, $1.25 to
$1.50 per ton capacity.
The cost of stave silos will of course vary with the kind of —
lumber used, cost of labor, and other expenses, as in case of other >
types of silos. It _is evident that stave silos can as a rule be
built cheaper than other kinds of silos, both from the fact that
less material is used in their construction, and because the labor
bill is smaller. One of the first stave silos described, built in
Ontario, Canada, cost $75.00; capacity, 140 tons. Other and
better built stave silos have been put up for $100 for a 100-ton —
silo, and this may be considered an average price for such a
silo, made of white pine, hemlock or any lumber that is cheapest Si
in the particular locality where the silo is to be built. If built
of Southern cypress, and complete with conical roof and doors,
the price of stave silos will in the North come to about $1.50 per
ton capacity, small silos being a little dearer, and larger ones a
little cheaper than this average figure.
Estimating Material and Cost of Silos. :
Several writers on silo construction have published bills of ma-
terials used in the construction of silos of moderate sizes of
the following three types: Wisconsin Improved Silo, Modified
Wisconsin Silo, and Stave Silo. Farmers contemplating building —
ae.
ESTIMATES OF MATERIALS. 79
a silo, can use these estimates for figuring out the approximate
cost of silos of the three kinds under his conditions as to cost
of materials and labor. The estimates are made for silos built
in the open, on level land. On hillsides deeper walls may be
made to advantage, and where the silo is located within a build-
ing no roof will be needed. Consequently various factors may
alter the applications of these estimates, which are only offered
as suggestive with the hope they may prove helpful. The first
three estimates of materials are published by Prof. Plumb, while
the others have been furnished by Professors King and Withy-
combe.
Estimate of Materials for Wisconsin Improved Silos.
Size, 30.feet deep, 14 feet diameter. Capacity, 90 tons.
Brick—3375 for foundation, 1 foot thick 3 feet deep.
Studs—50 pieces 2x4, 16 feet long. :
Studs—50 pieces 2x4, 14 feet long.
Flooring for doors—s2 feet, 4 matched.
Sheeting—3000 feet, % inch, resawed from 2x6—16 foot plank
sawed three times, dressed one side to uniform thickness for
inside lining of two layers.
Lining—1500 feet of same for outside.
Tar building paper—200. yards, water and acid-proof.
Nails—200 Ibs. 8-penny; 200 Ibs. 10-penny.
Spikes—20 lbs.
Rafters—22, 2x4, 10 feet long, for usual ridge roof.
Sheeting for roof—350 feet of 16 foot boards.
Shingles—3000. :
Shingle nails—12 lbs.
Dormer window for filling through.
Paint—7 gallons, providing two coats.
Cement—2 barrels, for cementing bottom.
Estimate of Materials for a Modified Wisconsin Silo.
Same capacity as preceding.
Brick—350 for foundation, 8 in. wide, 5 in. thick.
Studs—50 pieces 2x4, 16 feet long.
Studs—50 pieces 2x4, 14 feet long.
Sheeting—3000 ft. % in. resawed from 2x6, 16 ft. plank sawed
three times, dressed to uniform thickness for inside lining of
two layers.
Tar building paper—200 yards water and acid-proof.
Nails—150 lbs. 8-penny.
Spikes—12 lbs.
No outer siding, roof or floor is figured on or provided for in
this construction.
80 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
Estimate of Materials for a Stave Silo.
Size 12x28 ft., capacity 60 tons.
Bricks—1800 for foundation, 1 ft. thick, 2 ft. deep.
Staves—77 2x6, 16 ft. dressed 4 sides.
Staves—77 2x6, 12 ft. dressed 4 sides.
Rods—10, 19% ft. long % in. iron, with % threaded ends and
nuts.
Staples—2 gross, %x2 in.
Iron tighteners—20 holding ends of hoops.
Rafters—2 2x6 pieces, 14 ft. long for roof center.
Rafters—2 2x6 pieces, 15 ft. long for roof next center.
Side rafters—48 ft. 2x4 pieces.
Roof sheeting—170 ft. common.
Tin sheeting—196 ft.
Cement for floor—2 bbls.
vin
Estimate .of Materials for a Wisconsin Improved Silo.
Size 30 ft. deep, 20 ft. inside diameter, capacity 200 tons.
Stone foundation—7.5 perch.
Studs—2x4, 14 and 16 ft., 1491 ft.
Rafters—2x4, 12 ft., 208 ft:
Roof boards—Fencing, 500 feet.
Shingles—6 M.
Siding—Rabbeted, 2660 ft.
Lining—Fencing, ripped, 2800 ft.
Tarred paper—740 lbs.
Coal tar—1l1 bbl.
Hardware—$6.00.
Painting (60 cents per square) —$15. 20.
Cementing bottom—$5.00.
Carpenter Labor (at $3 per M and board)—$53.17.
The estimated cost of the last silo is $246.59: it is an out-
side, wholly independent structure, except connected with the
barn in the manner shown in Fig. 20, with entrance and feeding
chute toward the barn.
Estimate of Materials for Stave Silo.
12 ft. in diameter, 24 ft. deep, capacity 49 tons.
1 2-5 yards of rock gravel.
4 barrels of sand.
1 barrel cement.
2260 ft. tongued and grooved staves.
72 ft. 3x6, 24 ft. door frames.
558 ft. 5% in. round iron for hoops and bolts, weight 465 Ths.
9 lugs.
54 nuts.
Preservative ($1.50).
Vg ies ence hs eaten ae
PRESERVATION OF SILOS. 81
a silo is constructed outiaS waitin: for roof and
not mention tongued and grooved staves, the latest practice re
icates that, if properly done, it is a decided advantage to
e the staves matched, also slightly beveled. The silo made in
manner will not be so liable to go to pieces when empty. |
Ss is the chief objection to the AAEE sila, and numerous
; in Sens case of high or exposed silos it is well to make use of AE:
ly rods or wires in addition. Indeed, some manufacturers of
Preservation of Silo.
A silo puilding will not remain sound for many years unless
yecial precautions are taken to preserve it. This holds pood =>. 5
all el of aah but more especially of wooden ones, since Ss
mperature, and an abundance of bacterial life.
‘In case of wooden silos it is necessary to apply some ma- e
terial which will render the wood impervious to water, and pre-
om Bervé it from decay. A great variety of preparations have ‘been
scommended and used for this purpose. Coal tar has been ap-
se “plied by a large number of farmers, and has been found effective
d durable. It may be put on either hot, alone or mixed with ‘
sin, or dissolved in gasoline. If it is to be applied hot, some —
See the oil contained in the tar must previously be burnt off. The —
ar is poured into an jron kettle, a handful of straw is” ignited
sift nd then thrown into the kettle, which will cause the oil to tomes
: Psu and burn off. The tar is sufficiently burnt “when it will ri
“string out in fine threads, a foot or more in length, from a stick ~ 3
which has been thrust into the blazing kettle, and afterwards —
i nged into cold water. The fire is then put out by plac- (ck
12 yp a tight cover over the kettle. The kettle must be kept
the fire until the silo lining has been- hai “over. — AS
ring &
‘mop or small whisk broom cut short, so it is stiff, may serve for
_ Preservatives will not. save a non-ventilated silo structure from
not treated on the inside with any preservative or paint and ;
_ the silo is well protected on the outside, a stave silo receives little |
82 HOW TO BUILD A SILO.
putting on the tar. ee
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 gasoline. are mixed at a time, stirring it while it
is being put on. Since gasoline is highly inflammable, care
must be taken not to have any fire around when this mixture
is applied. Asbestos paint has also been recommended for the
for this purpose.
Many silos are preserved by application of a mixture of eq
parts of boiled linseed oil and black oil, or one part of the form
to two of the latter. This mixture, applied every other year, be
fore filling time, seems to preserve the lining perfectly.
ing round silos, it is reeommended to paint the boards with |
Foundation.—Too much care cannot be taken in building ine ey
foundation of a metal silo. Solid ground is the first essential be- ge te
cause the silo with its contents is very heavy. The foundation im mes
wall and floor should be of concrete of ordinary 1:2:4 propor-_
tions. The wall should be at least 12 inches thick and extend os oe
6. inches below freezing point, er about 5 feet in the ground—deep te
enough to prevent the frost from heaving the silo out of. level ae ee
and to prevent rats from digging under. The first row of metal’ — a
sheets should be imbedded in the center of the wall at least.12. — :
inches deep. ATR AS ES
Freezing in Metal Silos.—In eet rainiaty cold ; climates silage
will sometimes freeze in any kind. of silo, but it must be very ie
severe and protracted cold weather to freeze silage wery deeply ! ne
because of its own generated heat. Metal silo manufacturers
contend that while the so-called double—or hollow— wall silos are’
slower to freeze than some other types, they are also much
slower to thaw; that unlike other silos, freezing and thawing eS ES
no injurious effects on the metal silo, or on its contents; . that ai
silage freezing. to the sides of ordinary, silos’ requires to be ike
Fi ig. 49. —tlLarge Metal Silo on ‘Sunny Slope Farm, Emporia, Kans.,
being filled with Silver’s Ohio No. 22 Cutter.
PIT OR UNDERGROUND SILOS. 109
chipped away with danger of injury to the walls; whereas the
sun beating against the metal walls for a few hours on the cold-
est winter day melts the silage loose; and that metal silos are
giving satisfaction in northern territories where the thermometer
hovers around 20 degrees below zero for weeks at a time.
Detailed directions regarding the building of foundations
and the erecting of metal silos will be found in the catalogs
of metal silo manufacturers, which should be secured by anyone
interested in this type of silo.
Pit or Underground Silos.
'Pit or underground silos date back to antiquity. For over fifty
years they have been demonstrating their value in Hurope, not
only in preserving silage, but in economy of construction. The
pit method of storing green feeds had been followed for many
years before the advent of the modern silo or silo filler. The fact
that the above-ground silo ever since its introduction has made
“such rapid strides in comparison, would. indicate that this A is
far more satisfactory in actual use.
“In the United States the underground silo is distinctly a West-
‘ she ‘type, having its highest degree of adaptability in those sec-
tions visited by sparse rain fall and where the water table is not
near the earth’s surface. These silos are therefore numerous in
Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and the Western parts
of Kansas and Nebraska... Norton County alone in Kansas has
ever 100 pit silos. It is said that the pit silos in El Paso County,
; Colorado, saved $50,000 worth of stock which would have perished
during a recent severe winter. That county now has over 200 pit
silos. Some are in use in the semi-arid parts of South Dakota as
well as in Illinois, Michigan and other states. They are NOT
. adapted to humid sections or to localities subject to regular and
heavy rain fall.
The underground silo is generally considered a temporary ex-
pedient or makeshift, and it seems to show up to best advantage
where but very few cattle are fed. Thatitisa makeshift, however,
should not deter farmers from building such silos in case they can
not see their way clear to erect a better silo. Even a cheap silo
properly built serves a good purpose in demonstrating the value
rae of the silo. and in helping its owner to come into possession of
better equipment and a silo more to his liking.
110 SILOS OTHER THAN WOOD.
Analysis of comments in the farm press for the past two years
reveals a number of advantages claimed for this type of silo.
Among these advantages may be mentioned the following:
1. Little cash expenditure is required. Labor is the chief
item. Where labor is exchanged there remains only the cost of
cement and sand for plastering the walls and making the concrete
collar around top. 2. It is easily constructed, requiring very little
skilled or outside help. 3. The silage keeps perfectly if well
packed. The temperature remains even winter and summer—no
freezing or thawing. 4. It will resist tornado and fire. It cannot
blow over or rot down. 5. Because inexpensive, two small deep
silos may be built, keeping one for summer feeding or for use
should crops fail entirely. 6. No expensive forms are required for
building. 7. No trouble with ill-fitting doors, or with loose hoops,
or cracks. 8. Anyone can make it who can dig a cistern. 9. A
more inexpensive silage cutting equipment may be used, enabling
each farmer to own his own machine so that it can stay on the
job and refill as silage settles, thus securing utmost capacity at
minimum cost. 10. The top surface is handy, where it can be
tramped regularly the first few days. 11. When built in the
right soil it will last just in proportion to how well it is con-
structed and cared for, bearing in mind the necessity of guarding
against caving in, seepage, etc.
The most common objection to the pit silo is the inconvenience
in getting the silage out of the hole, which would have to be deep
enough to secure pressure for proper packing and keeping quali-
ties, and should therefore be at least twice as deep as the diameter
of the silo. Some kind of hoisting apparatus would be necessary.
This would be too laborious and inconvenient unless operated by
a gasoline engine or other power which would, of course, increase-
the expense.
The claim has been made that the extra cost of getting the
silage out of an underground silo would be more than offset by the
saving effected in filling, but this hardly holds true, as with
modern machinery it is little more expensive to fill a silo above
ground than one below the surface.
The failure of the silage to thoroughly pack by its own weight
is one of the principle draw-backs to the pit silo. This is on ac-
count of the lack of depth so much in evidence in structures of
this kind.
ie ee PRESERVING CEMENT SILO LINING. 111
Another objection to the silo is that poisonous gases are likely
_ _to accumulate in the bottom and render the silo dangerous to en-
; ter. Lowering a light would soon discover the presence of such
carbon dioxide gas which if present would immediately put the
light out. These gases are heavier than air and the air would
, have to be agitated to dispel them since there is no air drainage
in an underground silo.
#4 Again, unless the soil.is dry and very hard or has excellent
_ drainage there would be the danger of water seeping into the
hole and thus spoiling the silage. The likelihood of caving in
either while building or after the first silage crop was taken ont
would also have to be overcome.
Some of the essentials in building underground silos aside
from firm dry soil are that they should have a curb or collar ex-
_ tending from below frost line to a few inches above ground; that
they should be plastered from % to 2 or 3 inches thick and washed
with a cement coat to make them water- and air-tight, the walls
being sprinkled lightly before plastering, if dry; that the walls
should be smooth and perpendicular for even, solid settling; that
a cover should be provided as a protection against children, ani-
mals or foreign matter and to insure free air circulation.
Preserving Cement Silo Lining.—The ordinary cement surface
is porous and as such not only absorbs water like a sponge, but #8
open to the action of acids, alkali, etc. This porosity can be largely
overcome by either troweling the surface well before setting, or by
washing or painting with a coat of pure cement.
‘Some damp-proofing paints are on the market, but care should
be taken to avoid the little bubbles that form which afterward
break leaving pin holes penetrating the coating. Several manu-
facturers now make a waterproofing material to mix with the con-
erete such as ‘Medusa,’ made by Sandusky Portland Cement
Co., Cleveland, and “Impervite,’ made by Standard Paint Co.,
Chicago. “Percoproof” is a black paint for waterproofing all kinds
of masonry, and is made by Philip Carey Co., Cincinnati. “Silo-
wash” is a combination of pure cement and “Impervite.” Full
information should be secured from the manufacturers.
via
Bh) ee Nee,
re é PR) one Ob oom 3
CHAPTER IV.
THE SUMMER SILO.
The summer silo is fast becoming popular and even necessary
because of its splendid aid in supplementing summer pastures and
tiding the herd over the period of drouth, heat and flies. PExperi-
ment stations that have studied the subject, strongly advocate its
use and some of the leading agicultural papers have been speak-
ing in no uncertain voice as to its advantages.
“The summer silo is as certain to assert its value as American
agriculture is certain to go forward rather than backward,” says
Breeder’s Gazette of Chicago. “Pasture as at present used—or
abused—is a broken reed. An over-grazed acre is the costliest _
acre that the farmer supports. Even in normal seasons grass
rests in the summer time, and unless a fall and winter pasture is
laid by, little good is derived from grass lands after the flush of
spring. The silo supplements pastures, and carries the burden of
the winter’s feeding.”
Among dairymen who have used summer silage for many years,
permanent pastures have been greatly reduced or even entirely
dispensed with. A prominent Indiana dairyman recently re-
marked, “My dairy last year returned me approximately $5,000
and yet I would go out of business if I had to give up the silo. I
would have to reduce the herd 50 per cent. if the summer silo was
not used.” That statement is merely based on the fact that enough
silage to keep a cow or steer during its pasture season can be
grown on from one-fourth to one-third the area required to keep
the same animal on pasture. Beef cattlemen are rapidly finding
out about this “greater efficiency per acre of corn silage as com-
pared with grass, and the similarity of the two feeds in their effect
on cattle,” and it leaves little room for doubt that “the silo will
greatly reduce the pasture acreage required and will have a
marked effect on beef production on high-priced land.”
Following the same line of thought Purdue Experiment Station
Bulletin No. 13 says:
Too much dependence is usually placed upon pasture for sum-
mer feeding. Pasturing high-priced land is unprofitable in these
times. Few stop to consider the destructive effects of empl
112
* > _-~.
SUMMER FEEDING. 113
that, while a cow is taking one bite of grass, she is perhaps soiling
or trampling the life out of four others. If sufficient silage is put
up each year part can well be used for summer feeding, which
will be found less laborious than the daily hauling of green crops
for the herd. The herd must not be allowed to shrink in flow
unduly, as it is practically impossible to bring them back during
the same lactation. 'The young stock, destined for future pro-
ducers, must not be neglected on short pasture, for the labor and
expense of supplying their needs as above indicated for the herd,
is insignificant compared with the importance .of their unimpaired
growth.”
The Indiana Station states that ‘‘The most rapid and most econ-
omical gains ever made by two-year-old cattle fed experimentally
at this station were made by a load of 800-pound cattle fed from
March 17 to July 15, 1910, on a ration of shelled corn, cottonseed
meal, corn silage and clover hay. During this period the cattle
ate an average daily feed of 14.61 pounds of corn, 2.24 pounds of
cottonseed meal, 33.81 pounds of silage and 2.58 pounds of clover
hay. ‘They relished the silage as well in summer as in winter.”
There are many intelligent farmers who are providing a suc-
eession of fresh soiling crops and using them to great advantage
in helping out short pastures. “But,” says Professor Frazer of the
Illinois Station, “there is necessarily much labor attached to pre-
pairing the ground, planting, raising, and harvesting the common
erops used for this purpose. There is usually much loss in being
obliged to feed these crops before they are mature and after they
are overripe. And for the farmer who can make the larger in-
-yestment, the most practical way of all to provide green feed for
summer drouth is to fill a small silo with corn silage. It not only
saves the labor and inconvenience in the putting in and cultivation
of small patches of different kinds of crops, but also in harvesting
from day to day in a busy season of the year.
“These soiling crops can be dispensed with and all the feed
raised from one planting in one field in the shape of corn. The
whole field of corn for the silo may be cut at just the right stage
of maturity when the most nutriment can be secured in the best
possible condition of feeding. It also avoids the possibility of the
soiling crops failing to ripen at the exact period when the drouth
happens to strike the pasture. For the silo may be opened when-
ever the pasture fails, regardless of the date, and the silage will
remain in the best condition as long as needed. When the pasture
supplies enough feed again, what is left in the silo may be covered
114 SUMMER SILO.
_over and thus preserved without waste, and added to when refilling
the silo for winter use.”
Oregon Bulletin No. 156 says that “the summer silo is growing
in favor, and in many ways has advantages over the soiling sys-
tem. As soiling is now practiced, a carefully planned rotation is
necessary in order to have green feed always on hand. The acra-
age of each crop must necessarily be small, and frequent planting
at intervals of from ten days to two weeks must be made. If a
large field were planted and soiling started at the proper time to
get the maximum yield of food constituents and the greatest palat-
ability, the greater part of the crop would soon be beyond this
stage, as only a small part would be cut each day. By putting the
crop into the silo all could be cut at the proper stage of maturity,
and all at the same time. This would do away with the daily
chore of cutting small amounts.”
The dry pastures and burned-up hillsides following the drouth
of 1910 made a very strong impression as to the importance of
having good summer feeding. It was an eloquent though severe
plea for the summer silo and led to some splendid testimony in its
favor. The drouth “cut down the milk flow in most of the herds
nearly 50 per cent. Not one farmer in a hundred had provided
for this emergency by-a good supply of succulent food that would
make milk. It is the same old story over again. It seems to take
a tremendous lot of pounding on the part of Providence, to get it
into farmers’ heads that a summer silo is a grand thing,’ says
Hoard’s Dairyman: ‘Our herd of cows had 50 tons or more vf
nice corn silage to turn to when feed grew short and they have
rolled out the milk nicely right along. Besides, they will keep at
it. There is nothing like a supply of silage for summer use. It is
close by and handy to the stable for use when you want it. And
furthermore, it will produce more milk than any other kind of
soiling feed.” _
This is the experience of Wisconsin investigators, who find
that silage holds milk-flow during drouth even better than soiling.
It is rational that it should.
During the summers of 1910, 1911 and 1912 the comparative
value of soiling crops and silage were thoroughly tested out at the
Wisconsin Experiment Station. In these tests corn silage com-
peted with such soiling crops as green corn, peas, oats and red
clover. The two systems ba gti practically on an equal footing so
BLUEGRASS PASTURES OF SOUTH. 115
far as influence on milk production was concerned, but the cost of
producing and feeding soiling crops was higher than that for
silage, due to the cost of seed and the great amount of labor in-
volved. The silage yielded more and better food from the same
area, Was more uniformly palatable and there was less waste due
to uncontrollable weather conditions. The experiment indicated
that in case of scant pastures, dairymen would find it a matter of
great convenience, saving and profit to feed corn silage in prefer-
ence to soiling crops. The results of the above experiments were
published in Wisconsin Bulletin No. 235.
The summer drouth is with us to stay, and we might as well
prepare to meet the situation most intelligently. As a matter of
fact, we have never known a single season in our practical experi-
ence to go through from end to end without a drouth, and even
that in the best of what we might term our normal seasons. Major
E. E. Critchfield, of Chicago, an agricultural expert, says that a
good deal of effort has been made in various localities to carry over
this particular season by soiling, but, he adds, we must remember
that the man who does this is not in any sense prepared for soil-
ing practice and it comes at a period when he is almost inor-
dinately busy with other things and is, therefore, likely to fail of
best results. :
If, however, he has a summer silo, or a good “heel” left in his
winter silo, he has in it a place of greatest convenience for feeding
and it is most likely to produce the best possible results.
Night pasturing has been found to be a very valuable practice
in connection with the summer silo. By running the cows into
pasture at night they are absolutely undisturbed by flies and other
insects, and by keeping them in a darkened yet well ventilated
barn during the day and feeding them from the silo, every advan-
tage of the pasture and absolute freedom from its anhoyances is
secured. A recent test of 25 cows of the Holland Red breed
stabled for 15 nights and then pastured for 15 nights showed a
milk production for the herd of 5,756 quarts when stabled in the
barn, and a production of 6,523 quarts when in pasture, an increase
of two quarts per cow.
Another very valuable attribute of the summer silo is that it
‘permits of saving crops in years of great plenty for other seasons
of less plentitude. The desirability of this practice becomes evident
when we recall how our mothers in years when fruit was very
116 SUMMER SILO.
plentiful and cheap, used to put up a sufficient quantity to last
for several years and we can hark back in our memories and tes-
tify as to the quality of the fruit and, therefore, the success of the
practice. Now, since the siloing of green stock food is nothing
more or less than a process of canning, it may be carried over
several years without any deterring influences.
The renovation of the bluegrass pastures of Middle Tennessee
and other Southern bluegrass communities is another wide field «
of usefulness to which the summer silo in the South may profitably
be put. That the native bluegrass areas of this section have been
abused is plainly evident, says a bulletin recently issued by the
N. C. & St. Louis Railway. ‘Much of the pasture lands of Middle
Tennessee which once lay in vast stretches of perfect bluegrass
sod has been brought by continuous grazing to a comparatively
low state of yielding capacity. Like all other plants, and animals,
bluegrass has the disposition to lose vitality in the process of re-,
production, and if grazed, even lightly, during the period of propa-
gation, serious injury is the result. Instead of reproducing itself
through the agency of its own seed, as is popularly supposed, blue-
grass propagates its kind chiefly at the root. With the appear-
ance of the first warm sun rays of early spring, long lateral jointed
rootlets are sent out from the parent root, from which spring
little shoots which appear on the surface of the soil as new grass.
If grazed during this process, the act of reproduction is arrested
and the old plant itself permanently injured. In order to renew
and maintain a perfect sod on the bluegrass lands of the South,
the process of reproduction must be allowed to operate undis-
turbed by removing of all stock from the pastures for six weeks or
two months early in the spring. This period of rest should extend
from February 1 to 15 to April 1. One ton of silage per head of
either dairy or beef stock reserved from the winter supply, or a
small silo filled and retained for that purpose, would enable the
Southern bluegrass pasture owner to transform his meager pro-
ducing lands into a perfect sod with but little extra expense.”
The substance of a strong editorial in Wallace’s Farmer, while
referring particularly to the lesson of the 1910 drouth, applies
with equal force wherever pasture is used or cattle are fed. It js
worth quoting here: dt
“The question we are constantly asked is: ‘Will silage keep
through the summer?’ We are glad to be able to give a direct ~ Rs
answer to this, not theoretically, but from personal experience. ae
SUMMER FEEDING. 117
We built a silo on one of the Wallace farms and filled it in 1908,
and made the mistake of building it too large. During the winter
of 1908-9 the silage was not all used. Last fall we put in new
silage on top of the old, and during the winter used out of the new
silage, leaving the unused remainder in the bottom. We are now
feeding that silage, and the man in charge, an experienced dairy-
man, tells us that after the waste on top was removed, this two-
year-old silage is as good as any he ever used; that the cattle eat
it as readily as anything and eat more of it than they did during
the winter. ah
“This is in entire harmony with every farmer we ever heard
of who uses summer silage. If silage will keep two years without
any waste except on. the exposed portion of the surface, then. it
will certainly keep one.
"Some people say: ‘We, may not have another summer like
this.’ To this we reply that a period of short pastures during July
and August is the rule in all the corn belt states, and lush grass
at this season of the year is a rare exception. Remember that
seasons come. in cycles of unknown duration, and the time of their
coming is uncertain; that it always has been so, and it is safe to
assume that they always will until the Creator sees fit to change
Ais method of watering the earth. Therefore, well-made silage
in 2 good silo is just as staple as old wheat in the mill.’ There
will be a waste of several inches on the surface, just as there is
waste of several inches on the surface of the hay stack or shock
of corn fodder: but a man can afford that waste, if he has the
_assurance that his cows will not fail in their milk or his cattle lose
flesh, even if there should be little or no rain for thirty or sixty
days. When you put up a silo for summer use, you are going into
a perfectly safe proposition, provided, of course, you build it right,
and fill it properly.”
“This editorial is in line with further evidence which comes
from the Purdue Station. Prof. Skinner writes:
r “Many successful farmers with limited areas of pasture make
a practice of filling a small silo for summer use. It has been well
established that silage properly stored in a good silo when the
eorn or other crop is in the most desired condition, will keep in
good condition for several years. Many foresighted men taking
advantage of this fact plan to have silage on hand the year round.
They are thus prepared for any unusual conditions such as drouth»
secant pasture, excessively long winters, and it is altogether prac-
tical and profitable. It is desirable to have a silo of relatively
small diameter for summer feeding as it is necessary to feed con-
siderable amount from off the top of the silage each day in order
to keep it from moulding during the hot, damp weather.
“There are three silos on the university farm and it is our aim
to avoid having all these empty at the same time. A limited farm,
greatly overstocked, makes it necessary to supplement the pas-
tures every year, and while soiling crops are grown in abundance
118 SUMMER SILO.
they cannot be relied upon because of the gravelly nature of the
sub-soil underlying the farm, which means longer or shorter
periods of drouth annually.
“It would be absolutely impossible to maintain the number of
animals on the college farm that we are successfully carrying
without the silage to supplement our pastures and soiling crops.
Many Indiana men have come to look on the silo as quite as im-
portant in supplementing the pastures as ‘it is in furnishing suc-
culence during the winter season.’
It is well to remember that less silage will naturally be fed in
summer than in winter and that on the exposed surface molding
is liable to set in more quickly. In order to keep the surface in
fairly good condition, at least three inches of silage should be
taken off daily, where two inches suffice in the winter. Where the
size of herd permits, some farmers plan to feed off as much as five
or six inches daily in summer. Feeding at the rate of 30 pounds
per head daily and removing silage to a depth of two inches from
the surface means only about four square feet of surface needed
for each head per day. A silo for 20 cows should therefore not
exceed ten feet in diameter. It will be found advisable in building
the sumer silo to keep the diameter as small as is practicable.
The higher the silo the more firmly the corn is packed and the
better it will keep.
Silage soon dries out or spoils in hot weather when exposed,
but not so soon where it is finely cut and well packed, because this
more nearly excludes the air, thus reducing the amount necessary
to be removed daily. By having the cutting knives sharp and set to
cut %-inch lengths the exclusion of air is so nearly complete that
very little more silage needs to be removed in summer than in
winter. If possible silage in summer should be fed in the shade
because the hot sun acts very quickly and dries out and sometimes
spoils the silage before the cattle eat it.
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CHAPTER V.
THE USE OF SILAGE IN BEEF PRODUCTION.
The day has passed to question the usefulness of the silo to .
; the cattle feeder. Further experiments will simply emphasize its
necessity. Millions of dollars could be added to the profits of the
land-owners and beef-raisers of this country by heeding the teach-
ings of the numerous experiments already made.
Experiments at several stations during the past four or five
years have proved beyond question the value and economy of corn
silage in the ration for fattening steers. Silage-fed steers have re-
peatedly made the heaviest and cheapest gains, have attained the
highest finish during the feeding period, and have brought more
money on the market. Numerous extensive trials have shown that
the very best and cheapest dry rations have failed to equal a good
silage ration, properly balanced, either in amount or cheapness of
gains.
Until recent years the dairy industry apparently held the mo-
nopoly on the profitable use of this succulent feed. It is refreshing
to note the awakening among cattle feeders to its wonderful ad-
vantages for beef production. The “discovery” of the use and value
of silage for beef making is, however, not new as many suppose.
It was tested out by Prof. Thomas Shaw at the Ontario Agricul-
tural College fully 25 years ago and the experience of many Cana-
dian beef growers has for 20 years backed up the facts that good:
beef could be made from corn silage alone and meal, that it couid
be made more cheaply than on other feeds, and that corn stover
was intended to be first a food and then a fertilizer, rather than
merely a fertilizer.
The beef producing area of the United States will be vastly
increased by the use of the silo. Now that the Kansas Agricul-
tural College has shown that kafir and sorghum are fully equal to
corn for silage, even the dry land sections of the southwest are
put on a beef-fattening basis. This means that over one hundred
and fifty million acres are added to the area that can profitably
produce finished beef cattle. This is a significant fact when it is
considered that the growing searcity and the consequent hign
prices of beef in late years has been such as to admit of foreign
119
120 SILAGE IN BEEF PRODUCTION.
competition. “There was a time,’ says Breeder’s Gazette, “when
meats were produced as cheaply in the United States as any-
where. That condition no longer, exists. To produce meats in
the United States costs more money now than to produce them in
South America, New Zealand, or Australia. Probably meat pro-
- duction even in Great Britain is less costly than with us.”
The situation is clearly stated by H. M. Cottrell, Agricultural |
Commissioner of the Rock Island Lines, as follows:
“An adequate supply of beef for the United States can be
secured only by the stockmen throughout the country adopting
silage as the basis of their feed rations both while growing cattle
and while fattening them. The cost of making beef with grain
and dry forage is greater than the majority of the consumers can
pay for it and farmers find it more profitable to sell grain than to
feed it. A careful feeding test showed that taking a steer from
birth to three years of age when he was marketed fat, it required
38 pounds of feed for each- pound of gain. An average of a large
number of feeding tests in many states showed that with dry
feeds 10 pounds of grain and 5 pounds of hay were required for
each pound of gain made while fattening beef animals. Grain is
worth at least one cent a pound and hay is worth half a cent.
Figure for yourself the cost of making beef with dry feeds.
“Silage saves a large proportion of grain needed in fattening
animals. It saves the need for any grain while cattle are growing.
Silage fed cattle gain faster than those on dry feed. They finish
quicker and the meat is better marbled. Cattle fed silage while
fattening require 50 per cent. less grain to make each 100 pounds
of increase in weight than do cattle fed under the best methods of
dry feeding. Silage makes 50 per cent. saving of grain over ordi-
nary methods of feeding. On high priced land, silage is of special
advantage, as it nearly doubles the carrying capacity of the land.
“Forty per cent. of the feed value of a corn plant is in the stalk
and 60 per cent. in the ear. The stalks that grow on nearly ninety-
five million acres of land are wasted annually in this country and
the feed value of the stalks on nearly eight million acres are but
partially utilized each year. This annual waste amounts to prac-
tically a billion dollars, the greatest economic waste in any one
line of business in the world. Silos could convert all this wasted
material into one of the best beef producing feeds.
“Under the ordinary way of roughing beef cattle through the
winter a herd averages 200 pounds less in weight per head in the
spring than it did in the fall.. It costs considerable even with these
methods to carry stock cattle through the winter and every one
loses in value. Stock cattle fed silage and a little dry forage will
gain 100 pounds a head through the winter and increase in value.
There are about 37,000,000 beef cattle in the United States. More
SILAGE AND THE BEEF SUPPLY. 127
than half of them are roughed through. Silage-feeding gvould
make a difference of 500 pounds of edible beef every winter ou
each of these.”
Men at the various stock yards are now strong boosters for
the silo and claim that it is a big factor in replenishing the cattle
Supply. During the past two or three years, the use of silage has
become general throughout almost the entire Southwest. The re-
sults have been that the cattle now go through the winter in ex-
cellent condition and develop good flesh with a limited supply of
grain, cottonseed meal and cake. Cattlemen of the Southwest
say that the silo has solved the problem of winter feed and put
the old range country in a position to. get both the breeders’ and
the feeders’ profit from cattle. During the past few years silage-
fed cattle have topped the market repeatedly with record prices
and it is no longer necessary to conceal their identity at the mar-
ket to evade discrimination. Indeed the discrimination, if any,
now leans the other way. This weighty kind of “fact-evidence”
which affects the pocket-book, has served as a strong weapon to
dispel the prejudice that formerly existed against silage in feed-
ing circles.
Before proceeding to mention a number of important feeding
trials that have helped to bring about this condition, we wish to
quote a short article from Farmers’ Bulletin 556 of the United
States Department of Agriculture as follows:
“Silage stands first in rank of all the roughages for finishing
eattle. Formerly, during the era of cheap corn and other concen-
trates little attention was given to the roughage, as it was usually
considered merely a ‘filler’ and of very little economic value in
feeding. No especial care was taken in selecting any particular
kind, nor was the quality of it seriously considered. As the prices
of the concentrated feedstuffs advanced, the feeder looked about
- for methods of cheapening the cost of producing beef and soon
found this could be accomplished by using judgment in selecting
his roughage with respect to the grain fed. This has continued
until at the present time the roughage receives as much attention
as the concentrated feed, and has been made to take the place of a
large amount of the latter. The feeding of silage came into gen-
eral use with the advent of expensive grain and is becoming more
popular each year. With the present prices of feedstuffs there is
hardly a ration used for feeding cattle which cannot be cheapened
by the use of this succulent feed. By combining it with other
feeds the efficiency of the ration is increased to such an extent
that the amount of the daily gains is invariably greater and the
122 ' SILAGE IN BEEF PRODUCTION.
cost ef producing a pound of gain is lessened. The heaviest daily
gains are usually made during the first stage of the feeding period,
and silage can then be used to advantage in large quantities with
a small amount of grain, but as the feeding progresses the amount
of silage should be lessened and the grain increased. In some
places the price of hay and stover is so high that the greater the
proportion of silage used in the ration the more profitable is the
feeding.
“Silage is a quick finishing roughage in that it produces large
daily gains and produces a glossy coat and a soft, pliable skin.
Moreover, it can be used to advantage at times for carrying cattle
for a longer time so as to pass over a period of depression in the
market, or to carry the cattle along in thrifty condition so they
can be finished-at a later period.”
When we consider the varied conditions under which the ex-
periments of the Agricultural Stations and others have been
made, it is surprising to find the results so similar and ali pointing
to the one conclusion.
The Nebraska Station finds in Bulletin 132 that corn silage
made larger and more profitable gains with steers than did corn
stover, used one-third less grain, and produced better finished
steers, which were worth more per hundred.
A summary of results at the Pennsylvania Station—Bulletin
124—-shows that net profits during the 1912-13 cattle feeding tests,
not including pork, ranged from $11.22 per head for steers fed
silage and hay, to $14.09 per head for steers fed corn silage as a
sole roughage. Corn silage at $3.50 a ton proved much cheaper
as a sole roughage than when fed with hay valued at $12.00 a ton.
This Station realized a value of $6.20 a ton for silage when used
for steer feeding.
The Missouri Station found in a steer feeding experiment,
where corn silage was compared with hay that they could make a
saving of $1.07 per hundred pounds of beef by using silage.
Bulletin 169 of the South Carolina Experiment Station gives
results that are of much value to cattle feeders, not only in th
South, but in practically all parts of the country. In this test com-
paring silage, corn stover and cottonseed hulls, the corn silage
gave by far the best returns, not only in feeding profits, but in
the quality of the beef and the shape in which it reached the mar-
ket. The silage fed group produced gains even on a poor market
that would warrant an earning on the silage of $6.86 per ton.
EXPERIMENT STATION RESULTS. 123
Results at the North Carolina Station given in Bulletin 222
show that “Beef cattle fed on corn silage as the roughage portion
of the feed in conjunction with cottonseed meal will not only use
the meal more economically during a continuous feeding period,
but they will finish in better condition and command a higher
price than cattle fed on dry roughage. In all of the lots where
corn silage was fed as a whole or a part of the roughage, the daily
gains were more uniform throughout the feeding period than the
gains made by the lot fed cottonseed hulls.”
Prof. H. P. Rusk of the Illinois Experiment Station, says that
“one of the most common mistakes in the use of silage is attempt-
ing to make it take the place of part or all of the concentrates in
the ration.
“Corn silage is a roughage and not a concentrate. Its profit-
able utilization in the finishing ration depends not so much upon
its nutritive value as on its cheapness, its palatability and succu-
lent nature, the steer’s ability to consume large quantities of it,
and the possibility of utilizing the entire corn plant, a large por-
tion of which would otherwise be wasted.
“Used in its proper combination with other feeds, corn silage
is one of the most economical roughages available in the corn belt.
However, it should be remembered that corn silage, like corn it-
self, is low in protein and’ must be fed in combination with some
highly nitrogenous feed in order to offset this deficiency. This
fact was demonstrated in the early studies made on silage at the
Purdue experiment station when a ration of shelled corn, clover
hay and corn silage was fed in comparison with a similar ration
to which cotton seed meal was added in sufficient quantities to
balance the nutrients. The lot receiving cottonseed meal made an
average daily gain of 2.7 pounds during the 150-day feeding period
while the lot that did not receive cottonseed meal made an average
daily gain of only 1.8 pounds. The cost of gains was $9.11 per cwt.,
where cottonseed meal was fed as compared to $11.07 per ecwt. in
the lot to which it was not fed. A noteworthy fact shown in the
results of this experiment is that the addition of 2.6 pounds of
cottonseed meal to the daily ration did not decrease the steer’s
capacity for other feeds. In fact, the steers receiving the balanced
ration consumed a little over four pounds of feed more per head
flaily than those not receiving cottonseed meal. This effect is one
that is commonly noted when rations lacking in protein are bal-
anced with some highly nitrogenous concentrate, or even when
the common non-leguminous roughages in such rations are re-
placed by clover or alfalfa hay.
“Where liberal allowances of corn silage are used, a leguminous
roughage such as clover hay or alfalfa hay cannot be relied upon
to furnish sufficient protein. The only way to properly balance
such a ration is to add some nitrogenous concentrate such as cot-
124 SILAGE IN BEEF PRODUCTION.
tonseed meal or linseed oil meal. This fact is demonstrated by the
results of a feeding trial conducted at the Illinois experiment sta-
tion during the winter of 1910-1911. In this experiment each of
three lots of two-year-old steers received a full feed of broken
ear corn and corn silage; in addition one lot was fed all the alfalfa
hay it could clean up, and another lot clover hay, and third lot was
fed enough cottonseed meal to balance the ration. The lot re-
ceiving corn, alfalfa hay and silage made an average daily gain ;
of 2.55 pounds; the lot fed corn, clover hay and silage made an
average daily gain of 2.09 pounds; while the lot receiving cotton
seed meal in the place of a leguminous roughage made a gain of
2.59 pounds per head daily and returned a larger profit than either
of the other lots.
“Aside from failure to properly balance the ration, probably
the most common mistake in feeding silage to fattening cattle
is the practice of beginning with a small amount of silage and
gradually increasing as the feeding period advances., This is just
the reverse of the method that should be followed.”
At the Indiana Station, the 175 day feeding trials conducted
from Noy. 20, 1913, to May 14, 1914, rendered strong evidence in
favor of feeding corn silage and cheap roughage. Seven lots of
10 grade Shorthorns each, were fed various combinations of
shelled corn, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, oat straw, clover and
alfalfa hay—with and without silage. The test showed little dif-
ference in the feeding value of soybean meal and cottonseed meal,
either in finish or profits.
The most profitable lot of steers received shelled corn, cotton-
seed meal, silage and oat straw. Including pork, the profit per
steer was $12.94; without pork, $4.94. This lot not only made the
most profit, but also made the fastest gains, the average daily gain
“per steer being 2.54 pounds for the six months.
Excluding pork, three lots lost money. Two of these, Lots 2
and 3, did not receive silage. The other lot received silage, but
the cost of gains was greatly increased by the consumption of
about $54.00 worth of alfalfa hay.
This experiment confirmed previous findings at both the In-
diana and Illinois Stations regarding the economy of silage, and
the profitable use of oat straw or other cheap roughage, when
fed in connection with corn, cottonseed meal and silage, instead
of such costly roughages as alfalfa or clover hay. The oat straw
was found to give as good results as clover hay.
For several years the silage-fed cattle at the Indiana Station
£
#
INDIANA STATION RESULTS: 125
S have finished out better than those not receiving silage. This
te _ again held true in this test. The only difference in the rations of
see _ Lots 2 and 4 was the addition of silage to the latter!’ Lot 4 not
#4 only finished better and sold for 10 cents per cwt. more, but in-
cluding pork, made $4.22 more profit per head than the steers that
had no silage. Not including pork, the profit per head was $7.58
in favor of silage.
Two experiments in feeding corn Silage to steers were con-
’ ducted at the South Dakota Experiment Station at Brookings in
a 1912, running three and four months respectively. The results
showed that neither corn fodder from the field, nor fodder silage,
nor a one-half ration of silage and hay proved as valuable for
wintering steers as first class corn silage (fodders cut from same
field, at same time as corn for silage), as it required more pounds
of dry matter for a pound of gain with these than with silage lot.
ae Hay with silage proved to be better than hay or silage alone
‘ as a roughage. No bad results were received by feeding steers
‘ all the corn silage they would eat without other grain or rough-
age. At the end of the experiment they were consuming an aver-
age of 70 pounds per head daily.
_. Further tests were conducted at the same station for 146 days
in 1912-15 to determine the relative feeding value of oil meal, cot-
: tonseed meal and dried distilled grains when fed with corn silage
¥S: as the sole roughage. The largest and most uniform gains were
> made with oil meal and silage. The cost of producing 100 pounds
of gain in these tests was as follows: With corn silage and oil
meal, $5.86; with corn silage and cottonseed meal, $6.64; with
corn silage and dried distilled grains, $5.50; with corn silage and
Cats, $6.68; with corn silage and shelled corn, $8.22. It will be
seen that the distilled grains ration made a cheaper gain than the
a? _ oil meal ration, but the cheap gain is not always the best gain
as the steers receiving oil meal were in better condition than the
- other-Jot. The average gains per head daily for the 146 days were
_ 2.45 for oil meal and 2.17 for distilled grains. Silage was valued
at $4.00 a ton; oil meal and cottonseed meal at $52.00 a ton, dried
distilled grains at $24.00 a ton, oats and shelled corn at 1 cent a
pound. Prof. Wilson, who conducted the test, says that the ex-
periment calls attention “to the value of corn silage when prop-
erly supplemented with high protein feed. I believe when we feed
- our corn crop in the form of silage, we will be able to make beef
‘Sitter ae} profit under almost any conditions likely to present them-
fo selves. The old custom of stocking cattle through the winter will
soon be a practice of the past.”
Supt. T. J. Harrison. of the Experimental Farm, Indian Head,
Saskatchewan, writes: “Last season (1913) we conducted feed-
vnc! ts ing experiments in which ensilage was fed in comparison, with
1 ee
126 SILAGE IN BEEF PRODUCTION.
mixed hay. The steers fed on the ensilage made a gain of 2,5
pounds a day, while the lot fed mixed hay gained about 1.9. The
silage-fed steers when sold also brought about 15 cents per ewt.
more than the hay-fed steers, because of the fact that they were
better finished.”
The Kansas Experiment Station in May, 1913, concluded the
most important feeding demonstrations that have been made for
some years, in order to determine the comparative feeding value
of silage made from corn, kafir and cane or sweet sorghum. The
trials were made with both beef and dairy cattle and showed with
both that, pound for pound, the silage from all three crops had
practically the same feeding value. These demonstrations not
only benefit Kansas, but indicate that feeders may make kafir and
cane silage the foundation feeds for fattening beef cattle through-
out the entire Southwest.
The test with beef cattle was made with Hereford calves, ten
in each lot. Below is the record:
Corn Kafir Sorghum
Silage. Silage. Silage.
Ration— Lot 1 Lot 2 Lot 3
Oneill tie tite hoe cea ee Sn 10 $ 7.80 er sts 4 I.
Value ofpthemotenen sincya. stice 525.40 521.65 535.90
Orizinalipweirche ios, aya we vernee 4,172 lbs. 4,124 lbs. 4,281 lbs.
Feed’ Consumed:
Garniisilseras nite see AEDS. & leu. 25,08 + adel ee
PETIT USL ARON Rs Wc Bh ace Seta ata win oilsye 90)865 IDS. ) eee
SWIC ES ORPM UM TEI SU lea geting le oie she ys hay ey p soy sais 50,855 Ibs.
Cottonseed meal ......... 927 lbs. 927 lbs. 927 lbs.
Details: ;
AVL AVES EMENE ae erate estat Sure sead)» 5,700 lbs. 5,751 Ibs. 5,865 Ibs.
bo} 2 0 R= 22 6 GN ho Rl ne 1,528 lbs: 1,627 lbs. 1,584 lbs.
Average daily gain....... 1% lbs. 1.62 lbs. 1.58 Ibs.
OST IOLATCEU LI, eaters ciate isetce hs $0505 $ 54.96 $ 54.94
Daily cost by head...... 0.055 0.0549 0.0549
WOSU VOL VEAINA Mecota ieee ano 3.60 Rot 5.46
Value, hundredweight ... 7.50 7.60 7.50
Final ‘value by lot..:.... 427.50 437.07 439.87
PYrofit.by, tire’ Lowi. sts. 4. 47.05 60.46 51.05
It will be seen that kafir silage made 28 per cent. more profit
than eorn silage, and sweet sorghum silage made 8 per cent. more
than corn silage. Corn silage has usually produced better gains
than either kafir or sorghum silage, due to the acidity and lack of
ee
KANSAS STATION RESULTS. 127
feeding value heretofore connected with the latter. The Kansas
tests showed plainly that these drawbacks have been due to the
wg SOME 2,
Ue Bs
a
Fig. 55.—Showing one of easiest methods of unloading corn at
cutter.
SIZE OF CUTTER REQUIRED. L79
to do with the quality of the silage. Experience has demonstrated
that the half inch cut, or even shorter, gives most satisfactory
results. The corn will pack and settle better in the silo, the finer
it is cut, thus better excluding the air and at the same time in-
ereasing the capacity of the silo, some say 20 to 25 per cent.
Cattle will also eat the larger varieties cleaner if cut fine, and the
majority of farmers filling silos now practice such cutting.
The cut ensilage should be directed to the outer edge of the
silo at all times, thus keeping it high and packing it there, letting
the center take care of itself. The weight of the silage packs it
in the’center.
If the corn is siloed “ears and all,” it is necessary to keep
@ man or boy in the silo while it is being filled, to level the sur-
face 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 discharge; as a result
the corn will not settle evenly, and the different layers of silage
will have a different feeding value. Several simple devices, such
as funnel-shaped hoppers, adjustable board suspended from roof,
etc., will suggest themselves for receiving the silage from the car-
rier and directing it where desired in the silo. With the blower
machines, the new “Ohio” flexible silo, tube, shown inside silo on
front cover, is a most happy solution of an otherwise disagreeable
job. At the same time it insures perfectly equal distribution of
the cut feed; the leaves, moisture and heavier parts being always
uniformly mixed as cut.
The Proper Distribution of the Cut Material in the Silo.
The proper distribution of the cut corn after it has been ele-
vated or blown into the silo is a matter which should have proper
attention at the time of filling. If the cut material is allowed to
drop all in one place and then have no further attention the con-
stant falling of the material in one place will tend to make that
portion solid while the outside will not be so and besides the
pieces of ears and heavier portions will continually roll to the
outside. As a result the silage cannot settle evenly, and good
results will not follow. As the filling progresses, the cut material
should be leveled off and the common and most successful prac-
tice is to keep the material higher at the sides than at the center
and do all the tramping at and close to the sides, where the fric-
180 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE.
tion of the walls tends to prevent as rapid settling as takes place
at the center. In modern deep silos, the weight of the silage
accomplishes more than would any amount of tramping, and all
that is necessary, is to see that the cut material is rather evenly
distributed, for better results in feeding, and to assist the settling
by some tramping at the sides. With the new silo tube, this
distribution is really reduced to the mere guiding of the mouth of
the tube by hand. ;
Tramping.
Always bear in mind that the more thoroughly the air is ex-
cluded, the better will be the silage. This is accomplished by
adding water if the crop is over ripe and by a thorough tramp-
ing as the silo is being filled. Pay especial attention to the edges.
If you have spoiled silage around the edges of a good silo it is be-
cause it was not tramped sufficiently at this point. Keep one or
two men tramping continually at the extreme edges close to the
walls of the silo. A little more trouble and expense in proper
tramping will save much spoiled silage. Tramp the edges.
The detachable silo chute offers many advantages in the way
of cleanliness, convenience and economy, and leaves the doors free
and open to light, air and the easy escape of poisonous gases.
A well-known feed chute’ of this nature is on the market which
can be adjusted to fit any opening and can be swung around to an
adjoining silo or out of the way when not in use. The tube shown
on page 264 can also be used for this purpose when desired.
Size of Cutter and Power Required. ‘
The cutter used in filling the silo should have ample capacity |
to give satisfaction and do the work rapidly; a rather large cut-
ter is therefore better than a cutter that is barely large enough.
The size required depends on the rapidity with which it is desired
to fill the silo and on the power at hand. Where a steam engine
is available it is the cheapest power for filling large silos, as the
work can then be finished very rapidly. For small farms and
silos, the gasoline engine has rapidly replaced the two or three
horse tread powers formerly popular for carrier machines, and
the gasoline tractors of 12 to 25 horse are now used to a consid-
erable extent for blower machines, Ordinary steam threshing
engines will still be found most dependable, however. The filling
may be done as rapidly as possible, or may be done slowly, and
BLOWER OR PNEUMATIC ELEVATORS. 181
n) harm will result, if for any reason the work be interrupted for
some time. More silage can be put into q silo With slow, than
with rapid filling. If the farmer owns his own machine, he ean,
of course, fill his silo and then refill after the silage has settled,
so that the silo will be nearly full after all scttling has taken
place.
If, however, the farmer must depend on hiring an outfit, he
will wish to do the filling as rapidly as possible, as a matter of
economy, and will, therefore, seek the largest possible capacity.
It is ‘important to be able to get an outfit when it is needed.
An early frost or a spell of hot, dry weather may so affect the
crop that it is necessary to fill the silo several days before the
usual time. For this reason a man should own his own cutter
and engine, especially if he cuts enough. silage each year to war-
rant the expenditure. Usually it is easier to hire an engine than
a cutter. Many find it wise, therefore, to buy the latter and de-
pend on being able to rent the former when it is needed. Where
individual ownership is not possible, the next best move is for
two or three neighbors to purchase the necessary machinery in
partnership.
The size of the cutter to purchase depends also on how it is
to be used. For private use, when the silo is not large, a small
‘silo filler will suffice; for a neighborhood machine where two or
three farmers combine, a larger size will be desirable; in either
case if the silos are of large size or the cutter is to be used for
jobbing work at other farms the larger sizes will certainly prove
more profitable. In some sections, community cutters have be-
come popular where from eight to fifteen farmers purchase com-
plete equipment for their own use. With fifteen or twenty men
and several teams on the job there is always friendly rivalry as
to the size of loads, speed in unloading, etc., and periodic efforts
to choke or stall the cutter are sure to result. It’s a special
feature of the game that should be considered and only the
largest capacity cutter should be selected in such cases if supreme
satisfaction is desired.
These conditions have created a demand for various sizes of
cutters, and to meet this demand Silver’s “Ohio” Silage Cutters
are made in seven sizes, Nos. 40, 60, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 500
‘(the number indicates the maximum daily capacity in tons), and _
182 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE.
equipped with metal bucket elevators or blower elevators as
desired, adaptable to any height of silo. The blower machines
require more power to operate successfully than do the carrier
machines, although the largest sizes can be run by an ordinary
threshing engine. The traveling feed table and the bull dog
erip feed rolls are valuable features and practically do away with
the labor of feeding the heavy green ‘corn, besides increasing
the capacity of the machines about one-third, on account of its
being so much easier to get a large amount of material past the
feed rolls. These machines have been on the market for upwards
of twenty-five years, and have been brought to a wonderful state
of perfection. For durability, ease and reliability of operation,
capacity and general utility, they are doubtless the most practical
means of filling the silo.:
The Metal Bucket Elevator is the older style of elevator. It
delivers the cut silage corn into the silo through a window or
opening at the top and must be longer than the silo is high as
it is necessary to run the carrier at somewhat of an angle. The
length of the carrier required may be obtained by adding about 40
per cent. to the perpendicular height from the ground to the win-
dow; thus for a 20 ft. silo a 28 ft. carrier is required, and for a
00 ft. silo, about 42-ft. of carrier will be necessary.
The Metal Bucket Elevators for Silver’s “Ohio” Silage Cutters
are made both straight away and with swivel base, which en-
ables the operator to set the cutter in the desired position, and
as the swivel base gives the carrier a range of adjustment ex-
tending over nearly a half circle, the carrier can be run directly
to the window, or in the case of two silos setting side by side,
both can be filled with one setting of the cutter.
The Nos. 150, 200 and 250 Silver’s “Ohio” Silage Cutters are
the sizes most in use by farmers, stockmen and dairymen. The
traveling feed table, first adopted by the “Ohio,” which is long
enough to receive a bundle of corn is a most valuable feature
and has become almost universal on the “Ohio” machines used
for silo filling. It decreases the labor of feeding and makes any
size of machine about equal in capacity to the next size larger
without it.
The newer and more modern method of elevating fodder in
filling silos, is the use of the Blower Blevator which blows the
cut fodder into the silo through a continuous pipe. Blower EHle-
Tye
a
aoe
er eee
BLOWER OR PNEUMATIC ELEVATORS. 183
vators (see illustration of Silver’s “Ohio” Blower Cutter, Fig. 53)
have been in use to an increasing extent for several years, and
today there is absolutely no doubt as to their superiority for ele-
vating the material. Where sufficient power is available there is
no difficulty in elevating the cut fodder into the highest silos.
Although the Blower Machines require somewhat more power
than the old style Carrier, they have numerous advantages over
the latter, and the majority of machines now being sold are
equipped with Blowers. We mention below some of the features
that have served to bring Silver’s “Ohio” Monarch Blowers to the
notice and favor of farmers and dairymen so rapidly.
The Blower Machine is quickly set up, taken down or moved,
as all that is necessary is to remove the pipe, (which is in sec-
tions of various lengths from four to ten feet as desired), which
requires but a few moments. This operation requires but little
Fig. 53.—Shows Silver’s No. 19 “Ohio” Monarch Self Feeder Blower
Silage Cutter filling a group of five silos, owned by S, M.
Shoemaker, Burnside, P. O., Eccleston, Md, The machine had
just completed storing 1,700 tons of silage.
184 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE.
time as compared with that occupied in setting up or taking apart
the chain elevator.
The Blower Machine is clean in operation, placing all of the
eorn in the silo and there is no litter around the machine when
the filling is finished.
The action of the fan paddles is such that the corn is made
much finer and it therefore packs closer in the silo, thus enabling
more fodder to be stored in the silo; the corn is all knocked off
of the pieces of cobs and distributed through the cut fodder better,
and the pieces of the heavy butts and joints are also split and
knocked to pieces, all of which reduces the silage to a fine con-
dition so that it is eaten up cleaner by the stock.
The fan or blower device is also likely to be more durable
than the chain elevator.
The “Ohio” direct drive construction with pulley, knife cylin-
der and fan all on main shaft, is unique among silage cutters and
is. thoroughly covered by patents. Its large fan permits full.
capacity at low speed so that it never explodes or blows up.
The feeding mechanism can be started, stopped or reversed
with a single lever. The reverse is entirely by wood friction.
There is not the slightest strain on the machine; not a gear tooth
changes mesh. The machine cuts all kinds of fodder from % to 4
inch lengths as desired, with a perfectly adjusted shear. cut. :
Many have been skeptical as to the ability of the Blower to .
elevate the material as rapidly as the “Ohio” Machines cut it.
This proposition, however, has been proven entirely feasible and
successful, and there positively need be no fear on this point
if the following points are kept in mind. c
The machine must be run at the proper speed as recommended
by the manufacturers. A fan can only create a sufficient blast
by running fast enough to force the air through the pipe at
the rate of nine or ten thousand feet per minute. Green corn
is heavy stuff and requires a strong current of air to carry it
through 50 to 60 feet of pipe at the rate of 10 to 50 tons per
hour. It will be seen, therefore, that unless proper speed be
maintained there will be no elevation of the material whatever.
If the power at hand is not sufficient to maintain full speed when
the cutters are fed to full capacity, all that is necessary is to
feed the machine accordingly, in other words, to cut down the
capacity to the point where full speed can be maintained, as is
¢
COVERING THE SILOED FODDER. 185
necessary with other kinds of machinery, such as threshing
machines, grinding mills, etc.
In setting a Blower Machine iit is necessary to have the
pipe as nearly perpendicular as possible, so that the current of
air within the pipe will lift the material. This is especially
‘true where the pipe is long, say 20 feet or more, because the
green fodder being heavy will settle down on to the lower side
of the pipe, if this has much slant, and the wind blast will pass
over the fodder, thus allowing it to lodge, whereas if the pipe be
perpendicular, or nearly so, no stoppage will occur. It is also
necessary to see that full speed is attained before beginning to
feed the machine, and also to stop the feeding while the machine
is-in full motion so that the Blower will have an opportunity
to clear itself before shutting off the power.
There must be ample vent in the silo to prevent back pres-
sure, as the tremendous volume of air forced into the silo with
the cut fodder must have some means of escape.
If these few points are kept in mind, there can be no possible
doubt as to the successful operation of the Blower Elevator:
and, as previously stated, there is absolutely no doubt as to their
superiority for elevating silage. Scores of Silver’s “Ohio” Blower
Machines are in successful use in all parts of the country. :
(N. B. At the end of this volume will be found illustrations
and descriptions of several sizes and styles of Silver’s “Ohio”
Silage Cutters, which the reader can refer to, in addition to the
illustration given here.)
Danger from Carbonic Acid Poisoning in Silos——As soon as
the corn in the silo begins to heat, carbonic acid gas is evolved,
and if the silo is shut up tight the gas will gradually accumulate
directly above the fodder, since it is heavier than air and does
not mix with it under the conditions given. If a man or an
animal goes down into this atmosphere, there is great danger of
asphyxiation, as is the case under similar conditions in a deep
cistern or well. Poisoning cases from this cause have occurred
in filling silos where the filling has been interrupted for one or
more days, and men have then gone into the silo to tramp
down the cut corn. If the doors above the siloed mass are left
open when the filling is stopped, and the silo thus ventilated,
carbonic acid poisoning cannot take place, since the gas will
then slowly diffuse into the air. Carbonic acid being without odor
185 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE.
or color, to all appearances like ordinary air, it cannot be directly
observed, but may be readily detected by means of a lighted lan-
tern or candle. If the light goes out when lowered into the silo
there is an accumulation of carbonic acid in it, and a person
should open feed doors and fan the air in the silo before going
down into it.
After the silage is made and the temperature in the silo has
gone down considerably, there is no further evolution of car-
bonic acid, and therefore no danger in entering the silo even if
this has been shut up tight. The maximum evolution of carbonic
acid, and consequently the danger of carbonic acid poisoning
comes during or directly after the filling of the silo.
Covering the Siloed Fodder.
Many devices for covering the siloed fodder have been recom-
mended and tried, with varying success. The original method
was to put the boards on top of the fodder, and to weight them
heavily by means of a foot layer of dirt or sand, or with stone.
The weighting having later on been done away with, lighter ma-
terial, as straw, hay, sawdust, etc., was substituted for the stone
or sand. Building paper was often placed over the fodder, and
boards on top of thé paper. There is no special advantage de-
rived from the use of building paper, and it is now never used.
Many farmers run some corn stalks, or green husked fodder,
through the cutter after the fodder is all in. In the South, cotton-
seed hulls are easily obtained, and form a cheap and most efficient
cover. Straw may be run through the cutter and spread over the
surface of the silage and when thoroughly wet and well tramped
will make a good seal. After the top of the silage has been
thoroughly wet down and well tramped a layer of oats on this will
sprout rapidly because of the heat underneath, and will form a
layer over the surface of the silage. A thin layer of salt sprinkled
over the top of the silage after it is wet down and well tramped
will cut down the amount of spoiled silage. Another method used
is to cover the top of the silage with tar paper.
None of these materials or any other recommended for the
purpose can perfectly preserve the uppermost layer of silage,
some four to six inches of the top layer being usually spoilt.
Occasionally 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 :
COVERING THE SILO FODDER. 187
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 ad-
mitted to the fodder below, thus making it possible for putre-
factive bacteria and molds to continue the destructive work
begun by the fermentation bacteria, and causing more of the
silage to spoil.
Silage will settle several feet in an ordinary silo. If possible,
after filling the silo full, let it settle for three or four days, and
then fill again to the top, wetting the top on each occasion with
about one and one-half gallons of water to every square foot
of surface. After your silo has been filled and the top thoroughly
wet, leave it alone. Do not get on top of it, and do not dig down
through the top to examine it. The more this is done, the more
silage you will lose.
Silo Roof Extensions.—These have come into favor because
they permit of having a full silo after settling, without the neces-
sity of refilling, and they enable the trampers to continue their
work to extreme top of silo. One style consists of a permanent
sectional roof, the sections being hinged to top of silo and when
opened to vertical position they form an extension of six or eight
feet which may be filled to the top. Canvas, burlap, or chicken
wire may be attached to these vertical sections to form a wall.
After the Silage has settled, the roof is closed into place. Any
home made extension might serve to hold the silage until it
settled. With silage worth $5 a ton an unfilled space equiyalent
to 20 tons could easily cause a loss of $100 unless the user has his
own silo filler for refilling as desired or makes use of the extension
roof.
Use of Water in Filling Silos—During late years the practice
of applying water to 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 Station, Prof. King, a few days after
the completion of the filling of the silo, added ‘water to the
i fodder corn at the rate of about ten pounds per square foot of
surface, repeating the same process about ten days afterwards.
By this method a sticky, almost impervious layer of rotten silage,
‘a couple of inches thick, will form on the top, which will pre-
188 HOW, TO MAKE SILAGE.
vent evaporation of water from the corn below, and will pre-
serve all but a few inches at the top. The method can be recom-
mended in cases where the corn or clover goes into the silo in
a rather dry condition, on account of drouth 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 application of water should be
necessary, but where the corn has become too mature and dried
up, on account of drouth, or delay in building the silo, it is a
great relief to know that good silage can be made from such
corn by an application of considerable water. Water is now
generally added by running a stream into the blower as the
cut corn is elevated into the silo or in the silo itself after each
load or half a day’s run. Frosted corn can also be made into a
good quality of silage if a liberal amount of water is added as
directed.
There is only one way in which all of the silage can be pre-
served intact, viz., by beginning to feed it within a few days
after the silo has been filled. This method is now practiced by
many farmers, especialiy dairymen, who in this manner supple-
ment 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 constructed so as to admit of no unnecessary losses 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 have already
seen.
Red Mold in Silage.—Missouri reports the appearance in many
parts of the state of a red mold in silos. Investigation by the
Missouri Station indicates that it is a fungus known as Monascus
purpureus, generally appearing in small areas near the surface,
but sometimes two or three feet square and quite deep. It has
a carmine-red pigment and thrives vigorously in a lactic or
acetic acid medium, and especially where sugars are present. This
particular mold is probably not poisonous as it is used in China in
preparing a beverage and in Java for coloring small fish as 2
table delicacy. Like other molds, oxygen is absolutely necessary at
DE ela ue r x7 als ey Fee
FREEZING OF SILAGE. 189
to the development of the fungus. Care in cutting the material
evenly and in tramping and packing to expel the air will largely
avoid this mold.
Freezing of Silage.
, Freezing of silage has sometimes been a source of annoyance
and loss to farmers in Northern states, and in the future, with
the progress of the stave silo; we shall most likely hear more
about frozen silage than we have in the past. As stated in the
discussion of the stave silo, however, the freezing of silage must
be considered an inconvenience rather than a positive detriment;
when the silage is thawed out it is eaten with the same relish
by stock as is silage that has never been frozen, and apparently
with equally good results. If frozen silage is not fed out directly
after thawed it will spoil and soon become unfit to be used for
eattle food; thawed silage will spoil much sooner than ordinary
silage that has not been frozen and thawed out. There is no evi-
dence that silage which has been frozen and slowly thawed out.
is less palatable or nutritious than silage of the same kind which
has been kept free from frost.
Frozen silage should be avoided, not because it is unwhole-
some, but because it is too cold. The warmer the silage can be
kept the more palatable it will be and the less energy will be
required to raise it to the body temperature of the animals.
Frozen silage also has a tendency to make the cows laxative,
but not overmuch. It does not seem to bring down the milk
flow as might be supposed. Sheep seem to be affected more read-
ily than cattle by eating it and they are also more susceptible to
the effects of moldy or spoiled silage.
“Freezing of silage,’ says Iowa State College Bulletin No. 100,
“is due to loss of heat; first, through the silo wall; and second,
to the air in contact with the feeding surface.
‘Tt may be impartially said that, as far as the prevention
: of freezing is concerned, the stave, stone, single wall brick and
conerete silos are of about equal merit.
“The second cause of freezing mentioned, that is, the loss of
heat from the silage surface, is too often the cause of unnecessary
freezing. If air above the silage is confined, no serious loss of
heat can possibly take place. When the top of the silo is open
and a free circulation of air permitted, it is almost impossible
to prevent the surface from freezing in severe weather. A per-
190 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE,
sonal investigation of silos in cold weather proved conclusively
that those provided with a tight roof did not contain nearly as
much frozen silage as those left open.”
The difficulty of the freezing of the silage may be avoided by
checking the ventilation in the silo and by leaving the door to
the silo carefully closed in severe weather. If the top layer of
silage freezes some of the warm silage may be mixed with the
frozen silage an hour or two before feeding time, and all the
silage will then be found in good condition when fed out. A
layer of straw may be kept as a cover over the silage; this will
prevent it from freezing, and is easily cleared off when silage is
to be taken out.
_ Covering over the exposed surface of the silage with old
blankets or hanging a lantern in the silo are other methods of
keeping out the frost.
Silage from Frosted Corn.
Experiments were conducted at the Vermont Station in Octo-
ber, 1906, with immature corn, mature corn not frosted, and mature
corn frosted hard or frozen and the leaves whitened. No ill
results were noticeable in the butter product. It was found
that “the effect of frosting corn, and still more of freezing it
appears very slightly to have been to depress its feeding value
when made into silage.” The testimony seemed in favor of run-
ning frost risks in order to gain a greater maturity, rather than to -
silo the immature product.
Steamed Silage.
While fermentation in silage causes a small unavoidable loss,
it develops flavors and softens the plant tissue. Excessive fer-
mentation causes high acid. Steam has been used with much
success to check it in such cases, says Farmer’s Bulletin No. 516.
It is piped at the bottom and middle of the silo until the whole
mass is hot. :
Steaming seems beneficial and silage so treated is considered
much better than that which is not steamed. Stall fed animals
have eaten from 50 to 75 Ibs. of silage per day, but the safer
method is to feed less than 50 Ibs. per day. id
SILAGE FROM SHOCK CORN. niche
Silage from Shocked Corn.
The Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station during the
winter of 1915-14 investigated the possibility of using shock corn
for silage. HEvery fall many farmers are compelled to cut their
ripened corn and shock it until their silos are completed, and
others wish to refill their silos after the first contents are fed out.
Both instances call for the siloing of shock corn or corn fodder.
The results showed that while silage made in this way is not equal
to that made from-corn siloed at the proper stage, yet it makes a
satisfactory féed. It is more convenient to feed and animals find
it more palatable, eat it up cleaner and thrive on it better than on
dry shock corn. Refilling a silo in mid-winter with corn fodder
prevents the loss in feeding value which occurs, especially towards
spring, when fodder is left in the shock. Prof. Eckles points out,
however, that it is not a practical thing to silo such corn except
on farms where a water system makes it possible to add the
necessary water and to do it as rapidly as the corn goes in. The
amount of water to be added should be approximately equal pound
for pound to the dry fodder put in, or mold will set in.
Temperatures in Different Silos.—It has been claimed that
stone, cement, tile and metal silos conduct heat away from the
silage to such an extent that it lacks sufficient heat to make good
silage. This influence of temperature upon silage fermentation
has been greatly overestimated, as is proved by the result of four
years’ work recently completed at the Kansas State Agricultural
College. Temperatures were taken daily for four months in wood
stave, plastered cement, monolithic cement, tile and galvanized
iron silos, both at the center and 6 inches from the wall. The
greatest variation among the four was only 10 degrees F., and this
near the wall where the silage would be most susceptible to
changes in temperature. The quality of the silage was in every
case excellent. Throughout the fall and winter the average tem-
perature near the wall in the four silos was 55 degrees F., and at
the center of the same silo was 84.2 degrees F.
High temperatures were, of course, found at the surface of the
silage where air caused rapid fermentation. From a temperature
of 85 degrees F. when the corn went through the cutter it had
‘risen to 118 degrees within a day and on the fifth day reached
a maximum of 140 degrees. From then on the temperature gradu-
ally lowered. Heat generated at the top of the silage will pene-
192 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE. -
trate to a depth of three to five feet and in poorly packed silage
will often spoil silage to this depth. ;
Experiments with Acid Bacilli in Silos.
A recent report from the International Agricultural Institute
has reference to experiments carried out in Italy by Sigs. Sama-
rani and Gorini regarding the introduction of a culture of lactic
acid bacilli during the filling of the silo. This is to encourage the
presence of this agreeable acid and useful bacillus, and to discour-
age the presence of butyric acid and the fermentation of molds.
Sig. Gorini after, ten years’ investigation distinguishes four
types of silage:
(1) Silage in which butyric acid bacteria predominate.
(2) Silage in which lactic acid bacteria predominate.
(5) Silage in which putrefying bacteria predominate.
(4) Silage comparatively free from bacteria.
The last two types he considers abnormal—too low a tempera-=
ture favors the development of putrefying bacteria and too high
a temperature destroys all bacterial life; consequently, the making
of successful silage depends chiefly on the amount of heat pro-
duced in the silo which may be controlled by the packing, and
only to a lesser extent upon the moisture content and quality of
the forage. The best temperature for the silo is 122°F., at which
temperature lactic acid bacteria predominate; if the temperature
rises to 140°F. the butyric acid flora is especially favored.
Sig. Samarani’s experiments covering many years show that
during the first few days after the grass (evidently the crop he
used) has been put in the silo, two typical and different fermenta-
tion processes take place—an acetic fermentation and a _ lactic
fermentation.
The first is an intracellular process through which the sugars
are transformed, as a result of the heat and almost complete ab-
sence of the oxygen, into alcohol and carbonic acid. Later the
alcohol is transformed into acetic acid. The second process is an
ordinary lactic acid fermentation. Of the total free acid content
of normal acid silage, on an average 70 per cent. is acetic acid, and
about 20 per cent. lactic acid, but these proportions are later just.
reversed in well packed silage. Acetic fermentation can only
transform the sugar into acid indirectly, while lactic fermentation
’
EXPERIMENTS WITH ACID BACILLi IN SILOS. 193
acts directly upon sugars, and ten days after the silo is filled no
further bacterial fermentation goes on. If sufficient acidity is not
soon attained by the two fermentation processes, a putrefactive
fermentation sets up, with formation of ammonia, butyric acid
and other malodorous compounds.
The conclusions drawn by Sig. Samarani are that it is neces-
sary to avoid over-heating the fodder in order to limit the acetic
fermentation and thus to leave the decomposition of the sugar
chiefly to the lactic fermentation process. In Italy mechanical
pressure is used to expel all air from the silo after which the tem-
perature rises with difficulty and the lactic fermentation is pro-
moted at the expense of the acetic fermentation. To promote
lactic fermentation or to prevent unsuitable fermentation he ad-
vises, as in the treatment of grass, the addition to the silage of
a dilute solution of milk sugar.
‘ Transferring Silage—Silo Foundations.
The condition of the ground determines the kind of foundation
for the silo. But if the silo happens to be built on ground that
gives way and becomes uneven under the weight of the silage,
there is danger that the silo will lean or, still worse, may tip over.
Under such conditions will it be possible to save the silage either
by feeding it out from the silo itself or by transferring it te
another silo? Can silage be successfully transferred from one
silo to another, or will it be lost through spoilage?
This condition actually occurred in connection with the first
stave silo built at the Panama Pacific Exposition for supplying
silage to the show stock. It began to lean heavily within twenty-
four hours after being filled with Indian corn in the fall of 1914.
Prof. F. W. Woll, who exhibited corn silage in cne gallon museum
jars at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago which kept in a per-
fect condition for at least ten years afterward, was called into
consultation. He recommended that after the three or four weeks
necessary for the fermentation processes to complete their work,
the silage be transferred to another silo. This was done, the silage
being emptied through a chute, wheeled to the silage cutter
and blown into another silo. Special care was taken to transfer
the silage as rapidly as possible and repack it thoroughly, cement
tampers being used. The spoiled silage which formed the top
194 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE. .
layer in the old silo was placed on top of the silage in the new
silo so as to preserve as much silage as possible for feeding. No
water was added to the silage during the transfer for fear of in-
troducing new bacteria or molds, or washing molds from the top
layer down into the good feed. Analyses of this silage were made
two months and one year later. Prof. Woll states that “judging
from the composition, appearance and odor of the silage a year
from the date of transfer there is no question but that the silage,
even at that late date, was of good quality and would make ex-
cellent feed, and that the transfer from the original silo was,
therefore, a success. Like all silage that is sealed and left undis-
turbed, it would keep almost indefinitely, but it appears that more
proportion of the top layer was spoiled in the case of that trans-
ferred than is normally the case,, mainly perhaps because the
silage was not fed out until over a year old.”
This transfer of silage may be of interest to many tenants who
find it necessary to move, for instance, in the spring season at a
time when they still have a considerable quantity of silage on
hand. Unless this silage can be sold to a succeeding tenant or
near-by neighbor it must be either moved or result in a complete
loss. With silage valued at $3.00 to $4.00 per ton it would not
take many tons to make the transfer a profitable investment if
the haul were not too long.
CHAPTER X.
HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
Silage is eaten with a relish by all kinds of farm animals,
dairy and beef cattle, horses, mules, sheep, goats, swine, and
even poultry. It should never be fed as sole roughage to any
one of these classes of stock, however, but always in connection
with some dry roughage. The nearer maturity the corn is when
eut for the’Silo the more silage may safely be fed at a time, but
it is always well to avoid feeding it excessively.
The silo should always be emptied from the top in horizontal
layers, and the surface kept level, so as to expose as little silage
as possible to the air. It should be fed out sufficiently rapidly
to avoid spoiling of the silage; in ordinary northern winter
weather a layer a couple of inches deep should be fed off daily.
Silage for Milch Cows.
Silage is par excellence a cow feed, says Prof. Woll in his
Book on Silage. Since the introduction of the silo in this
country, the dairyman, more than any other class of farmers,
have been among the most enthusiastic siloists, and up to the
present time a larger number of silos are found in dairy dis-
tricts than in any ‘other regions where animal husbandry is a
prominent industry. As with other farm animals, cows fed
silage should receive other roughage in the shape of corn stalks,
hay, etc. The quantities of silage fed should not exceed forty,
or at outside, fifty pounds per day per head. It is possible
that a maximum allowance of only 25 or 50 pounds per head daily
is to be preferred where the keeping quality of the milk is an
important consideration, especially if the silage was made from
somewhat immature corn. The silage may be given in one or
two feeds daily, and, in case of milch cows ‘always after milking,
and not before or during same, as the peculiar silage odor may,
in the latter case, reappear in the milk. (See below.)
Silage exerts a very beneficial influence on the secretion of
milk. Where winter dairying is practiced, cows will usually
drop considerably in milk toward spring, if fed on dry feed,
causing a loss of milk through the whole remaining portion of
' the lactation period. If silage is fed there will be no such marked
195
196 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
decrease in the flow of milk before turning out to grass, and the
cows will be able to keep up well in milk until late in summer,
or early in the fall, when they are dried up prior to calving. Silage
has a similar effect on the milk secretion as green fodder or
pasture, and if made from well-matured corn, is more like these
feeds than any other feed the farmer can produce.
Fig. 54.—Silage Truck Designed for carting silage from the silo
to the feeding alley. Smooth rounded corners inside. Saves
time, labor and silage. The overhead carrier is also used to
some extent for the same purpose.
The feeding of silage to milch cows has sometimes been ob-
jected to when the milk was intended for the manufacture of
certain kinds of cheese, or of condensed milk, and there are in-
stances where such factories have enjoined their patrons from
feeding silage to their cows. When the latter is properly pre-
pared and properly fed, there can be no foundation whatever for
this injunction; it has been repeatedly demonstrated that Swiss
cheese of superior quality can be made from the milk of silage-
fed cows, and condensing factories whose patrons are feeding
silage have been able to manufacture a superior product. The
quality of the silage made during the first dozen years of silo
experience in this country was very poor, being sour and often
spoilt in large quantities, and, what may have been still more
important, it was sometimes fed in an injudicious manner, cattle
being made to subsist on this feed as sole roughage. Under these
eonditions it is only natural that the quality of the milk should
be impaired, and that manufacturers preferred to entirely pro-
SILAGE FOR “CERTIFIED MILK.” HOF
hibit the use of it rather than to teach their patrons to follow
proper methods in the making and feeding of silage. There is
an abundance of evidence at hand showing that good silage fed
in moderate quantities will produce an excellent quality of both
butter and cheese. According to the testimony of butter experts,
silage not only does not injure the flavor of butter, but better-
flavored butter is produced by judicious silage feeding than ean
be made from dry feed.
Silage in the production of “certified milk.”—In answer to
; the question whether there is any objection made to the milk
when the cows are fed silage, Mr. H. B. Gurler, the well-known
Illinois dairyman, whose certified milk sent to the Paris Expo-
sition in 1900, kept sweét for one month without having any
preservatives added to it, and was awarded a gold medal, gave
the following information: ‘No, there is not. I have had per-
sons who knew I was feeding silage imagine they could taste it.
I caught one of the leading Chicago doctors a while ago. He
imagined that he could taste silage in the milk, and I was not
feeding it at all. When I first went into the business I did not
feed any silage to the cows from which the certified milk was
produced. I knew it was all right for butter making, as I had
made butter from the milk of the cows fed with silage, and sent
it to New York in competition with butter made from dry food,
and it proved to be the finer butter of the two. The first winter
I had samples sent down to my family in DeKalb from the stable
where we fed silage and from the stable where we were making
the certified milk for Chicago, and in which we fed no silage. I
presume I made one hundred comparative tests that winter of the
milk from these two stables. My wife and daughter could not tell
the difference between the two samples. In the large majority of
cases they would select the milk from the cows fed silage as the
sweeter milk.”
An interesting experiment as to the effect of silage on milk
was conducted by the Illinois Station, where a herd of 40 cows
was divided, one lot being fed 40 lbs. of silage a day, the other
clover hay and grain. Samples of milk were submitted to 572
persons for an opinion. Sixty per cent. preferred the silage-fed
milk, 29 per cent. non-silage-fed milk, while 11 per cent. had no
choice. They were able to distinguish between the two kinds,
but found nothing objectionable about either. The summary of
&
198 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
the test was that when silage imparts a bad or disagreeable
flavor to milk produced from it, almost invariably the cause is
that the silage has not been fed properly, or that spoiled silage
has been used.
It has been contended that the acetic acid in silage has a
tendency to make milk sour more quickly. A user of silage.
for 14 years took a gallon of milk from a cow fed silage for 42
days and a gallon from another that had received no silage and
set them side by side in a room having a temperature of 40
degrees. Both gallons of milk began to sour at the same time.
The combination in which corn silage will be used in feeding
milch cows will depend a good deal on local conditions; it may be
said in general that it should be supplemented by a fair pro-
portion of nitrogenous feeds like clover hay, wheat bran, ground
oats, linseed meal, gluten feed, cottonseed meal, etc. As it may
be of some help to our readers a number of balanced rations or
such as are near enough balanced to produce good results at
the pail, are presented below.
Silage Rations for Milch Cows.
No. 1. Corn silage, 35 lbs.; hay, 8 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 Ibs.;
ground oats, 3 lbs.; -oil meal, 2 Ibs. ‘
No. 2. Corn silage, 50 lbs.; corn stalks, 10 Ibs.; corn meal, 2
lbs.; wheat bran, 4 lbs.; malt sprouts, 3 lbs.; oil meal, 1 Ib.
No. 3. Corn silage, 40 lbs.; clover and timothy mixed, 10 Ibs.;
wheat shorts, 3 lbs.; gluten feed, 3 lbs.; corn and cob meal,
5 lbs. :
No. 4. Corn silage, 20 lbs.; corn stalks, 10 lIbs.; hay, 4 Ibs.;
wheat bran, 4 lbs.; gluten meal, 3 lbs.; ground oats, 3 lbs.
No. 5. Corn silage, 40 lIbs.; clover hay, 10 lbs.; oat feed, 4 Ibs.;
eorn meal, 3 lbs.; gluten feed, 3 Ibs.
No. 6. Corn silage, 45 Ibs.; corn stalks, 5 lbs.; oat straw, 5 Ibs.;
dried brewers’ grains, 4 lbs.; wheat shorts, 4 Ibs.
No. 7. Corn silage, 55 Ibs.; hay, 10 Ibs.; corn meal, 5 lbs.; wheat
bran, 4 Ibs.; oats, 3 Ibs.
No. 8. Corn silage, 40 Ibs.; corn stover, 8 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 Ibs.;
gluten meal, 2 Ibs.; oil meal, 2 Ibs.
No. 9. Corn silage, 20 lbs.; clover and timothy hay, 15 lbs.; corn
meal, 3 Ibs.; ground oats, 3 lbs.; oil meal, 2 Ibs.; cottonseed
meal, 1 Ib.
aan
SILAGE RATIONS FOR MILCH COWS. 199
No, 10. Clover silage, 25 lbs.; corm stover, 10 Ibs.; hay, 5 lbs.;
wheat shorts, 2 lbs.; oat feed, 4 Ibs.; corn meal, 2 Ibs.
No. 11. Clover silage, 30 lbs.; dry fodder corn, 10 lbs.; oat straw,
4 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 Ibs.; malt sprouts, 2 lbs.; oil meal, 2 Ibs.
No. 12. Clover silage, 40 Ibs.; hay, 10 lbs.; roots, 20 Ibs.; corn
meal, 4 lbs.; ground oats, 4 Ibs.
The preceding rations are only intended as approximate guides
in feeding dairy cows. Every dairy farmer knows that there are
hardly two cows that will act in exactly the same manner and
will need exactly the same amount of feed. It is important,
therefore, to adapt the quantities and kinds of feed given to the
special needs of the different cows; one cow will'fatten on corn
meal, where another will be able to eat and make good use of
two or three quarts of it. In the same way some cows will eat
more roughage than others and do equally well as those that
get more of the food in the form of more concentrated and highly
digestible feeding stuffs. The only safe rule to go by is to feed
according to the needs of the different cows; to study each cow
and find out how much food she can take care of without laying
on flesh, and how she responds to the feeding of foods of dif-
ferent character, like wheat bran and corn meal, for instance.
The specimen rations given in the preceding can, therefore, only
be used to show the average amount of common feeds which a
good dairy cow can take in and give proper returns for.
The popularity of the silo with owners of dairy cattle has
increased very greatly, says Prof. Plumb. Few owners of stock
of this class, who have properly-built silos, and well preserved
silage, would discard silage as an adjunct to feeding. Silage
certainly promotes milk flow. One great argument in favor of its
use lies in the cheapness of production per ton, and the ability
to store and secure a palatable, nutritious food in weather con-
ditions that would seriously injure hay or dry fodder.
There is one important point that dairy farmers should bear
in mind, viz., when the silo is first opened only a small feed
should be given at first. In changing from grass or dry feed to
silage, if a regular full ration is given, the silage will perhaps
slightly affect the taste of the milk for a few milkings, and if
the change is from dry feed it may cause too great activity of
the bowels.
200 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
Silage as a Sole Roughage.—Several experiments have been
made by dairymen with feeding silage as their sole and only
roughage with very excellent results. While instances are on
record where large herds have been fed all. winter in this manner,
the practical experience of those who have given close observation
to the subject, suggests that some dry protein roughage fed in
connection with silage is highly desirable. Corn silage contains
about 26 per cent. of dry matter, as compared with 91 per cent. in
alfalfa hay, and by using the hay it does away with purchasing so
much high protein concentrates which would otherwise be neces-
sary to properly balance the ration. While long continued tests
with silage as a sole roughage are lacking, and the possibly de-
teriorating results therefore unknown, it is well to know that the
animals can be successfully carried over in a season of cheap
silage and excessively high priced hay:
Silage for Beef Cattle.
Prof. Henry says in regard to the value of silage for fattening
steers: “As with roots, silage makes the carcass watery and °
soft to the touch. Some have considered this a disadvantage, but
is it not a desirable condition in the fattening steer? Corn and
roughage produce a hard dry carcass, and corn burns out the
digestive tract in the shortest possible time. With silage and
roots, digestion certainly must be more nearly normal, and its
profitable action longer continued. The tissues of the body aré
juicy, and the whole system must be in just that condition which
permits rapid fattening.”
Young stock may be fed half as much silage as full grown
ones, with the same restrictions and precautions as given for
steers. Experience obtained at the Kansas Station suggests that
corn silage is not a fit food for breeding bulls, unless fed a few
pounds only as a relish; fed heavily on silage, bulls are said to
lose virility and become slow and uncertain breeders.
Fuller information on this subject is given in Chapter VY. of
this book, entitled “The Use of Silage in Beef Production.”
Silage for Horses.
Silage has been fed to horses and colts for a number of years
with excellent results. These points should be kept in mind
however: Never feed moldy silage; most molds are poisonous to
SILAGE FOR HORSES. “ 201
horses. Avoid sour silage made from immature corn. Feed regu-
larly, once or twice a day, starting in with a light feed and
gradually increasing as the animals become accustomed to the
food. Horses are more susceptible to stomach disorders than other
animals, and the ailments are more likely to prove fatal.
The succulence of silage produces as good an effect on horses
in the winter months as do the fresh spring pastures. Some
farmers feed it mixed with cut straw, two-thirds of straw and
one-third of silage, and feed all the horses will eat of this
mixed feed. Some horses object to silage at first on account of
its peculiar odor, but by. sprinkling some oats or bran on top
of the silage and feeding only very small amounts to begin with,
they soon learn to eat and relish it. Other horses take it
willingly from the beginning. Horses not working may be fed
larger quantities than work horses, but in neither case should
the silage form more than a portion of the coarse feed given
the horses. Silage-fed horses will look well and come out in the
spring in better condition than when fed almost any other food.
Professor Cook says in regard to silage as a horse food:
“Tt has been suggested by even men of high scientific attainments
that silage is pre-eminently the food for cattle and not for other
farm stock. This is certainly a mistake. If we raise fall colts,
which I find very profitable, then silage is just what we need,
and will enable us to produce colts as excellent as though
dropped in the spring. This gives us our brood mares in first-
class trim for the hard summer’s work. I find silage just as
good for young colts and other horses.”
An extensive Michigan farmer and horse breeder gives his
experience in regard to silage for horses as follows:
‘Last. year we had nearly two hundred horses, including
Clydesdales, standard-bred trotters, and Shetland ponies. They
were wintered entirely upon straw and corn silage, and this in
face of the fact that I had read a long article in a prominent
horse journal cautioning farmers from the use of silage, and
citing instances where many animals had died, and brood mares
had aborted from the liberal use of corn silage.
“Desiring to test the matter to the fullest extent, our stallions
and brood mares, as well as all the young stock, we fed two
full rations of silage daily, and one liberal ration of wheat or
oat straw. The result with our brood mares was most phenom-
enal, for we now have to represent every mare that was in foal
on the farm a weanling, strong and vigorous, and apparently
right in every way, with only one exception, where the colt was
202 . . HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
lost by accident. Of coarse there may have been something in
the season more favorable than usual, but this was the first yearin
my experience when every colt dropped on the farm was saved.”
The following experience as to the value of silage as a food
for horses and other farm animals comes from the Ohio Station:
“Our silo was planned and filled with special reference to our
dairy stock, but after opening the silo we decided to try feeding
the silage to our horses, calves and hogs. The result was
eminently satisfactory. We did not find a cow, calf, horse, colt,
or hog that refused to eat, or that did not eat it with apparent
relish, not only for a few days, but for full two months. The
horses were given one feed of twenty pounds each per day in
place of the usual amount of hay, for the period above named,
and it was certainly a benefit. Their appetites were sharpened,
and the healthfulness of the food was further manifest in the
new coat of hair which came with the usual spring shedding.
The coat was glossy, the skin loose, and the general appearance
was that of horses running upon pasture.”
Many letters have appeared in Breeders’ Gazette on this sub-
ject. An Iowa writer, A. L. Mason, states that he has fed
silage to horses for seven winters with no injurious effects. He
fed once a day, from 20 to 40 pounds according to size of horse
and 10 pounds to suckling colts. | Another Iowa writer, F. A.
Huddlestum, after five years’ feeding to stallions, mares in
foal and colts, reports excellent results. He says: “I am now
wintering 20 draft brood mares outdoors and their ration is 20
pounds silage once a day, five ears corn twice a day, and some
tame hay in the rack. I have never seen any that looked better. *
Geo. McLeod, of Iowa, writes: “We keep about 50 horses and all
are fed silage. The work horses are each fed a bushel basketful
and so is the Shire stallion. No bad effects. The boys are
eareful that no moldy silage goes to the horses.’”’ Another writer,
B. D. R., says: “I am feeding 9 head, including a registered
stallion, five colts of various ages and three work horses. I give
each horse and colt a peck of silage a day.” These writers with-
out exception warn against the use of moldy silage.
Silage for Mules—What has been said about silage as 2
food for horses will most likely apply equally well to mules,
although only very limited experience has so far been gained
with silage for this class of farm animals.
SILAGE FOR SHEEP. 2038
Results of a test made at the N. C. Experiment Station,
Raleigh, N. C., showed “that work mules will eat 20 to 30 pounds
of corn silage per day and when the ration is properly balanced
by the use of other feed-stuffs that 2% to 3 lbs. of silage could be
substituted for 1 lb. of clover hay or cow pea hay. Results show
that silage and ear corn or silage or corn and cobmeal is not so
satisfactory as silage and a grain ration higher in protein value
such as bran, cottonseed meal or oil meal.”
The Taft Ranch in Texas now has 36 silos, several being used
for silage for mules. They feed a mixture of red top, sorghum,
kafir corn and Indian corn planted in the same drilled row. The
feeding starts in November with a very small allowance to each
mule, and increasing later until they are fed unlimited quantities
mixed with cottonseed meal, with apparently satisfactory results.
Silage for Sheep.
Despite the popular conception that silage is more or less dan-
gerous to feed to sheep, especially breeding ewes, its great value
and entire safety has been demonstrated as a fact by long and
careful tests at the experiment stations, notably at the Purdue
Station. The evidence is conclusive that from the standpoints of
palatability, succulence and economy no other feed can compare
with good silage. Succulence, probably the most important ele-
ment in the winter ration of the breeding ewe, is necessary to
secure or maintain the freshness, vigor and health so desirable in
the flock.
Though good silage may be a safe and desirable feed, it does
not follow that silage which is very acid, spoiled or decomposed.
is not dangerous or even deadly in its effects when fed to lambs.
Some time after the close of one of the early experiments at
Purdue, four lambs died from the effects, supposedly of eating
spoiled silage. The cause was assigned to poisonous products
resulting from decomposition of the silage, which was favored
by the exposure of the silage to the air in warm weather and the
low condition of the silo.
Feeding an abnormal amount of silage, close confinement, lack
of exercise and lack of experienced shepherd to handle the ewes
at lambing time often prevent maximum results, and silage feeding
has for this reason been unjustly condemned at times.
The Indiana Station has been conducting experiments with
204 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
feeding silage to pregnant ewes since 1907. A three year experi-
ment was commenced that year with two lots of ewes, one lot
being fed silage along with hay and grain and the other lot hay
and more grain, but no silage. The silage ration was limited the
first year, increased to 4 pounds the second year, and the third
year the ewes were given all they could clean up, which was prac-
tically 4.6 pounds. Even with this amount no harmful results
were observed either in the ewes or the lambs.
The experiment showed that the general thrift and appetite
of the silage ewes was superior to that of the lots fed hay and
grain alone. The former made each year a larger gain over winter
than did those on dry feed. The !atter averaged for the three
years a gain of 6 pounds, while the silage ewes gained 13.75
pounds, or more than twice as much. Yet the Station Bulletin
states definitely that this gain was not mere fat like corn feeding
will produce, but that the ewes were in good condition to produce
strong, vigorous iambs. It was a noticeable fact, that “right
straight through the whole three years, the lambs from the ewes
having the succulent feed, i. e., silage, averaged nearly ten per
cent. larger at birth. As to the cost of feed, the ration including
silage proved the more economical, while more satisfactory results
were obtained. The lambs from these two lots of ewes were all
fed out for an early market, and those from each lot did equally
well, gaining nearly half a pound per day until they were sold.”
Prof. King says that the same station has also “tested the value
of corn silage for fattening lambs and found that the lambs were
very easily kept on feed, made as rapid gains and finished as well
as lambs fed rations not containing silage. The average of three
trials at that station showed that there was an average reduction
in cost of gain of 61 cents per hundred pounds.”
William Foy, of Foy & Townsend, Sycamore, Ill., probably the
most extensive silage feeders in the world, feeds 20,000 sheep and
lambs a year on his 1,400 acre farm. He makes silage his principal
feed and uses thousands of tons. Even during the winter of
1910-11, so disastrous in mutton feeding operations, his stock actu-
ally paid out. Foy said: ‘The use of silage last winter averted
a loss of approximately $1 per head on the entire output of our
plant; in other words, it earned us that much money. * * *
You cannot feed hay to sheep or cattle at $15 to $17 a ton. Even
if it were possible, that policy would be questionable when a ton
f
SILAGE FOR SHEEP. 205
of silage produces as many pounds of gain as a ton of hay and
costs $35 to $4. Weight for weight, I prefer silage, as it is more
palatable. With hay at current abnormal prices we would have
been forced out of business had silage not been available.”
Speaking of the advantages of silage, Mr. Foy says: “It saves
one-third of the corn that would be needed if only hay was used
as roughage, and obviates the use of hay entirely: The stock is
maintained in healthy condition; in fact, I never had a sick sheep
or even a lamb-while feeding silage. When starting them on it,
care is necessary, but once accustomed to the feed, they thrive.
I figure at a 10-ton yield the product of an acre of silage to be
worth $50, and allowing $15 for cost of production we get ap-
proximately $35 out of an acre of corn. What the resultant
manure pile is worth, is open to conjecture. I will say, however,
that none of mine is for sale, and I could dispose of every pound
at $1 per ton. The principal disadvantage is the lack of finishing
quality and extra time needed to get the stock in marketable .
condition. This can be remedied by using corn or corn meal to
put on a hard finish and it is our present practice. Saving one-
third the corn is an item not to be sneezed at in these days cf
big feed bills and narrow margins.”
Anthony Gardner of Hutchison, Kans., one of the largest sheep
feeders in the state, says silos are indispensable. He has two
concrete silos aggregating 1,500 tons capacity and uses silage for
sheep exclusively. It not only increases his profits per lamb, but
enables him to more than double his operations. During the
winter of 1911-12, Mr. Gardner fattened 10,000 lambs on silage.
Without this feed, he states that 4,000 would have been his limit.
Aside from this feature the silo saved his corn crop from the hot
winds of 1911 and allowed him to make the best use of the kafir
he grew that season. Mr. Gardner’s feeding operations are on $100
jand-—too high-priced for pasturage or range purposes. In the fall
of 1910 his silos were filled with corn, and 7,500 lambs were fat-
tened with ensilage and grain. Corn was also the principal crop
in 1911, but to test out kafir, he topped off one of the silos with
100 tons of it, and it proved so successful that in 1912 he planted
80 acres to kafir and cow peas sowed together, which on account
of the increased bulk is about a third of what it took in acreage to
fill with last year’s corn crop. Mr. Gardiner’s silos cost about
$1,000 each, and their owner figures that they cut nearly a third off
206 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
the cost of his yearly feeding operations. He feeds ordinarily two
pounds of silage and 1% pounds of grain’a day (corn, bran and
cottonseed meal) with kafir fodder for roughage.
After marketing his 10,000 lambs early in 1912, he was offered
$6.50 a ton for silage remaining on hand, but instead of selling, he
picked up a bunch of 1,800 poorly wintered lambs at low figures
which by means of silage he estimated later in the season would
bring him a profit of about $1.50 per head.
Silage is looked upon with great favor among sheep men, says
Prof. Woll in his Book on Silage; sheep do well on it, and silage-
fed ewes drop their lambs in the spring without trouble, the lambs
being strong and vigorous. Silage containing a good deal of corn
is not well adapted for breeding stock, as it is too fattening; for
fattening stock, on the other hand, much corn in the silage is an
advantage. Sheep may be fed a couple of pounds of silage a day
and not to exceed five or six pounds per hea. Prof. Cook reports
as-follows in regard to the value of silage yor sheep: “Formerly
I was much troubled to raise lambs from grade Merino ewes. Of
late this trouble has almost ceased. Last spring I hardly lost a
lamb. While ensilage may not be the entire cause of the change,
I believe it is the main cause. It is positively proved that ensilage
is a most valuable food material, when properly fed, for all our
domestic animals.”
Mr, J. M. Turner of Michigan says concerning silage for sheep:
“Of late years we have annually put up 3,200 tons of corn ensilage.
and this has been the principal ration of all the live stock at
Springdale Farm, our Shropshire sheep having been maintained on
a ration of ensilage night and morning, coupled with a small ra-
tion of clover hay in the middle of the day. This we found to fully
meet the requirements of our flock until after lambing, from which
time forward we of course added liberal rations of wheat bran,
oats, and old-process linseed meal to the ewes, with a view of
increasing their flow of milk and bringing forward the lambs in the
most vigorous possible condition. Our flock-master was somewhat
anxious until after the lambs dropped, but now that he saved 196
lambs from 122 ewes, his face is wreathed in smiles, and he gives
the ensilage system the strongest endorsement.”
O. C. Gregg, superintendent of Farmers’ Institutes for Minne-
sota, has been conducting some experiments on feeding silage to
sheep. He gives the result in one of our American exchanges as
follows:
SILAGE FOR SWINE. 207
“The ewes are beautiful to look at, square on the back, bright
of eye, active in appearance, and when the time comes for the
feeding of silage they are anxious for their feed, and in case there
is any lapse in time, they soon make their wants known by bleat-
ing about the troughs. The flock has been fed silage and good hay
in the morning, with oat hay in reasonable abundance in the after-
noon and evening. We have about ninety head of breeding ewes,
including the lambs referred to, and they have been fed two grain
sacks full of silage each day. This is not by any means heavy
feeding, and it might be increased in quantity. This is a matter
which we must learn from experience. We have fed the silage
with care, not knowing what the results would be if fed heavily.”
Silage for Swine.
The testimony concerning the value of silage as a food for
Swine is conflicting, both favorable and unfavorable reports being
at hand. Many farmers have tried feeding it to their hogs, but
without success. On the other hand, a number of hog-raisers have
had good success with silage, and feed it regularly to their swine.
It is possible that the difference in the quality of the silage and of
the methods of feeding practiced explain the diversity of opinions
formed concerning silage as hog food. Col. F. D. Curtiss, the great
American authority on the swine industry, states that silage is
_valuable to add to the winter rations of our swine. Mr. J. W.
Pierce of Indiana writes in regard to silage for hogs: “We have
fed our sows, about twenty-five in number, for four winters, equai
parts of ensilage and corn meal put into a cooker, and brought up
to a steaming state. It has proved to be very beneficial to them.
It keeps up the flow of milk of the sows that are nursing the
young, ‘equal to when they are running on clover. We find, too,
when the pigs are farrowed, they become more robust, and take
to nursing much sooner and better than they did in winters when
fed on an exclusively dry diet. We also feed it to our sheep. To
sixty head we put out about six bushels of ensilage.” Young pigs:
are exceedingly fond of silage. Feeding experiments conducted at
Virginia Experiment Station show that silage is an economical
maintenance feed for hogs, when fed in connection with a little
corn, but not when fed alone.
In feeding silage to hogs, care should be taken to feed only
very little, a pound or so, at the start, mixing it with corn meal,
208 HOW Fe FEED SILAGE.
shorts, or other concentrated feeds. The diet of the hog should be
largely made up of easily digested grain feod; bulky, coarse feeds
like silage can only be fed to advantage in small quantities, not to
exceed three or four pounds per head per day. As in case of breed-
ing ewes, silagé will give good results when fed with care to
brood sows, keeping the system in order, and producing a good
flow of milk.
Silage for Poultry.
But little experience is at hand as to the use of silage as a poul-
try food; some farmers, however, are feeding a little silage to their
poultry with good success. Only small quantities should, of course,
be fed, and it is beneficial as a stimulant and a regulator, as much
as food. A poultry raiser writes as follows in Orange Judd Farmer.
concerning his experience in making and feeding silage to fowls.
Devices similar to that here described have repeatedly been ex-
plained in the agricultural press: ‘Clover and corn silage is one
of the best winter foods for poultry raisers. Let me tell you how
to build four silos for $1. Buy four coal-oil barrels at the drug
store, burn them out on the inside, and take the heads out. Go to
the clover field when the second crop of the small June clover is
in bloom, and cut one-half to three-eighths of an inch in length,
also one-half ton of sweet corn, and run this through the feed
cutter. Put into the barrel a layer of clover, then a layer of corn.
Having done this, take a common building jack-screw and press
the silage down as firmly as possible. Then put on this a very light
sprinkling of pulverized charcoal, and keep on putting in clover
and corn until you get the barrel as full as will admit of the cover
being put back. After your four barrel silos are filled, roll them
out beside the barn, and cover them with horse manure, allowing
them to remain there thirty days. Then put them away, covering
with cut straw or hay. When the cold, chilling winds of December
come, open one of these ‘poultrymen’s silos,’ take about twenty
pounds for one hundred hens, add equal parts of potatoes, ground
oats, and winter rye, place same in a kettle and bring to a boiling
state. Feed warm in the morning and the result will be that you
will be enabled to market seven or eight dozen eggs per day from
one hundred hens through the winter, when eggs bring good
returns.”
€
*
CORN SILAGH COMPARED TO ROOTS. 209
Additional Testimony as to the Value of Silage.
Corn silage compared with root crops.—Root crops are not
grown to any large extent in this country, but occasionally an old-
country farmer will grow roots for his stock, because his father
did so, and his grandfather and great-grandfather before him.
This is what a well-known English writer, H. Henry Rew, says
as to the comparative value of roots and silage, from the stand-
point of an English farmer:
“The root crop has, for about a century and a half, formed the
keystone of arable farming; yet it is the root crop whose position
is most boldly challenged by silage. No doubt roots are expensive
—say £10 per acre as the cost of producing an ordinary crop of
turnips—and precarious, as the experience of the winter of 1887-8
has once more been notably exemplified in many parts of the
country. In a suggestive article in the Farming World Almanac
for 1888. Mr. Primrose McConnell discusses the question: ‘Are
Turnips a Necessary Crop?’ and sums up his answer in the follow-
ing definite conclusion:
“ ®yerything, in short, is against the use of roots, either as a
cheap and desirable food for any kind of live stock, as a crop
suited for the fallow break, which cleans the land at little outlay,
or as one which preserves or increases the fertility of the soil.’
“Tf the growth of turnips is abandoned or restricted, ensilage
comes in usually to assist the farmer in supplying their place.
* * * When one comes to compare the -cultivation of silage
crops with that of roots, there are two essential points in favor of
the former. One is their smaller expense, and the other is their
practical certainty. The farmer who makes silage can make cer-
tain of his winter store of food, whereas he who has only his root
crop may find himself left in the lurch at a time when there is
little chance of making other provision.”
We have accurate information as to the yields and cost of pro-
duction of roots and corn silage in this country from a number of
American experiment stations. This shows that the tonnage of
green or succulent feed per acre is not materially different in case
of the two crops, generally speaking. But when the quantities of
dry matter harvested in the crop are considered, the corn has been
found to yield about twice as much as the ordinary root crops.
According to data published by the Pennsylvania Station, the cost
210 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
of an acre of beets in the pit amounts to about $56, and of an acre
of corn in the silo about $21, only half the quantities of food
materials obtained, and at more than double the cost.
When the feeding value of these two crops has been compared,
as has been the case in numerous trials at experiment stations, it
has been found that the dry matter of beets certainly has no
higher, and in many cases has been found to have a lower value
than that of corn silage; the general conclusion to be drawn, there-
fore, is that “beets cost more to grow, harvest and store, yield less
per acre, and produce at best no more and no better milk or other
farm product than corn silage.”
Corn silage compared with hay.—A ton and a half of hay per
acre is generally considered a good average crop in humid regions.
Since hay contains about 86 per cent. dry matter, a crop of 1%
tons means 2,580 pounds of dry matter. Against this yield we
have yields of 5,000 to 9,000 pounds of dry matter, or twice to
three and a half times as much, in case of fodder corn. An aver-
age crop of green fodder will weigh twelve tons of Northern varie-
ties and eighteen tons of Southern varieties. Estimating the per-
centage of dry matter in the former at 30 per cent., and in the
latter at 20 per cent., we shall have in either case a yield of 7,200
pounds of dry matter. If we allow for 10 per cent. of loss of dry ~
matter in the silo there is still 6,500 pounds of dry matter to be
credited to the corn. The expense of growing the corn crop is, of
course, higher than that of growing hay, but by no means suffi-
ciently so to offset the larger yields. It is a fact generally con-
ceded by all who have given the subject any study, that the hay
crop is the most expensive crop used for the feeding of our farm
animals.
The late Sir John B. Lawes, of Rothamsted Experiment Station
(England) said, respecting the relative value of hay and (grass)
silage: “It is probable that when both (i. e., hay and silage) are of
the very best quality that can be made, if part of the grass is cut
and placed in the silo, and another part is secured in the stack
without rain, one might prove as good food as the other. But it
must be borne in mind that while the production of good hay is a
matter of uncertainty—from the elements of success being beyond
the control of the farmer—good: silage, by taking proper precau-
tions, can be made with certainty.”
A few feeding experiments. with corn silage vs. hay will be
mentioned in the following: :
as
CORN SILAGE COMPARED TO HAY. 211
In an experiment with milch cows conducted at the New Hamp-
shire Station, the silage ration, containing 16.45 pounds of digesti-
ble matter, produced 21.0 pounds of milk, and the hay ration, con-
taining 16.85 pounds digestible matter, produced 18.4 pounds milk;
ealculating the quantities of milk produced by 100 pounds of
digestible matter in either case, we find on the silage ration, 127.7
pounds of milk, on the hay ration, 109.3 pounds, or 17 per cent. in
favor of the silage ration.
In a feeding experiment with milch cows at the Maine Station,
in which silage likewise was compared with hay, the addition of
silage to the ration resulted in a somewhat increased production
of milk solids, which was not caused by an increase in the digesti-
ble food materials eaten, but which must have been due either to
the superior value of the nutrients of the silage over those of the
hay or to the general psychological effect of feeding a great variety
of foods. 8.8 pounds of silage proved to be somewhat superior
to 1.98 pounds of hay (mostly timothy), the quantity of digestible
material being the same in the two cases.
In another experiment, conducted at the same station, where
silage was compared with hay for steers, a pound of digestible
matter from the corn silage produced somewhat more growth than
a pound of digestible matter from timothy hay. The difference
was small, however, amounting in the case of the last two periods,
where the more accurate comparison is possible, to an increased
growth of only 15 pounds of live weight for each ton of silage fed.
Corn silage compared with fodder corn.—The cost of produc-
tion is the same for the green fodder up to the time of siloing, in
case of both systems; as against the expense of siloing the crop
comes that of shocking, and later on, placing the fodder under
shelter in the field-curing process; further husking, cribbing, and
grinding the corn, and cutting the corn stalks, since this is the
most economical way of handling the crop, and the only way in
which it can be fully utilized so as to be of as great value as pos-
sible for dry fodder. Professor King found the cost of placing
‘corn in the silo to be 58.6 cents per ton, on the average for five
Wisconsin farms, or, adding to this amount, interest and taxes on
the silo investment, and insurance and maintenance of silo per ton,
15.2 cents. The expense of shocking and sheltering the cured fod-
der, and later cutting the same, will greatly exceed that of siloing
the crop; to obtain the full value in feeding the ear corn, it must,
212 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
furthermore, in most cases, be ground, costing ten cents or more
a bushel of 70 lbs. The advantage is, therefore, decidedly with the :
siloed fodder in economy of handling, as well as in the cost of
production.
The comparative feeding value of corn silage and fodder corn
has been determined in a large number of trials at different experi-
ment stations. The earlier ones of these experiments were made
with only a couple of animals each, and no reliance can, therefore,
be placed on the results obtained in any single experiment. In the
later experiments a large number of cows have been included, and —
these have been continued for sufficiently long time to show what
the animals could do on each feed.
Comparative Cost of Producing Silage——The Oregon Agricul-
tural College Bulletin No. 156, comparing the total digestible nu-
trients of silage with other succulent feeds based largely on figures
from Henry’s “Feeds and Feeding” shows that one ton of corn
silage is equal to 1.0 ton of artichokes, 1.4 tons of parsnips, 1.5
tons of sugar beets, 1.8 tons of rutabagas, 1.8 tons of carrots, 2.2
tons of turnips, 2.4 tons of mangels, or 2.3 tons of kale. These
figures do not take into consideration the palatability or the stim-
ulation on milk secretion that any of these feeds might exert.
Table XIV., compiled by the same station, may be of interest:
Table XIV.—Cost of Production of One Acre of Succulent Crops
in Western Oregon.
Corn
Kale. Roots. Silage.
Value of manure, at $1.00 per load....... $12.00
Applying: manure, at 30c per load....... 3.60
Daeuble; @istein eis iscccid. coal dads 4 we a delaebs AY i)
Pe MERU MENS 8 5 Poke oe ioie testis Le ie io. ac ca he: Seno rae 2.00
Preparation ‘of Seed’ Bed... bee Si 1.40
DUC GE Regan nity nul py obeke Mealy s. oly cule craps. he poate event 25
PERU eUTBU LOH E Ee ohesch stave alicks ienerchh, ie tw svelelaiote Aratetomete ious 5.00
Cuahivationla s.. ie v's tase ols «669013 Bye dee aoe 2.00
Harvest—(corn, im |SilO)).).\.). «sc s-cccsa.0 bd clone 17.50
Depreciation and interest on machinery
MEGA OM ESO ak fo a fa: al so sys ie. s inp) bo Gone s weaiobay tie a .60
$45.10
Average yield per acre (tons).......... 25
Cost: Ber COD ele. wade stewh)s Jursudierd sebieeo stele $ 1,80
Average yield per acre digestible nutri-
CVE CRD UTE teeta dial aield halle, = acateind emcee 3480
Cost per 100 pounds digestible nutrients. $ 1.30
“a”
~
COMPARATIVE COST OF PRODUCING SILAGE. 213°
The above table shows the cost of preparing the seed bed, seed-
ing, harvesting, and interest and depreciation on machinery, and
storage to be as follows: For one acre of kale, $45.10; for one
acre of roots, $44.05; and for one acre of corn, $28.30. The cost
per ton of kale is least, and that of the corn silage is greatest,
but the cost per hundred pounds of digestible nutrients in the kale
is 51 per cent. more, and in the roots, 47 per cent. more, than in the
corn silage.
Investigations conducted by the Dairy Division of the United
States Department of Agriculture during the past few years with
eighty-seven silos in various parts of the United States indicate
the cost of filling to be an average of 87 cents per ton. The cost
of growing the silage crop was $1.58 per ton on the average, which,
added to the filling cost, makes the average total cost of silage
$2.45 per ton. However, no definite statement can be made as to
the exact cost of silage, as so much depends upon the yield per
acre, cost of production, and other conditions that vary so greatly
in different sections of the country. For the individual farms
under consideration the cost of silage varied from $1.10 to $5.42
per ton. The investigators state that $1.50 to $5.50 per ton repre-
sents the limits between which most of the silage is produced.
Table XV. gives an outline for arriving at the cost of producing
silage from start to finish. The table was prepared by the Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station. Many farmers in figuring the
cost of producing crops fail to consider the value of their own
labor, the rent of the land, the depreciation of fences surrounding
the crop, ete. For example, the depreciation of a fence estimated
to last ten years should be figured at 10 per cent. of its value.
Cost of Filling Silos——The man labor cost of putting the ma-
terial in the silo will vary from 25c to 50c per ton, depending on
the yield per acre and the distance the material must be hauled.
The charge made by men who fill silos varies greatly in different
states or localities. In Southern Wisconsin a charge of from $20.00
to $25.00 per day is made for equipment, an engine, cutter and
two men, which will fill from eighty to one hundred tons silage a
day. An Idaho report shows $1.00 per hour charged for one man
and engine, and 70c an hour for one man and cutter. In Ohio
the charge varies, being around $2.00 to $2.50 an hour for cutter
and engine, and an average of from 25c to 50c a ton when hired
by the ton. The same might apply to South Carolina. Pennsyl-
> dy pt oJ
the BUSA stats
int. rete ~*
Pe le
aS
we .
» 214 HOW TO FEED SILAGE.
Table XV.—Outline for Arriving at the Cost of Producing Silage.
eae aves Acres. | Dr. | Cr.
Plowing (breaking) at $...... per acre... .... 0.
DISCINE at St". th PCr ACTS LG pista. cis eta rereapeeta eerie
Harrowing at $...... POET. ACTS es cee. aidiacagws lieben s vane
Commercial fertilizer .... lbs. at $.... per acre..
Other fertilizer... 2... LDS, va tassine cers per acre...
PAM CUMS AG oisses) os PCr ACE. iin + she cee leat 7
Seed at $...... perracre 7H) Hele aiac hk eonomante wikia tees *
First cultivation at $...... DET AGEs OANA soso risaana Mis xtes
ae are ge eS Se
F n NLA co CoH ON Hin 010 sHismow
sousysqngs 41q 19}0L | 6 AAIAAIA ANNIAA HOD GDI Hea ed 62 a
al
Site Mat ot Oe ee we Cie ed Wien: fw OR Se us, « RR erga ee eee ee a
rd GADe eet 2 orate se eee 3s mone ae
bo oe See ee Re TS et oe wa LS. CeO ate PP CR
E n n n n
eS Save Oss 5-3 Gs Ss ws). See Ss
© Caml Ll [nl =
> contonm ott a Horo tor
mt COronn 5 wooorn wo | tO co tr to
4 . a dann S mon monn
a . v | F
3s FP = 4 om
o sor~rin & sooorin F amincwo | maminwoo
° o ° ° ° °
rs oo & i i i
1) < oO o .) .o)
nd oa 3 a 16
el Lael ri mn aa
228 A FEEDERS’ GUIDE.
How to Figure Out Rations.
We shall use the practical American feeding ration as a basis
for figuring out the food materials which should be supplied a
dairy cow weighing 1,000 pounds, in order to insure a maximum
and economical production of milk and butter-fat. We shall
suppose that a farmer has the following foods at his disposal:
Corn silage, mixed timothy and clover hay, and wheat bran; and
that he has to feed about forty pounds of silage per head daily,
in order to have it last through the winter and spring. We will
suppose that he gives his cows, in addition, five pounds of hay
and about six pounds of bran daily. If we now look up in the
tables given on pages 257 to 241, the amounts of digestible food
components coniained in the quantities given of these feeds, we
shall have:
Total Digestible Nutr.
Dry Mtr. Pro. Carb. & Fat Ratio.
40 lbs. corn silage...... 10.5 lbs. .48 lbs. 7.1 Ibs. --
5 dbs. mixed hay..3.... 4:2 22 “y 2.2
6 lbssiswheatl brant sei. <<. O.0 72 2.8
20.0 1.42 Aen 1:8.5
We notice that the ration as now given contains too little total
digestible matter, there being a deficit of both digestible protein,
carbohydrates and fat; it will evidently be necessary to supply
at least a couple of pounds more of some concentrated feed, and
preferably of a feed rich in protein, since the deficit of this
component is proportionately greater than that of the other
components. In selecting a certain food to be added and deciding
on the quantities to be fed, the cost of different available foods
must be considered. We will suppose that linseed meal can be
bought at a reasonable price in this case, and will add two pounds
thereof to the ration. We then have the following amounts of
digestible matter in the ration:
HOW TO FIGURE OUT RATIONS. 229
Total Digestible Nutr.
Dry Mtr. Pro. Carb. & Fat Ratio.
Ration as above........ 20.0 lbs. 1.42 lbs. 12.1 Ibs. 1:6.4
2 lbs. oil meal (O.P.)..... 1.8 62 1.0
epee Lee Te bia) AR US 21.8 2.04 13.1 1:6.4
Amer. prac. feeding
PPCM RENT cncx dial tic seis) ernie = Siraxe 2.2 14.9 1:6.9
Wolff-Lehmann- )
SAME ci crejctvie a's avec oege 29.0 2.5 14.1 L5G
The new ration is still rather light, both in total and digestible
food materials; for many cows it might prove effective as it is,
while for others it would doubtless be improved by a further
addition of some concentrated food medium rich in protein, or if
grain feeds are high, of more hay or silage. The feeding rations
are not intended to be used as infallible standards that must be
followed blindly, nor could they be used as such. They are only
meant to be approximate gauges by which the farmer may know
whether the ration which he is feeding is of about such a com-
position and furnishes such amounts of important food materials
as are most likely to produce best results, cost of feed and re-
turns in products as well as condition of animals being all con-
sidered.
In constructing rations according to the above feeding stand-
ard, several points must be considered besides the chemical
composition and the digestibility of the feeding stuffs; the stand-
ard cannot be followed directly without regard to bulk and other
properties of the fodder; the ration must not be too bulky, and
still must contain a sufficient quantity of roughage to keep up
the rumination of the animals, in case of cdws and sheep, and
to secure a healthy condition of the animals generally. The
local market prices of cattle foods are of the greatest impor-
tance in determining which foods to buy; the conditions in the
different sections of our great continent differ so greatly in this
respect that no generalizations can be made. Generally speaking,
nitrogenous concentrated feeds are the cheapest feeds in the
South and in the East, and flour-mill, brewery, distillery, and
starch- “factory refuse feeds the cheapest in the Northwest.
230 A FEEDERS’ GUIDE.
The tables given on pages 256 to 240 will be found of great
assistance in figuring out the nutrients in feed rations; the
tables have been reproduced from a bulletin published by the
Vermont Experiment Station, and are based upon the latest com-
pilations of analysis of feeding stuffs. A few rations are given
in the following as samples of combinations of different kinds of
feed with corn silage that will produce good results with dairy
cows. The rations given on page 193 may also be studied to
advantage in making up feed rations with silage for dairy cows.
The experiment stations or other authorities publishing the ra-
tions are given in all cases.
SAMPLE RATIONS FOR DAIRY COWS.
Massachusetts Experiment Station.—Mixtures of grain mix-
tures to be fed with one bushel of silage and hay, or with corn
stover or hay.
ie
ail : 2
100 lbs. bran.
100 lbs. flour and middlings. 100 lbs. bran or mixed feed.
150 lbs. gluten feed. 150 lbs. gluten feed.
Mix and feed 7 quarts daily. Mix and feed 9 quarts daily.
3
100 lbs. bran. 4
100 lbs. flour middlings.
100 lbs. gluten or cottonseed 200 lbs. malt sprouts.
meal. 100 lbs. bran.
Mix and feed 7 to 8 quarts daily. | 100 lbs. gluten feed.
Mix and feed 10 to 12 qts. daily.
5
100 lbs. cottonseed or gluten 6
meal.
150 lbs. corn and cob meal. 125 lbs. gluten feed.
100 lbs. bran. 100 lbs. corn and cob meal.
Mix and feed 7 to 8 quarts daily. | Mix and feed 5 to 6 quarts daily.
New Jersey Experiment Station.—(1) 40 lbs, corn silage, 5 lbs.
gluten feed, 5 Ibs. dried brewers’ grains, 2 lbs. wheat bran.
(2) 35 Ibs. corn silage, 5 lbs, mixed hay, 5 lbs. wheat bran,
2 lbs. each of oil meal, gluten meal and hominy meal.
(3) 40 Ibs. corn silage, 5 Ibs. clover hay, 5 lbs. wheat bran.
2 Ibs. malt sprouts, 1 Ib. each of cottonseed meal and hominy
meal.
a *
ie - 7
GRAIN MIXTURES FOR DAIRY COWS. 231
(4) 40 Ibs. corn silage, 4 Ibs. dried brewers’ grain, 4 Ibs. wheat
bran, 2 lbs. oil meal.
Maryland Experiment Station.—(1) 40 Ibs, silage, 5 Ibs. clover
hay, 9 lbs. wheat middlings and 1 Ib. gluten meal.
(2) 50 Ibs. silage, 8 Ibs. corn fodder, 6 lbs. cow pea hay, 3 Ibs.
bran, 2 lbs. gluten meal.
Michigan Experiment Station—(1) 40 lbs. silage, 8 lbs. mixed
hay, 8 lbs. bran, 3 lbs. cottonseed meal.
(2) 50 Ibs. silage, 5 lbs. mixed hay, 4 lbs. corn meal, 4 Ibs. bran,
2 Ibs. cottonseed meal, 2 Ibs. oil meal.
(5) 30 Ibs. silage, 10 lbs. clover hay, 4 lbs. bran, 4 Ibs. corn
meal, 3 lbs. oil meal.
(4) 30 Ibs. silage, 4 Ibs. clover hay, 10 Ibs. bran.
Kansas Experiment Station.—(1) Corn silage 40 lbs., 10 Ibs.
prairie hay or millet, 4% lbs. bran, 3 lbs. cottonseed meal.
(2) 40 lbs. corn silage, 10 lbs. corn fodder, 4 Ibs. bran, 2 Ibs.
_ Chicago gluten meal, 2 lbs. cottonseed meal.
(3) 40 Ibs. corn silage 5 Ibs. sorghum hay, 3 lbs. corn, 1% Ibs.
bran, 3 lbs. gluten meal, 1% lbs. cottonseed meal.
(4) 30 Ibs. corn silage, 10 Ibs. millet, 4 Ibs. corn, 1 Ib. gluten
meal, 3 lbs. cottonseed meal.
- (5) 30 Ibs. corn silage, 15 Ibs. fodder corn, 2% Ibs. bran, 3 Ibs.
gluten meal, 1% lbs. cottonseed meal.
(6) 30 Ibs. corn silage, 15 lbs. fodder corn, 2% Ibs. bran, 3 lbs.
gluten meal, 11% lbs. cottonseed meal.
(6%) 30 lbs. corn silage, 10 lbs. oat straw, 2 Ibs. oats, 4 Ibs.
bran, 2 Ibs. gluten meal, 2 lbs. cottonseed meal.
(7) 20 Ibs. corn silage, 20 Ibs. alfalfa, 3 lbs. corn.
(8) 15 lbs. corn silage, 20 Ibs. alfalfa, 5 lbs. kafir corn.
(9) 20 lbs. corn silage, 15 lbs. alfalfa, 4 Ibs. corn, 5 lbs. bran.
(10) 40 Ibs. corn silage, 5 lbs. alfalfa, 5 Ibs. corn, 3 Ibs. oats,
2 lbs. O. P. linseed meal, 1 lb. cottonseed meal.
Tennessee Experiment Station.—30 Ibs. silage, 10 Ibs. clover or
232 A FEEDERS’ GUIDE.
cow pea hay, 5 lbs. wheat bran, 3 lbs. of corn, 2 lbs. cottonseed
meal.
North Carolina Experiment Station.—(1) 40 lbs. corn silage,
10 lbs. cottonseed hulls, 5 lbs. cottonseed meal.
(2) 50 Ibs. corn silage, 5 lbs. orchard grass hay, 4% lbs. cot-
tonseed meal.
(3) 30 lbs. corn silage, 10 lbs. alfalfa, 6 Ibs. wheat bran, 5
lbs. cottonseed hulls.
(4) 40 Ibs. corn silage, 15 lbs. cow pea vine hay.
(5) 40 Ibs. corn silage, 6 lbs. wheat bran, 6 Ibs. field peas
ground. ee
(6) 40 Ibs. corn silage, 4 Ibs. cut corn fodder,.3 lbs. ground
corn, 4 lbs. bran, 1 lb. cottonseed meal (ration fed at Biltmore
Estate to dairy cows). Silage is fed to steers and cows, and corn,
peas, teosinte, cow peas, millet and crimson clover are used as
silage crops. These crops are put into the silo in alternate layers.
“Will never stop using the silo and silage.”
South Carolina.—30 lbs. corn silage, 6 lbs. bran, 3 lbs. cotton-
seed meal, 12 lbs. cottonseed hulls.
Georgia Experiment Station.—40 lbs. corn silage, 15 lbs. cow
pea hay, 5 lbs. bran.
Ontario Agr. College.—45 lbs. corn silage, 6 lbs. clover hay,
8 lbs. bran, 2 Ibs. barley.
Nappan Experiment Station (Canada).—30 Ibs. corn silage, 20
lbs. hay, 8 lbs, bran and meal.
The criticism may properly be made with a large number of
the rations given in the preceding, that it is only in case of low
prices of grain or concentrated feeds in general, and with good
dairy cows, that it is possible to feed such large quantities of
grain profitably as those often given. In the central and north-
western states it will not pay to feed grain heavily with corn at
fifty cents a bushel and oats at thirty cents a bushel or more. In
times of high prices of feeds, it is only in exceptional cases that
more than six or eight pounds of concentrated feeds can be fed
with economy per head daily. Some few cows can give proper
returns for more than this quantity of grain even when this is
high, but more cows will not do so.
tr
*
GRAIN MIXTURES FOR DAIRY COWS. 233
The following rule for feeding gaod dairy cows is a safe one to
be guided by: Feed as much roughage (succulent feeds like silage
or roots, and hay) as the cows will eat up clean, and in addition,
1 pounds of grain feed (concentrates) a day per head for every
pound of butter fat they produce in a week (or one-third to one-
fourth as many pounds as they give milk daily).
The farmer should aim to grow protein foods like clover,
alfalfa, peas, etc., to as large extent as practicable, and thus reduce
his feed bills.
Average Composition of Silage Crops of Different Kinds, in
Beet Pulp silage ....-++---
Per Cent.
Nitrogen
Water| Ash poe ogee Tee pi an
| | | | | |
Corn Silage— | | | | | |
WNegture: [COL ac(s.<:4)-) tiaieisie.se8s | 73.6 ‘PQ, | Qt Peat eee). i See
PMMAWMre COMM 0:5. .ce8 | 7.1 |) WA [ TR Oe ee BO [es
Ears removed ........... | 80.7,|18| 18] 56] 95] 6
Plover: Sila ees oc a athiorays | 72.0| 26] 42] 84] 116] 12
Alfa ia Wistar yg cre ihe oielh'e raid } 16:9 | 227 | 2.95|. 8:5 8.8] 4
Soy bean silage..........+. [74.2 (28) 407° Se es (. ae
Cow pea vine silage.....:.. | TOS 1 29) | Qa OOo ete | ee
Field-pea vine silage....... | 50.0 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 15.0 | 26.0] 1.6
Corn cannery refuse husks.| 83.8] .6| 14[ 52[ -79| 11
Corn cannery refuse cobs..| 74.1] 5 | 15] 79 | 145 | 17
Pea cannery refuse.......- | 768113] 28] 65] 115] 15
Sorghum silage .........-. |, Weds | D0 [8 Ook i SGt a ee os
Kafir corn silage .........-- | 67.2. 2:9 | 2.2.) TL 2 Boa es
Milonsilage +i .[.:.'./--'Settas + ( 74:6.| LS. |" 2.2) ] C8) (= eae ier oe
Corn-soy bean silage....... 1760 [240 DBP Te | Deel ae i
Millet-soy bean silage...... | TD; | B8" | 287s ST rece ae
Ryessilace ..fc.-.<).- shane | 80.8] 1.6 | 24[ 58 [..9.2). 6
Oat silage ..c%.0.6.. deen es | %1.4;| 2.0.15 2.5-) 16200" cli lett
Apple pomace silage....... | 85.0 | 6 ie 20 es 2: 2 a
Cow-pea and soy bean mixed| ae ee < 3 . tes : a
’ grain silage...... : : : : : 9
ee aad E Weiewte ct! 15 | 55 | 58 | a
|
The table shown above gives actual chemical analysis of
the products mentioned and includes the entire contents of the
various feeds. The following table, showing the average amount
234. _ A FEEDERS’ GUIDE.
of digestible neente in the more common American
grains and by- products, is the table that should be used in ‘£0
lating rations. The table gives the number of pounds of dig
nutrients contained in 100 lbs. of the feeds, and these figures
therefore, be used in figuring out the amount of digest:
nutrients in any given amount of a food material; ‘it is by “suc!
methods that the tables given on pages 256 to 240 are obtained. i
Analysis of Feeding Stuffs.
Table Showing Average Amounts of Digestible Nutrients a
More Common American Fodders, Grains and By- products.
(Compiled by the Editors of Hoard’s Dairyman, Fort Atkinso
Wis).
4 Digestible Nutrients in 100 Too dala se alba ...| |... ... \apieerenbtatatestecnatea asian
= 2 : Z
Sa haerd f
NAME OF FEED Bom a: Ether ‘
- Protein Garo” &&
a” ; tage
BMC Ts elk... i
Bo ae | peta
Green Fodders.. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs.
|
Pasture Grasses, mixed......| 20.0 Qe 10.2
onder Gorn: 2 es oe eee 20.7 1.0 11.6
RSfoy sea ab ho ahel Oeics Ano ee Rien eae 20.6 0.6 12.2
ed s@lovemetd: cette st elec 29.2 2.9 14.8
VAT eat terete. ute rene oe te ee 28.2 3.9 RT,
COWa Oar ere eiitorareies ote 16.4 1.8 8.7
SOM DEAT sat hace et elas tis ieherns 24.9 oe 11.0
Oat Mondera. weit kes o18 2.6 18.9
Vey BOUGEr eRe eel. ticks. sts cs 23.4 2.1 14.1
180 hoy Luba abe Rees aon) SAO Sia aan 14.0 15 8.1
Peas anaeOats we nea ene. Ss _ 16.0 1.8 TA
Beet SEGlp ais Mewes wae semretaty he 0.6 T3
Silage. |
ORT or gestae ote doses olage meat eeanl 20.9 0.9 FATES
Corn, Wisconsin analysis..... iz ie | 14.0
Sorghum +) 8.0). eet ES Sa siesta | 0.6" 14.9
Red “Clover! sje. «2,12 Gr noes | 20 | 138.5
Adee. yhoo een iad whee tee ol 3.0) 1 ee
. 15 8.6
u BT | 8.7.
ANALYSIS OF FEEDING STUFFS. 235
Digestible Nutrients in 100 Pounds
Bian
NAME OF FEED $3
d £5 Ether
aS a ke nydrates vom Fat)
aa
Dry Fodders and Hay. Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs.
Gorn’: Modder... sWacime ties 57.8 2.5 34.6 ae
Corn Fodder, Wis. anal...... 71.0 3.7 40.4 1:2
COTM SCOVEL eS: «. duclip. settee ee recete 59.5 KT 32.4 0.7
Sorehum :Modder’ '2.).svianocers © | 59.7 1.5 37.3 0.4
RECO LOVER wine « js llese kde cielo ede 84.7 6.8 35.8 5 Br
MAMAN Ay 2 ce ee siincate one? ee ek Aes ial oan 91.6 11.0 39.6 1.2
BS AT IOV a5 aie or eletaie wake, 0 ere foletwiene 85.2 Gee 46.6 a las
BBN TSMTASS ath). < cioletak bareieters 78.8 4.8 BGS: 2.0
‘Olof hl Zier tea Be we Her acne 89.3 10.8 38.6 alpt
Tae TASS! lacsesti ya's acids Soe ie 82.4 5.7 39.7 1.4
PHO HTISO TMG GANASS :a7.-4 eererdibisvele sore 87.7 2.4 47.8 0.7
IWATE GYASS O16. kids cistele tie etioe 88.4 2.4 29.9 0.9
BUA Leste cites 3 Send: Biss co ahaa ate seth 92.3 4.5 Big 113
Gat Olay as. Sad. <2 > bites. eae |) O14 4.3 46.4 1.5
Oatiand Pear May |i. ss es 85.4 9.2 36.8 12
Orchard. Grasses 2-5 Heh Wests 90.1 49 42.3 1.4
[Patie GLASS 4 aaa 2 dtl te ei 87.5 3.5 41.8 1.4-
FREDO DOD, ois htietra.n Sstelere Mets 91.1 4.8 46.9 1.0
SAL TNCHELW ic Lethon iete «agar estragk testy 86.8 2.8 43.4 1.4
Timothy and Clover.......-- 85.3 4.8 39.6 1.6
WieLGH eho. iecse are 0 cos bude iets bare 88.7 | 12.9 AT iy |e ES
PVT t er DAISY) diereislssc siete re ines 85.0 | 3.8 | 40.7 | 3
Straw. | |
iRchdl id aan oer of Oi 85.8) [6 OPE TE AV2t SOG
NATAL IR. are chacties obs Ube tabetaneteeees 60.8. 1: (12 SSS Oe
ER rene lala jt ate 3) 3\0' onto ern oaetele 92.9: |. 0:6) | 40.6 “f° -0.4
RON @GU: oh cfs doth lie + a's, ebattnel wtuctianes 90.4 | O4 | 36.8 | 0.4
Roots and Tubers. | | |
Artichokes . . ....--+++seeess 20:0) fo. BO 1S PS ae
Beets, common .....---+++++- ARO ibs Rs | BS Pee
Beets, sugar ...-.--++-+e+-:- (93.6). fy 240 Pe 16 Baie ae
GATOS Soc oats oe ene rann Es 1 Ay OS > ee Boe as ae
Waneels ©. 22s) ena alate aye eels 9.18 [pF 2 Ll tee be eee
PAYSNIPS 2: eeiec:tele's ts Meee hee Ress let Goer 1.655) tR2 op Oe
Potatoesid «. evi tacete oleate Stale. 0.9 7 TO eee
Rutabagas . ) .. esse reeec cane 11.46 Be Dede EE
SGATNUPS, 2.46 les iolevet teen bone e aie OH bet LOREAL Pa TREES rages
Gweet Potatoes ....----+++++: 29.0 0.9 22.2 0.3
236
A FEEDERS’ GUIDE.
Digestible Nutrients in 100 Pounds
bai
Lo |
NAME OF FEED 28 Gaee | Ether
Se. |) Prewin’ | nyarwtes || Comemae
Es
| | |
Grain and By-Products. Lbs. Lbs. | Lbs. | Lbs.
1S PEW gl Sa gy eRe Hl tts ORS ee 5 Oe 89.1 8.7 | 65.6 1.6
Brewers’ Grains, dry....... 91.8 15.7 36.3 ak
Brewers’ Grains, wet....... 24.3 3.9 9.3 1.4
Malt ASprowusn sates si o-- 0's e's 89.8 18.6 SY Gi! VAG
BUC keane. widens sie aieidoins a's 87.4 GE 49.2 1.8
Buckwheat Bran .......... 89.5 TA 30.4 1:9
Buckwheat Middlings ..... 87.3 22.0 33.4 5.4
(@laver Tec eset Bats ere a 89.1 7.9 66.7 4.3
Corn and Cob Meal........ 89.0 6.4 | 63.0 3.5
Garis CODE Heart Re es se. 89.3 0.4 | 52.5 0.3
Gorm WBranmyac. scious is 5'0s 90.9 7.4 59.8 4.6
Atlas Gluten Meal......... 92.0 | 24.6 38.8 1945
Gluten) Mieaill poi.) eibicss,<' 88.0 ayaa 41.2 25
Germ: OilvMfeal s. <6... 65 6's 90.0 | 20.2 44.5 8.8
Gluten. Meedgea.h sdccw. ce se 90.0 Paks DO. Tol ieee
Hominy, pChopws sts). ga. 0. <0 88.9 TD 55.2 | 68
Starch Feed, wet .......... 34.6 5.5 ya ey | Pas
Cotton: SECM sires da teGeieie oe. 89.7 12.5 30:00; | ales
Cotton Seed Meal ......... 91.8 Sie 16.9 8.4
Cotton Seed Hulls......... | 88.9 0.3 33.1 1.7
Coeqanut Meals Coen. ees 89.7 15.6 38.3 10.5
Caw eds oie a dome kas 85.2 18.3 54.2 A346}
1D hele. ers) o12\0 Coe ere a net SIA eae 90.8 20.6 VA eo
Oil Meal, old process....... 908i 529:5 Bout 7.0
Oil Meal, new process...... 89:97 pe28°2 40.1. | 28
Cleveland Oil Meal ........ | 88.6% t[2Saet0s 1% aie ie anaes
icin SOON ey bide Whe eta e et ss 84.8 7.8 ay (il 2.7
AVIS Be ieee cvs stetetel oPeetantsie ce te a 86.0 | 8.9 | 45.0 | 32
OBES WET eicie seen cin cies «6 89.0 9.2 47.3 4.2
Oat Feed or Shorts........ 92.3 12 | 46.9 | 2.8
Ot PINSEN Hie Melt ae eieats ses | 93.5 8:99) B84 als ae
12 ct Ke Wena enn N= algae ae Ate a 89.5. |. 16.8.4) -okSa eo
Quaker Dairy Feed.......... f 92,5. 1° 94° (12 OG eee
RVC Cane ch di teiniotars heat meer e's s 88.4 | 9195 oO on a Tell
PRY wESVAT > safervrrei We cideik neo, $a 88.4" |) TS) S03) ae
WVIMGS Er. © 5 wa eanicldena ehettae sd. 895 = |. 102 >| 16925) ANT
Wheat. Bramiyie s.r: a's s hy 88.1 ° | ..12.6~-|-> 38-6" \siaee
Wheat Middlings .......... 87.9) |) 12.8. | 53505 Agen
Wheat Shorts we. ecee eee dels 1 688-2) |)! 12.20 1 SOO eee
|
aa
ANALYSIS OF FEEDING STUFFS. 237
Average Weight of Concentrated Feeds.
KIND OF FEED
One Quart Equals
One Pound Equals
Barley MMeal oss cceels as tetera aone
Sete i OTIC. 5 se kv ves
Brewers’ Grains, dried.......
Corn and Cob Meal ..........
On BVAD «ist Lew io folks wie is Aue
METI WVEC AN Lidnal soins Woks b ere\ate es
Rest, WHOLE a) cic. 's she lere le pivhewienens
Cotton Seed Meal ...........
Distillers’ Grains, dried......
Germ Oi: Meal’) 2... sia ctetre ce sl
UTM EUCCU. © o's). 0\e.0 eee prone enerete
REIPECTIN ONUCAL, isis cinciele «ele oie ee
Hominy Peed §. 2... .a%seeces
H-O Dairy Feed .....2......
Linseed Meai, old process....
UTES MOULS oe oct eres ini oysterwis ele
MOTRIN COO” 4a cleteie c)s'0 0 anes etok'e Male
@ats)-eround.....2...5 Ges eone
Oats, WHOLE 1... cco cen win nee
Quaker Dairy Feed ....... Siete
Victor Corn and Oat Feed....|,
/Wheat Bran ......----++++++-
/ Wheat Middlings, standard...
Wheat Middlings, flour......
Wheat, whole .....+.-seeseee
BeOS OP Moe See ery Shaws.
DONHUNAOKHABDAENHDWERAKRNOE
La pounds.
“eé
0.9 quarts.
uate 5
alee’ *
0.7 4
2.0 $
0.7 «
0.659%
0.7 “ee
Tee
0.7 *
0.7 a
0.6 Ni
0.9 a
LAs ee
0.9 eS
At) Ye
13 5
1.4 ie
0.9 S
IU Fae po
nr ea
7M) A
1.3 %
0.8 +
0.5 e
Me Ae ei es en eS eee
238 A FEEDERS’ GUIDE.
Soiling Crops Adapted to Northern New England States.
(Lindsey.)
(For 10 cows’ entire soiling.)
: Seeds Time of Time of af
Kind. per Acre. Seeding. Area. Cutting. “us
TUVICy-te aise suststaiwl 2 US oz a erehnie ».|Sept. 10-15) % acre/May 20-May. 30
Where vcs eee: Ve | 01> MART EGA oe ¥ 10-15) % June i1-June 15 eS
Red clover ./...|20 Ibs. ......- Jul. 15-Au.1/14%4 “ |June 15-June 25 hy
ake tay pk. timothy. Sept. |% “ |June 15-June 30
p timothy. ept. une -June
clOVer:. 531. 10 Ibs. red clo. ¥
i OatsS.s/. oe «
Vetch and eV eo iis. vetch. ‘| April 20) % June 25-July 10 -
veeees ! 50 ; “ 301% “ |July 10-July 20 ye
Peas and Wie bu eh April 20/% “ |June 25-July10
OAS + eee 1% ae 30/%4 “* |July 10-July, 20, ee
Barnyard ; aly of21e) seater ect cece May 10/4 “ |July 25-Aug. 10 °
. rey Ue) ere apres Sat eee sae q 251% ‘“ j|Aug. 10-Aug. 20 “
Oy bean (me- , -
dium green).|18 quarts .... “ . 20:1% =“ |Aug., 25-Sept. 15
Corn §|18 oe Riitets ce 20:% + * |Aug. 25-Sept. 10
PE (}18 WH Ae -s 30|/% “ ISept. 10-Sept. 20 |
EN ct Seles tae 4 iva eee July 15)% “ iSept. 20-Sept. 30
arley an 4 bu, peas ala
DCAS Avs vere { 1% bu. partes: t Aug. 5 1 “ (Oct. 1-Oct. 20
Time of Planting and Feeding Siloing Crops.
(Phelps.)
Amount Approxi- Approximate :
Kind of Fodder. of Seed mate Time Time of
per Acre. of Seeding. Feeding.
1. Rye fodder.......... 2% to 3 bu.|Sept. 1 May 10-20 ae
2. Wheat fodder....... 21% to 3 bu.|Sept. 5-10|May 20-June 5 ut,
21 (GLa) ee CaN eons ISG |20 lbs. July 20-30)June 5-15 :
4. Grass (from. grass +2
TPATUCLE oe acatels te’ + pein lefeily ance hie ave feraterd-eilte eta taba’ Wistietsica June 15-25 é
(ze April 10 June 25-July 10
6. +} Cats and peas..... 2 bu. each. |. “ 20 July 10-20 ;
We i 30 July 20-Aug. 1
See EIEN Se wc 0s el ere 1% bu. June it Aug. 1-10
9. Clover rowen 1
MGISENER DI) colon hu a%e folve)| Did’ ale abe ete rone A ae Sa ore Aug. 10-20 é
10. Soy beans (from 3)..|1 bushel. May 25 Aug. 20-Sept. 5
Ms MO OMT EPOAIS) |). ee ei 0» 6s 1 < June’ 5-10|Sept. 5-20
12. Rowen grass (from
PEASE) JAWS) i. 01K a} st 2'slole eebeetecohnenmeretees wis wie « Sept. 20-30 :
13. Barley and peas..... 2 bu. each. |Aug. 5-10 Sete 1-30 or
The dates given in the table apply to Central Connecticut and
regions under approximately similar conditions. Ess Bai
239
Ph 9s | oF=)8
, it is only necessary to
of dry matter, 0.36 lbs. of
certain feed, and the table
pounds, as in the first table
e calculations of percentages, since the
5.7 lbs.
& given in pounds
find the kind and desired amount of a
In Varying Weights of Feed, in Pounds.
gives the exact food contents in
Note.—These tables sav
weights and contents bein
READY REFERENCE TABLE OF CONTENTS.
protein and 3.1 lbs. of carbohydrates.
of Green Oat Fodder contains
«
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——1§ fie eee eae a
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Ok SG ae SOO PS (- ay | ec PR es (SY RC eS PgR (<1 jell We DNS Sey Te .
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MeoMmomomec AMWOMSOMOMS AWOIMOINeS re AWSCWMOMSBO
MMA AN ooo MmMNANN OOS! MmmANN Cos MM AN OD oO =H
READY REFERENCE TABLE OF CONTENTS.
240
Varying Weights of Feed in Pounds.—Continued.
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GLOSSARY.
Ad libitum. At pleasure; in case of feeling farm animals all
‘they will eat of a particular feeding stuff.
eae x group of substaury of the iieiee impor 2
burned, the incombustible part of feeds. The ash of feeding st
goes to make the skeleton of animals, and in the case of m
cows a portion thereof goes into the milk as milk ash. P
The Babcock test. This test, by which the per cent. of butter
fat in milk and other dairy products can be accurately and quickly -
determined, was invented in 1890 by Dr. S. M. Babcock of Wiscon
sin Agricultural College. ;
Bacteria. Microscopic vegetable organisms. They are wide
diffused in nature, and multiply with marvelous rapidity. Certain
species are active agents in fermentation, while others appear
to be the cause of certain infectious diseases. 2
the various nutrients in such peeaabiiane and amounts as sae i 7a
nourish the animals for twenty-four hours, with the least waste ")
of nutrients.
Je.
By-prodicts. A secondary product of an industry; cottonseed
meal is a by-product of the cotton oil industry; skim milk and
butter milk are by-products of butter making.
Carbohydrates (or carbhydrates). A group of nutrients rich in
carbon and containing oxygen and hydrogen in the proportio1
which they form water. The most important carbohydrates fou:
in feeding stuffs are starch, sugar, gums and fiber (cellulose.)
Carbon. A chemical element, which with ue elena ot
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED. 245
Carbonic acid. A poisonous gas arising from the combustion
of coal or wood. It is formed in all kinds of fermentations and
therefore occurs in deep silos in the siloing of fodders.
Casein. The protein substance of milk which is coagulated
by rennet or acids.
Cellulose. See fiber.
Concentrates. The more nutritious portion of the rations of
farm animals embracing such feeding stuffs as wheat bran, corn,
oil meal, etc.; synonymous with grain feeds, or concentrated feeds.
Corn fodder or fodder corn. Stalks of corn which are grown
for forage and from which the ears or nubbins have not been re-
moved.
Corn stover or stalks. The dry stalks of corn from which the
ears have been removed.
Crude fiber. See Fiber.
Digestible matter. The portion of feeding stuffs which is di-
gested by animals, i. e., brought in solution or semi-solution by
the digestive fluids, so that it may serve as nourishment for the
animal-and furnish material for the production of meat, milk,
wool, eggs, etc.
Dry matter. The portion of a feeding stuff remaining after the
water contained therein has been removed.
Ensilage. An obsolete word for silage. Used as a verb, like-
wise obsolete, for to silo; to ensile also sometimes incorrectly
used for the practice of placing green fodders into a silo,
Enzyme. An unorganized or chemical compound of vegetable
or animal origin, that causes fermentation, as, pepsin or rennet.
Ether extract. The portion of a feeding stuff dissolved by
ether; mainly fat or oil in case of concentrated feeding stuffs; in
coarse fodders, fat, mixed with a number of substances of uncer-
tain feeding value, like wax, chlorophyll (the green coloring matter
of plants), etc.
Fat. See ether extract.
Feed unit. A quantity of different feeding stuffs that has been
found to produce similar results in feeding farm animals as one
: a
4 m P ' es
\ \ es 3
246 . DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED.
pound of grain (corn, parley, wheat or rye). Ae dal of
see page 219.
Feeding standard. A numerical ccoutanion of shi: amo
various digestible substances in ‘a combination of feeding
best adapted to give good results as regards production of ani
products, like beef, pork, milk, etc. nah
Fiber. The frame work forming the walls of cells of pl:
It is composed of cellulose and lignin, the latter being ieee w
portion of plants and wholly indigestible.
Glucose or fruit sugar. The form of sugar found in ian
honey, etc., also in the alimentary canal.
producing plant.
Hydrogen. A chemical element, a gas. Combined with oxyge
it forms water, with oxygen and carbon it forms carbohydrat
and fat; with oxygen, parncn and nitrogen (with small amo
genous substances known as protein or albuminoid substances.
Legumes. Plants bearing seeds in pods and indirectly capab!
of fixing the free nitrogen of the air, so that it becomes of valu
to the farmer and will supply nitrogenous food substances to
farm animals. Examples, the different kinds of clover, alfalf. 2
peas, beans, vetches, ete. Of the highest importance agricultura
as soil renovators, and in supplying farm-grown protein foods.
Maintenance ration. An allowance of feed sufficient to mai
tain a resting animal in body weight so that it ast Rene ga
nor lose weight.
Nitrogen. A chemical element, making up four-fifths of -
air. The central element of protein. See under hydrogen. — G < (ih mS
Nitrogen-free extract. The portion of a feeding stuff remain
ing when water, fat, protein, fiber, and ash are deducted. i
cludes starch, sugar, pentosans, and other substances. ES
called because it does not contain any nitrogen. :
Nitrogenous substances. Substances cone nit
- (which see).
s
Nutrient. A food constituent or group of food cor
9 capable of nourishing animals.
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED. 247
Net nutrients. The portion of the digested part of the food
that remains after the amounts required for mastication, ‘digestion
and assimilation have been used up. It is this portion only that is
of real value to animals and furnish material for building up of
tissue or elaboration of animal products.
Nutritive ratio. The proportion of digestible protein to the
sum of digestible carbohydrates and fat in a ration, the per cent.
of fat being multiplied by 2%, and added to the per cent. of
carbohydrates (fiber plus nitrogen-free extract).
Organic matter. The portion of the dry matter which is de-
stroyed on combustion (dry matter minus ash).
Oxygen. A chemical element found in a free state in the air,
of which it makes up about one-fifth, and in combination of hydro-
gen in water; oxygen is also a rarely-lacking component of or-
ganic substances., See carbohydrates and hydrogen.
Protein. A general name for complex organic compounds
mainly made up from the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and
nitrogen. Crude protein includes all organic nitrogen compounds,
while true protein or albumenoids (which see) only includes such
nitrogenous substances in feeding stuffs as are capable of forming
muscle and other tissue in the animal body.
Ration. The amount of feed that an animal eats during twen-
ty-four hours.
- Roughage. The coarse portion of a ration, including such
feeding stuffs as hay, silage, straw, corn fodder, roots, etc. Con-
centrated feeding stuffs are sometimes called grain-feeds or con-
centrates, in contradistinction to roughage.
Silage. The succulent feed taken out of a silo. Formerly
ealled ensilage.
Silo. An airtight structure used for the preservation of green,
coarse fodders in a succulent condition. As a verb, to place green
fodders in a silo.
Soiling. The system of feeding farm animals in a stable or
enclosure, with fresh grass or green fodders, as corn, oats, rye,
Hungarian grass, etc.
Starch. One of the most common carbohydrates in feeding
‘
eM 2x E
stuffs, insoluble in water, but rentiis
sugar in the process of digestion.
- Succulent. feeds, Feeding stuffs containing ene v
like green fodder, silage, roots and pasture. fe
Summer silage. Silage intended to be fed a during t ne
mer and early fall to help out short pastures. i ian
Summer silo. A silo ae for the making of summer r silage.
CONCLUSION.
In conclusion we desire to state that the object of this book is
to place before the farmer, dairyman and stockman such informa-
tion as will be valuable and practical, in as concise and plain a
manner as possible, and to make a plea in behalf of the silo as an
improver of the financial condition of the farmer. That the silo
is a prime factor in modern agriculture is no longer a matter of
doubt. The silo is not the sum total in itself, but as an adjunct,
and, in the case of dairying, a necessary adjunct to successful and
profitable methods, its value is difficult to overestimate.
One of the greatest values of the silo is that as an innovation
it becomes a stepping-stone to better methods in general; it stim-
ulates its owner and spurs him on to see just how good and far-
reaching results he can obtain from his revised system of manage-
ment. It invites a little honest effort, and coupled with this it
never fails. It enables its owner not only to do what he has been
unable to do before, but things he has done without its help the
silo enables him to do at less cost than before. The solution of
the problem of cost of manufacture is necessary to every success-
ful producer, and as the proposition is constantly changing, the
solutions of our forefathers, or even of a generation ago, no longer
avail. The silo is not an enticing speculation by means of which
something can be gotten out of nothing, but a sound business
proposition, and has come to stay. The voices of thousands of our
best farmers and dairymen sing its praises, because it has brought
dollars into their pockets, and increased agony to them in
their occupations and their homes.
Have you cows? Do you feed stock? Do you not need a silo?
Is it not worthy of your best thought and consideration? You owe
it to yourself to make the most you can out of the opportunities
before you. DO IT NOW!
249
Aci¢ bacilli, in. SilOSi«.\-% sca walks oe ee te ae fe
Acreage required for filling SilOse..... 2... = «eta seen elaine aie bya
Advantages of thesilot 24). Ae OS Pata eee eee pe ‘
Alfalfa silage ......... Sos etek Sioa WY bb 0 fea, he o yan. a) ary
FAT-metal“sllos. sie sies mils a6 BY eieieterava cattaya sl i<:e.s a eieteie eee ee ay
Analysis of feeding stuffs. Nee Qie ete ar eies deancre Sous aaeh ants eine ee
Animal) ;body;, composition of the acs¢ 33% 30 eb AB ee Od.
Approximate daily, ration, of SilAZe iss cs sea eee sie Youn, id
ASTON, Stas ists Die RARE ea dead ecatris a bine ie ee Ere aie) ss, $ (seen ieee ENS
Baeasse, sorehum, for’ stlagee s+. vatea et o's os kira etonones ees
Ballard: octagonal) sllows,.0).5 bh pisiaine el. Ati Dua eRe oPelete.
Beef cattle, silage for..... Mate ae stab late fis) vi in’: 6 16, RR PEP eg Ek
Beef supply for United States Sra ot ea OREM Boo. 3 Sioa be Tate ieee
Beets, cost of, per acre...... Seth GRE. ete Wage eee S .
CSE PMD SAMO: Te Vers wales venous fated emeneuete ihe’ sare’ \ suchalema nanan hese
SLOWER? GIEVEITGOTS (a sieve & odud fete Met ae telede tales tollels "5 o).01-< lets ane Pennoni
Bluegrass) pastures \of ‘the: Southwicem et it 205). ee SETA EP
BOttom (OL tHE WSO. jincias sia(staoa
Certified milk, silage in production of........ +5 hs Gee X
Chart showing fertility removed from soil............. ae
Chemical: composition’ of silazes.. 6s cca saclocwsteltels eves ‘he
Circles, circumferences, and areas Of...:2....-+5+--.+--- 2
CIO VEPNEIIA PC varele's cis .c,5,bi6)s vores wleiels 5 santas sia CRORE ws oyna
CWlOVEr ssi AEC; KCOBL NOL: w\e\0is, o:s-2 0 sie ne deine cin TEE bial etal
Clover, time of cutting for ‘the silo... ac. memeeiee > =. soi
Clover, yield per acre........... ok: sysde oe eh pee MEeEa ta tets “drains
Comparative cost of producing Silage... 3. Supe eee e ino
Comparative feeding value of corn, kafir and cane. POA -
Comparative losses in dry CUTINE.... 6... eee e eee eee es
250
INDEX. . 201
Composition of the animal body...<. 22. oe seuss BS aeeeee et
Composition of silage crops.) 022 2) iad Clee Oe 233
Composition of. feeding stuffs) 222. Vaso cr ae aes aan otis . 216
RECECSMEE SLOT. 0 o's a's a,c e's. clevshet alavatichelae eis or aH) ic tena et can Ng a « 249
Wasicrere, monolithic silos. \.'.'.a. 0% wes eee a eee 83-92
MieeneLe SITOS © 0... oc eee caped ale bie Riaterk) oneal ee 83-92
Conerete silos, forms used for making. < ji) 202. ee eee leans .-93-99
Sonnecine round silos, with barns) oo. vee nee eae nee Sy Eee
Conserving soil fertility with silage system...... aoe Nets! Ae 2! .131-139
gen cuttineg Of, In. the Held. c2 22 5 ies ae cere ee 174
MElanG: preparation: Of... << cs
Forming the plate......... o alsa helpasgn's veps Veberiare ca berate 8 Peis alts ee ene
LORMAN oes ols is 2 cceis allover teas tear eer ei TA
Forms for building silos.......... S Sieve 0. apehe Cee ee Samay eae pee
MPO VAT AELOM “LOT STVOS «sick slates o eiavere ee) cake oe ee ee
OR Ean Oe STARE.) sis aletanate se AMeRetore orale coheed TA pee Set one cre
HU NOCZINE SOL SILAS 6! .\.: .!s's' slice esnteloteie lero iatere rorele. 2) stale eee naa enn oe
Georgia Station results........ Makeds able ce ce nota tenet eeeeeeeeaee T
CLramMemixtunes Lor; Gaity, COWS 0st oe cent eee Pat A hb ste
Guide, a feeders’...... enh cme, o's oo: aug peyote eee Rae e Ee
MGT RSS SITIOS +ay <3 yal miranda eee
ETOW SCO TLeCO,) SLID. C's. > aedicie is clei ies anes Ore ate tn Cake ee ee Bris
How to figure out rationals teen she dabettadag eck. sata el atte he etona saa ee
_ How to place frame on the foundation. PA ae eighe veo ees i ecccr's
Hurst) system of reinforcement: eee Ries. : Oi al. Si ee
Hy-Rib and Metal Lath reinforced silos.................0.08
UAITOUS SbALION . PESULES Lc cicpis ovakss she itaholatenotertasapouareteeermeaiciatbas, are Sees
ineceage in number Gilsios ties ct acca a eee ree bs fe nae
MEO PAMIEC COT <5, «, 15: a sir sits, 5. 05's] of epelinto ke hetionseatahavetene hele ekeuesteeetoks he ec eaten a
indian:.corn, chemical changeswins«< eid cic eeceiet oe cee
Indian corn, increase in food ingredients from tasseling
MIPCIVESS: ils. bag 0.00. 2) 0 ace )e | Gisi a tanmney Mlaretis}oy'el elie) elle silo Seaside ieee en aan
Indian-corn, methods of planting, \ fc). tile. .s./ia mee Uhh sehen
Indian corn, see also Corm and Fodder Corn. : ,
Indivanscorn; Soil. adapted LOM. 2. sjeyaates civiele ss vie a waelebulobace ore wields ei nena
Indian corn, varieties of, to be planted for the silo..........
indian so Galion TeSUICS 1.) .'.\. cuits sialdeteteumersie aie tekalaiele iebacee® stoma
ITAL CTL OTA” Ye. cas ya's too alain in eels, baste faba] 6 fol a RMT eNO RTT En oe cere eae oye eee
POW EUSAO, TNE. 5 2. - 2 nin S's seis 6 o's sleep eppialolelariain als a.rie'\«\n ie sea
DOW Steeton -PeSults "25.1.1... 0. s c.e «slates Minleteretsueree ele caste cro 0:6 en
sapanesevcane, for Sila ees<:.,s.. ss/ce ostecm eRe doo. od DET ae
Johnson grass for SETS oboe «= on slp oe agit iesatanelcte ee
Kafir for silage Pinte gaye he seas > «eR Rane. AO
PAM SO WEOT PSU Pee tee: pace je teualaparsic a eke is ohana DAR eat. £0. LE Pa Be ust! 2
FEANSas Station VESWIES SEA: sGecis0 sole 'oss\smlerevanstatameetcheette an. aves j
WANS) OF WV aSCOMSII USLLOGL ole tole vials slic ve lela he lata toNpeateDe te fe te js tole oe
Late ee COE DAN cca ee aaa cll Ane:
Migiinesfor Silos an seh at iene :
INDEX. 253
Heacation of the silo.4 asus aeeeueeee Bw alekeygl ate RIES Se atch paterer cua Pag 7
Hosses. in dry curing 229) saya) eee Amine aha ect echo
bosses: in. 'siloine process! ¢: /. 2. dace eee ee Le abate cneltey
Mosses' in’ siloing alfalfa. !i2 52575 uae eee ce eee esd (i
ow wagons for hauling cornet: soode see epee oan eines 175
Lucerne, see Alfalfa,
Mercerials for the siloy .j.1ds.scac sis au oerereleebaokeb earl a iran aan ts 56
Metal bucket, chain elevators... .. atesmiemiecion ule Chap emtan eine . 182
Mera =lath Silos: .. .%. i ciesrac caves ave sis Saba eyeniae Cant Rees sce bitisyskory ike 91-93
Mateh cows, silage fOr. .6.1.J4 ccs. cleleis atarenr eer hehe on eres ee ene 195
Minch Cows, ssilaze rations sfOn. «04-day clatter shatters 198
BybtaeTOr SHAS... . sc. 's enc, cl oot cheve crete ele okeeepaleia/s aes ae oan svib4, 162
EUROPA IMNACECT 1. os 0 so 0 be clc vig Ee 010 ele anehanel e) aio aon Tait ae ee a 215 -
Mascellaneous /Silagwe CYrODSs «cc sc 6 os e.sc'e ood cc sretlsialcle ore eicleiatmeie 157-160
Missouri “Station | results. 4. ssc jiol.75 a) ate mileage bee ope yhotas as Ole tate aan 122
Modification of “Wisconsin” silo........... aise 846 iho Aharatee chreails: sep aR
MOI POA, LIT, SILAWES:. ws saa wcolaps. ave sapeueuoreretalettia is: adtaiebetesaiweae ate Saft wagers nee
Monolithic concrete or Cement SILOS! «seit. see geretereiet teats Op oh cue tic
Mingles;, Stlase LOM. «6 cle aie care eo vase cle x Stas RMRND cE tah lie eee: GeineT seen eee 202.
Nebraska Station results. sjoui¢ ec bed sae ets) eae ioteneerereel eee wes 122
Witht pasturing and summer silo.i.¢ 5 an actec «der oteyere Bete ei epore 115
Natros@en-free extract. vsisis sc aed Taw ore ee eile cea BEL aerate MZ
No danger from late-summer drouths. :.:25. 85202005. Jtaeuds ee aU
Om aamaer (OL » TAIN ss sus< see < eiels, dicidye eheaavene, oueeegars ARSE tea SSAA Aime li.)
North’ Carvlina .Station., reSults®, ¢ «3 2)s.cia-c.clavediye eons ore Sh SEE 123
RIEMIET "OL (SILOS sco 5 sg Sls 65d 5, S15 Hd Syd aes new Med ee chee Re ee eee eal amEe 8
Number of staves required for stave Silos: Wes thee Pt PE De ce 68
LEC UbL Ve oP atdO®» 6 ca.d eialirals < gsi RU ae Saehetene tees enerene teen’ 221
Garsoand peas’ for Silaiwet cies. . sreismrons egies etheietale Rey Hes et Tt
@ats wheat and rye for Silas. 6 Te Sia stars alin w lolol nie) cneis ereeanan ele nae 157
MBE ONIAlL SILOS) 2). < sos ole oe sie awle cleo sletelals) ela! nla”ei(elisic)'=llatelet>talsinkann . 70-76
“Ohio” silage cutters, description of..............+e-- 182, "957- 264
Opinions of recognized leaders..........+.2-+seees a abetdaretoe oon, ue
Painting the silo lining. .... 1.2.0 cee. sees ee cieees ioe selela shel a)siele SRO
Patented cement blocks... s.s05,-0 008 ee eidelce rics elise haere Spee
Patented forms for silos. ....0+..e-e00ssdeidles U cieiche ciate aerate sen GIO
Reanuts for. SilaAwe. 2. . cscs ey sheldlewe ln sited ste afin a stacrate lanes -. 156
Hous and oats for silage... . dss +55 0enece gn te ates © laren aie adel aRodeth “avaped Aue
Pennsylvania Station resultsS..........sse seers ceeseees a steak sae
Pit ov UNGereround SiloSi. . 2... ee wag es wet = sue sisisivisllal eeGeeh a . 109-111
Plastered round wooden SilOS........+.-ss+e08- habeas hada die arite SEA”
Planting corn, methods Of........+.eeeeeeeeeeecees lids ape Papen
Planting corn, thickness Of.........eeeee ee eeeeeeees aiGi aia Shave » eye Meee
Pneumatic elevators ....... cece ccccasenseeceens slezditete a ashe aca dee
“Poultrymen’s SilOS”: ....e. ee ee eect cence ceeee Cada meee fe Siellblove . 208
Poultry, Silawe fOr... ... ee esc e eee erst enc ncareneees Pererines ear reli:
Preparation of corn land......-+s+seeee eee eeee ence sit2 oateieete OaLae
Preservation Of SilOS......-. eee eee tree eee eee e eens df este) Sep eae
Protection against freezing, Stave SilO..... 11. eee eee eee ee eeee 68
TAT CIN. (cic ceils chistes <4 uassinly @shaigld otal al amr atecnala alas at s¥@to dots scketalehe? kere 216
Rack, low-down, for hauling Corn.........+.+.++++++-- Hea) ae
Rate of feeding from silos of different diameters.......... bom
254 INDEX.
Rate of feeding’ silage fromusurrace . . ....\..snwiaeietens > a eisiate oes 29> 00
Ration! Of SILAS) MAGN ta. S cukee so sic v Sie lo '0' oie, nab ee NeRereMenaie fare Oa calle ast 4)
Raclons) now: cOwmewre OuUb.: . . ss... > slays laseers Dnvaterathisies, ie dhene 3 Sus eee
Rations, silage, for dairy cows............ Lala ete WA oy 198
REAGY. LELETENCE TEA DIES ais peice o's la vie © oie 0 chs ne Oe Sines ints) s visi « -239-243
Reinforced conerete silo ConStruction. 2... .ci5 erie ole > «se ele tiete 84-90
Reinforcement for concrete siloS.............. eons eh ane, 6k oy cues piatreh Leen
Reinforcing for stone, brick or cement silOS...............-.. 85, 87
Relative value of feeding stuffs............ Asics ORL * ‘ble. cle! sy bye th meamaae
Restoring fertility in the South... 2/25 ssc. seein ateve tele 3. ets tannin
Robvertson’s’ stlase mixtures... .'. 6 6 os | Fc alee be enene ele te tales sreiane Rape (5):
Renovation of Tennessee blue grass pastureS...........-e50000- 116
Root extensions) tor ‘silos... .: 2. ...5.5 2%. 0e6 sete nls Ri dtpoher ae 187
TLOGE MORSE IMOGS TUE th bis ela G.0'. 3s 4504 50% ee Ree 41, "42, "68, 65, 98, 107
PEOUTIG STIOS Witenes ek ies es 5-6 ob 55 Sh al odd 8 hE GT etn pees tate ieee ame 34-70
Russian thistles:for silace: 6.6.2. 64. [oR eweuiee aaa: beeen 159-160
Rye, wheat and-oats for silage... i dil rete ietne le, giv cle! otel nies tetn nen 157
SASIKALCNE Wane SLAEION! TESUIES «oe o/c icisle: ahetoli sllel elle iouaiel apeeeteney ene Br ee 125
Sealine Coe TCOMMGLASILAL ES. . oie. + so die oleic ierecs eUsisValby stalmieiahs ove (0\-o\b ode] ath haa
Bettine SLUGTINE LOLI 'GOOTS:. 2... cic.e ss 10, «ald Webbs cole sl ptuele peiehals ana 39
Settine (ihe sshd Gis 0c... 5... a 5 's4d ole epelqep eye bines Obese vaneb enn eaa ena 37
Sheep) Ldaily staee, Tatlon LOT Y .. 5). 10: « <\cusm allele. oi ayalpeiaus ies vellalelen nememanS 31
INGER MIST OME O I oy fic lela ese cis stig ersjenaelela sali bie axe eb o & 6 ohevay enema a nae eae
SHOCK CONN MOT STALE. 6. 0 o.s ia s\s'0 0 0:6 aie vie sila, eilbyicly Ret a eRe »/ dheyeottettage 1a) FUR
Shoemaker ifarmd (SOS 2). i. . ss 5. ss « « ecebpptecaee abepoh eiehei late terahe tate letstene 183
Pepe maT UM CPt hes liv G.ro'ls, 6 (mis ‘o-w seh e,-0v0 (0 (0 (apatnteus dahetalie he telianea shave(ahe> shane ie Rete 151
SUAS ANA SOM BLERTILELY «2 5:55 5 fare &\c/ar foie opp tahe debi Le a Mle tee kaise) 2 esa 131-139
Silage; approximate daily ration oOf....5..ss.ses.0s0 n {oo \ve. a heyoiteh Aad REE
SUAS OILS BMSOLS TOU DALES « 0) che eie's eleiie alk aysee olaiele alee leieie' oiele i'e.oeue tats ene
SPC VC UIE ie cieavcknle oo eis els) seve: lov's lo oi'e 0.0, 6: ennlfe, cRRd 1a, ofeliaNG toteuneGetela ste chen 196
Silage, chemical composition Of. cin eeiereo mires oso eo 0 0 4s tesa eee
RSP ey EMAC OT As foe rert cove fete ec co lovee eve.p wre wlakaneve (ene: sieiell S sJehelees 147
DER SCN UNG LG teisieinicteve\c nce ls och '< aloes late) ehalsioRenetyais tetane 126, 148, 212- 214
aS Oy COSC OL CULECTIUE . .5 cc's le ws nse a owe pare nie teel ty ola) silalatels iets lv tenets te aeiaamn 213
SHEE. TOO COCA cic lejere cic s.0.c.e, 0 sce Wield Min poteyere Tole see? S TRI RUneiN facets sata mann 152
FUMELE"D NCTODD tas cies lele o-«\o, 0» » 0.,5\s 0016.0 oledecalale ole, Bie > siete tale tavans tennant arena 140
Silage crops for semi-arid regions and for South.............- 161
Silase -crops forthe: South. «........4 sists. setts iets ohtmrete hans Peers aes a)
Silage, depth. to feed, daily... i... y aca Hae ho le Aey slat ser hemere retains 30-31
Silage-fed beef cattle in the South... ...... ccc sew e ees cece sce 129
VEO, @ FOSOLINE OT occ ores wicice' ere oe oi) «! otpile ch ot vlleteWaPenehbealede Rialetar Sree le Riese ens
SHAS SOL Dee CATLIOs 6.0 c)......0 2% 0 0.v 4. whe eiotereto rant ean cTae tele eoeile |e 119, 195
SEO LON MI OPSOS 5 dis arc idly ccreys eels iv shenmedieioene br Hay Sim aes $e 200
Sasol FOr MilCh COWS. sw vr See dse se sels eiene Shae bl Seal ener SPER eae 195, 198
SI EV AOT TN ILOS svete cokers aicte'o sve 0: 0:0! «i a’ el onl yi Slee ROR TOS ate te ee ¢ ths Oe
SEO T LOTS (DO UL DE Yauco cal cicisisiielaty oo: vo ow one et HACER eS To Fae 5 oe . 208
REP OPEB ITED cco sekevelelotelietp) ove) e's sit o-ohsie\e: shen stabel eMeflatlemtiaienatel shel oc 4 elahehe te wen
RULES EER aT OT UES VVILINO crore to ch ctor shoter s! caret st eves we ue 0) abuenelatenecatsiie lel siete lel pee an nanan 207
PHL PSOe EOS BITE IO Latiorcraipreiere Steves 0) o:s)'s\ obs ele: otayofer eet latehanaltiets, stots 68, 108, 189
Silase frOmM SrOSted COTM ee) oo oe ooo dn yerabetahebenehe ete cls 6 tye aaa .. 190
STALLS CLOUT SMOCK COMM eres oie jere) sie ee) oo es o\lel eve se ome Sra Les 0/0 & eh wae bo enS NE aS
Silaser how, GO) MECC... crete tae AG So. LRU Oe ieee 195 .
PST SO TOW. WhO RILATCO oo Sptntcletictotintle to etaleopets e's e\ cle! anghelalistia ale’ ois eh of snakes PRS TR yy
Silage, introducing acid bacilliin... ..'........306. ilo N0)'e' 35 nae a 192
Silage, quantities of, required for different herds........... ofa 245180
Silace, rations: for Gmilcheawssins als sls, sil be oeladehe alate satthe bla ty SS
Silage—Robertson’s Silage Mixture...............+.05- Syaaevalista se! oles
INDEX. ' . 255
Ps 3 , PAGE.
Siase, sorehum, milo-and katirs oceyemte austere anys ee areas -154, 161
silage spoils quickly im isummienr. 3.252). 22 eoe cae ee eee 118
SHALES: stTANSTELTIN 2%. st, se.5 Loe Wik, nike, EGIR To Re aE a a raters Pare chee
DEERE MEET ATONE ip. 5054. UE cel Metals Meee ome a es ae ytibagiiots-ak 7 Site -. 196
Silage, use of, in beef production............... SEE AAR oi 119, 200
MMASe STEAMEG «ss... . Waco eleile lo Ae book us nse eee 190
Sito» ehnute:s. detachable. .. 2 vv iatere wise bles ci Eee eee . 180
Silo helps reclaim blue: grass: pastures:.)) face eee leans 116
SUOLmMUSt ‘be: air-thaht ... 5.5 5.575 eye's. 5 Ss bol abe Eee ee ane ata een aaa oe ne 22
Silos must “be Meeps ss s-5.0 Vk.s. Reale ko ae Sperele sabe euasheie hee ctraesta leamenia tena er aaa 23
Silo must have smooth perpendicular walls.................-: 23
Stlo'Ssheetinges” and siding) ve. t We Shee oe ee eo ie ie renee 40
Sueswalls must be rigid and Strom Sigiet wee ole ate, ieee ee eee 24
BOLO wn SUMIMET i oi50- oe aN ss esas o eiee alleen Ta rele ae ae as alten ee ee Savetarrely, Ainees
Silo; surplus: crops) stored im. )sso leh c ae nine aie oe oeenoeeaer eee Bh las [a |
sro,-the! Ballard octagonal iiin)... Jot Werassst el: oe leita = eee ese 73-76
cllt Cohen ata Koh ¢: ed hot Pe eee aE SN TB a 102
MUOS..acreaee to fT. ch. ere Wet th etoile lc ot eee les Chelan Oren eeee 27
mplOss-allemetal 14, Neos Sie ko Pe ceed cle) oho io aa ee 104-109
SM op gi hell ee re RE Re Li, tart ls RP Gi chm Cay 103-104
MP GSA DIICK: LING shies Soh. 55 Sc ek RD eeretelan: .gevcianenaie nt re) iar eel
Sitaswicemient DLOCIEs, yeni. ak es waa kocee onthe Meets ante (oiclien one, eee 94-99
Bitossicement ‘stave: OMbS Pa .5 Fate eee cheualaee eeemehaleney nen ena a Sere sta Beery ait,
SOS ICOTICLECE 4.05 oo eee ok elas ave,» She ORenURE eee tn Cnalea te Mere einen ....83-90
RAS OS GET.” -3' a c\allene wiatonele etelths, «tote fauihh
SLOS LOUNGAtION: Of: % tte lottens =o wle'd chars ere ane 34, 3D; 45, 49, 91, 98, 102
Silos, general requirements for.....:...:222sse06 NR LAMAR cable 22
Silos, home-made; Ballard.::.....c20c 22205 a ee RET, he eae eee 13
Siloss howto (build ke sss ses 2 sts ASP ONS, 5 SSE Por remeta steer cat > mae 22
Silos, how to place frame on foundation of.................--- 35
Silos, Hy-Rib or Metal-lath reinforced..............++---+-+.- 91
Silos. Kinds\of) WoOOd)TOL: 675 5.55086 sce le Oa ein ie iis ne ene 34
Silos, lining of wooden..........-.-ss-e0. Sicglh coe ates raete erate ge ee en
SAS OC aULONy OF aisiste dus cus. ¢ aeeitye et Tot iio oso ees ee
Silas TMS tAL Athy ajo «eo 0:16, § 2.6 orm an © eyed shove, egehel uelintial | ae ialaiatela = Selaaraele 91-93
Silos, monolithic concrete ...... cc ese sweet eee e rete eee e tans 83-91
Silos, number Of.....0 cc ccescessceccasewn alee a5, are OE se 8
Silos) octagonal ... occ ess sie wer ooo daha oh tek a ofab eb eDareve Mae ontdh Neh ene nnE 70
Silos, on the form oOf...........- A051 Sees coo she SCRE cre . 27
Silos, proper diameter of...........+.+-.-- Raves Sia arcye. vans Aen 29-30
SIGS TOOT Of oc.) ialerelt, aese o ales la, ul on «astern eel tah ohe 41, 42, 58, 65, 98, 107
Silos, round, capacity. .....-.eeeeees ese neeece MS othh deaiotajelaniats sa. «626
Silos, round wooden.......-seeeeeeereersecenece alle Diiavehain oO teat
SHOS, SIZE TEQuired. .. . 2 -. ceils aie Wiel sil Helalal- bisleloiele sole Wa els ilgim ss Miers 25
Silos, specifications fOr........eesee eee ee eee B19 58 47, 50, 56, 73, 79, 80
Silos, steel ribbed plastered......+++eeeeeeeeeees ja bh taUletabsi ache Boe aay
Silos, superstructure ....... soc alate eae CROCS s tala renee ats Pe a:
Silos, the filling PrOCeSS......-++eeeee eee eeeees aie hte lente we Pye (|
Silos, the time of filling. ..... 1... eee e ee eee ee tein enter 19, 144, 175
Silos, three methods of making sill forea s aie a bMS OPA a wid BS
Silos, underground .......--e cece eter e seer eee resces ivicae's opa's, «cata
Silos, underground or pit..... Jha is 5 0 SRRRIA oA «hayes * 1 oily sete ae dace LOS-2TE
Silos, value in intensive farming she teiabia’ et delsonetahhe «tohecomale amore ad haere)
Silos, ventilation i PEPE Po rictunc. Seon oe «+. 43-44
Silos, vitrified tile......--+--+++++++++ act haa) 2 Whe Sixt hace Cale ee ara 100-103
Silos with horizontal girtS.........eee esses eee erect eee renee Py
Size of cutter and power required......---.++sesesseeeereres - 180
~
_ Size of silo required... 2... 6s ee eeeeeeenr cee
- Soiling crops, table Of.......-...+:e steer eee eeee
Soiling crops, time of planting and feeding......
Soil fertility maintained with silage..............
SOW VCATIS) ens lotenticic faye es sive coe 0.» a'e 0.0» o'y) 0 Ra aso
SUMO O ULI Wins die es eyes'w oles sie edhe 8 5 eT re Fens ee
Summer silo, advantages of.......... PRS RTO eee
Sunpirsecrops. stored: in. SilO: .. 0... .ciscteisie iether ieee
SSPVAITE, OSTEO LOT os. 0s 0.0 6 0 00 we 00 0 0 pee een ea
Temperatures in different silos..... Pe ree We TS” 3
Meosince LOT SIUBES. .. ci. ses ee es = ste ee ree
Waxasistatwon LTeSults..)... . ss «,. ate acim «a ota Ry EL ee ae
Thickness of planting corn..........=. wie, seta evaleeenecta
Time of cuttine corn for the silo. . .:.<:. spy yee enero
Mimerot filling the Silo......4,. Ben ce. codtntercemiaeed
PRATSELGS SLOT CSTE oi cie oie 2 0% oe vie 0s. 5.5 se lee opments euR wen
UP MAIS LOTTUNES SLAC sixes soe ae 8's 0 0/5. & ocala ene ele Ee een
RE OLED Tri SULel eS ie io 's' e's 0's 2 xis MIO niko
Budersround. or pit silos: ... . 0.55.5 « euls sivlenieiebete Maes
Wnderseround silos ......... ala als: 0k ela. alo, mie eal aaa alien oan
Mgr OrIa WIAVILCY: OF TOCA. sso ieie cw wre x 0 aye nilalaenteneienaeereaeaat
Use of silage in beef production....... 5 Laetleraparenine
Value in intensive farming......... tee sevevada We ONaRE
Varieties of corn to be planted for the ‘Bilo Ls etl SOOM
Ventilation of the silo....... a ouae nee oS aie Bins RESPITE
Vertical reinforcement for concrete silos............
Vetenes for isilame./....... oe bie as ra ree vo, fala be dle eee Eee
WATKILEG: THe WSLLOS 6.5 05s oc cess disie a eiciale win ibhete pie nee Relea
Waste products for silage........... Jove! oot ee
Water, use of, in filling silos..... 6 dod.e dod fe dn AO eM
Waterproofing cement silos ...... Saas o. 102 Boe
WE CU SIRE O Re SUA ES Oat. loro iele'o. wi elie’ a! oie’ see's a! teleten ale
Weight of concentratéd feeds.............
Weight of silage at different depths......
Wheat, rye and oats for silage........... ' :
Wisconsin Experiment Station silos, description of...
SILVER’S Light Draft Silo Fillers
Three sizes—Nos. 40, 60, 90. Operates
with 4 to 10 horse gasoline engines Ca-
pacity three to ten tons silage an hour.
Self Feed with new Friction Reverse Cyl-
inder Cutting Mechanism with direct Suc-
S PATENTED
tion to Blower, SPEED 600-600 RRM.
Built with all the skill and care of
Silver’s Famous “Ohio” Monarch Silo
Fillers—these light draft machines for
individual use can be depended on in
every way. Especially suited for filling
ordinary silos of 50, 75 and 100 tons capacity, or for much larger
silos where three or four days may be taken, using the regular
farm help or perhaps exchanging labor with a neighbor.
What They Have Done For Others: “Six tons an hour easily—
not a second’s trouble.” ‘Fills 75 ton silo with 8 horse gas engine.”
“My 6-h. p. gas engine runs No. 40 with ease.” “No. 60 filled 84
tons in 15 hours on %-inch cut.” “Fills 12x30 silo with No. 60
with 4 h. p. gas engine.” ‘Filled 73 tons in 12 hours with 7. h. p.
Made grand feed, never clogged once.”
These machines must not be confused with the kind commonly
offered by many firms or mail order houses. They all cut corn—
and some of them elevate—but there the comparison ends.
Here's what you get in the, Forty, Sixty and Ninety “Ohio” Ma-
chines:
Tne famous power-saving direct drive cyiinder type construction.— A friction reverse
mechanism that operates at finger pressure without slightest strain.—A single lever control
for stopping. starting or reversing.—A complete traveling feed table with wide flaring sides
and solid hardwood frame—mortised tenoned and double pinned (frames made 28 years ago
still in use.)—A heavy 1 9-16 inch steel knife shaft with latest type of patented knife heads and
knife adjustments for accurate shear cut at all times.—Heavy electric welded fan case and pad-
dles.—Direct suction to knifes and blower fan without use of auger.—‘‘Safety first’’ powerful
blast, low speed fan.—Easily removable knives and cutter bar for sharpening, replacement, etc.
The Light Draft ‘Ohio’? Blowers have been in actual service
under the most severe conditions. What they have done for others
is the best evidence of what they will do for you.
Send for our special folder showing these machines in actual
colors and giving full particulars, with many letters from users.
Write for our attractive prices, giving size of your silo. Write
to-day. -
257
No. 770 Clover Cutter. No. 778 Lever, 11” No. 783 Cuts % to
Cuts 4%” lengths, for Knife, Wt. 50 Ibs. 2”. Hand or Power.
Poultry.
Send for SPECIAL Printed
LINE of SILVER’S “OHIO”
In addition to Silver’s ‘‘Ohio” Silo Fillers,
as described in the following pages, we
manufacture a complete line of Feed Cutters
and Fodder Shredders in various sizes and
styles. A few representative machines are
shown on this page.
Whether you cut 40 tons of silage each
N ren: season or 4,000 tons you can make a selection
o § oot ane z ° ae és ceases aoe
Vezetable Cutter. from Silver’s eu Ohio” line that will
Cuts and Slits. just suit your requirements.
Metal Bueket Carrier
for No. 11 Cutter. De-
livers to Right, Left or Silver’s Round Inclosed Steel Carrier
Front, Straight Delivery for No, 11 Ohio Cutter.
258
No. 814 and 10%. No. 9S Cuts 4% to No. 118S with Self
For Hand or 2. 1to2H.P. Table. Cuts 1 teen,
Power. 4 lengths Gasoline. Wt. 410 3 to 4 Tons Silage an
Cut. Strong and Ibs. Hour. 2 to 3 H. P. Gas.
Durable. With or without Carrier.
Matter on the FAMOUS
CUTTERS and SHREDDERS
Whether you feed one animal or 1,500 you
will find that the “Ohio” offers just the size
and style that will fit your needs and your
purse.
“Quality First” is the motto that has made
these machines popular the world over.
If you are interested in fodder cutting or
shredding machinery, do not fail to secure our
special printed matter on “The Famous OHIO a aca eee
Cutters and Shredders.” Slits and Pulps.
“Ohio” Shredder Blades
Replace Knives on
Metal Bucket Carrier, Straight or Swivel Cutters from No, 9 Up.
Delivery, for “Ohio” Monareh_ Silo We also make other
Fillers Nos. 12, 15 and 17. styles of Shredders.
259
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mcalictty: of “Qhio” gearing. In chang- mesh, Friction 1s aoe
ing from full speed ahend to reverse posed of small beve ed
not a gear tooth changes mesh. The wood segments easily re-
peer of all reverses on the market, placed by the user.
263
Simplicity of Fan Case Side—The auger carries feed
evenly to blower instead of in bulky irregular quantities.
The main shaft bearings are conveniently adjusted. All
drive chain on the machine is No. 72%, and is inter-
changeable.
Safety—The “Ohio” never explodes—it-has an enor-
mous powerful blast at low speed—650 to 700 R. P. M.
Guards for Protection of Operator cover all Moving
parts.
Other Features—Blows to highest silos. Cuts all crops.
Is very easy running. Makes highest quality of silage.
Ys ready to move anywhere by taking down pipe. Suit-
able for pit silos by simply removing the blower. Made
in four popular sizes. Quality class of users everywhere.
Converted into first class Shredder by replacing knives
with “Ohio” shredder blades.
New “Ohio” Elbow—This large circle
curved elbow is furnished free with each
“Ohio” Monarch Blower Machine. It is
seven feet long, of steel, and open on under
side to prevent back pressure.
The Silo Tube delivers the leaves, mois-
ture and heavier parts at any desired point
in silo, uniformly mixed as cut and with a
strong, self-packing
force. The tube is of 2
heavy galvanized steel. The three-foot
sections telescope together, and have chain
connections, readily detachable.
This view shows the Blower side of Y
“Ohio” Monarch Silo Fillers; also the \ |
special steel truck on which they are ee \
mounted. It will be noted that the alk
opening in fan case now has a sliding guard
264
x oP
View of Head Office and Works of The Silver Manufacturing Co.
Located in Salem, Ohio, U. S. A., showing switch connections with the Pennsylvania and Erie Railroads. This is
the home of Silver’s ‘“‘Ohio” Silo Fillers and Feed Cutters.
The plant is new and modern in every particular, having been thoroughly remodeled and greatly enlarged during the
past year. The machine shop and erecting room -alone have a ground floor space of approximately one and one-half acres.
odern
Silage Methods
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS