WRITTEN BY 200 OF THE BEST FARMERS IN AMERICA ei sp. gi pi ee a eee ae, aa Ni - et ie ae SILO PROFITS A COMPILATION OF FACTS AND FIGURES PUBLISHED BY INDIANA SILO CO. ANDERSON, IND., U.S.A. INTRODUCTION The idea of this publication is to provide those who are not receiving the benefits of the Silo with such definite and detailed in- formation as will enable them to more intelligently consider the sub ject from their own individual standpoints. We realize the immense benefits to be derived from the use of this feed and labor saving device. We believe that lack of Knowl- edge of these benefits must be the chief cause why more of them are not in use. Knowing these things, and believing that those who have had experience are the best qualified to give the desired information, we issued the following letter to a number of our customers: We have concluded that the best way to find out the actual results, in dollars and cents, of the use of the Indiana Silo; is to ask the men who use them. To make this more interesting we are offering prizes as mentioned below. This letteris being sent to a few of our best customers and you have a good chance to win one of the prizes. Here it is— THREE PRIZES-GO IN AND GET THEM Birst Prize... Se ees P= O16) Second Prize... cic eeec cence 15.00 Third Prize...... Be erN sp tcceee cee 10.00 These prizes will be given for three best articles written by users of Indiana Silos as to the profit they have made by their use. Below are given a few pointers as to the features they will be judged upon. No articles should contain more than five hundred words. The more specific the article, the better. Preference will be given toarticles that give exact figures as to profits shown by the use of Silos. No attention whatever will be paid to literary features of articles, so lacK of experience in writing need not Keep any one out of this contest. An additional $5.00 will be given to the successful con- testants if article is accompanied by a photo of self, herd, or barn and Silo, that can be used foracut to print with the article. The articles will be published in book form and a copy of same will be sent to each contestant. Help us to help you and we will have a book of helpful information. Give us the facts as to what your Silo has done for you and you have just as good a chance to win a prize aS any one. Do it now as we will not call your attention to it again. Yours very truly, INDIANA SILO COMPANY. We have received a great many responses to this letter. These were referred to Mr. DeWitt C. Wing, associate editor of ‘The Breed- ers’ Gazette,” who passed on them and awarded the prizes. The articles winning prizes are the first three reproduced. Mr. Wing came to his decision, so he later said, largely from the fact that the win- ning articles appeared to him more comprehensive of the many ad- vantages of the Silo. It was promised that we would reproduce these in book form, and we taKe an even greater pleasure in doing this than we could have anticipated. We can understand how it was Mr. Wing had so great difficulty in deciding just where to award the prizes. The arti- cles are all excellent. We accompany some of them with photo- graphs and we commend to every farmer, whether he is a user of the Silo or not, the most careful reading of these contributions. One matter of extraordinary interest to us in regard to these articles is the diversity of their points of view. Each contributor has treated the Silo,its uses and advantages, out of his own experience and to an extent very unusual, we think, each contributor has some fact or some method of treatment that gives a distinct value to his contribution, and makes it so that the reader will not Know all that the Silo will do unless he reads all of these articles. In view of this we believe that not one of these articles should be overlooKed by any farmer, stocKraiser, or dairyman, and we assure our friends that all of them taKen together make a book that is most comprehensive in regard to the Silo, a book that will be most profitable, to any farm- er whether he have a Silo or not, and withal a book that will be of surpassing interest to all who are in any way connected with the feeding business This in mind, we taKe great pleasure in publishing this book: We dedicate it to our thousands of customers {who are now using Indiana Silos, and we send it to the contributors and others who may desire it as an evangel of the Silo as the modern feeding device, and the promise of more profit and better things for the farmer, stocK- raiser and dairyman. THE INDIANA SILO COMPANY, ANDERSON, INDIANA FIRST PRIZE ARTICLE {[NDIANA S1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Have been feeding silage ten years, but the last bunch of cattle we fed illustrates the value of a silo better than any one experi- ment we ever made. Father bought of a speculator, scalper as it were, 17 heifers, culls left over from the Monday’s Chicago market on a lump sale, and as usual in such a case, got the cattle too high. When we weighed them they cost us 4c per pound, when they should have cost from 3 to 3'/c per pound, but to make the best of a bad bargain we put them on a full feed of silage, and fed them 60 days and sold them on the Indianapolis market at $4.65 per hundred, which made us a little money. We fed them a little shelled corn along during the time which | charge in the following statement which shows for itself: Cost of cattle laid down here—17 heifers—9,500 Ibs...... $380.00 Twelve tons silage fed—30 Ibs. per day...............0.4. Sixty-four bushels corn at 60c—2c for hauling............ Sfe12 Totai cost without silage which grew on one acre... .$417.12 Gattle weighed 11,500) Ato D465. oposite nie ms cues $534.75 Less commission and proportional freight............... 15.50 $519.25 Eessucost sof «Cattle sand COrn:. o..caGr oeue eGo es scee cele ee 417.12 ReEcemnvedu tor 12s tOnSvot: SilAGC ene cre 21. 5.5.5 eis snsce eke cue ae out $102.13 This 12 tons of silage grew on one acre and was put into the silo at a cost of $8.40, leaving a net value of one acre of corn crop $93.73, as compared with the corn that we sold on the market from the strip adjoining as follows: 65 bu. per acre at €0c, $39.00, with an expense of 5c per bu. for husking and drawing to market, leaving $39.00—$3.25— $35.75 the net value of the acre ad- joining as compared with $93.73. 1 count the trouble of feeding them as balanced by the manure. If these cattle had been bought right at 3!/2c per pound, we would have had $47.50 more to show for one acre of corn put up as silage, or $141.23. With this fact before us we will try to get the entire corn crop into silos as soon as possible to arrange Maurice Douglas. for it. We, also, appreciated the silo during the drouth of 1908, which was eSnecially severe here in this section. We had ensilage to feed our Brood Cows until the 1st of June and filled the silo the last of September and commenced feeding it immediately as the pastures were burned up, and our cattle went into Winter in good shape. We feed it to everything, cattle, horses, hogs, sheep and poultry, and have good results. We are feeding a lot of 15 cows, with young calves, silage 40 pounds per day, and what clover and alfalfa hay they will eat, and they are in better shape than when they started in the Winter. It is 5 surprising how little hay they eat. I have built three silos of different makes. The last an Indiana, one piece stave silo, which has proven very satisfactory—so much so that every wooden silo in our county is an Indiana with the improvement of continuous doors, etc, : As a conditioner of show cattle we think it has no equal. We opened our silo the 1st of December, and have fed 40 sheep, 50 head of cattle, 10 head of horses, poultry ever since, and think we have enough on hand to feed until May ist. | have fed my breeding stallions silage, and they are shedding coats March 1st. In fact, to do without the silo and farm economically on $125.00 per acre land, would be feeding at a loss instead. Since writing the above, have had 18 inches of snow, and others had to ship their cattle as they could not haul their feed to the cattle, while | figure we made our greatest gain at that time as our silage was all ready at any time to feed. Silage is harvested at a time when the weather is good and a maxi- mum amount of labor can be obtained for the regulation price, and we are sure anyone who has the nerve to build a silo will never regret it. Boys:—Since writing the above | found the estimated cost of feed- ing our cattle here at this farm the year before we put up the silo, and the year after, which bears out the statement | have always made that we could burn the silo and rebuild every year and be money ahead. Year Before: Seventy-five head short horns—from Dec. 1 to May 10, consumed 2,500 bu. corn at 40c.................... $1,000.00 Hay, 100 TONS; At BIZ00. p.6o 6 25h o6.0.5-4-6:5. 5:68 hae 4s dele be we 1,200.00 $2,200.00 Year After We Built Silo: Cost of 10 acres corn silage, 65 bu. acre, 40c per bu....$ 260.00 Gost. of putting Up Same: 4.5. dias ences esse ad eee ReeGen 84.00 Hay; 20 tons at $1200... i0ciits etesiied éenaged eee eatae 240.00 1,000: Duy Orn At 40: sii gs dade sea ey bee cea ten 400.00 $ 984.00 Balance in favor of the Silo, $1,216.00. That looks too good to be true, but when feed is high that is when it pays, regardless of being able to feed frosted corn to an advantage. M. DOUGLAS, Flat Rock, Ind. SECOND PRIZE ARTICLE It is a general conceded fact that ensilage is an excellent feed for dairy cows, but that it is also a grand feed for beef cattle is not so widely known. We have used an Indiana Silo in the feeding of beef cattle for several years with most excellent results. Two years we fed large steers, and the remainder of the time light butcher heifers. | have at hand the exact figures for last year’s feeding, and will give them, as last year was about an average year. Some years we made somewhat less and some considerably more, The last of November we bought on the Chicago market a carload (30 head) of 510-lb. heifers. They cost laid down in Centerburg, all ex- penses paid, $3.22 per 100 pounds. These heifers were fed ensilage 6 morning and evening, and a little clover hay at noon the entire time until sold, receiving no other feed. On May 3 we delivered them to the Howell Provision Co., Newark, O., at the scales one mile from our place. They weighed 652 Ibs. each, and we received $4.75 per 100 pounds. Below | Give an itemized statement of costs and receipts. J, Paul Long’s Calves, Centerburg, Ohio. Receipts: RO DOO EIS: icattlecat, S4:( Demet ues asda te bese dase cases $ 929.10 Costs Nb S00 mibSs Gabtlenate wasce + i ereiis. «ak skc sttenersislevera's ecaraewe s¥ec% $ 492.66 Rentec acneseoneiands: at) po. GO cure sieke are ons tens plaseieae suenctsi ere 27.00 Piowing 9 acres of land at $3.00 per day................ 18.00 Hanrowing=two days iat Po,00 ss aoc ss Be eb ce wits eens 6.00 Peau Gy pach ACS COC caterer gets terete sedate ear ss c«,folsnorey sieuelesvets: > sy cicveee ss 4.50 Cultivating three times at $3.00 per day................. 12.00 Wsesof engine Il, days at $8:000 2. ec. ome vcr ed ewes 12.00 Use of ensilage cutter 1!% days at $3.00................ 4.50 Slackwcoalll fOr CnOMNE sec he eee eectereiere-caelsialeie cr egemmieis sialic’ ic 1.00 BET Ine 118 lion Clay S) cbr 10.0 veers sisicuows series lc, dct va shat seecuete 22.50 Board of men and teams 1! days at 20c per meal........ 7.80 STO LAI MCOSES mere ese gyre ci chavs exe anne Sia? o nhave Metensies Sts ale eystn ata ARG $ 607.96 RRECEIP tS arcs eee o sstecs cede reas tide eam feieueoc $ 929.10 COStS cian anne oie dn ae a alin selene Me ae eyes wi a.ays 607.96 Neto Doni tei. ecrneiemeratstepote area rye $ 321.14 It will be noticed that | do not charge anything to clover hay eaten by cattle. This charge is fully offset by ensilage fed to milch cows and horses. Neither do | charge anything to labor of feeding cattle or interest on money invested in cattle, silo, barn, etc. This charge being entirely offset by scores of loads of rich manure hauled out on land. I fed the cattle practically all the ensilage they would eat, so they ate but very little hay. Ensilage fed to dairy cows will, of course, make a larger gross profit than when fed to beef cattle, but also entails a much larger amount of labor. This much net profit from nine acres of poor corn (the land having been in corn four years successively), seems almost impossible, but is rendered possible by two facts, first, when fed through a silo the entire a ‘ corn plant is utilized, there being no enormous waste as when fed from shock, and second, when put in an Indiana Silo there is no waste of ensilage at sides and doors as there is in many other silos of inferior con- struction. The experience of silo users in this neighborhood is that an Indiana Silo will a great deal more than pay for itself every year it is used in net profits. J. PAUL LONG, Centerburg, Ohio. THIRD PRIZE ARTICLE [NDIANA SrLo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I have two Indiana Silos, and think they are a great help. The value of silage over dry feed can be rated as almost double. Its importance rests upon its succulence; like grass, a natural feed, it keeps the animal in a healthy condition, maintains the vigor of the cow while producing a large flow of milk. It is economical because there is no waste, the stock eats it clean. The same amount of land will produce more silage Isaac L. Jeffries and One of His Favorites. than any other feed. There is no loss in curing. It adds fertility to the soil because the manure is richer than that produced from the dry feed. Its greatest value is shown in dairy lines. By having two Indiana Silos filled with corn ensilage to feed my cows, | make as much butter in the Winter time as | do in the Summer when the cows have grass to eat. For rearing calves it is without an equal. Of the crops that are best for silage to my mind, corn is best. To get the best results from corn for silage it should be cut when the grain is going out of the milk state and is beginning to harden. If cut too green 8 the silage is apt to become sour; if cut over-ripe it will be hard and woody. An acre of corn will produce from 15 to 20 tons of silage. Ensilage will lose its value if allowed to mold which will be the case if unused for a number of days. Therefore, it is best after beginning, to use at least two or three inches each day. More cows can be kept from a given acreage, if fed ensilage, than from one-third more acres if fed dry feed. Until the feeder can find a food equal to corn ensilage for even twice the cost, he had better seriously consider the silo. Under present condi- tions | beiieve that one-fourth of all the farmers keeping stock in the corn belt will find the silo an economic acquirement. An acre of corn put in the silo | value at $55.00, while the same corn standing in the field and husked in the usual manner | value at $27.00. This is accounting for all cost of harvesting. Then an acre in the silo is worth two in the field, or putting it another way the silo doubles the value of the corn crop. lam in a company that owns a cutter, and, in filling, we have one man to drive the harvester, six teams to haul corn, four men in the field, three in the silo, and two to feed the cutter. When we have to hire help we pay ¢2.00 per day for the engine and men to run it we pay $5.00 a day. If we had to hire all the help it would cost $37.00, We filled my two Indiana Silos 12 by 24 and two-foot basement in ten hours. Sincerely yours, ISAAC L. JEFFRIES, Westfield, Ind. FOUND PROFIT FEEDING DRY COWS. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I wanted a silo for years. One day the Agent for Indiana Silo came to my house, the Wild Rose Farm, and I became a purchaser. I ordered a Southern Pine Silo, 16x30. Before the order was filled I changed it to a fir silo at an increase of $100 in cost and have never regretted the change. We were a little late in getting our silo up in 1908, and were further delayed in getting cutter. All the corn and sorghum that was green enough for ensilage was not sufficient to fill the silo more than two-thirds full. We began feeding at Christmas. The spoiled silage on top was less than six inches. We had topped much green sorghum. We fed a lot of Steers, calves and dry cows. The cows cost $32.00 a head. In February we sold the cows at 5 cents and they averaged $60.00 a head. The calves were sold at public sale on March 16 and made as high as $38.00 per head. They were fed all the clover hay they would eat at noon and ensilage night and morning. The calves cost an average of $19.00 in Sep- tember. We also fed young mules and work horses. After the sale we fed our cows until May 15, and they made little change when going on big grass. In 1909 we cut 10% acres of heavy corn, which filled the silo to the top. We again topped with green sorghum, and the filling was done in a day and a half. The whole cost for 140 tons was $400.00. (Our foundation is 4 feet deep and adds considerable to the capacity.) Having sold the farm, io give possession February 1, we put in Jersey cows and heifers and began feeding ensilage on Thanksgiving or a few days before. They were two weeks getting on full feed. February ist we held our sale. The Jerseys made a profit of $15.00 a head on forty head, and half the entire lot of silage was left and in the best condition. So that we count that the silo paid us handsomely. We are now looking for another farm with an Indiana Fir Silo or one on which to build such a silo. I think it is one of the best investments a farmer can make. HOWARD H. KEIM, Ladoga, Ind. INCREASED PROFITS 150 TO 200 PER CENT. INDIANA Sr1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. My Dear Sirs:—I have used an Indiana Silo for six years and find its use profitable in several ways. For the following reasons I freely recom- mend the Indiana Silo, manufactured by the Indiana Silo Company, of Anderson, Ind.: First: For their convenience in feeding. It is much more convenient and comfortable and expeditious than to go out in the fields in cold, stormy weather to haul teed. Second: I find that the use of the silo avoids the loss in the two changing periods i. e., from grass to dry feed in the Fall and dry feed to grass in the Spring. This is because ensilage is a natural, succulent feed similar to grass. I always had a heavy shrinkage at these periods before I bought the Indiana Silo. Third: Before I bought the Indiana Silo, my ground produced 35 to 40 bushels corn per acre. Now it produces 60 to 75 bushels per acre. Potatoes averaged about 100 bushels per acre. Now I get about 200 bushels per acre. These results were brought about by the different and better methods of handling the manure. Formerly I fed in the barn lot, and the coarse Manure was not available for fertilizing for a year or more. Now, by using a silo Iam enabled to produce more manure with same number of stock and haul it direct to the field. Hence the principal elements— nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, are not bleached out and washed away. I consider this quite an item. Fourth: Since using the Indiana Silo I can carry about twice the number of stock on the same amount of tillable land—about 90 acres, and do it with less labor. At the same time the fertility of the soil is in- creasing. Betore 1 bought the Indiana Silo I carried 15 to 18 head of cattle, 3 or 4 head of horses. Now I carry 30 head of cattle and 7 head of horses and some other stock Fitth. I find that my cattle go on grass in the Spring in much better condition than they did before using the silo. Sixth: Last, but not least, my profits have increased from 150% to 200% more than by the old method of feeding. MARTIN KULL, Moundsville, W. Va. P. S.—By feeding clover hay with the silage, my cows produce as much milk as they do on grass. M. K. GRAIN SAVING PAYS FOR SILO. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I became interested in a silo in the summer of 1908, and visited your factory with several of my neighbors and gave my order for a 14 x 24 before I left the factory. I had more than satisfactory results with its feeding that tall and winter and find it of equal value for summer feed. From Jan. Ist, 1909, to Jan. 1st, 1910, I produced from an average of ten cows 10,189 gallons of milk, for which I received $1,291.28 at my barn. It does not take one-half the ground feed since I have my silo. I am satisfied the silo will pay for itself each year. Since feeding ensilage I can safely say that I save 8 lbs. ground feed per day for ten cows which for 365 days wou!d equal 10,950 pounds which, at $1.00 per 100 pounds would net me a profit of $109.50 in a year in grain alone, and that does not near tell the story. I take off my hat to a good bunch of cows fed from an Indiana Silo and properly cared for by their owners, Yours truly, JNO. E. HOLLINGSWORTH, JR., New Augusta, Ind. 10 MY EXPERIENCE WITH AN INDIANA SILO. INDIANA SiL~o Co., ANDERSON, IND. In the early part of 1905 I began to investigate the different kinds of silos, both those made by manutacturing concerns and those put up at home. Az that time I had never seen an Indiana Silo, but I saw their ads in reliable papers, and, after some correspondence, I decided that was the silo for me, and I have never had reason to change my mind. I bought a 12x30 long leaf yellow pine with twelve hoops. The cost of erection was almost nothing, something less than $5.00, everything fit- ting perfectly or as one otf my men said, “You would think that silo had been put together a dozen times.” It may not be true everywhere, but here in my locality the greatest objection to silos is the cost of filling. My experience is that it is the cheapest way I could harvest corn. Of course I know we work our corn up a great deal closer here in Penn- sylvania than through the West, but I also know it would be to the interest of the farmers everywhere to make better use of their corn, especially the stover, and this can best be done by use of the silo. One year with another on my soil and in my climate it takes about six acres ot corn to fill a silo of this size (80 tons). The first year I hired all my help, including teams, and it cost $40.00 to fill. Since that I have changed more with neighbors and have filled as iow as $20.00 cash. Can any tarmer prepare any other kind of feed for his stock at from 25 to 50 cents per ton. Compare this with husking, shredding, cribbing and grind- ing. In the latter case you lose the green, luxuriant quality of the fodder, also, the losses by weather, mice and extra handling. Some of my friends have said to me, “I don’t see but what you buy as much mill feed as you did before you bought the silo.” I think I buy more, but I keep more live stock and get enough better returns from them that I can well afford to buy. I make more money and the farm has more manure. One should not forget that when you fil. a silo with corn its contents is corn, and to get the best results you must add the necessary protein to balance the ration. All silage is not a good ration any more than corn meal, and corn stalks ted alone are a good ration, but you can well afford to make the necessary addition. My home feed dealer says he has noticed that when his customers with silos come to town for feed they always have the money to pay for it. All in all I don’t think any farmer with live stock and corn can afford to do without a silo, “An Indiana Silo.” On September 11, 1909, fire destroyed my barn, silo and feed, but the plans are made for another barn, and that barn will have a silo, and that silo will be an Indiana. N. L. KINGSLEY, Edinboro, Pa. SILO SAVES TEN TONS OF HAY A YEAR. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Yours received asking how I liked my silo. I got it in 1907, four men set it up and had one hoop on in 314 hours. I con- sider it saves me 10 tons of hay every year. The first year hay was $15.00 a ton. That was $150.00 saved, in 1909 it was $10.00 a ton, that’s $100.00. In 1910 it is $12.00 a ton, being $120.00 saved. In the three years it saved me $370.00, or about that. In 1909 I filled twice and opened Oct. 1st. Used about half and filled again Nov. 24th. IT am very much pleased with it and would not sell it for anything if I could not get another. Yours for success, NATHAN BAXTER, Central Square, N. Y. 11 SHOULD CONCERN EVERY FEEDER. Dear Sirs:—To whom it may concern, and it ought to concern every cattleman, every dairyman and every farmer who raises a good many InpIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. cattle. The silo I bought of the Indiana Silo Co. last Fall has far excelled my expectation. I filled it with corn to the top, and left it stand until about the 10th ef November, then opened it and began to feed it, and must say that that was the best feed I ever fed to dairy cows. My cows did better this Winter, both in milk and in flesh, than they did last Summer on the best of tame pasture. My cows are all in a good shape for beef. Have so!td tour dry cows for beef, and could have sold all that I have at a large and long price, and I must say that it was the ensilage I fed to my cattie that put them in that shape. I used to think I could feed cattle, but I knew nothing until I erected a silo. I am so well pleased with my silo that if I ever move to a farm that has no silo on, I will erect one as soon as I can have one filled, or, if I should enlarge my dairy so I shou:d need another, I surely would erect another Indiana Silo. I must say, Hurrah, for the Indiana Silo Co., The Manufacturers, and its users. Thanking you for past, favors,I am, Yours truly, U.S.KRAFT, Akron, Ind. WHAT A GOOD COW WILL DO. INDIANA Sr1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gent!emen:—Yours of the 14th at hand. I herewith give you a few facts in regard to my silo. I am very enthusiastic over feeding silage to milk cows. In the first place I save 25% in harvesting expense, and I figure I save 40% in the corn crop as the cows eat every bit of the crop. It is the most palatable feed I ever put before my cows. It keeps their digestion perfect and enables them to digest and gives them a much better appetite for roughage, thereby giving me a much larger flow of milk. For example: I have one cow eleven years old that has always given a good flow of milk, but three years ago I bought an Indiana Silo and she has nearly doubled her flow of milk. Up until two years ago she never gave over 7,000 pounds of milk in one year, but in 1908 she gave 10,182 8-10 pounds, and she is doing about the same this year. Her average test for 1908 was 4% butter fat, making 407 31-100 pounds. AVOVRRSG DYIGG. BULGO 2568 d sncarm ernie dee ee eee de Once eee $ 124,22 Add to this 85% of skim milk at 10c per 100, makes OLE GRE 47064. eta se as ea eiate Baa a eae a eee 8.64 $ 132.86 This is more than doub!e the amount I ever got from her before I com- menced feeding ensilage. I keep 10 to 14 cows, and this is the experience with all of them. The past year I have milked 10 cows and they brought for milk at our creamery, $1,048.81, besides the skim milk furnished. Also, milk for two families, and made our own butter for six months. I weigh all of my milk and keep a record of each cow and know just what each cow is doing all the time. I could not think of keeping cattle and dairy cows in particular, without a silo filled with good mature corn. Yours very truly, W. W. KNAPP, Watervliet, Mich. 12 ENSILOS ALL HIS CORN. INDIANA Sino Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—lIn reply to yours of the 22nd inst. I wish to say your silo is about one of the best on the market. We bought one of you two years ago. Year before last we did not use it on account of not having corn enough to fill two, but this year we filled it to the top. When we started to feed this fail we were surprised at the small amount of decayed matter at the top. There was not more than two inches while on the other silo W2 used to have from six to fourteen inches. We think that the Indiana Silo is tighter fitted so as to exclude all air. Now I will give some profits which we made by buying the silo. Truthfully written three years ago before having two silos we raised 22 acres of corn. It was good corn, giving from 50 to 75 baskets an acre. Welt we got half of it shocked before the frost, part of it being put into the one silo. The rest was frozen, and we shocked it as it was. We husked it and put the corn in the crib, and the stalks in the barn. In the spring after teeding it all winter we found that most of the stalks in the middle of the mow had decayed, and the cows would not eat half of it. The corn in the crib was the same, half of it was worthless, as it had decayed. Now what I want to say is that if we had put this corn and stalks in a silo, we would have had twice as much profit from the feed. We have 12 head of milch cows and 11 head of young cattle, and this year we have all our corn in the two silos and nothing went to waste. I believe tarmers can just as well have two silos and raise a little ear corn for own use and put the stalks in a silo than to have one and let some of it go to waste. A few farmers in the vicinity have corn shocked in the field yet standing in the snow. Half of this goes to waste before spring, and is bad feed for a dairy cow. Yours truly, NICHOLAS KREUZE, Hudsonville, Mich. SEVENTY-SIX DOLLARS PROFIT IN ONE MONTH. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Dear Sirs:—In regard to the Indiana Silo, we think it is one of the best on the market. We bought and put up one of your silos in 1908. It has more than paid for itself in feed saving. We will give you some exact figures. Our largest milk check before we bought an Indiana Silo for any cne month trom 15 cows was $150.00. For December, 1909, we received a $183.50 milk check, fed 2,200 lbs. of milk to calves, used 300 lbs. for table use. We got $1.70 per hundred for milk, which would foot up $226.00 from 15 cows, a difference of $76.00 when using silage from an Indiana Silo. We are breeding and raising full-blooded Holstein cattle. We keep from 35 to 50 head of cattle on hand and our silo, 14 x 30, holds enough to feed them through the winter with a few cow peas. We save at least 400 bu. of corn each winter by using an Indiana Silo. At present prices, 60 cents per bushel, this is $240.00. Our young cattle do not get any grain except what they get in silage, and all look sleek and fine. Before we got our silo we fed about $50.00 worth of mill feed per month, but now about $15.00, a saving of $35.00 per month. The Indiana Silo is one of the greatest feed savers that we have tried. We don’t See how any farmer with as many as 10 good dairy cows could afford to be without one. Yours very truly, G. W. WISE & SONS, Beaver Creek, IIl. P. S.—We will send you a photo of our cattle in a few days 13 THIRTY-SIX CATTLE ON THIRTY-TWO ACRES. InriANnA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In reply to yours of the 15th in regard to what the silo has done for me, will say if I can help others I am glad to do so. Enclosed you will find photo of barn and silos. I am on a farm of 32 acres which I purchased in 1905. My first crop was rather poor. The next year it was better. I kept 12 cows and 2 horses and had to buy about $100.00 worth of rough feed. For years I had wanted a silo, so the fall of 1907 I bought my first silo, which was 12x 24. It took four acres of corn to fill it. Seeing I had lots of feed in sight I bought 12 more cows, making 24 head, and 8 horses, and bought about $150.00 worth of rough feed. I was so well pleased with the silo that the next year I put up the second Indiana Silo, this one 14 x 30. That fall and winter I had 24 cows, 1 bull and 11 heifers, all on full feed, with my 3 horses, and bought only $20.00 worth of rough feed. At present I have 16 cows, 16 heifers and 1 bull on full feed and will have plenty feed to run until March 15, then will sell my heifers and cows for the sum- mer. So you see I have doubled my dairy, besides the feeding I am doing, and raising all the feed on my little farm except some mill feed, which all dairymen have to buy. Barn and Silos on Mr. Draper’s Thirty-two Acre Farm. I consider the silo the only profitable way to handle a corn crop, either tor milking or feeding. The heifers which I fed last year did splendidly. Made a gain of about 200 Ibs. in ninety-five days on silage alone. They cost me 8 cents per lb. and sold for $5.20 per hundred. The ones I am feeding now are doing fine. They look like June grass-fed stuff. In conclusion, I will say to the men who are in doubt about building silos, go ahead and buy one, and buy one large enough, and the Indiana Silo, of course. Yours very truly, W. E. DRAPER, Wayne, Ill. 14 A VETERAN’S EXPERIENCE. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Dear Sirs:—Yours of the 19th at hand. Have not the least idea of getting prize. Am glad to have a chance to give my views and experience with my Indiana Silo. Have filled three times and don’t consider the silo owed me one cent after two years’ use. Can’t give figures, but have been feeding stock all my life (am now 60 years old), and have always kept abreast with new modes for feeding grain and fodder. Have been shred- ding for a number of years, and think I know pretty well about how far the teed goes in different forms, and the result upon the stock of the dif- ferent ways of feeding the corn and fodder. After going through the first winter in feeding silage, was convinced that is the best way to handle the feed. Always in feeding the dry feed my stock would get restless as Spring approached, and if not watched close, would be breaking out for a bite of something green. Since feed- ing silage have no trouble of that kind. If were younger would have another and feed silage to all kinds of stock. I put my silo up in 1907. Then there were very few in this vicinity, not more than four. I think since then there has been about twelve put up in this one neighborhood, and I think one or two more years will see one on nearly every farm. Would say, however, some of the silos are the Ohio, not all Indiana. Think you can see by what I have written in an off-hand way that I am well pleased with my silo and wherever I can will speak a good word for you. Hoping for a prosperous year and that your sales will double, I remain, Very respectfully yours, BEN KIRBY, Bloomington, Ind. CONTENTED AND HAPPY. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In August, 1908, I erected one of your silos, 12 x 30, and put in about six acres of fairly good corn. I have no way of weighing so cannot give exact figures, but kept 16 head of cattle for six months. Cat- tle, hogs, hens and horses are quite fond of it. I never had stock do better on so little grain before or cows pay so well as they have since I have the silo. I have filled it again in fall, 1909, and am having my stock do even better than ever before: Cows that came fresh in the fall are now milking 30 to 40 pounds of milk per day on just every day ordinary feed and ensilage, with two or three quarts, or five or six pounds of feed per day. February Ist, 1910, my milk checks have averaged about an even $25.00 per week for the winter from seven milk cows, at an ordinary milk station. Before I put up the silo my milk checks averaged about that per month. I had one cow that did not make good in milk, so I fed her right along and sold her tor beef for $40 00. My brother sold one for $50.00 for beef a little fater, and others even better. Now, who can do that with dry feed? Farmers that are satisfied, contented and happy are those with Indiana Silos well filled with good ensilage. Stock never stops growing in winter to wait for spring. Milch cows do not have to spend all their time and strength pressing dry hay and corn fodder into a small amount of milk, but, like their master, are contented and happy. The people that have no silos are the ones that say that dairying doesn’t pay. No wonder it does not with feed way out of sight, unless you have some nice ensilage to go with it. Yours, GEORGE HUBBS, Kirkville, N. Y. PREFERS ENSILAGE TO JUNE GRASS. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Dear Sirs:—I have been in the dairy business for nine years, and I was for seven years without a silo. Two years ago I bought a silo 18x24 from you, which I found in a good shape and it was very easy to set up. It was also just as you represented it to me. The planks in the silo were No. 1. I can honestly say to you that the first seven years of my dairying I did not make enough to pay my expenses out of my cows, as feed was too high to buy. I bought three tons of bran and hominy meal altogether in a month, and this I fed to about 24 cows. Since I have fed ensilage I am only Filling Frank A. Hinners’ Silo, Osgood, Ind. teeding one ton of bran to 34 head of cows in the same length of time. That is two more cows than what my silo will feed for six months, but I think it will feed them six months. I opened my silo the first of November and I found the ensilage in it all right, and it will feed my cattle till the first of May. I can honestly say with my ensilage I am saving $40.00 a month in grain feed, and I am gending more milk now than I ever did. Ensilage is better than June pasture and every farmer should have an Indiana Silo, for it is a meney maker to him if he has many or few cows. I will also send you a photo of my silo and my silo filler with the crew with which I filled nine of your silos. Yours truly, FRANK A. HINNERS, Osgood, Ind. SIX COWS EARN MORE THAN TEN. INDIANA Sino Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—We have an Indiana Silo and are more than pleased with it. The silage is just fine. Made more money from six cows than we did the other years trom 10 and the cattle look so much better and we get a good deal more manure, which is good for raising better crops. We in- tend to have another silo in a few years, for they are fine. Yours truly, J. B. KOESTER, Effingham, III. OLD TIMER PREFERS NEW WAY, INDIANA SiLo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Dear Sirs:—I received a communication from you people that you would give prizes for the best essay on silos, and I suppose that means in all its parts. Well, to begin with the first essential, I bought an Indiana Silo from the Indiana Silo Co., and it is good yet, and if I should buy an- other, I would buy the same kind. In putting up a silo the peop‘e should be very caretul to stay them well at the bottom and top. Our silo b'ew off the foundation in parts. However, we got it back without much trouble, but there were several others around here that blew down altogether, and they had quite a time to get them back up again, Now, in filling the silo I think the people get in too big a hurry and fill them too quickly. There was a man in our neighborhood who got in such a rush to get his silo filled, and it sett!ed about eight feet. Now, he lost the space or the use of that much of his silo; besides, through here they charge $1.00 a toot for 14-ft. silos, 16-ft. more, and 12-ft. less. Now, he paid $8 for that which he did not get. We have our own cutter. We get a man with his engine to come and hitch on, and so far it has cost me $5 a day. We furnish coal and water. We begin in the morning as soon as we can and finish next day. That per- mits it to settle over night. Mine settled 3% feet. Now as to the roofing, I prefer it without. We commenced to feed our Silage three or four days after we filled the silo, so there was none wasted. Most generally there is from 18 inches to 2 feet moldy and spoiled and I have known of as much as 4 or 5 feet, and if it rains on it, it cools it off, tor it is bound to get hot. We fed cows and it made them give more milk and by so doing we utilized what otherwise would have been wasted. We did not feed so strong, and when it was about to get too dry and mold my boy put the hose on the porch pump and started the gasoline engine and pumped a lot of water on it that cooled it off and dampened it, for it will mold pretty quick. Now I think it should be kept in such a state that when you take up a handful and squeeze it, it will make your hand wet. I would not say that the water should run down over your hand, but that would be preferable to having it get tco dry and streaks of mold get through it. I had some so wet we had to take a scoop shovel and shovel it up and haul it out in barrels. We fed it in a long trough and it did the cattle as much or more good than any we ever fed. Now these are my reasons for not roofing, and often the rains or a snow saves the time of pumping water or of getting it up some other way, and if you will stop to think you will find that time is money, and a lot of it now-a-days. I don’t like to let this drop here. A man should go and examine his silo and see how it is doing. If it is getting hot and dry and dries down, it will be sure to get moldy streaks through it and stock will not eat it. Now my silos are to the north and the feed room extends south, with a track down through the center. The boy fills the car with silage, runs it to the south end and feeds back, by so doing the track is clear all the time and he doesn’t have to pass over the si’age with his feet, or car either. Now the quantity for steers about 1,200 lbs., 214 bushels full, twice a day; for milch cows, three-fourths as much as for the steers, with some cot- ton seed meal and bran. Our cattle are ravenous after it. The horses all like it. The hogs like it, and I am told the sheep like it. Now, first and last, if you want your stock to eat it well and do well on it, keep it free from mold. I have heard of people cutting cow peas and putting in and cutting clover hay and beans, and various other things, but according to my judg- ment there is nothing so good as corn. The time to cut the corn to fill it, 17 I think, is when the corn is ripe enough so that the grains are glazed over. Respectfully submitted, with many good wishes for your Silo Company, JACOB HENDERLICK, Petaskala, O. Now, Old Sonny, Iam 72 years old. This is the first letter I ever wrote of this kind, and not very many of any kind; but you old Hoosiers come out here and see me and I will talk to you until you get tired. Jae Gentlemen:—I got your letter, read a part of it and what I thought, laid it on the cupboard and proceeded to read the other news. I thought the matter over and concluded I would write, but I only could find the envelope. ‘The letter had fallen, scooted under the cupboard and this morning one of the children found it. Now I had written my letter of my experience and what I have learned about the silo. Now since the letter is found it tells me you want the exact figures of profit shown by the use of silos. That I cannot tell, for I have not a scale on these questions. I will honestly give you what I can on the subject. The last week of March, 1908, I got a carload of cattie from Chicago. We pastured through the summer, fed silage about six weeks in the fall, made a gain of 452 pounds to the steer. Feb. 1, 1909, I got a carload. We fed some silage in spring and some in fall, made a gain of about 400 pounds to the steer. The first we sold at 4% cents per pound, realizing $19.12 per head. The last lot we realized about $20.00 a head on 32 cattle. The most of our silage is fed to milch cows with other feeds. Now all stock like it and do well, to what extent I cannot tell. Now if Iam knocked out I am knocked out, that is all, but don’t you go to publishing anything that is misleading, for our government puts out reports that are wrong for I was misled to the tune of $300.00 two years ago, and last spring about $200.00 through agricultural reports. Respectfully, J. HENDERLICK. KEEPS THREE TIMES AS MANY CATTLE. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In this 20th-century age of agriculture it is needless to say that the silo is as necessary an adjunct to every farm with a herd of eight cows as the centrifugal separator. Iam glad that I am able to say, and say it truthfully, that before I erected a silo | was able to keep only one-third the number of milk cows that I am able to keep now. Since erecting an 80-ton Indiana Silo I am able to successfully feed, and with profit, from 35 to 40 head of cattle for 6 to 7 months. My herd of cows paid for my silo the first six months of feeding, in the saving of mill feed, whereas I used to use from 10 to 12 tons ef bran, 3 to 4 tons of giuten, 1 to 2 tons of cotton seed, costing in round numbers, $450.00. I now feed silage, 1 to 2 tons of bran and 1 ton of cotton seed, bran and cotton seed costing about $56.00. Counting silage worth 2.50 per ton, 80 tons would be worth $200.00, making a total of $256.00 for six months, as against $450.00 without the silo, a saving of $194.00, enough to build me another good 80 ton Indiana Silo, to say nothing of the better condition in which the cows are, and the performance at the milk pail, the sleekness of the cattle and the size of my manure pile. I feel that my silo is the best investment I have ever made and I am looking forward to the very near future when I shall erect another silo. Yours truly, F. I. HEIM, Wooster, O. SAVES 900 BUSHELS OF CORN. INDIANA SILo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Dear Sirs:—In answer to your circular letter will say that I can give you some facts as to what my silo has done for me. On December 1, I weighed up 54 head of cattle that averaged 982 pounds, started them on a light ration of snapped corn and hay. On December 28 I opened my silo and began feeding these cattle silage and cotton seed meal, gradually increasing until they were getting 35 pounds of silage and 4 pounds of cotton seed meal per head daily, and, at the same time, changing from snapped corn to broken ear corn and shelled corn until they were getting 8 pounds per head daily of shelled corn. They Were fed this ration of 35 pounds silage, 4 pounds cotton seed meal and 8 pounds of corn and all the bright timothy and clover hay they would eat, which was very little for 30 days. Then I began increasing the shelled corn until they were getting 14 pounds, which was all they would eat. On March 15 I weighed the cattle again at an average of 1,254 pounds, a gain of 272 pounds in 105 days, or a daily gain of 2.59 pounds. I am satisfied that to have made the same gain without the silage it would have taken 15 bushels of corn a day more, for about 60 days until | increased the corn to 14 pounds, which would be 900 bushels at 50 cents or $450.00. E. E. Heil’s Establishment. My silo which is 16x30 cost me complete, foundation, roof, paint and all, $300.00, which leaves a balance of $150.00, after paying for the silo in One year. The $150.00 balance, what I feed to other cattle and what will be lett after feeding these eattle until the middle of April will give me market price for the corn put into the silo, which was about 600 bushels. Therefore, you see I have practically paid for the silo out of the stalks that would have been wasted and a nuisance in the field in the spring, to say nothing of the number of tons of $10.00 hay saved. On March 22 one load of the poorest cattle were sold at home for $6.50 per hundred. On April 4 the best load was sold at home for $110.00 per head or close to the $8.00 mark. I still have the other load and they are doing fine. Besides what was fed to the above cattle, fcur cows and two yearling heiters were fed 25 pounds per head daily tor 60 days, with an increased fiow of milk in the cows, and the heifers were ready for the butcher’s block at any time if I had desired to put them there. And still enough silage to feed 45 head of stock cattle a daily ration of 10 or 15 pounds until the 1st of May. In conclusion I would say that by the use of the silo you can make a maximum gain at a midDimum cost. Yours truly, EK. E. HEIL, Pleasant Hill Stock Farm, Garrison, Iowa. 19 A CHEAP AND NUTRITIOUS FEED. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Dear Sirs:—The problem of a cheap and nutritious feed for dairy cows and other kinds of stock as well, has been solved by the introduc- tion of the silo for the storage of the different crops grown on the farm, particularly field corn, sugar cane, the large growing clovers and cow peas. Field or ensilage corn is preferred on account of the enormous amount grown per acre, as compared to the shorter growth crops, and is also considered better adapted to all kinds of stock. Ensilage is pre-eminently the best feed used by the stock raiser or dairyman tor the reason of its cheapness, quality and convenience com- bined. No other feed can be stored more conveniently; no other feed is richer in quality as compared to bulk, and no other feed is cheaper, when six acres of corn, producing 60 bushels of corn per acre, will make 75 tons ot good silage stored in an Indiana Silo, making 150,000 pounds of feed, costing not more than $1.50 per ton, enough to feed 25 cows 200 days at a cost of less than 3 cents for each cow per day. There is no other crop grown on the tarm that can compare with corn silage stored in an Indiana Silo. There are other advantages connected with feeding corn silage that will convince any practiced farmer or stock raiser that he should become the owher of an Indiana Silo. The silo allows the farmer or dairyman to keep more steck on less acres, thereby increasing his profits and increasing the fertility of his farm. To make it still more plain, the cost of feeding 25 cows 200 days with silage and enough bran would approximately be $350. To feed the same number of cows the same number of days without silage, using crushed corn or hominy feed instead, would cost, not counting roughage in either test, approximately $500, leaving a balance of $150 in favor of the silo, allowing the feeder to keep one-third more stock. The profits from feeding corn silage over the old way of feeding is still increased by the fact that stock fed with silage will consume less roughage than stock not fed silage. To the doubtful stockman or farmer, do not hesitate longer, but be the owner of an Indiana Silo, the best ever. A. V. HIGHTSHUE, Clermont, Marion County, Indiana, R. F. D. No. 16. SILAGE FOR THE HENS, INDIANA S1L0 Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—The silo I purchased cf your company two years ago is O. K. I fed dairy cows from it the first winter and they did fine, but as our boys do not like to help run a dairy I sold nearly all of the cows. One of our neighbors said to me, ‘Now what are you going to do with that Silo?” I told him I was going to feed the ensilage to the other stock. I find that the general farmer needs the silo more than a dairyman. We are feeding ensilage to horses, mules, jacks, stock cattle, brood sows, fattening hogs, pigs, sheep and poultry. Our hens commenced laying as soon as we began feeding ensilage. I never had brood sows in as nice condition as they are now. We feed some corn and hay to our sheep, but they do not seem satisfied until they get ensilage. I had one of my neighbors come and see me feed. He was astonished to see how everything eats silage. I think the Indiana Silo is the grandest improvement of the age. If I owned this farm I would build more silos. I would harvest all our corn crop that way. There ought to be silos on every farm in Indiana. Yours truly, ELI N. CRAMER, Brooklyn, Indiana. NOTHING LIKE IT. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:— During the month of August. 1909, my 16x30 Indiana Silo was erected on a cement foundation with 314 feet excavated. It is covered with grooved roofing. The filling occupied 1% days, Sept. 28 and 29. Feeding began Nov. 22 and figures given are for a period of four months. The statement below is made with no attempt to exploit silos, here- ford cattle or ability of feeder to secure results. The estimates are from beel valuations with reference to gains. Viewed from the standpoint of the breeder, the net results are considerably greater, these cattle being mostly pure bred Herefords. VALUE OF EQUIPMENT, STOCK AND FEED. Silo complete with root and foundation, painted...... $ 300.00 Filling (making allowance for cost of husking)........ 60.00 J5eacres' corn, 700 bus, Siloed at 50C...... 2... cee eee oe 550.00 50 calves, weight November 22, 360 lbs.; valued $4.50.. 810.00 PSM WISER eat abe eye oe cate ues cha eialie cles’ © eneres:fraiera.e! drecmuatee Soe anesd 1,680.00 Other Feed—10 tons clover hay, $100; 10 tons baled alfalfa, $150; 100 bu. oats, $40; 150 bu. shelled corn, $75; 2% tons molasses feed, $65; other rough- TOS Sen Aer eee een Seta Ae cots Sows hs on ay gas ays 455.00 $3,655.00 INVENTORY MARCH 22, 1910. Silage fed to hogs and: horses: os. .25i2..::2.6s0i.%.00 $ ©640.00 Rl cuercs OMe eh TT lu uae ereee tate eee ceca neeictsrste’s. 6 a.2< erste erons § aazanh« 6c 25.00 50 calves, weight 560 Ibs., at 54%6c.................... 1,540.00 DSMIGOWS: Ui Oil Oates area ae iehe fe orc. Sater. the year, using green rye, clover and peas for summer silage. My sales from the farm the past year were $1,400; $474.00 of that I re- ceived for small fruit, the balance was the direct results of silo feed- ing and would not be possible under any other system. This is more than double what I have made from the place in any one year before. All stock are maintained on the farm with the exception of mill feed. The silo more than paid for itself the first year and I thank you gentlemen for persuading me to buy one of your si'os. Also for the courteous treatment I received, and wishing you the success you deserve, I remain with you for better farming. JOHN W. YATES, Burnett, Wis. 87 DOUBLES HIS HERD. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In regard to the value of silage I will say that nobody can run a dairy and stock farm profitably at the now-a-days ruling high prices of feed stuffs. Corn, oats, bran, hay and a-most any food stuff is high in price. My experience without a silo was that I needed $254.00 of meal and grain for my little herd of eight cows in 6 months, besides the corn stover and hay. After purchasing a silo I increased my herd from 8 to 16 head and fed only $148.00 worth of meal and grain in 6 months, besides hay and corn stover. That would leave me a net profit cn 16 cows of $360.06. And then what counts still more to the Farm Buildings of L. G. Ziegler, Effingham, Ill. value of silage is this: The corn and other feed stuffs were lower in price as they are now-a-days. The corn I put in the silo I bought from my neighbors for $25.00 in the field with which I filled my silo, 12x24. That feeds my 16 head of cattle for 6 months and keeps them in good order a good deal better than I was ever able to do before I purchased an Indiana Silo. There is no question with me that it is profitable, not only in saving quite a snug sum every year in feed stuffs, but on the other hand by feeding good silage it increases the flow of milk a good many per cent. The money I have invested in the silo pays me 50 per cent on each dollar every year since I purchased it in 1908. LOUIS G. ZIEGLER, R. Ff. DBD Non Effingham, Ill. SAVED THIRTY TONS OF CLOVER HAY. INDIANA S1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I wish to state that I think a silo is all right. As to the exact amount of money I saved with a silo it is hard for me to tell, but I saved at least 30 tons of clover hay this winter, which has been worth from $13.00 to $18.00 a ton. Besides I saved a good deal of ground feed which is worth from $25.00 to $35.00 a ton, G. W. WIGGERS. Muscatine, Iowa. A LARGE INCREASE IN BUTTER FAT. InpDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—It was some time before I could make up my mind that it would pay me to put up a silo, as there was no one in the neighborhood who could give exact figures. But finally decided to try it for the fol- lowing reasons: I had but ten acres of pasture for six cows which only gave them plenty of feed for a few months in the year, causing me to feed for the balance of the year, and if I could keep off of the pasture until it got a good start I could have plenty pasture for the summer months, which I did, not turning on grass until June ist. So in the fall of 1907 I gave my order for a silo and before the time of delivery came seven of my neighbors did the same thing, Now for results: In the year from Novy. ist, 1907, to Nov. 1st, 1908, (I give these dates as I commenced feeding silage Nov. 1, 1908), I had 6 cows 12 months and one seven months or one cow for 77 months and one heifer, also three horses. They consumed the fodder from 10 acres of corn and 7 acres of good mixed hay, besides the green feed cut for the cows in the summer and fall months. One hundred bushels of corn and one ton of bran in the winter with the result that I sent to the creamery for the year ending Nov. 1, 1908, 21,130 pounds of milk, making 959.2 pounds of butter fat. Now for the past year to Nov. 1, 1909, I had five cows 12 months, one 8 months and one 7 months or one cow for 75 months and three heifers and the three horses. They consumed the silage in a 10x24 silo, 72-3 acres of corn fodder and 7 acres of good mixed hay with no other corn but what was in the silo and 1,400 pounds of cotton seed meal. I sent to the creamery this year 25,168 pounds of milk making 1,249.1 pounds of butter fat, mak- ing a difference in favor of the silo of 4,038 pounds of milk and 289.1 butter fat. I used the same quantity of milk in the family of seven and vealed the same number of calves both years. I would have felt paid if I had come out even in dollars and cents for the fine condition the cows came through the winter and extra amount of manure made. Now for expense: It cost me $10.00 in cash to fill the silo for machine and coal. For help I exchanged with my neighbors which did not take any more time than it would to take care of the corn in the old way and the corn was out of the way for wheat seeding. E. D. MOORE, Jr., Pataskala, Ohio. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In reply to yours of Jan. 19th, I notice my first year’s experience with a silo: I did not include the cash receipts as the price of butter and veal calves vary, but the pounds of milk and butter fat give the exact difference, but if you want the cash returns here they are, veal calf sold included: Total cash received year ending Nov. 1, ‘08, $269.57 Total cash received year ending Nov. 1, ‘09, $366.38 Yours very truly, E. D. MOORE, Jr., R. F. D. No. 4, Pataskala, Ohio. RUNS WATER INTO BLOWER. INDIANA Sino Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I received a letter some time ago asking for your cus- tomers to write articles on the use of ensilage. Now, I am practically a new silo man. I put a silo up last October and my corn was rather too ripe before we could get it filled, but we ran a stream of water in the blower all the time and we have the best feed I ever saw. We are feeding 100 head of cattle and have been for two months, and I have never seen cattle do so well in my life on any kind of feed. I just simply think that my silo has paid for itself this season. I have handled cattle my entire lifetime, and I believe a silo is the best invest- ment I ever made. Everything is so content when they get their fill of ensilage that they lie down and no running around or falling like they M. C. Ohl’s Angus Eating Ensilage, Madison, S. Dak. usually do this time of year. It is a comfort to take care of stock when they are content. I believe that a man ought to have a silo for every 60 head of cattle. I am sending you a photo of my silo and stock, which you wanted and you may send what you wish to pay for same. I expect to sell a lot of silos in this part of the country. I wish you could send me a man to help me a few days. I have had the promise of a man from Mr. H. C. Hargrove, but he has failed to come as agreed. Hoping to hear from you soon, I am, yours truly, M. C. OHL, Madison, S. Dakota. 90 HAS ORDERED HIS THIRD INDIANA SILO. InDIANA Sr1Lto Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In reply to yours of the 15th, I will say that I am using two of your Indiana Silos. These two silos more than paid for themselves the first year they were filled. Since I began using your silos I get just two times as much feed off of an acre of ground as I could before, and as I am in the dairy business, I have just doubled the number of cows for which I could hardly raise enough feed before I began using your silos. As silage is so much better feed than the dry feed we used to raise, that alone will pay for a silo in a very short time. I figure that my silage cost me just $1.20 per ton for raising and : & : so F Pi ; Winter Scene on Lyman Nelson’s Farm, Kanawha, la, putting into the silo. I don’t see how a man can get any cheaper feed than this. This winter, I am getting just $2.00 for every $1.00 I am put- ting into my cows. I have ordered my third Indiana Silo which I will put up this sum- mer for summer feeding as I can get along with very little pasture then. Last fall my cows would leave a good clover pasture and go for their Silage. I am right here to back every statement I have made in this letter to any one who may doubt them. Yours truly, LYMAN NELSON, Kanawha, Iowa. HAS BUILT A SECOND SILO. INDIANA SrILo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I will inform you what I think of the Indiana Silo. I think they are without any doubt the best on the market and so far as feeding silage I think that no man can afford to be without a silo who has forty acres of land or more. I have two Indiana Silos. I put one up two years ago and one last year and they don’t owe me one do'lar now. I used eight acres of corn last year and fed forty head of cattle and thirty head of horses without any other grain. I fed about ten ton of hay and this stock is in better shape than I ever had them before. I think a Silo is the most profitable building on the farm. I can’t say too much for the silo. Yours truly, ELI YODER, R. F. D. No. 38, Wellman, Iowa. 91 A TREASURE GREATER THAN A GIFT FROM THE GODS. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Soon after I got acquainted with our silo, which the An- derson people sent us five years ago or more, I found myself often say- ing that it is the greatest thing that was ever done for the farmer. That thought has never left me nor changed a particle. The man who has a silo has a wonderful treasure. When I carry the smoking hot ensilage around the rows of waiting cows these cold days I say, ‘Yes, its just as if the fabled Gods of Greece and Rome had come to the farmer’s relief and dropped this wonderful tank into his barn yard.” Now fill your barns to bursting with your splendid hay and stack the over plus, then long before the winds blow and the rains, mud, and snows come, cut the King of Crops, green, juicy, rich, every inch that stands above ground and pack it down nicely chopped in that wonderful round barn. What a delicious dream has come true. How rich you are; what months of luscious feeds are piled up in the handiest place in the world. No windrows of bleached corn leaves a foot deep along the fence rows; no butts of corn stalks three feet high standing and wasting all over your corn fields and in the way of next year’s crops,— all that waste of leaf and stalk is feeding the cows for weeks now and dropping in golden coin into the pocketbook day by day; no shivering men and horses hauling in the half wasted shocks in the snow and mud and rain, but all the old wastes even lying canned, now, ripe, rich and juicy almost right against the cows’ mouths. An enchanting vision realized; a different world from your boyhood’s; the Gods have been at Work on man’s behalf; a hundred tons of rich September canned for hungry February’s needs, which used to be all but wasted; nearly a hundred tons of hay saved to the mows or for the hungry spring buyers. A hundred tons very much like bank account so that a man who has a silo is a king. This is what the ages waited for but died without. Hurrah! We have it on our farm. Now imagine that the grippe has prostrated all hands and mows are empty, no one can haul in the stacks of hay. Why there stands the greatest thing on the farm with its row of doors right against your feed room. Draw on your silo. Now watch the greedy friends who used to have a big corn field ready and chose tc bleed you about one hundred and ninety dollars for your herd’s needs from January to May. How sick they get now-a-days when you tell them our silo has long since stopped that foolishness forever. Yes, the silo is it, and the silo farmer is a happy man and you can’t have our silo for a thousand dollar bill. C. H. McMILLAN & SONS, N. Vernon, Ind. PREFERS ALL WOOD DOOR FRAME. INDIANA S1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In reply to your letter I received a few days ago regarding the silo which I bought of your agent two years ago will say I like it just fine. I think it was the best investment I have made for some time. Your all wood frame for doors I believe is better than the steel. The acid from silage will rust the steel I believe where it will preserve the wood. Silage is a great deal cheaper than hay at $15.00 per ton. I think I saved the price of my silo this winter. My neighbors thought I was crazy for paying so much for a silo but they have come to the conclusion that they are alright. Yours respectfully, JOHN W. MATHES, Bondurant, Iowa. 92 SILOS AND THEIR PROFITS. InDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Silos have been in use in Europe and America many years, but did not come into general use in this locality until about ten years ago. Few farmers at that time knew what a silo was or what silage was used for. It was about this time that I with a few other neighbor farmers was attracted by the Indiana Silo, and was induced to buy one, and accordingly the first carload was shipped to our county. I erected it that fall on a circular concrete foundation near the barn, (should have been in the barn). It took four men about a day to put it up and put the hoops on and then we were ready to fill it. Using an ordinary Ohio cutting box, with blower, I use my own cutter and engine, and it never has cost me over 50 or 60 cents per ton to fill. I can grow the corn and put it in the silo for that. Now it is to the men who do not have silos that I wish to talk,— they think they cannot afford the expense, when it is in fact, laying down one dollar and picking up two almost immediately, for the full RENE ETT ° O. A. Morris & Sons and Some of Their Dairy Cows. cost of building the silo will be returned promptly the first winter, and again each succeeding winter. It is no longer an experiment, but a solid and settled fact from the actual experience of thousands of prac- tical dairymen and cattle feeders, that the use of the silo is both economy and convenience, and I cannot see why so many farmers hesi- tate to build them. Sell a cow or two or a steer if there is no other way to obtain the means. It was not until the silo came into use in this neighborhood that the feeding of cattle was made profitable, while now I know a number of farmers who do not like dairying, feed a bunch or two of cattle each winter at a good profit, each feeder giving the credit to the use of silage, it being succulent. It is next to nature’s food (grass), it is an appetizer and a conditioner. Now there is no reason why the average farmer of the Middle West cannot, or ought not to have a silo on his farm, whether he is in 93 the dairy business or raising steers and sheep, in fact, it is good for any animal on the farm and it will thrive much better for having it than any other feed you can give it. Of material for construction of silos we have brick, cement and wood. Of the three materials, wood is the best for the reason it is air tight and that is the secret of success in the use of the silo. A good silo built as the Indiana Silo is built will last a lifetime if put under shelter and hold as much feed as a large barn. Here is the sum and substance of the profits derived from the use of the Indiana Silo: 1. It produces fat more cheaply than does dry food. 2. Ensilage keeps young stock thrifty and growing all winter. 3. Ensilage is more conveniently handled than dry fodder. 4. It enables dairy cows to produce milk and butter more eco- nomically. 5. It makes steer feeding profitable where corn is high priced. 6. There are no aggravating corn stalks in the manure when silage is fed. 7. It is the most economical method of supplying food that ig succulent (next to grass) for the stock during the winter. In conclusion allow me to say that it behooves every farmer to look into the silo question and study it intelligently and you will agree with me that it is one of the most necessary adjuncts on the farm. O.A.MORRIS, Salem, Ind. GOOD FOR MAN AND BEAST. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Your letter received and to the contest I would say that our silo was a great comfort to us as well as to our herd. We think it is one of the greatest flesh, as well as milk producers. Our cows did better while the silo feed lasted. The only trouble with us was there was not enough of the feed to last all through the season. In the first place we did not get our silo up in time and the frost bit the corn, but all the feed was just the best. We are very well satisfied and would recommend the silo business to any farmer who wants to feed good feed to make his stock get fat and look nice. Hoping this may meet with your approval, I am, yours truly, MRS. G. M. WILSON, R. EF; BD: No, 9) Springfield, Ohio. 4 FAT HEIFER PREFERS ENSILAGE TO CORN. INDIANA Sr1Lto Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—After using my silo I bought of you last fall I am glad your agent insisted on me buying one. I find it a great saving in feed. I fed twelve head of cattle and will have feed until the last of May. I have a 12x24 silo. I fattened a two-year-old heifer on ensilage this winter. I broke up corn and put in the ensilage and she would eat the ensilage and leave the corn. My neighbor helped me butcher her. He said she was the fattest animal he ever saw. She was fed on silo feed and timothy hay. I realize I saved $92.00 and have feed in the barn nice and warm. Yours respectfully, WM. E. WOOLARD, R. F. D. No. 6, Newark, Ohio. 9 WORTH MORE THAN 115 ACRE FARM. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Three years ago I purchased a 150-ton silo from you. Up to that time my farm of 115 acres maintained fifteen head of cattle and two head of horses. Since building the silo I have been able by its use to keep forty- five head of cattle on my farm the year round and two horses no more ground, no more feed raised, but the corn goes three times jarther by means of a silo, because all of the stock, from close to the ground, all of the blades, husk and cob as well as the grain is saved and used, nothing at ali wasted, all eat up by the cattle. Everything in the stock line on the farm eats it, the chickens, hogs, the boys’ Billy Goat, horses, cattle, cows and calves,—I have even seen the dog eating at the ensilage Thus, the silo together with the gas engine and ensilage cutter, which cost me near $600.00 is worth more in earning power by the way One of P. D. Morris’ Money Makers. of profits than my farm which cost me without these improvements, $5,000.00, because the silo together with engine and ensilage cutter, enables me to keep 45 head of cattle and two horses instead of 15 head and two horses, The fact outlined will be verified by me and in addition can fur- nish several of my neighbors who will do the same. My wife was op- posed to me building the silo but you could not trade her another farm like the cne I have for the silo, engine and ensilage cutter, should you bind her to do without the silo, and I feel the same way myself. 95 You can put this together as you see best if the same will be of any service. I herewith enclose you the interior view of the stable. I havea picture of all buildings and silo together with stock and self, but I do net think it wouid suit as well as some pictures I have seen. Yours truly, P. D. MORRIS, Jersey Heights Dairy, New Martinsville, W. Va. SHEEP EAT IT GREEDILY. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. The eagerness With which farmers will take up with some “Gold Brick” or “Something for Nothing” scheme, and the indifference shown toward a high class proposition is surprising. For instance, the “‘silo,’’ so seldom seen, in fact is in most sections conspicuous by its absence. A few years ago after considering the question at some length, and becoming convinced that I could no longer get along without a silo I took the matter of purchasing up with several companies and soon be- came convinced that the Indiana was far and away above its competi- tors, a supremacy it yet maintains. The first fall the silo was filled from a field of corn that, owing to adverse conditions in planting time and throughout the season, was very small and late, wou'd not have reached maturity. There were 15 acres that would have husked about 300 bushels of corn at 35c per bushel, which would equal $105.00 estimated. The same when ensiloed made about 100 tons very good ensilage at $2.50 would equal $250.00. It cost $50 to harvest and run in silo. The expense to harvest, i. e., cut and husk, either by hand or with husker, is practically the same as to run into silo, with the advantage in favor of the silo, as the days are longer, ground in better condition, etc. Counting 350 shocks of fodder at 10c, twice their value in this case, and we have $105.00 corn, and $35.00 fodder, making $140.00 against $250.00, value of ensilage, not counting its added value of one-third in the better and more thrifty condition of stock, convenience of feed and the practical elimination of waste. Again, if we secure two tons of hay to the acre we are pretty well pleased, while with the silo it is no uncommon thing to secure 12 to 15 tons of better feed and stored in much smaller space. Land $100 to $200 an acre, and being satisfied with two tons of feed when we had just as well have 12 tons. One acre of hay will winter two steers. One acre of corn silage will winter four steers, and much better. Whether in the case of steers or the dairy often a loss without ensilage is turned into a nice profit with ensilage, and we find that of all our stock the sheep are the most greedy and the saving of feed and the thrift of the flock likewise striking. A user of ensilage needs to be careful of his statement or he is likely to be discredited. Some two years ago the president of the Indiana Silo Company called on an old schoolmate of the writer and told such wonderful stories concerning the silo that my friend turned him down. A few days afterward I came in contact with this friend and he asked me concerning ensilage. I told of my experience and aq the two accounts, as it were, tallied pretty closely, my friend bought an Indiana Silo and is an enthusiastic advocate of their use. It is possible with thin cattle to effect a daily gain of five pounds per head with good ensilage sprinkled with mill feed. This has actually been done on a 90-day feed to the writer’s knowledge. Doubting Thom- ases fall in line. (UNSIGNED). 96 LONG LIVE THE INDIANA SILO COMPANY. InDIANA Sito Co,, ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Yours or 1, 28, 1910, has been received and contents noted. In reply I will iry to give you a few facts and figures as to what my silo has done for me in saving and utilizing feed. First I will give you the cost of filling my 60 ton silo which holds 6 to 10 acres of corn. I have filled it with 6 acres and I have taken as high as 10, averaging 8 acres. First I will give you a statement of the actual cost of filling as follows: I am now estimating our average crop at 40 bushels per acre counting 18 shocks of 14 hill corn to the acre: Engine and cutter, 20c per ton.................0008. $12 00 18 hands, % day at rate of $1.50 per day........... 20 25 4 teams, % day at rate of $1.50 per day............. 6 00 Board of 18 hands, each 2 meals at 1623c a meal.... 6 00 ART oy iy be oifoy eae iW Bea saeee eee ane en ne en a ne Pee $44 25 I will now give you a statement as to the cost of handling this 8 acre crop as we formerly did: Cutting 144 shocks at 8c per shock................... 11 52 Husking 2%c per bu., 10c per shock, 144 shocks.... 14 40 Hauling and cribbing corn, 90c per acre............ 7 20 Hauling fodder, $1.50 per acre, 8 acres............. 12 00 PRO eGOStreOl si MallGliTIO’ © ce wake tees cer ooe eres aide $45 12 I will now try to give you my experience in feeding silage in com- parison with the old method. First I can increase the number of my cattle 40 per cent, from 5 to 7, and bring them out in the spring in better condition than I could the lesser number on the same feed used under the old method of feeding. I find my cows give much larger quantities of milk when fed silage than the old system and make butter of fine flavor and first class quality. I also feed my horses, brood sows and chickens silage. It has a laxative influence and keeps them in fine condition. Brood sows will suckle mere liberally. Chickens will lay more eggs (which is quite an item now). Another important item with me isrthe great advantage of having your feed converted into available manure of fine quality, at once ready to haul to the field and receive the benefit of it for the spring crop. I consider this a big feather in the silage cap. Another item of money saving is in utilizing the whole stalk, which is a bulky feed and stock will not eat near so much hay or fodder as if fed under the old system. I have almost enough hay every winter to pay for my silo over and above what we formerly did before we used the stalk. Another great advantage in preparing your corn in the form of silage is that you can get your crop off the ground in time for seeding wheat. Still another, your field is clear of the troublesome shocks to work around. Our ground is all disked and drilled evenly all over the same, no lapping of seed, no spots which are not seeded left for weeds to grow. Another important and money saving item is in the destruction of the wheat and grass crop by driving over it in hauling the corn and fodder off. I consider the damage at a low estimate to be two bushels of wheat per acre. In addition to that the exposure of man and team through rain, hail, snow and cold wind digging the fodder loose the damage is incalcula»le. I guess I have gone beyond the limit. It may go, let the results be what they will. I am not near done telling the advantages of a silo. 97 1 look back with fond recollections when James L. Hill and my son called at my home and sold me a silo. When I was in my 76th year I fed 25 cattle, four horses and a small bunch of hogs. The convenience of a silo enabled me to do it all myself. Long live the Indiana Silo. Yours truly, JOHN A. McCLELLAND, Laurelville, Ohio. WOULDN’T TAKE $1,000 FOR IT AND DO WITHOUT. InDIANA SrLo Co., ANDERSON, IND. I built an Indiano Silo in September, 1909, put in six acres of corn which I value at $30.00 an acre amounting to $180.00. The cost of filing amounted to $25.00 and I fed 8 ton of hay amounting to $56.00. That fed 19 head of cows trom November Ist till May ist. Half of these cows were giving milk and the cream in six months amounted to $570.00, calves $25.00, whole amount $595.00. The expense of filling and value of corn and hay was $261.00, leaving me a net profit of $334.00. Some of these cows which are dry, having been milked all John A. Miller’s Barn and Silo, lowa City, la. winter and are now fat for butchering, have been offered 4%4c for them. lf I did not have a silo I would have fed 20 ton of hay, 300 bushels of corn and four tons of bran, amounting to $460.00, leaving me a net profit of $199.00. Making that corn worth $63.00 an acre by the use of a silo. The profit of the use of a silo pays for it in one year. I would not take $1,000.00 for my silo and sign a contract not to build another one or to feed from another one. Therefore. I believe a farmer cannot invest his money to more profit than to build an In- diana Silo. Hoping there will be many Indiana Silos built this year, I am, Yours truly, JOHN A. MILLER, Towa City, Iowa. 98 MAGRUDER BROS. GIVE FIGURES. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In giving you the result of our first year’s experience in using the 14x30 Fir stave silo we bought of you last year will say this silo was erected by our farm force, assisted in part by a carpenter 70 years of age. Everything went together nicely. We filled the silo with yellow corn, well dented, the last week in August, the ensilage keeping well and was fed as follows, except about 20 tons still on hand, and as it did not seem practical to buy cattle to use this feed we covered it with wet straw well packed and will carry it to next season. 1909, Oct. 22, bought 27 cattle, 23,310 lbs. at $4.10..$ 955 71 Nov. 8, bought 15 cattle, 13,925 lbs. at $4.15........ 577 88 —-— $1,655 39 27 cattle on grass 30 days at .03 per head per day....$ 24 30 15 cattle on grass 15 days at .03 per head per day.. 6.10 180 shocks cut fodder at 10c (mo demand for it).... 18 00 3 tons hay (second growth orchard grass)......... 18 00 82 bu. cob meal (corn cost 55c delivered).......... 49 20 5,400 lbs. cotton seed meal at $32.00 ,cost delivered. . 86 40 Hi) tons corm: ensilage™ at $3.00 8.6 cisies ciscatew a: 2 wees esos 195 00 —— $ 397 65 Com. driving and lottage on 42 cattle............ 43 40 INCCOUE dite ms tOCKs MAGS. ei. sais nc Aelast = scsenses gins tele a os 2 80) >. 01.20 $2,024 24 Feb. 5, 1910, sold 21 cattle, 22,300 Ibs at bi4ac.................. $1,170 75 Heb. 19; 1910, sold 21 cattle, 19,860 lbs: at 544¢....¢...¢:.3.5- 1,042 65 $2,213 40 2,042 24 ans FES All UTC CRIP eM eased ieee Gli ocedh cs) saues sal’ s eecsr clo eSece salves 189° T6 100 loads of manure in barn at $1.00 per load.................. 100 00 Bikar tect MME cl chil (Ce Meer peeps at earch aad dascess vee, ono cr serv eeravers otek vad nate: Led LO: Ensilage made of corn yielding 45 bu. per acre or nine tons ensilage. It was our aim to make feeders of the cattle, not butchers. Yours very truly, MAGRUDER BROS. Goshen, Ky. BELIEVES SILO WORTH 40 ACRES OF LAND. InpDIANA S1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I put up one of your 12x24 Yellow Pine Silos in the fall of 1907. We commenced to feed silage December 6th and fed 8 two-year-old steers and 24 head of cows and young cattle till the first of May with only silage, oat straw ard fodder and then fed the 8 steers silage on clover pasture till the 10th of July and sold them for 5%c per pound. They averaged 1,433 and made us a good profit. Last year owing to the drouth our corn did not go in in as good condition and we did not get as good results but we wintered 30 head of cattle and got them out on pasture in good shape and we hope to do better this year. Will say that in our experience we consider a good silo equal to 40 acres of land added to any well regulated farm. Yours very truly, A. A. YOUNG. Darlington, Indiana. Se) SAVES $100 A MONTH. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I purchased from you last fall an Indiana Silo, 20x36, and filled it with corn and Soy Beans. This makes splendid feed for all kinds of stock. I have been feeding silage to from 75 to 100 head of cattle since December 3, 1910. The silo has saved me $100.00 per month, so it will Mr. Merry’s Barn and Silo, Hebron, III. not Owe me anything when it is time to turn the stock out. TI shall have another silo after a little and it will be an Indiana Silo. I enclose you a photo of my barn and silo, also one of 20 two-year- olds which are just freshening now. Yours respectfuly, M. W. MERRY. Hebron, Ill. MAY BUILD TWO MORE SILOS. INDIANA S1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I have been feeding cattle for over thirty years. I mostly fed them on corn and hay alone. Of recent years I have been feeding cotton seed meal or cake along with the corn with better suc- cess, but last year I put up one of your silos, 18x36, as an experiment. I fed my cattle on ensilage alone for a while until I got them fully used to it. I then weighed them and fed them on 1-5 of a bushel of corn a day along with the ensiJage for thirty-three days and weighed them again. and found that they had gained 94 lbs. per steer, a trifle less than three pounds per day. I fed my calves on ensilage alone and they are fat, so fat that I am almost persuaded to market them, although I did not intend to do so as I wanted to keep them over as I always have done. T am thinking of putting up two more silos this year as I am more than pleased with my experiment. I have never fed cattle with as little cost and as great gain in all my experience. Yours truly, GEO. W. WITT, Kane, Illinois. 100 UNCLE DAN’S OPINION. i InDIANA SiLto Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentiemen:—I have made my calculation on feeding silage in dol- lars and cents, outside of the fodder and hay that I fed in connection with silage, which would amount to $20.00. This amount I credited to 25 pigs that follow the cattle. This statement is the feed value of a silo to me. 80 ton silo. 8 acres corn, 12 tons per acre, 96 tons. $20.00 per acre, $160.00. 6% acres fill silo. 1% refills after setting three days. $2.00 cost of silage per ton. Silo feed to calves, average weight of calves 300 to 350 pounds, average cost of calves $12.00. Number of calves to consume 80 tons silage in 200 days at 20 pounds per day to calf, it would take 40 calves, at a cost of 2 cents a day to consume the 80 tons of silage in 200 days, at a cost of 60 cents per month and make an average of 500 pounds, the selling price $25.00 a head. (COST MOL MCalVieSias a5 «, ocials ancien accramenietene $ 480 00 OST MOLMES MOM era at tt satut eee cuouiie ¢ sh apyapedsetear eG 160 00 MotaAl COS Gur er a8 ta: cas airtel. tel deeruteas so O40 R00 Selling price of calves, 40 head, $25.00 $1,000 60 TOtall i COSb = .2 es. cine is sane Gi =. eygg cease 640 00 S acres! Of VCGOrn Nets... ss. 22. ke eas $ 360 00 DAN LOCK, Kokomo, Ind. SAW THE LIGHT AFTER TWELVE YEARS. INDIANA SILo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I want to write to you about the silo I got last year from the Indiana Silo Company. I am well pleased with the silo. I only feel sorry that I didn’t get a silo ten or twelve years ago. I would have made more money out of my milch cows because it saves so much more other feed and they give so much more milk by feeding silage than they do by feeding other feed. There is no better investment made than to put up a silo on a farm. Even if I had only 3 or 4 cows I would put up a silo. Yours respectfully, H. L. MEYER, Watseka, III. BETTER THAN GROUND FEED. Gentlemen:—Replying to yours of the 38rd inst., will say that we commenced feeding from our Indiana Silo built last fall on Jan 1st. Have fed 18 cows on silage and a little clover hay. Have, also, fed some to the horses and young stock. We have a feed mill, but have not ground any grain this winter. Our cows have done rather better than other winters when we fed them liberally on ground feed. We consequently feel more than satisfied with our investment in the silo. Yours truly, G. P. MERTEN & SON. Garner City, Pa. 101 COWS INCREASE ONE-HALF. INDIANA Srio Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I am today sending you a picture of my barn and silo which I received of you in 1907. The same went together in good shape and I must say that it is the best money maker I have on the farm, The silo is 14x24 feet and will run ten to .twelve cows. My cows are in better shape than when I had no silo. Will say that it will pay any man who has only a few cows to put up an Indiana silo. My cows make one-half more since I have a silo than they did before. Yours respectfully, O. D. Mourer’s Barn and Silo, O. D. MOURER, Greenville, Pa. Greenville, Pa. DON’T HAVE TO WORK IN RAIN. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—After two years experience of using the Indiana Silo and after studying on improvements of it the same length of time found this impossible cause. It is and must be successful. It is hard to give exact figures to show the profits by the use of a silo because it is not only the waste of feed you are saving but it also means saving work, especially in mean and rough weather to haul in the feed, and another thing, all your stock-feed, bran, etc., is all unnecessary by the use of a silo, so each one can about judge himself what he would save by using one. Everybody can do without one the way I did but no longer after he has had one. After the first one would be ruined for him by a fire in two weeks if possible he would have the second one on the road. I am very well pleased with mine and so is everybody else who has one I am safe to say. I close, respecting you. HENRY MONKE, Mt. Olive, Ill. TEXAS HEARD FROM. INDIANA StLo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In regard to the value of a silo, the valuation has never been told and the reason is this. You have green feed as good as the best grass, and any time of the year you want it, and when the grass is good and plentiful let your ensilage stand until the grass is gone and you can go back to the silo and it is as good as ever. The Taft Dairy has been running for about three years and since the use of a silo the profits have been large, but before, it no more than paid expenses. I will try and send you a photo of my barn, silo and dairy herd. Yours truly, H.H. MILLER, Mer. The Taft Dairy, Taft, Texas. 102 00'S8Z‘Z$ 49UZYSIN “DO ‘MN paeusey YyoIyMm 313329 pue og roe re Wert SGA baka ee a St EE” SE, ere pee Re DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD DO FOR STEERS BUT MADE $2,783.00 IN SPITE*OF- Ir. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I have made cattle feeding a sere for fourteen years but never until the past winter used a silo. I thought ensilage would do for dairy cattle but not for fattening cattle until your Mr. Foster of Carmel, Ind., a personal friend, convinced me I was wrong. I now wish to give you a few figures. Oct, 13, 1909, I bought 73 head of cattle in Kansas City, averaging 1,062 lbs., at $5.10 per ewt., at a cost of $3,985.95. They were turned on grass 18 days, then fed corn and fodder 38 days. They ate 30 Ibs. of corn opiece each day and gained 1% lbs. per day. Dec. 8th I began to feed 30 lbs. of ensilage per head, with 9 lbs. of ground corn, and 4 lbs. of clover hay. This we continued 114 days and 2 lbs. per day was the gain. After the ensilage was all gone they only gained 1 lb. per day on 30 lbs. of corn with 11 Ibs. of hay. I saved 1,800 bu. of corn by using ensilage. These cattle were shipped to the Chicago market on April 27, 1910. They averaged 1,360 Ibs. and brought $8.10, or $8,041.68. After count- ing a fair market price for all the feed these cattle and the hogs which ran with them have eaten, I have a net profit of $2,783.00. To say I am well pleased with the result is putting it lightly. I will put up another Indiana Silo this year. Yours truly, U. G. MICHENER, Noblesville, Ind. SAVES FROZEN CORN. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Two vears age last fall we purchased a silo of your company. The first fall we filled it with corn that was hurt some by frost and we found it was a little too green. When we got about four or five feet of the bottom it seemed to be too sour. The cows did not like it so well. The next fall we filled it when the corn was just right. The cows relished it much better. We have a half Jersey cow that has given 48 to 52 pounds of milk a day. She was fresh January 8, 1909, and had milk fever. We sent for a veterinarian, Dr. F. Miller of Fort Recovery, Ohio. He said when he got here that he wondered what would cause milk fever that time of year, but when he got in sight of our farm he saw the silo and then he knew what caused it. He said not to feed a cow ensilage for about ten days before freshening, when they give much milk, for ensilage made milk about the same as good pasture. She was fresh again this winter and she got along alright. This fall my last planting of corn was late and it was killed by frost, but we let it stand until it got dry enough to put in the silo. It made es good ensilage as we had last year. We give our cows all the ensilage they will eat up clean. I don’t know how we could get along without a silo especially for our milk cows. We feed our horses silage, too, two brood mares and our young horses and they seem to do well on it. I think it gives them an appetite. We have never kept an account of the profits off of our cows, but last year our cows averaged us a little over $81.00 apiece. They are just grade Jerseys. Our cream goes to the creamery. We have not much to say but what we say is the truth. Yours truly, D. F. MILLER, New Weston, Ohio. 104 DOESN’T NEED BUTTER COLOR. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I bought a silo from the Indiana Silo Company in the year of 1907. It is 14x24, the only place I could buy the staves that long in one piece. The Company furnished me zood material and filled their contract satisfactorily in every way. I filled the silo the same fall and fed the ensilage that winter and was surprised at the results in several ways. First, the cattle ate it up clean, which is not the case with drv corn fodder. I shred my fodder and the stock leave a third of it, while the same kind of corn put in the silo in a green state is eaten up clean and I get at the lowest estimate one-third more milk from the same amount of corn fodder fed in the old way. Second, it is succulent feed, equal to grass or any food in a green state and you have this green food at your command in the winter months when it is impossible to obtain such food. Third, my butter in the winter is that yellow color, such as we get when stock is turned on grass in the spring. I never use butter color, Fourth, I can feed so many more head of stock from fewer acres of Jand. Another advantage of silo filling with green corn is I have longer days and warmer weather and can get hands to fill the silo before the corn is ripe enough to cut up and then the corn is removed and the land is ready to plow much earlier than the old way of handling the crop. I have been using the Indiana Silo for three years and would not winter stock again without one. I kept an account of what my cows made during the winter of 1909 and found the eight cows averaged fifty pounds of butter a week and I only fed 500 pounds of bran with the ensilage. Before I used the silo the eight cows did not average twenty pounds of butter a week during the winter months. My advice to farmers keeping stock is to build a silo for the winter of 1910 and if they want the staves in one piece order from the Indiana Silo Company. S. M. ZINK, Christiansburg, Va. SILO MADE FARM EARN $64.90 PER ACRE. INDIANA SILO Co.. ANDERSON. IND Gentlemen:—In answer to yours of the 14th will say I think the Indiana Silo which I have filled now for the third season in succession cannot be beat. The winner of 1908 and 1909, getting $1.70 per hundred for my milk, I realized $64.98 per acre for my corn, besides the milk and butter I used for my family of six. I am beating that quite a bit this winter but cannot tell in exact figures until the silo is empty. The silo opens up fine with only a little waste on top. My cattle come through in good condition. I can keep more cattle on the same number of acres as there is no waste in the silage. The cows relish it and eat it up clean. I feed clover hay for roughage and a little oil meal. I do not envy the neighbors their job of digging fodder from under the snow. It is worth money to have our feed handy and ready to feed and will say your silo is a good silo both in material and workmanship, and only the best is good enough for the dairyman and farmer. Wishing you success, I remain. Yours truly, L. LEACH, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. 105 DO INDIANA SILOS PAY. INDIANA SILo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I will give my last year’s results of dry corn fodder and my first 100 tons of Indiana silage. The winter of ‘08-09 the average number of gallons of milk raised from 25 milking cows was 60% gallons per day. Ration, dry fodder, hay, brewery grains, 250 lbs. of No. 1 white middlings. In ’09-’10 the aver- age for milk to April Ist, is 66% gallons from 25 cows. Ration, Indiana Silage, hay, brewery grains, 200 lbs. of No. 1 white middlings. Results: Better milk, more of it, and better looking herd. Six gallons of milk profit, AG 2EG@i.% hs comic ceati sarees dee eee $ 1 26 Fitty pounds middlings.. profit, at. $34.00...%. ....cs0ee. sen 85 Profits each day from. Nove 1) ‘00sccc. .443% 2 onthe tee tw eae $ 211 Nov. 1, 709 to April 1, ’10—150 days—amounts to.............. $316 50 April is. yet to follOW,. 30: :GSY8.2.4 sc.u Gow em (au. tees soe se ee 63 30 Gain. Of 709-10 over: *08+09 4 ed ieee ern ke te toemee See eee $379 80 Cost. of silo; concrete bottom, and: root. . .3 6. tay chc eos one $300 00 Gain first year $79.80, one Cypress silo used one year. Why do I use an Indiana Silo? Because it keeps silage perfectly with its air tight seif draining mortised joints, and continuous wood door frame and ladder combined, there is nothing to rot. That is why I bought an Indiana. The Indiana Silo was, also, the cheapest of six other makes we considered. Isn’t that wnat the stockraiser, dairyman is looking for. What does it cost to fill a silo? Not a cent more than dry curing fodder. We hired an outfit blower and engine, had 74% acres of corn out, sowed one bushel and peck to the acre, cut it with hand. It took four men two davs, had three teams, two of our own, two men in field, one at machine, two in silo. So it takes four men the two days you are cutting and seven men when filling. T. MENZIES, Irwin, Pa. SILO PAYS 64 PER CENT NET ON INVESTMENT. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I bought an Indiana Si o in the summer of 1908, a 12x80, and cost me complete, foundation and roof, $210.00. I filled it with 5% acres of corn, and with the addition of 10 acres of corn fodder worth $4.50 per acre or $45.00, and 3 tons of bran worth $26.00 per ton, or $78.00, I fed eight head of cows and twelve head of young cattle, from the 15th of October to the 15th of March, and have enough ensilage to last to the first of June. I have sold $150 worth of cream per day from the cows, or $225.00 worth, and my young cattle have gained $15.00 per head, or $180.00, which makes a total income of $405.00 for five months. Deducting the cost of bran and fodder from $405.00—$123.00—$282.00, for 2-3 of the feed put in the silo, or an entire feeding value of $423.00, or $77.00 per acre for corn used in filling. | The corn used would have made 75 bushels per acre, worth 52¢ per bu., or $39.00 per acre, and fodder worth $4.50 per acre, makes $43.50 per acre, or $239.25 for the 51% acres, which leaves a balance in favor of the silo of $183.75, or 87 per cent on the investment. But the feeding value of the corn may be 20 per cent more than the market value, so we will give it that, or $287.10. Siill the silo paid 64 per cent on the investment. WM. W. LEMERT, Napoleon, Ohio. 106 MANURE SPREADER RUNS NEARLY ALL THE TIME. InDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—We have been feeding ensilage for four vears. We are highly pleased with the feed. We can’t praise the silo we bought of you too highly. We don’t see how we got along before we got the silo of you. We wouldn’t have the silo taken out of the barn and bind us to not put up another silo for five times what it cost. We have been feeding twenty-five head of cattle and colts seven months every year since we got the silo. We keep the manure spreader running nearly all the time. Now our silo is in the barn in the middle bent. The barn is ninety feet long, seven bents, three drive ways crossways of barn. We want another silo to keep more stock, to buy more land, to keep more stock, to make more manure, to raise more corn, to feed more stock, to make more money, to buy more land, to raise more corn, to feed more stock, to make more manure. I can’t send you a picture now. Will send one as soon as I can. Yours respectfully, EDWARD McPHEETERS. Fredericksburg, Ind. PUTS IN POOR CORN. ‘INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Yours of the 19th received and contents noted. In reply will say that I put up an Indiana Si.o last fall. It is 16x20 feet and rated at 80 tons. We filled it within six inches of the top, putting in 14 acres, or 322 shocks of corn. The corn was very poor, owing to the dry weather and judging it from the rest of the field which we husked the silo contained 450 bushels. Counting this at 60c per bushel makes $270.00 worth of corn. The fodder would have been dear at 4c a shock but at that it was worth $12.88. Thus, the silo contained . $282.88 worth of corn. On November 8th we opened it finding the silage had only spoiled about six inches on the top. We began feeding twelve head of cattle that averaged 861 pounds a head. They were fed all they would eat of the ensilage together with a little clover hay and about 20 shocks of little corn until the 5th of February when they weighed 1,065 pounds a head, a gain of a little more than 2 lbs. a day. These cattle had no shelter except the straw stack and wind brake. They were never under a roof while we had them and last winter was the coldest for years. After they were sold we still had a door and a half of silage left, so on February 21st we bought 8 yearlings that averaged 675 lbs. We will have enough feed to run them till grass comes. In addition to this we have fed three milch cows, three fall calves and 40 ewes this winter besides giving a little to the horses, hogs and chickens. In regard to actual profits in dollars and cents so much depends on prices that I can hardly say what our profits were. We sold dur- ing the drop in prices owing to the boycott. If we had kept the cattle 30 days longer I could have sold them for $6.00 per cwt. They cost $4.75. Then at a gain of 2 lbs. per day they would have sold for $400.85 more than they cost. Remember the silo only contained $282.88 worth of corn to start with. Is it necessary to say any more? I could write a volume on the benefits derived from the silo but lack of space forbids. Yours truly, PAUL MONSER, Harpster. O 107 A CLEAR GAIN OF $150 A YEAR. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In accordance with your letter received, a silo is worth a good many dollars. The best investment a farmer can make is by buying an Indiana Silo. It should be one of the first buildings a farmer puts up. Then the farmer can keep more stock. When I did not have a silo I had six head of cattle. I have now twelve head and next year Will have four more. As near as I can figure every foot in depth of my silage is worth at any rate $10.00. The more stock you have the more money you take in and the only way to farm is to have an Indiana Silo. Last summer as it was so dry my pasture was short. I had silage left and was glad I had it for that kept up the flow of milk. If I had not had it I would have been $100.00 out. Ever since I got my silo I gain every year. I would not farm without a silo. I can’t see into it how some farmers get along without one. I can’t. Wou!'d not sell mine. As I got my silo three years ago and could keep more stock I made a clear gain of $150.00 a year. Yours truly, HENRY BUNZOW, Two Rivers, Wis. SILO IN IOWA SAVED NEARLY TWICE ITS COST IN ONE YEAR. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—l1 figure my silage cost me $2.50 per ton put in the silo. Twenty dollars per acre for corn in the field and $40.00 for labor put- ting it in the silo. It took 18 aeres to fill my 120-ton silo, making the total cost $300.00, and I fed 44 head. Started in to feed silage the 10th day of November and have enough to feed until the middle of May. These cattle consist of 18 milch cows, one bull, 7 two-year old heifers and 18 fall calves. We fed the cows and bull 40 pounds per head a day at 14.c a pound equals 5¢ per head. The seven heifers 34 10s at 1%4c equals 3%4c © per head. The 18 calves, 80 lbs at 144¢, equals 10c for the 18 head. In addition to the cow feed we fed them one pound cotton seed meal. The meal cost per day for cows was 2%c a pound, or 45c a day for the 18. We didn’t feed any hay but kept a rack of straw in the yard for them to run to when we let them out, so you see by the above figures it cost me 444c per head a day. On the average my cows have done fine on milk all winter and the calves will do for veal. In fact, the farmers think that they suck the cows. TI would recommend a silo to all men. My silo has paid big returns on the investment, These figures represent what my silo cost me. The silo completed, foundation and roof, $300.00. I broke up 15 acres of hay ground for corn and would have had to cut and shock 25 acres of corn for dry feed, making a total of forty acres. Now then it only took 13 acres to fill the silo, so I saved 27 acres of corn that meant 40 bushels to the acre which equals 1,080 bushels at 50c per bushel, making $540.00. By tak- ing the cost of my silos away from it I have $240.00 to the good. Isn’t that enough in favor of the silo, and I doubt if the 15 acres of hay and 25 cut dry fodder would have fed my herd of cattle, so you see it cost me about 5c a head per day including straw. H. O. CHASE, Thornton, Iowa. 108 ROUND SILO AS COMPARED TO SQUARE, INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In the summer of 1895 we built in our barn a square silo that we used until two years ago, when we bought a 14x24 foot Indiana Silo of Yellow Pine. Will say that the using of that antiquated square silo, with its unfavorable losses, proved profitable to us, but vastly more profitable do we find using our Indiana Silo without any loss. Our 1895 silo was the first one ever seen here at that time and our neighbors coming to see the ensilage would say: ‘Well, sauerkraut is alright enough at times but not for every meal,’ and thought stock, too, wou!'d get awful tired eating this kind of ‘sauerkraut,’ as they called the ensilage, but soon had cause to change their minds after seeing how our stock thrived on it, and that we were not so much out of our minds after all. Now, right here, let us with emphasis say, that in our opinion from experience, no farmer, especially with a very small farm, should be without a silo and the Indiana Silo at that. A farmer without a silo cannot carry much stock or feed at a profit. A two hundred dol- lar barn with a silo is as great or better than a six hundred dollar barn witb no silo attached, in our opinion. The silo barn is not crowded with fodder and corn, has more room for stock. Can always feed in barn every day, regardless of weather. Summit Farm, Crouch & Pumphrey, Bethel, Ohio. This year we opened our silo about the 10th of November iast and found the ensilage fine and now are feeding 35 head of steers, 6 head of cattle (4 horses and a span of large mules), 50 large sheep, on ensilage and have 13 hogs running among the cattle doing well. We expect to place all this stock in the market by the middle of April fat and at a good margin in our favor. As you see, we are not confining ourselves to any one specialty in feeding, but promiscuous stock feeding with very satisfactory results. The silo we bought of you is proving first class in every respect as to material and workmanship. Enclosed you will find a photo of some of the barn yard at our farm. We will say our rough feed consists of fodder and shredded fodder. Yours respectfully, CROUCH & PUMPHREY, Summit Farm, Bethel, Ohio. 109 MANGERS ALWAYS CLEAN AFTER FEEDING SILAGE. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Yours at hand. I have been using one of your silos for three years. Would say that I would not be without one if I would want to keep and raise stock. As I am a dairyman my cows give a good flow of milk even at zero temperature. As the silage is a succulent food the cows relish it and will eat a good bit of hay or other dry feed which they would not do if it was not for the silage and the more a dairy cow eats the better she will do at the milk pail and the better she fills the pail the better she fills the dairyman’s pocketbook. I bought a silo of your company in 1907. I have found it very economical feed the first winter I used the silage. The summer of 1908 was very dry and the months of August, September and October were so dry that we did not get any fall pasture. I had a good supply of hay but no pasture in the fall. I had to feed some hay early in order to keep the cows in milk. I waited for rain and the rain did not come, but the silo man came along about the first of September and stopped at my farm and wanted to sell me a silo. I told him I had one and did not want another. He said it was always easier for him to sell a silo to a man that had one than to a man that had none. The Silo Paid for Itself the First Winter. I ordered the second silo from that man. I had enough corn to fill both of them that fall and some left and I know that if I had not built the second silo I would have had to buy more hay that winter to carry my stock through the winter than the silo cost me the first year and it is good for many years to come. About the Indiana Silo I will say this, that the one stave silo is the only silo for me as the silage is good from the top to the bottom. There is no leakage at any place as the stave runs the full height of the silo, but the short stave silo has some faults. Where the staves are joined they will leak more or less. Mine does and I have a good bit of spoiled silage along the sides of the K—— silo, but in the Indiana Silo I have no waste from top to bottom. I have had some trouble in zero weather. The silage would freeze to the staves, which no one can prevent. I take a feed out of the silo the same as at any other time and if any is frozen to the staves I take the fork and pry it off the staves and throw it in the middle of the silo and cover it up with-an old binder cover, and some old binder canvass. The frozen silage is all thawed out by the time I am ready to feed again. Furthermore, the cover will keep the silage from freezing. The steam of the silage will stick to the cover and make it air proof in cold weather and it is better for stock when it is warm in cold weather than when it is frozen. Do not cover it in warm weather. As for economy in feeding corn fodder the silage is the only way the stock will eat it clean without any waste. Shredded fodder is good feed but I can’t say how much feed there is in the fodder. I always had to clean the mangers when I fed shredded fodder, but when I feed silage my mangers are always clean. No matter how thick the corn stalks are there is never any left in the manger. I am getting sleepy so I guess I will quit for this time. If my writ- ing is any good to you use it, if not you know what to do with it. Yours truly, GEORGE LIEBO, Peru, Indiana. 110 GRASS AND WEEDS AND A LITTLE CORN MAKE GOOD SILAGE. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I am the first one to buy a silo of Lemay & Bevis, your local agents at Newton, Ill. Also the first to come west of Newton, there being six others sold to be delivered at Newton. I bought a 12x30 silo in February. I planted 40 acres of land in corn from which Farm Home of G. W. Corbin, Wheeler, III. I expected to fill the silo, but did not raise 100 bushels on the 40 acres. My corn was planted on very low ground and I did not get to cultivate it, as it rained all through the plowing season. It was, in fact, the wettest year I have ever seen here, which time has been 40 years. I had a fine crop of large thrifty crab-grass, some water grass and some few smart weeds, so I hardly knew what to do. I concluded as I had a silo that I would put the grass and weeds in my silo. I took my grain binder and bound the grass and weeds and a few scattering corn stalks on about 30 acres and cut it with an ensilage cutter and put it in the silo. I can say for a truth that there were not 50 bushels of corn all told put in silo. I began to feed silage the ist of January to 25 head of cattle, 9 head of cows, 8 head of two-year-old heifers and 8 head of yearlings. All but five of the cows had nothing but silage up to the Ist of April. I fed silage, also bran, oil meal and soy beans, to the five cows that were giving milk. As to the cattle other than milch cows I offered them a good grade of mixed hay (threshed) timothy and red top. They did not seem to care for the hay and would not eat it until they had eaten all of their silage, as I fed all together in a small manger. The cattle all seemed to relish the silage and it seemed to satisfy them. The result was that most of the cattle came through the winter in very good condition. I believe in better shape than if I had kept them on the hay which I offered them and was able to sell at $7.00 per ton on the 1st of March. If I had sold the same hay one month earlier I could have sold it for $8.00 per ton. At $7.00 per ton and 15 tons, which I believe would be the amount that it weuld require to feed all the cattle the same length of time that I fed silage, saved $105.00, with the cost of putting the grass in the silo, which would not be over $20.00 outside of my own work. aphe I don’t consider the stuff I put in the silo worth anything, if it had not been put up green, as I had all of the same kind of stuff left that I could use. I draw a conclusion that if the kind of stuff that I put in my silo gave me good results, I believe that good corn silage would do better. Also that it will enable me to save some of my summer’s work in case I do not have much but corn todder or grass for feed, as sometimes we Gry out here and also drown out, but nearly always make some fodder which is generally net worth anything for feed after it is cured up as it does not mature when either too wet or too dry but if it can be put up green it will make very good feed. It goes without saying that I am_ so well pleased with my experi- ence with my siio that I have ordered another one of the same size and make to be put up this summer. Yours truly, G. W. CORBIN, Wheeler, Ill. AN OLD TIME WINTER. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—The real old fashion winter shows no signs of abate- a ment. Shock corn that was scheduled to go through the shredder is largely standing in the field. Why not then put up a silo and avoid all this disagreeable work of digging out of the snow the necessary feed for the stock during the winter. With the silo you can prepare your winter feed during the bright days of September and when = driving snows and wind come your stock is in the barn eating silage and making good gains, while on the other hand if you depend on corn fodder you are compelled to haul it out of the snow and mud and scatter it about on the ground and while the stock are eating up the feed that should be putting on pounds of flesh they are just getting enough to x warm them up sufficiently to Frank W. Cotton. melt the snow on their backs, In this day of high priced feed farmers should do anything they can to grow a lot of it per acre. The only way to do this is by preparing to feed more stock on less land. There is no way by which you can do this so profitably as with a silo. Figure it yourself in 10 acres of corn. Ina silo you get 30 acres of feed at a cost oF $4.18 per acre with corn that will make 60 to 70 bushels of corn per acre, inaking 18 to 15 tons of feed per acre. Can you prepare your corn any other way so that you get as much in return to proportion to the cost of the feed? FRANK W. COTTON, Manilla, Ind. Note—Mr. Cotton fed “John L. Sullivan,’ champion Shorthorn steer calf at Fat Stock Show. 112 SMALL SILO SAVED OVER $300 FIRST YEAR. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Your letter received. You wanted to know the actual results in dollars and cents by the use of the Indiana Si.o, will write as I find it so with mine. I count it one of the largest money makers and money savers ever placed on a farm. In the summer of 1905 I had twenty-five acres of clover from which I harvested 40 tons of hay worth $7.00 per ton, making $280.00 and I paid out $17.00 for harvest hands. I also cut up 200 shocks of corn and paid 6c per shock to have it cut up, making $12.00. The fodder was worth 15 cents per shock, making $30.00. I had 200 bushels of corn which was worth 50c per bushel, making $100.00. Also, 100 bushels of oats worth 30c per bushel, mak- ing $30.00, and two tons of bran worth $22.00 per ton, making $44.00. All this I fed that winter and besides I bought two tons of hay at $7.00 per ton or $14.00, making the cost and value of my feed $513.00, which I fed to 25 head of cattle, 4 head of horses and twenty head of sheep. In the fall of 1906 I purchased an Indiana Silo, 14x24 which cost $125.00. I paid $25.00 to have it put up, making the total cost $150.00. I put seven acres of corn in it, which would average 50 bushels per acre and was worth 50c per bushel, making $175.00. I paid out $12.00 for hands to help fill silo. I cut up 100 shocks of corn, paid 7c per shock to have it cut, which is $7.00. The value of the fodder was 15c per shock or $15.00. All this making the cost and value of my feed in the winter of 1906, $212.00 and the cost of silo $162.00, including help, building of, and the silo itself. I fed the same number of cattle, horses and sheep as the year before with just as good results and less work. Therefore, the cost of my feed in 1905 was $513.00 and the cost of feed in 1906, $212.00, so I saved $301.00 on feed the second year when I fed silage. I have had my silo four years and would not do without it. This winter I am feeding 17 head of cows, 13 of which I am milking, and 9 head of young cattle, which I feed straw and silage and I feed my milk cows One pound of oil meal a day to each cow, with silage, and I also feed fodder once a day and I sell the cream. The 13 cows average me $15 per week, which is better than before I had the silo and with less cost, and it not only saves money, but saves time. It does not take long to feed silage. If you see fit to use this article do so, for I have given you the re- sults I have obtained by using the silage for feed. Yours very truly, EDWARD MORRISON, Lucerne, Ind. ONLY THE USER OF SILO CAN REALIZE ITS BENEFIT. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—After having used one of your silos for the past three years I desire to say that I regard it as the best paying investment I have made on our farm. I am able to produce from its use more pounds at a less expense than by any other process of feeding I have employed. By the use of the silo Iam able to get the grain cared for when the days are long and the weather is good, this being a feature that many farmers do not consider, but in my judgment it is a very important feature. The financial profit gained by the use of your silo can only be imagined by the person who does not have one and only realized by its actual use. Very truly yours, JAMES M. LARMORE, Anderson, Ind. WHY EVERY FARMER SHOULD HAVE A SILO. INDIANA SILo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gent!emen:—Here is a statement of what the silo has done for me, this being the first year I have had it. In October I tought four head of cattle for $72.00, fattened them and sold them in January for $125.00. I sold 15 Ibs. of butter per week at 28c while other years the cows stood dry. I also sold 9 tons of hay at $14.00 per ton, which otherwise I would have fed. I also fattened a nice barrel of pork with the milk. The silo has saved in all, this amount for us. Thanks to the silo,—every farmer should have one. Hoping this statement will be satisfactory to you and hoping to hear from you soon, I remain as ever. Yours truly, JOE Le BRECK, Jr., Oconto, Wis. A GOOD COMPARISON. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In August, 1908, we erected one of your 20x30-foot Yellow Pine Indiana Silos. The first of December 70 head of feeding steers were put in the barn and divided into four lots, two of 20 each and two of 15 each The ration of all of them consisted of ensilage, hay, shelled corn and cottonseed meal and was weighed and charged for at market price by a representative of the Department of Agri- culture at Washington. The results were very satisfactory, not only being greater, but were made at considerable saving as compared with the old way of feeding. By comparing two lots of fifteen each with a similar lot of 30 head fed on another farm on full dry ration, we found that the last men- tioned had eaten three bushels more corn per day and also more hay and weighed 55 lbs. per head less than the cattle fed on ensilage, when sold. The cattle were all sold the same day and at the same price. By comparing results of the two lots of 30 head each we found that the 30 fed on ensilage made a net profit of $442.45 over the others fed the old way. The results of feeding ensilage were perfectly satisfactory, so much so that we erected two more of your Indiana Silos on our other farms and are at this writing feeding 140 head on ensilage, shelled corn and hay. The hogs are very fond of the ensilage and will follow along the trough when feeding the cattle and will pick up that which is dropped or falls out of the trough and do much better after silage fed cattle than after dry fed cattle. Yours truly, J. H. MILLER, Yorktown, Indiana. R. F. D. No. 2, GOOD INVESTMENT; WILL BUY ANOTHER. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I have one of your silos, have used it one year and think it one of the best investments on my farm for the money it cost me. Would not think of doing without a silo. Expect to have another one in the near future. Yours very truly, PERRY CISCO, Rockford, Ohio. 114 KEEP COWS CHEAPER IN WINTER THAN SUMMER. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Received your letter and will say a few things in re- gard for a silo. We have been using an Indiana Silo for three years and would not be without one. Before we had our silo we could only keep two cows where now we have twelve cows and six heifers for we only have a twenty acre farm. There was only one silo in our neigh- borhood of which the owner was called a fool, for people didn’t know what a silo was, but when they saw how many cows he kept and in such good condition the people thought the silo alright. Since then there have been about forty put up within about seven miles of us, of which we were the third. Most all of these are the Indiana Silo, as thev find them the most satisfactory and they are strongly built, : We have a feed mill, but have not ground any grain this winter. Silo and Barn of H. Lungmus, Hamiet, Ohio. Our silo holds eighty tons, of which seven acres fill. We keep our cows cheaper in winter than in Summer for in Summer we rent our pasture five cents a cow a day. The man from whom we rent it has forty acres for them to roam over and in the winter we feed them the ensilage. We think in a year or two we will buy another one for sum- mer use as it is cheaper. Every person can figure for himself the profit he makes by keeping a silo. If he has a silo he can keep more cows than before, and if he keeps a dairy, and feeds ensilage his cows give more milk, so that’s where the profit comes in by having a silo. Every man that keeps stock ought to have an Indiana Silo. A man goes around in this neighborhood with his machine only charging twenty-five cents a ton for filling the silo. As for the other help, those of whom own a silo come and help and we help them back so we do not have to hire help. Enclosed you will find a picture by which you will see our silo has not a roof as experience shows that ensilage keeps better without one. Yours truly, H. LUNGMUS, Hamlet, Ohio. THE ACTUAL RESULTS OF A SILO. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Being a dairyman I speak from a practical experience on that line. The silo is indispensable for that purpose. In some cases it saves a crov that would otherwise be lost. For instance, last year the sea- sob was extremely wet and I did not get to plant my eight acres of bot- tom land in corn until June 17th. The latter part of September 1 put it into the silo, it being then in the roasting ear stage. I had one acre on a hill which was very ripe. I husked all of the ripe corn and cut the stover and mixed it with the green bottom corn and had good siiage. My green corn without a silo would have been almost a total loss, as the next week after filling the silo a heavy killing frost came which practically destroyed all green corn. In 1908 I husked 80 bushels W. D. Clore’s Silo, La Grange, Ky. of corn from 8 acres and let it dry on the ground, then hauled it in. Fed some to my stock hogs and crushed some and fed to my cows. I put the remainder, including stover, into the silo which made good silage for cows. One of the greatest advantages of the silo is that you can plant your corn late or early and market two-thirds in roasting ears and put the remainder in the silo and have good silage, or you can plant early, husk one-half and put balance in silo and‘have silage for dairy cows. By the use of a silo I make from three to four times as much feed as I can other feed on the same ground. I have now 65 or 70 tons of good silage which would have been almost destroyed by frost and worth probably $30.00. By feeding silage I make at least 20 per cent more milk. By selling two-thirds of the roasting ears I would realize about $30.00 per acre and eight acres would amount to $240.00 and have 60 or 70 tons of silage which will still make a valuable increase in milk. Silage is good for almost anything on the farm, from chickens to horses. My cows and calves eat it more heartily than any other feed on the farm. I have a six weeks’ old calf that eats it heartily. 116 The silo is valuable for feeding beef cattle by putting all of the corn and stover in it. These are only a few of the advantages of the silo. If a farmer wants to avoid the inclement weather and make his work a pleasure rather than a burden and save the expense of at least one hand in winter I advise him to invest a small sum in an Indiana Silo with the continuous door and I am satisfied that he will be pleased and doubly paid. Respectfully, W. D. CLORE, Lagrange, Ky. FEEDS SILAGE TO EVERYTHING. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen—1 have filled my silo three times and have found it to be a very beneficial store pit for feed for all kinds of stock and poultry. My silo is 16x30 feet. Twelve acres of corn, producing 50 bushe-s to the acre will fill it. I am feeding 30 head of cattle, 10 of which are 2 and 3 years old. The two year olds are in good fiesh and the 3 year olds are also in good flesh and ready for pasture or market. They will weigh 1,475 pounds per head, good for $6.00 per cwt. _ By feeding ensilage with straw and fodder seven cows will give % more milk. I have 13 head ranging from 10 months to a year old and are in good flesh which I know is due to feeding ensilage. Twelve acres of corn cut and put in a silo is worth 36 acres of timothy hay. In 1908 I sold my cattle for 4%c, in 1909 for 5%4c. The cattle that I expect to seil in the spring will be worth 6c. We also feed our chickens ensilage and they are healthy and in- crease the amount of eggs. One can see by the use of a silo anyone can greatly improve the weight and quality of their steers. By using straw for bedding I will make 45 loads of manure, (9 loads to the acre), will cover 5 acres which will yield 20 bushels of corn more to the acre. 20x5—100 busheis and at 50c per bu. will gain $50.00 on 5 acres. As ever yours, I. N. CLARY, Lucerne, Indiana. SILAGE IMPROVES APPETITE AND IMPROVES DIGESTION. INDIANA Srto Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—I praise the silo very highly and find it to be one of the most beneficial factors of the farm. It can be filled when the weather is nice and warm and days are of good length and your ground is clean and nice for seeding,—does not injure your ground by hauling out the corn,—is the most economical way of handling the corn crop at a small expense,—no waste of feed and a good bunch of feed always in the dry and handy and easy to feed. Ensilage is a feed on which cattle do well. It helps to give appetite, improves digestion and gives a good appearance to the cattle. Nine acres of average corn will fill a silo 14x24 and it will take three times nine acres of hay to take its place. A silo is the thing for a poor man as well as the man of wealth, also the small farm as well as the large farm. A man with 40 acres of land and a silo can keep as many cattle as a man with 80 acres without the silo. Yours respectfully, LUYE J. CLARY, Lucerne, Indiana. 117 WHAT THE SILO HAS DONE FOR ME. INDIANA Sito Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Six years ago I was living on a rented farm in Lake County, Indiana. I was paying big cash rent. Light crops that year made me wonder how I was going to get through, make the rent, and live. There was a large square silo on the place. I had not used it before because there was no machine in the surrounding country to fill it with, so I bought one and filled the silo, which was quite old. We put in about twenty- five acres of short, but fairly well eared corn. We fed that feed as a whole feed except oat straw, which was fed in a feed-rack. No other grain or hay was fed to forty head of cows and I sold $1,065.00 worth of milk. While it lasted the cows were slick but run down a little in flesh. The milk was good. We filled the silo the next year but fed dry grain and hay with it. which J think is better as silo feed is not a balanced ration alone. We then moved to Porter County and did not hava a silo the first year. It seemed as if we could hardly get enough feed from one hun- dred and sixty acres to feed twenty-five cows. The next year I got an Indiana Silo. I wintered 48 head of stock that year, 30 cows, 10 head of young cattle and § horses and had about 15 ton of hay to sell. The next year about the same. In the year of 1909 we sold $300.00 worth of hay and we will have plenty to feed 30 cows, 11 head of young cattle and 9 horses, 50 head in all. We find we can make a gain of two cans of milk a day (8 gallon cans) from 380 cows, over what we can make on dry feed. We feed three pecks of silo feed to a cow twice a day, and about half as much grain as we do on dry hay. We feed hay two or three times a week after they have eaten their silo feed. The cows are fat and slick and they shed their hair four to six weeks earlier than they do on dry feed. I think we will double the production of the farm in a few years with the help of the silo and the cows. The silo is the salvation of the dairy or stock man. It saves feed, makes summer, conditions in winter, makes the cows glad and pays the dairyman 100 per cent. H.. BY CAREY, Valparaiso, Indiana. BETTER HAVE CORN IN SILO THAN OUT IN SNOW. INDIANA SILo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In answer to your letter will say as I have no scales, I can’t furnish you weights, But I don’t need scales to see what my silo has done for me. For the Iast three years I have had nearly the same amount of stock. I always fed everything that looked like feed in shape of rough- ness, besides as much grain as I put in my silo this year. This year I have already sold $128.00 worth of hay and still have a good supply on hand, with twenty acres of stalks scarcely touched and silage enough to last till grass is knee high, and my cattle are at least worth $5.00 a head more as when I used the starvation plan. To say nothing of the three months strictly cold and bad weather this winter. As to the cost of filling the silo I consider it cheaper than digging fodder out of the snow all winter. Cost of silo is about the same as a barn that would shelter the same amount of feed. My silo is 16x30. We filled it with eleven acres of corn in 1% days. I am truly thankful for your square dealing. Yours truly, FRANK CERKA, Zearing, Iowa. SILO SAVED OVER $300 IN FIVE MONTHS. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—In regard to your silo I will say I would not think of keeping stock without one, after using yours for the past five months. I cannot say enough for the silo, I put four acres of corn in it. I have kept six cows for five months almost entirely on ensilage, have not given them two tons of hay,—four of the cows giving milk for which I have received $183.52. I have saved at the lowest five tons of hay at $15.00 per ton and $50.00 on sugar feed. Total saved on feed and milk $308.52. The cost of filling silo, rent of land and care of corn $50.00. I figure that the milk used in the house and manure made will pay for the care of the six cows for the five months or a profit from the six cows of $258.52. Yours for the silo, ALVIN CHURCH, Poplar Grove, III. SILO MADE FARM PAY FOR THE FIRST TIME. INDIANA SILO Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—We are so well pleased with the silo which we pur- chased from your agent last fall that we feel it our duty to write you concerning same. We filled the silo chuck full (125 tons) from 15 acres of silo corn and hegan to feed the silage on November ist and have fed from same every day since, this makes five full winter months’ feed for 25 cows, 4 yearling heifers and a large bull. The only feed used in addition was two tons of bran and what fodder tlie cattle would eat when turned out in the feed lot and we still have 10 or 12 tons of this silage left which we are feeding. We have milked from these cows on an average of 50 gallons of milk per day and are selling same in Columbus, O., at 20c per gallon. In other words the money invested in your silo has paid us the largest return of any investment we have ever made on the farm and we would not do without it if it would actually cost us five times the purchase price. The only regret is that we did not purchase the silo sooner as this is the first year that the farm itself has been a paying invest- ment. Yours very truly, THE CAPITOL DAIRY FARM CO. J. H. METCALF, Pres., Columbus, O. a THE SILO AND A RETAIL DAIRY MAN. InptANA S1Lo Co., ANDERSON, IND. Gentlemen:—Answering yours of the 19th inst. would say that our experience from the use of the Indiana Silo dates back to the fall of 1907 and it has been more than satisfactory and highly profit- able to us. We were in the retail milk business then and our books show fol- lowing local conditions and the handsome profit we saved to start in with: Sept., 1907.—Clover hay not to be had. Corn very scarce and high. Timothy hay held at $18.00. Without a silo we required not less than forty-five tons of hay to carry us to grass. A grajn ration to balance the timothy easily ran our feed bill up to more than what our milk would sell for. AG tons hay at $18 O0s ick xe sws sineies Hee eh ats ewnitigns + hae s woe ely $810 00 119 With ensilage We used 12 tons for noon feed; 12 tons at $18.00.. 216 00 Gorn