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A BOOK ON
SILAGE
3s
FW.WOLL,
Assistant Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Wisconsin.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
N OF CONp Co Rig NN we GY v. Y \
DEC.19 1895}
/ /
/> «Od
CHICAGO: Ranp, McNatty & ComMPANyY. 1895.
ce
.
Copyright, 1895. by Rand, McNally & Co. .
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION, - : 3 : 5
CHAPTER I.—SILAGE CROPS,
A. Indian Corn, - Development of the Gorn plait Varieties to be planted for the Silo, : Methods of Planting Corn, - Thickness of Planting, Planting in Hills or in Drills, Sowing Corn Broadcast, - Preparation of Corn Land, - B. Clover, - - - Time to Cut Clover for the Silo, C. Other Silage Crops, -
CHAPTER IT.—S11os, : :
General Considerations, - Descriptions of Different Kinds of Silos, - 1. Pits in the Ground, - 2. Silosin Barns, - - 3. Separate Silo Structures, A. Wooden Silos, - : Circular Wooden Silos, = : B. Stone or Brick Silos, - C. Grout Silos, - . - : D. Stave Silos, - - - E. Metal Silos, - - - F. Silo Stacks, - - = Preservation of Silos, - - - Cost of Silos, - - - - :
be > TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.— SinaGE,-- -
Filling the Silo, - : : Cutting the Corn in the Field, = Whole vs. Cut Silage, - - Siloing Corn ‘‘ Ears and All.’ The Filling Process, - Fast or Slow Filling. - Covering the Siloed Fodder, — -
Dry Silage, - - .
Clover Silage, - :
Freezing of Silage,
Cost of Silage, - -
Chemical Composition of Silage,
The Relation of Moisture and Acidity in Silage,
Sweet vs. Sour Silage, = Digestibility of Silage, - = Losses of Food Materials in the Silo, -
Losses in Field-Curing Fodder Corn,
Necessary Losses in the Silo, = Necessary Losses in Siloing Clover,
CHAPTER 1V.— FEEDING OF SILAGE, Silage for Milch Cows, Silage for Steers, - : - Si‘age for Horses, - Silage for Sheep, - : : 5 Silage for Swine, : Silage for Poultry,
CHAPTER V.—COMPARISON OF SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS,
1. Economy of Production, - : Corn Silage vs. Roots, - Corn Silage vs. Hay, - - Corn Silage vs. Fodder Corn, - 2. Comparative Feeding Experiments, Corn Silage vs. Roots, - Corn Silage vs. Dry Roughage,
CHAPTER VI.— THE SILO IN MODERN AGRICULTURE,
PAGE 93 93 93 98
102 105 107 108 113 115 117 118 120 121 125 129 131 131 139 141
143
144 151 153 156 160 162
164
164 164 167 169 170 170 174
180
INTRODUCTION.
The history of the silo dates back to an- tiquity. Ancient writers speak of the practice of burying grain in underground pits to save it for future use or to hide it from their ene- mies, and the evidence at hand goes to show that semi-barbaric peoples in the different parts of the world have known and practiced this method. Green forage was preserved in the same way in the early history of the races of Northern Europe, notably in Sweden and the Baltic provinces, where the uncertainty of the weather and the low summer temperature ren- dered difficult the proper curing of the hay. It was not, however, until toward the middle of the present century that the practice of pre- serving green fodder by means of pits in the ground became more known. The method was especially practiced in central Europe, where large quantities of green leaves and tops were available every fall in the sugar-beet districts ; also green forage, such as Indian corn fodder, green clover, grass, etc., was treated by this method ; the fodder being placed in pits ten to
twelve feet square, or larger, and as many feet (7)
8 INTRODUCTION.
deep; these were often lined with wood, and puddled below and at the sides with clay. The fodder was spread evenly in the pits, and well trampled down; when the pit was full the whole was covered with boards and a layer of earth one to two feet thick ; such pits would hold nearly ten tons when full. It is stated that the silage thus obtained ‘‘remained green and was well liked, even by sheep.’ This practice slowly spread; in the sixties over 2000 tons of Indian corn was thus made into silage annually in a single small German province where dairying is an important industry.
One of the earliest advocates of the practice was M. Reihlen of Stuttgart, Germany. His communications on the subject gave an impetus to a large amount of experimentation and study along this line, both among German and French farmers. The French farmer, Auguste Goffart, whose name by most writers has been connected with the origin of silage, in 1877 published his book, ‘‘Manual of the Culture and Siloing of Maize and other Green Crops,’’ which book is the first monograph on the subject ever pub- lished, and embodies the experience and results of twenty-five years’ study of the problem by the author. While Goffart has no claim to priority in inventing the method of siloing ereen fodders, he perfected and applied it on a large scale, and, in publishing the results of his experience, brought the subject to the general
INTRODUCTION. 9
attention of farmers ; he may, therefore, justly be called the ‘‘ Father of Modern Silage.”’
The earliest mention of the subject in the United States was through accounts of Euro- pean experience in our agricultural press; the first complete description of the system was given in a paper on ‘*“‘The French Mode of Curing Forage,’’ published in the Annual Re- port of the United States Department of Agri- culture for 1875. Goffart’s book was translated in 1879, by Mr. J. B. Brown of New York; This translation, as well as Dr. J. M. Bailey’s ‘¢ Book of Ensilage,’’ published in 1880, brought the subject of silos and silage to the general attention of American farmers, and the system soon found its enthusiastic adherents in the United States. Since that time a wave of silo discussion and silo building has spread over the whole continent, and, as a result, we find to-day silos practically in every State in the Union, thousands upon thousands being filled each year with green corn and clover, furnish- ing farm animals with a palatable, succulent feed through the winter and spring.
The earliest silo in the United States is said to be that built by Mr. F. Morris of Maryland, in 1876. The number of silos in this country at the present time can not be stated with cer- tainty in the absence of official or other reliable statistics on the subject; but careful estimates— which, from the nature of things, are but good
10 INTRODUCTION.
guesses — place the number at 50,000 or more. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wis- consin, and all other States where dairying is an important industry, each have numbers ranging from several hundreds up into the thousands. We find silos in Maine and in California, in Washington and in Georgia, in the North and in the South. They are at the present most abundant where the dairy industry is of prime importance; but wherever stock raising is fol- lowed we may, in general, expect to find them. In England, where the silo was introduced a little later than in the United States, there were only six silos in 1882; but according to official statistics the number was 600 in 1884, 1183 in 1885, 1605 in 1886, and 2694 in 1887. No later statistics are available. English farmers have the reputation of being, and doubt- less, as a rule are, more conservative in the changing of old methods or in the adoption of new ones than their American cousins; we can not, therefore, consider the figures given an overestimate of the present number of silos in the United States.
Unwarranted claims for silage were often made during the early days of the silo move- ment by enthusiasts in this country and abroad. A German agricultural writer pre- dicted the day as likely to come when dry hay would only be obtainable in drug stores. While no American writer or speaker, to
INTRODUCTION. 11
my knowledge, was so carried away by his enthusiasm, excessive statements and reports were, nevertheless, often indulged in, which could not stand the light of further experience and investigation. The process of siloing for- age, aS we have seen, is practically as old as hay-making; but it is only during the last couple of decades that the process has been systematically studied and perfected. Thanks to the zealous work of the agricultural experi- ment stations in this and other countries, and to the mass of practical experience accumulated, our store of definite knowledge on the subject has been enriched, and many problems previ- ously standing in the way of success have been solved. The siloing of green fodders is no longer an experiment; the results may be fore- told with as much certainty as in case of any industry depending on the action of ferments. With our present knowledge of the subject, we therefore believe that we can place the silo where it belongs and give it its due importance.
The effort of the author will be to give, in the following pages, a plain and accurate account of the most important facts in connection with silage, and to furnish the beginner with such information concerning the building of silos, the making of silage, and its proper feeding, as will enable him to understand the important features of the method, and to adopt it in his system of farming.
12 INTRODUCTION.
A few definitions of the terms used in this book may be in order at this place.
In the modern meaning of the word, a silo signifies any air-tight structure used for the preservation of forage in a succulent condition. The feed taken out of the silo is silage form- erly and originally called ensilage). For the process of preserving fodders in a silo, several verbs are used by writers on agricultural topics and are given in our standard dictionaries ; among these the author prefers the verb, ¢o silo; we thus silo corn, clover, etc., and the product is corn silage, clover silage, etc. The term siloist, a farmer making and feeding Silage, is occasionally met with, and has also sometimes been used in this book. The dis- tinction made by some writers between silage, the feed, and ensilage, the process by which silage is made, is one rarely met with outside of books. By common usage, the prefix en has now been dropped in ensilage, the term silage having been generally adopted by farmers and agricultural writers.
According to American custom, the term corn, spoken of in this book, means Indian corn, or maize (Zea Mays), and corn silage, silage made from Indian corn; fodder corn means the whole corn plant grown for forage, and corn fodder or corn stalks (stover), the husked plant grown for the sake of the ears,
MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
CHAPTER I.—SILAGE CROPS.
A. INDIAN CORN.
Indian corn is, above all other plants, the main silage crop in our country, and is likely always to remain so. <A book on silage for American farmers is therefore of necessity largely a description of the preparation of the corn crop for the silo, and the feeding thereof. In view of this fact, we shall discuss in the fol- lowing pages, first of all, the making and feed- ing of corn silage, and then take up other silo crops, according to their importance.
Development of the Corn Plant.
In order to obtain a correct idea of the corn plant, it is necessary to examine its life history somewhat in detail. A Kernel of corn, planted in a sufficiently moist and warm soil, will sprout within four to six days, sending out the radicle, growing downward, and the plumule,
from which the different organs of the plant (18)
14 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
gradually develop. Thestarch, albuminoids, and ash materials in the corn germ, and in the rest of the kernel, furnish the young plant with nour- ishment until it is sufficiently developed to draw upon the soil and the air for the elements required for the upbuilding of its structure and of the various organs essential to its life and to the reproduction of the species.
The most exhaustive study of the life history of Indian corn has been conducted by the Ger- man scientist, Doctor Hornberger (published in 1882). Weshall here briefly give some of the main results of his investigation, bearing directly on the growth of Indian corn from the early stages till maturity. Analyses were made once every week; the plants analyzed on June 18th were 6 to 7 inches high; the last sam- ple was taken on September 10th, when the corn was almost ripe. The percentage composition of the dry matter of the different samples was shown in the following table.
We notice from this table that the composi- tion of the dry matter of the fodder corn varies greatly with the season. The young plant is relatively rich in mineral matter, crude pro- tein, amides, and crude fat; it is relatively poor in crude fiber and in nitrogen-free extract (starch, sugar, etc.). The nitrogenous (flesh- forming) constituents predominate in the early stages of growth, and the non-nitrogenous (heat-producing) in the latter stages; the nutri-
SILAGE CROPS. 15
tive ratio (i. e., the proportion between flesh- forming and heat-producing nutrients), there- fore, widens as the plant develops.
PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION oF Dry MATTER OF SAMPLES oF FopDER CoRN.
Per Cent| Min- Starch Date. Water in| eral Crude | Crude | Sugar, | Crude | Am- Samples | Matter.} Protein.| Fiber. etc. Fat. | ides. mune. 18.3)... .: DAO OOPS dis dit: \Ssracers Sec ars etol) Peo oo. et (o.40 125.17 | 14.82 | 41.67 | 3.19 | 8.05 July 2..| 90.27 | 7.74 | 27.21 | 21.06 | 40.72 | 3.02 | 8.94 3 9..| 89.30 | 8.35 | 24.90 | 22.78 | 41.04 | 2.29 | 9.40 ‘* 16..| 89.44 | 8.15 | 22.94 | 22.92 | 48.34 | 2.26 | 8.18 23 88.37 | 6.385 | 17.82 | 24.43 | 49.60 | 2.03 | 6.05 so 30. .| 88.09 | 6:02.) 15.14 | 24.95 | 61.41 | 2.07 | 5.26 Aug, 6..| 88.25 | 5.58 | 13.12 | 26.23 | 58.23 | 1.55 | 5.05 < 18..| 88.07 | 5.31 | 12.16 | 26.26 | 54.55 | 1.28 | 4.06 7 20 86.02 | 4.83 | 10.71 | 25.62 | 57.33 | 1.18 | 4.08 CN AGES (ian 4.72 | 10.45 | 25.19 | 58.15 | 1.05 | 4.57 EUS is 3S e'rws 4.30 | 10.08 | 23.37 | 60.45 | 1.43 | 8.89 «© 10...) 80.45 | 4.29 | 9.67 | 22.63 | 61.52 | 1.60.| 2.80
The percentages of water, ash, protein, and amides decrease, and those of nitrogen-free ex- tract and crude fiber increase as the plant grows older. The changes occurring in the composition of plants during their growth, in the majority of cases, follow this general law; it will, therefore, not be necessary to give re- sults as to the changes in the composition of other silage crops with increasing age of the plants.
Considering next the total quantities of food materials found in fodder corn by Hornberger, at the different stages of growth, we have the following table:
16
MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
YIELD oF Foop INGREDIENTS, IN GRAMS.*
Green 1000 Plants Contained DATE ae Dry sh. ae Crude pee Crude| Am- plant. | Matter. Fiber. | etc. | Fat. | ides. SMe Sela. 2. oe 06) 44.8|-, ASs Tl: oes Bee ee eee 15.3 ey ede 4.7 .50| 42.6) 142 | 89.8] 210) 16.1) 40.6 sully. 23.-\ eed 2.1/| 161); 566| 488] 847) 62.8) 186 ote celine 4.1 | 342 | 1020 | 933 | 1681) 94. | 385 bees Nias ha’ >) 8.3 | 674 | 1898 | 1896 | 3585) 187 | 677 © 23.../ 161 | 18.8 |1190 | 3249 | 4581 | 9301) 380 {1136 “© 30...| 276 | 32.8 |1978 | 4972 | 8194 |16884) 679 1727 Aug. 6...| 468 | 55.0 |3069 | 7215 [14420 |29266) 851 |2780 © 13...| 565 | 67.4 18576 | 8192 |17692 |36746| 865 |2735 «* 20...| 591 | 82.6 |8991 | 8848 |21164 |47357| 974 13369 Ce a Pe clean ae 108.7 |5131 {11369 |27394 |63232)1148 |4970 Sept. 3...]....../121.2 6215 12218 (28311 |73247/1729 |4722 “« 10...1 611 [119.4 15120 11554 |27023 |73473/1906 |8245
*1,000 grams equal
2.2 lbs. avoirdupois.
Professor Ladd, in 1889, in a very exhaustive study of the corn plant, analyzed fodder corn cut at five different stages of growth, from full tasseling to maturity. The results obtained will nicely supplement the preceding data.
CHEMICAL CHANGES IN THE CORN CROP.
YIELD PER ACRE.
Gross Weight Water in Crop Dry Matter
“eee eee eeeeee ee ef ® e+ eee
©) 2) 0' 0) R)-@ 6 'e 6 8 ip ee ‘a. /9
Nitrogen-free Extract (starch, sugar, etc)...... Crude Fat
a ae een wie Orem | See e, elim im
Tas- | seled, July 30.
‘Pounds |
18045
Silked,| Milk, Aug. 9. Aug. 21)
Pounds |Pounds 25745 |32600
22666 27957 3078
4645 201.3
232.2 436.8
478.7 872 .9)1262.0 1399.3
2441.3
Glazed,| Ripe, Sept. 7 |Sept. 23
Pounds | Pounds
82295 |28460
25093 |20542 7202 | 7918 302.5) 364.2 643.9) 677.8 1755. 9)1784.0
4239 .8)/4827.6
167.8! 228.9
260.0) 314.3
The data given in the preceding tables show | how rapidly the yield of food materials in-
SILAGE CROPS. 17
creases with the advancing age of the corn and also that the increase during the later stages of growth comes largely on the nitrogen-free extract (starch, sugar, etc.). A number of American experiment stations have determined the increase during the stages previous to maturity, with the average results shown in the following computation:
INCREASE IN Foop INGREDIENTS FROM TASSELING TO RIPENESS.
| Gainin per cent | Stage of Maturity. | between first and last cutting.
EXPERIMENT Variety. ee Se SoS Z STATION. ; First Last |pSisolse| Sa | Cutting. | Cutting. QS\RS|/FE| 55 | Slay | oF Cornell,N.Y.|Pride of the | North.... Bloom |Mature 10 90 129) 169 al ‘Pride of th» Nearly | | North .... fs mature 217 134 374; 300 Geneva, N.Y.|King Philip.|Tasseled|Mature 389183335) 462 New Hamp.jAv.of4Var.| “ Glazed 112) 50) 84| 130 Pennsylvania Av.of 10 Var. 2 Mature 155) Vermont. Av. of 2 Var. - Glazed 122) 50 7h ! e Bloom oe 204 ia Averages of | At ae 6 paces 193) 98.2 30| 265
We thus find that the largest amount of food materials in the corn crop is not obtained until the corn is well ripened. When a corn plant has reached its total growth in height it has, as shown by the results given in the last table, attained only one-third to one-half the weight of dry matter it will gain if left to grow to maturity ; hence we see the wisdom of post-
poning cutting the corn for the silo, as in 2
18 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
general for forage purposes, until late in the> season.
The tables given in the preceding, and our discussion so far, have taken into account the total, and not the digestible components of the corn. Early German digestion work goes to show that the digestibility of plants decreases as they grow older; the following average digestion coefficients for green corn, obtained in American digestion experiments, embody all work done by our experiment stations on this point up to date; the computation is made by Professor Lindsey of Massachusetts experi- ment station.
DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS FOR GREEN DENT FODDER CorRN.
No. of | Dry | Crude | Ciude | N-free | Ether STAGES OF GROWTH. | Trials. |Matter.|Protein| Fiber. |Kxtract|Extract
Tmmature....:<.¥.25) 1 68 66 67 rg 68 mpi oe es beeen 9 70 61 64 76 78 Glazing. Sos. s<os5.2% i) 67 54 51 75 78 MI aEE Sy. scott srecs 6% 4 65 51 55 72 73
It will be noticed that there is a slight decrease in the digestibility of the dry matter and a marked decrease in that of crude protein and crude fiber with the greater maturity of the fodder. The preceding trials were made with different lots of fodder, so that they can only be compared on account of the fairly large number of trials made in each group.
Results of other trials corroborate the con- clusion drawn that older plants are somewhat
SILAGE CROPS. 19
less digestible than young plants. There is, however, no such difference in the digestibility of the total dry matter or its components as is found in the total quantities obtained from plants at the different stages of growth, and the total yields of digestible matter in the corn will therefore be greater at maturity, or directly before this time, than at any earlier stage of srowth. Hence we find that the general prac- tice of cutting corn for the silo at the time when the corn is in the roasting stage, is good science and in accord with our best Knowledge on the subject.
Another reason why cutting at alate period of growth is preferable in siloing corn is found in the fact that the quality of the silage made from such corn is, as we shall see later on, ereatly better than that obtained from green immature corn.
Varieties of Corn to be Planted for the Silo.
The varieties to be planted for the silo must differ according to local conditions of climate, soil, ete. The ideal silage corn, according to Shelton, is a variety having a tall, slender, short-jointed stalk, well eared, and bearing an abundance of foliage. The leaves and ears should make up a large percentage of the total weight, and the yield per acre should be heavy. The lower leaves should keep green until the
20 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
crop is ready to harvest, and it is desirable to have the plant stool well and throw out tall grain-bearing suckers. A silage variety should mature late, the later the better, so long as it only matures, as a long-growing, late-maturing sort will furnish much more feed from a given area than one that ripens early.
In the early stages of siloing corn, in our coun- try, the effort was to obtain an immense yield of fodder per acre, no matter whether the corn ripened or not. Large yields were, doubtless, often obtained with these big varieties, although I doubt that the actual yields ever came up to the claims made. Bailey’s Mammoth Ensilage Corn, ‘if planted upon good corn land, in good condition, well matured, with proper cultiva- tion,’? was guaranteed to produce from forty to seventy-five tons of green fodder to the acre, ‘Just right for ensilage.’? We now know that the immense Southern varieties of corn, when grown to an immature stage, as must neces- sarily be the case in Northern States, may con- | tain less than ten per cent of dry matter, the | rest, more than nine-tenths of the total weight, | being made up of water. This is certainly a | remarkable fact, when we remember that skim- milk, even when obtained by the separator pro- cess, will contain nearly ten per cent of solid . matter.
In speaking of corn planted so as to be cut for forage at an immature stage, Professor
SILAGE CROPS. mil
Robertson of Canada said, at a Wisconsin Farmers’ Institute, ‘‘ Fodder corn sowed broad- cast does not meet the needs of milking cows. Such a fodder is mainly a device of a thought- less farmer to fool his cows into believing that they have been fed, when they have only been filled up.’? The same applies with equal strength to the use of large, immature Southern varieties for fodder, or for the silo, in Northern States.
In comparative variety tests with corn, Southern varieties have usually been found to furnish larger quantities per acre of both green fodder and total dry matter in the fodder, than the smaller Northern varieties. As an aver- age of seven culture trials, Professor Jordan thus obtained the following results at the Maine experiment station.
COMPARATIVE YIELDS OF SOUTHERN CORN AND MAINE FIELD CoRN AS GROWN IN MAINE, 1888-1893.
SOUTHERN CORN. MAINE FIELD CorRN.
Dry Digestible Dry Digestible = H Substance. | Matter. = Ki Substance. | Matter. Se | Per P 33 | p P H er tw er , er ee Gents eater ees (Cent ean), Uhe
Maximum 46,340 | 16.58 | 6,237 | 69 | 3,923 | 29,400 | 25.43 | 7,064 | 78 | 4,945 Minimum) 26,295 | 12.30 | 3,234 | 61 | 2,102] 14,212 | 13.55 | 2.415 | '70 | 1,715 Average..| 34,761 | 14.50 | 5,036 | 65 | 3,251 | 22,269 | 18.75 | 4,224 | 72 | 3,076
It will be noticed that the average percent- age digestibility of the dry substance is 65 per cent for the Southern corn, and 73 per cent for the Maine field corn, all the results ob-
22 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
tained for the former varieties being lower than those obtained for the latter. It is of importance to examine the detailed results of digestion experiments with these two kinds of fodder. The average digestion coefficients ob- tained in trials at the Maine station are as fol- lows.
COMPARATIVE DIGESTIBILITY OF VARIETIES OF CORN GROWN UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS.
Per Cent. Per Cent.
Per Cent. Crude Fat.
Organic Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Per Cent.
Crude Fiber. Per Cent. Nitrogen-free Extract. Per Cent.
Dry Matter. Per Cent
Field Fodder Corn and Sil- age, 7 samples, 17 trials |72.3/74.6|386.8)65. 1/76.5| 75.5)/74.9 Southern Fodder Corn and Silage,5 samples, 12 trials 64. 6/66 .5|39. 7/59. 671.0) 65. 2/66.3
ee ff ee | |
Difference in favor of field COLI echt ee an eee 4) 8. 1le<..| 2.01 DDI LU oleoLe
Asa result of the lower digestion coefficients for the Southern varieties, the difference in the yield of digestible matter—the real important factor to be considered—is less marked. While the general result for the five years is slightly in favor of the Southern varieties, as far as the yield of digestible matter is concerned, the fact should not be lost sight of, as called attention to by Professor Jordan, that an average of 54 tons more of material has annually to be handled over several times, in case of these varieties of corn, in order to gain 175 pounds
SILAGE CROPS. 23
more of digestible matter per acre; we therefore conclude that the smaller, less watery variety of corn really proved the more profitable.
At other Northern stations similar results, or results more favorable to the Northern varie- ties, have been obtained, showing that the modern practice of growing only such corn for the silo as will mature in the particular locality of each farmer, is borne out by the results of careful culture tests.
Methods of Planting Corn.
THICKNESS OF PLANTING.—The thicker the stand of a crop, the larger the proportion of stalks and foliage to seed; with corn we thus find that thin planting will produce perfect plants, with well-developed, large ears, while close planting will produce much fodder and only few ears, a large proportion of which will be nubbins. The reason for this will be easily understood at a moment’s reflection: Plants need a great deal of light, heat, and moisture to reach perfect development. Where the stand is too thick, one plant will shade another, and the supply of sunshine and moisture (in our climate perhaps particularly the latter) will be insufficient to bring each plant further than to the formation of rich foliage and a small proportion of ears of an imperfect size ; the greater part of the food materials of the plant elaborated will, therefore, in this case, re-
24 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
main in the stalks and foliage. In planting corn for the silo we want the largest quantities of food materials that the land is capable of producing. This, evidently, can be obtained by a medium thickness of planting. If too thin or too thick planting be practiced, the total yields of food materials obtained will be decreased—in the former case, because of the small stand of plants ; in the latter, because of insufficiency of light, moisture, and other conditions necessary to bring the plants forward to full growth.
A single experiment may be given to show the effect of the distance of planting on the quantity and quality of the corn crop. White dent corn was planted on six one-twentieth acre plats at the Connecticut experiment sta- tion, as follows: One, two, and four stalks every four feet in the row, and two, four, and eight stalks to the foot. The following yields of cured fodder and dry matter were obtained from the different plats.
YIELD OF FIELD-CURED CROP.
Water-free Substancein
= DISTANCE OF PLANTING. Gross | Dry cos oe ee Ay Weight Matter. Kernels} Cobs. ; Stover. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. A|One stalk in four feet...) 168.0) 104.3) 50.5} 11.8) 42.0 B|Two stalks in four feet. .| 320.0) 201.6} 102.2] 20.4) 79.0 C|Four stalks in four feet. .| 457.5) 807.2)145.3] 82.1] 129.8 D|Two stalks to one foot. .| 491.0317.6| 105.4) 21.1) 191.1 E |Four stalks to one foot. .| 522.0} 297.2) 70.4} 19.1/207.7 F |Eight stalks to one foot..|532.0) 260.3) 48.4] 13.5) 198.4
The highest yield of the field-cured crop was obtained with the thickest planting, while most
SILAGE CROPS. 25
dry matter was obtained by growing two stalks toa foot. The highest yield of water-free ker- nels was at one stalk to a foot, and of stover at four stalks to a foot. The following table shows the proportions of kernels, cobs, and stover in the different plats.
PROPORTION OF KERNEL, COBS, AND STOVER IN CORN CROP, IN PER CENT.
Water DISTANCE OF PLANTING. Kernels} Cobs. | Stover. ||Content of
Crop. One stalk in four feet........ 4oe4) | Lies) 40.8 37.9 Two stalks in four feet........ 50.7); 10.1] 39.2 Siegl Four stalks in four feet........ Ajmoun 10-471 42-3 32.9 Two stalks to one fuot......... 33241 --6.6 | 60.38 85.3 Four stalks to one foot........ 24.0! 6.4/]-69.6 431 Hight stalks to one foot....... 18.6)" b21 | 36-8 51.0
We notice that the water content of the field- cured crop increased as the distance of planting decreased ; that is, thicker seeding gave more watery fodder.
The fact that thin seeding favors the perfec- tion of well-developed, strong plants is illus- trated by the following results, obtained in the same experiments, showing the yields of differ- ent parts of the corn plant from 1,000 seed kernels for each of the distances named. (See page 26.)
We see that the practice to be followed in planting Indian corn for fodder must differ from that used in planting for ear corn. The distance in planting corn for the sake of the grain, differs greatly in different localities. The old Indian
26 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
YIELDS OF DIFFERENT Parts oF CorN PLANT FROM 1,000 SEED KERNELS, IN PouUNDS.
Water-free Substance.
ro o
~ f¥ =
DISTANCE OF PLANTING. 5 9 a -
sO q a 2 = [) a 2 o ~ - o iS) +2 cS Fx te iS) ro) HH
One stalk in four feet....| 1,286 | 371 87 | 309 767 Two stalks in four feet..| 1176 | 376 75 | 290 741
Four stalks in four feet. . 841 267 59 2389 565 . Two stalks to one foot... 451 97 tT") 276 292 Four stalks to one foot... 239 32 9 96 137 Kight stalks to one foot.. 122 11 3 46 60
way of planting in hills, four feet both ways, dropping four to five kernels in each hill, has been followed generally in the corn belt, while in the New England States corn is, according to Professor Morrow, usually planted in hills three feet apart, with three kernels to the hill, and in some Southern States it is planted in hills five feet apart, with only one stalk in the hill. The ordinary Southern practice is, I believe, to plant in rows three to four feet apart, with stalks every twelve to eighteen inches in the rows. These methods will secure a large pro- portion of perfect ears, but not the maximum crop of dry matter and its constituents in the total plant, which is wanted in growing corn for the silo. Numerous experiments have shown that under ordinary conditions in our country, better results in this direction may be obtained by planting the corn in hills three or even two feet apart, or in drills three or four feet apart,
SILAGE CROPS. Oh
with plants six to eight inches apart in the row. We find that the practice of our best farmers is in accordance with the teachings of these experiments. In growing corn for the silo, it is therefore generally recommended to plant in hills or drills in the manner mentioned, which will give about a square foot of soil to each corn plant.
Since the conditions of moisture, tempera- ture, and fertility of the land, as well as other factors influencing the growth of crops, are not exactly alike in any two succeeding years, it is evident that any definite practice of thick- ness of planting adopted will not necessarily produce the best results every year, but sucha practice should be followed as will be apt to produce the best average results for a number of years in each particular locality.
PLANTING IN HILLs oR IN DRILLS.—Experi- ments conducted at a number of experiment sta- tions teach us that it makes little if any differ- ence, as far as the yield obtained is concerned, whether the corn be planted in hills or in drills, when the land is kept free from weeds in both cases. The yield seems more dependent on the number of plants growing on a certain area of land than on the arrangements of planting the corn. Hills four feet each way, with four stalks to the hill, will thus usually give about the same yieldsas hills two feet apart, with two stalks in the hill, or drills four feet apart, with stalks
28 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
one foot apart in the row, etc. The question of planting corn in hills or im drills is there- fore largely one of greater or less labor in keeping the land free from weeds by the two - methods. This will depend on the character of the land; where the land is uneven, and check-rowing of the corn difficult, or when the land is free from weeds, drill planting is pref- erable ; while, conversely, on large level fields, as on our Western prairies, the corn may more easily and cheaply be kept free from weeds if planted in hills and check-rowed. When the corn is to be cut with a reaper or with a sled cutter, it should be planted in drills, so as to facilitate the cutting.
Sow1nG Corn Broapdcoast.—Corn should be planted in hills or drills, and not broadcast. The objection to sowing corn broadcast is that the land cannot be kept free from weeds in this case, except by hand labor; that more seed is required, and that plants will shade one another, and therefore not reach full devel- opment, from lack of sufficient sunshine and moisture. As aresult, the yield will be greatly diminished. In an experiment conducted at the Geneva (N. Y.) experiment station in 1889, the average yield of green fodder per acre from King Philip corn was 12,780 lbs., against 14,077 lbs. and 16,967 lbs., for drills and hills, respectively ; the average weights of plants were: Broadcast, 0.731bs. ; drills, 1.06 lbs. ;
SILAGE CROPS. 29
hills, 1.24 lbs.; the average number of quarts .of seed per acre used was 25 1-3, 14 4-9, and 10 2-9 quarts, for broadcast, drills, and hills, respectively.
Preparation of Corn Land.
Corn will give best results coming after clo- ver. The preparation of the land for growing corn is the same whether ear corn or forage is the object. Land intended for corn should be in good condition; in fact, it can hardly be too rich. Fall plowing is practiced by many successful corn growers. The seed is planted on carefully prepared ground at such a time as convenient and advisable. Other things being equal, the earlier the planting the bet- ter. ‘‘The early crop may fail, but the late crop is almost sure to fail.’’ After planting, the soil should be kept pulverized and thor- oughly cultivated. Shallow cultivation will ordinarily give better results than deep culti- vation, as the former method suffices to destroy the weeds and to preserve the soil moisture, which are the essential points in cultivating crops. The cultivation should be no more fre- quent than is necessary for the complete eradi- cation of weeds. It has been found that the yield of corn may be decreased by too frequent, as well as by insufficient, cultivation. The gen- eral rule may be given to cultivate as often, but no oftener, than is necessary to kill the weeds.
30 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
In the majority of cases one cultivation a week
until the corn shades the ground will be found .
sufficient. B. CLOVER.
Clover is second to Indian corn in importance asa silage crop. We are but beginning to ap- preciate the value of clover in modern agricul- ture. It has been shown that the legumes, the family to which clover belongs, are the only plants able to fix the free nitrogen of the air; that is, convert it into compounds that may be utilized for the nutrition of animals. Clover and other legumes, therefore, draw largely on the air for the most expensive and valuable fertilizing ingredient, nitrogen, and for this reason, as well as on account of their deep roots, which bring fertilizing elements up near the surface, they enrich the land upon which they grow. Being a more nitrogenous feed than corn or the grasses, clover supples a good deal of the protein compounds (flesh- forming substances) required by farm ani- mals for the maintenance of their bodies and for the production of milk, wool, or meat. By feeding clover, a smaller purchase of high- priced concentrated feed stuffs, like flour- or oil- mill refuse products, is therefore necessary than when corn is fed, and on account of its high fertilizing value it enables the farmer feeding it to keep up the fertility of his land. When
—————
ee
SILAGE CROPS. itl
properly made, clover silage is an ideal feed for nearly all kinds of stock. Besides its higher protein content it is superior to corn silage in its lower cost of production. Mr. A. F. Noyes, a prominent farmer of Dodge County, Wis., who has siloed 1200 tons of clover during the past eight years, estimates the cost of one ton of clover silage at ‘70 cents to $1, against $1 to $1.25 per ton of corn silage. His average yields per acre of green clover are about twelve tons.
Clover silage is superior to clover hay on ac- count of its succulence and greater palatability, as well as its higher feeding value. The last- mentioned point is mainly due to the fact that all the parts of the clover plant are preserved in the silo, with a small unavoidable loss in fermen- tation, while in hay-making, leaves and tedder part, which contain about two-thirds of the pro- tein compounds, are easily lost by abrasion.
In spite of the fact that there have been many failures in the past in siloing clover, it may easily and cheaply be placed in a silo and _ pre- served in a perfect condition. The failures reported are largely due to a faulty construc- tion of the silo. Clover does not pack as well as the heavy juicy corn, and therefore requires more weighting, or more depth in the silo, in order to sufficiently exclude the air.
TIME To CuT CLOVER FOR THE SILoO.—The yield of food materials obtained from clover at different stages of growth has been studied by
oD MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
a number of scientists. The following table giving the results of an investigation conducted by Professor Atwater will show the total quan- tities of food materials secured at five different stages of growth of red clover.
YIELD PER ACRE oF RED CLOVER — IN POUNDS.
STAGE OF Green Dry | Crude | Crude | N-free |Crude | Ash. CUTTING. Weight.| Matter. Protein} Fiber. |Extract;} Fat.
Just before blooms. Wei 3,570 | 1,885 | 198 | 384 | 664 | 24 | 115 Full bloom....| 2,650 | 1,401 | 189 | 390 | 682 | 33 | 107 Nearly out of blooms. cic. 4,960 | 1,750 | 230 | 528 | 8387 | 381 | 129 Nearly ripe....| 3,910 | 1523 | 158 | 484 | 746 | 36 | 99
Professor Hunt obtained 38,600 pounds of hay per acre from clover cut in full bloom, and 3,260 pounds when three-fourths of the heads were dead. The yields of dry matter in the two cases were 2,526 pounds, and 2,427 pounds, respectively. All components, except crude fiber, yielded less per acre in the second cut- ting. Jordan found the same result, compar- ing the yields and composition of clover cut when in bloom, some heads dead, and heads all dead, the earliest cutting giving the maxi- mum yield of dry matter, and of all compon- ents except crude matter. 3
The common practice of farmers is to cut clover for the silo when in full bloom, or when the first single heads are beginning to wilt, and we notice that the teachings of the investiga- tions made are in conformity with this practice.
SILAGE CROPS. 313)
C. OTHER SILAGE CROPS.
A large number of crops, besides corn and clover, have been siloed successfully in this and other countries. All are, however, of minor importance as silage crops, compared with these, being only cut for the silo in certain localities, or occasionally and in small quan- tities, as a matter of experiment. Sorghum is sometimes siloed in the Western and Middle States. It is sown in drills, 34 inches apart, with a stalk every six to ten inches in the row, and is cut when the kernels are in the dough stage, or before. In Southern States, pea vines, soja bean, alfalfa, teosinte, .and chicken corn are occasionally siloed. Pro- fessor Robertson of Canada has recommended the ‘‘ Robertson Ensilage Mixture’’ for the silo; it is made up of cut Indian corn, sun- flower seed heads, and horse beans. In North- ern Europe, especially in England, and in the Scandinavian countries, grass and aftermath (rowen) are usually siloed; in England, at the present time, largely in stacks; in the sugar- beet districts of Germany and Central Europe, diffusion chips and beet tops are preserved in silos in large quantities. Occasional mention has furthermore been made in our agricultural literature of the siloing of a large number of plants, or products, like tares, cabbage leaves,
sugar beets, potato leaves, turnips, brewers, 3
34 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
grains, apple pomace, twigs and leaves, and hop vines; even fern (brake), thistles, and ordi- nary weeds have been made into silage, and used with more or less success as food for farm animals.
CHEAP LER fi — SILos. General Considerations.
Several important points have to be observed in building silos. First of all, the silo must be air-tight. The process of siloing fodders is a series of fermentation processes. Bacteria (minute plants or germs), which are practically omnipresent, pass into the silo with the corn or the siloed fodder, and, after a short time, perhaps at once, they begin to grow and multiply in it, favored by the presence of air and an abundance of food materials in the fodder. The activity of the bacteria is soon discernible through the heating of the mass and the formation of acid in the fodder. The more air at the disposal of the bacteria, the further the fermentation pro- cesses will progress. Ifasupply of air is admit- ted to the silo from the outside, the bacteria will have a chance to continue to grow, and more fodder will therefore be wasted. If a large amount of air be admitted, as is usually the case with the top layer of silage, the fer- mentation processes will be more far-reaching than is usually the case in the lower layers of
the silo. Putrefactive bacteria will then con- (85)
36 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
tinue the work of the acid bacteria, and the result will be rotten silage. If no further sup- ply of airis at hand, except what remains in > the interstices between the siloed fodder, the bacteria will gradually die out, or only such forms will survive as are able to grow in the absence of the oxygen of the air. The biology of silage has received but very little attention from our scientists up to the present time, and we do not know which forms of bac- teria are favorable, and which are unfavorable to the proper run of the siloing process, or how many of the various conditions of siloing affect the final result. We know this, however, that no silage fit to be eaten can be made in the presence of air. The silo must therefore be air-tight, and the fodder in it well packed, so | as to exclude the air as far as practicable. | In the second place, the silo must have smooth, perpendicular walls, which will allow | the mass to settle without forming cavities | along the walls. In adeep silo the fodder will | settle several feet during the first few days after filling. Any unevenness in the wall will prevent the mass from settling uniformly, and air spaces in the mass thus formed will cause the surrounding silage to spoil. The walls’ must be rigid, so as not to spring when the siloed fodder settles; air would thereby be_ admitted, causing decay and loss of silage. | Other points of importance in silo-building,
STmoOs: ot
which do not apply to all kinds of silos, will be considered as we proceed with the discussion of the various kinds of silos inexistence. We shall now take up the different phases of the subject of silo building.
Size oF StLos.—In planning a silo the first point to be decided is how large it shall be made. We will suppose that a farmer has a herd of twenty-five cows, to which he wishes to feed silage during the winter season, e. ¢., for 180 days. Wenote here, at the outset, that silage will not be likely to give best results for milch cows, or for any other class of farm animals, when it furnishes the greater portion of the dry matter of the feed ravion. As a rule, it will not be well to feed over forty pounds of silage daily per head. If this quantity be fed daily, on an average for'a season of 180 days, we have for the twenty-five cows 180,000 pounds, or ninety tons. On ac- count of the fermentation processes taking place in the silo, there is an unavoidable loss of food materials during the siloing period, amounting to about 10 per cent; we must therefore put more than the quantity given into the silo. If ninety tons of silage is wanted, about one hundred tons of fodder corn must be placed in the silo. Corn silage will weigh from thirty pounds, or less, to toward fifty pounds per cubic foot, according to the depth of the silo, and the amount of moisture contained in the
38 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
silage. We may take forty pounds as the average weight of one cubic foot of corn silage. One ton of silage will accordingly take up fifty cubic feet; and 100 tons, 5,000 cubic feet. If a rectangular one-hundred-ton silo is to be built, say 12x14 feet, it must then have a height of 30 feet. Ifa square silo is wanted, it might be given dimensions 12x12x35 feet, or 18x13x 30; if a circular silo, the following dimensions will be about right: Diameter, 16 feet; height of silo, 25 feet, etc. In the same way, a silo holding 200 tons of corn or clover silage may be built of the dimensions 16x 24x 26 feet, 20x 20x 25 feet; or, if round, diameter, 25 feet; height, 32 feet, etc.
The following table will show the approxi- mate quantities of silage required for the feed- ing of herds of cattle of from ten to forty head for a period of 180 days, forty pounds of silage being fed daily per head. The dimen- sions of any silo of a capacity as given in the last column of the table may be easily calculated.
QUANTITIES OF SILAGE REQUIRED FOR DIFFERENT HERDS.
NUMBER OF Cows Weigut of Weight of Approximate No. IN THE HERD. Silage. Silage. of Cubic Feet. LBs. TONS. i ee ceareney ape tae 72,000 36 2,400 BLUSE. c taasl otew Sees 108,000 54 3,100 72 As Ae ane ie 144,000 72 4,100 nove tatea tans sete 180,000 90 4,800 OG tae a uate 216,000 108 5,400 10 Se eae ae Ute 252.000 126 6,300
AD acc onsite sn 288, DOO eae 7,200
_—
“SONVYS 'NILHYNG LV ‘SONS S,LYvss09—'1 “DI4
———
—_—————————————
Ne
NY A.
LI i )
40 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
Form or Sitos.— The first silos made in this country or abroad were rectangular, shallow structures, with a door opening at one end. Goffart’s silos were 5x12 meters wide, and 5 meters high (16.4x39.4x16.4 feet). Another French silo, one of the largest ever built,
SD => ZA 1-30 eB AZ Zz AZ zB a ke A SFA AA Ss SS BE EB A, o Zk A, a A qi, A AA Za A om so A Z A 2 , A A Z A ' — 2 iF Z BZ BZ FA z= ' cS zB S Z : Z Z A Z : Z Z Z ZZ Z ZZ Z A Z Z Z Z FA Z BZ AA Ril A Z Z A Ni Z Z Z A ; A FA F A | A Z Z — Zz 7 SB Z 1 Ss FF A —— = —— Z ! ZZ Z F AA A A A Zz AA AA Zz F 1 2250. ZB A Z a 7 A A Z A S (AZ A EF a 3 |AAw ZZ A SS B), (}>AdzAB LZ AF BB I EI E AAS AA BZ, | EB ZB LA? CZ LZ”
FIG. 2.— PLAN OF GOFFART’S SILOS.
belonging to Vicomte de Chezelles, was 206x214 feet, and 15 feet high, holding nearly 1,500 tons of silage. Silos of a s'milar type, but of smaller dimensions, were built in this country in the early stages of silo building. Experience had taught siloists that it was
— ———— eT eS Lc ee I
— a
SILOS. 41
necessary to weight the fodder heavily in these silos, in order to avoid the spoiling of large quantities of silage. In Goffart’s silos, boards were thus placed on top of the siloed fodder, and the mass was weighted at the rate of 100 pounds per square foot.
It was found, however, after some time, that this heavy weighting could be dispensed with by making the silos deep, and gradually the deep silos came more and more into use. These silos were first built in this country in the latter part of the eighties ; at the present time none but silos more than eighteen to twenty feet deep are built, no matter of what form or material they are made.
Since 1890 the cylindrical form of silos has become more and more general. These silos have the advantage over all other kinds in point of cost and convenience, as well as qual- ity of the silage obtained. We shall, later on, have an occasion to refer to the relative value of the various forms of silos, and shall here only mention one point in favor of the round silos. One of the essentials in silo building is that there shall be a minimum of surface and wall exposure of the silage, as both the cost and the danger from losses threugh spoiling are thereby reduced.
The round silos are superior to all other forms in regard to the former point, as will be readily seen from an example: A rectangu-
42 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE,
lar silo, 16x32x24 feet, has the same number of square feet of wall surface as a square silo, 94x24 feet, and of the same depth, or as a cir- cular silo 30 feet in diameter and of the same depth ; but these silos will hold about the fol- lowing quantities of silage: Rectangular silo, 246 tons; square silo, 276 tons; circular silo, 338 tons. Less lumber will, therefore, be needed to inclose a certain cubical content of silage in case of square silos than in case of rectangular ones, and less for cylindrical silos than for square ones, the cylindrical form being, then, the most economical of the three types. Silage of all kinds will usually begin to spoil after a few days, if left exposed to the air; hence the necessity of considering the extent of surface exposure of silage in the silo while it is being fed out. In a deep silo there is less silage exposed in the surface layer in proportion to the contents than in shallow silos. Experience has taught us that about two inches of the top layer of the silage must be fed out daily during cold weather in order to prevent the silage from spoiling; in warm weather about three inches must daily be taken off. The form of the silo must therefore be planned, accord- ing to the size of the herd, with special refer- ence to this point. Professor King estimates that there should be a feeding surface in the silo of about five square feet per cow in the herd; a herd of thirty cows will then require 150
SILOS. 43
quare feet of feeding surface, or the insides diameter of the silo should be 14 feet; for a herd of forty cows a silo with a diameter of toyteet will be required; for fifty cows, a diameter of 18 feet; for one hundred cows, a diameter of 25.25 feet, etc.
LocatTInG THE S1Lo.—The question, where to build the silo, is most important and has to be settled at the start. The feeding of the silage is an every-day job during the whole winter, and twice a day at that. Other things being equal, the nearest available place is therefore the best. The silo should be as handy to get at from the barn as possible. The condition of the ground must be considered. If the ground is dry outside the barn, the best plan to follow is to build the silo there, in connection with the barn, going five or six feet below the surface, providing for a door opening and chute as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, in case of round silos. This connection can be made still more easily in case of square or rectangular silos, as the barn wall may then form one wall of the silo and a doorway open directly into the barn. The bottom of the silo should be on or below the level where the cattle stand, and, if practicable, the silage should be moved out and placed before the cows at a single handling.
Bottom oF S1Lto.—The bottom of the silo may be clay, or, preferably, a layer of small
44 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
stones covered with cement. In some silos considerable damage has been done by rats burrowing their way into the silo from below, and destroying a great deal of silage, both directly and indirectly, by admitting air into the silo. The silo may be built four to six feet down into the ground, if this is dry. It is easy to build the silo deep by this arrangement, and there will be no need of extra length of carrier. By means of a ten- inch plank, provided with a number of cleats, the underground portion of the silo may easily be emptied, the feeder walking up the plank with the basket filled with silage.
FoUNDATION AND WALL OF SILO — The silo should rest on a substantial stone foundation, to prevent the bottom of the silo from rotting and to guard against spreading of the silo wall. The foundation wall should be 18 to 24 inches thick. Professor Cook recommends making the bottom of the silo one foot below the ground, so that the stone wall on which it rests may be sustained by the earth on the outside, as shown Thala sla eae
Sills made by two 2x10 planks (P) rest on the inside ten inches of the foundation wall; one of these projectsat each corner. The studdings (S), which are 2x10 planks, and as long as the silo is high, are placed 12 to 16 inches apart, large silos requiring the smaller distance. Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of the stone foun-
SILOS. 45
dation wall, extending above surface of the ground.
As there is a considerable lateral pressure in the silo before the fodder has settled, it is very
important to make the wall rigid and to place D
—— SAMA 7,
LLL IIIWNS
)
PSZZZZZL.
oO
Yt GSE CBS Led
ISVS = UZ, UA a pee nee
SZ | oe <A | J i :
FIG. 3—FOUNDATION OF SILO. Bottom of silo one foot below ground. (Cook.)
the studdings sufficiently close together to pre- vent spreading of the wall. Professor King found that the lateral pressure in a silo on the average amounts to 10.94 pounds for every foot in depth of silage; that is, at a depth of 20 feet
46 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
there is a pressure of about 218 pounds per square foot; at 30 feet, 328 pounds, etc. Mr. James M. Turner states that it was found neces- sary to use 2x12 studding, 22, 24, or 26 feet in length, for the outside wall, as well as for the
CONCRETE
ee ee , Azali l=
WwW,
WrAwi
<< > sash
* ZZZARWiwhiWir WG
FIG. 4.— FOUNDATION OF SILO. Wall extending above surface of the ground. (Cook.)
cross partitions in his first silo. In addition to this, three courses of bridging in each side-wall were inserted. In spite of all, the pressure, when the silo was full, frequently forced out the sides from two to six inches in places, and
SILOS. 47
on some occasions the air was thus allowed to penetrate the silage and impair its value.
To insure ventilation in rectangular wooden silos, the sills may be two inches narrower than the studding, so as to leave air spaces between the sills and the lining; in the same way the plate is made narrower than the studding to provide for anescape at the top. The same end may be reached by boring a series ot holes at the bottom of the outside wall between every two studs, leaving an open space of about two inches on the inside, at the top of the plate. Wire netting should be nailed over ventilation openings to keep out rats and mice.
ROOF OF THE S1Lo.— Where the silo is built in the bay of a barn, there will be no need of
making any separate roof, which otherwise generally will be the case. The roof may be
either board or shingle, and should be provided with a cupola, so as to allow free ventilation in the silo. In extreme cold weather it should be shut, to prevent freezing of the silage. MATERIAL FOR SILO BuILDING.—NSilos are at
_ the present built almost exclusively of wood, _ stone, or concrete, or partly of one, partly of
another of these materials. The material used will largely be determined by local conditions ; where lumber is cheap, and stone high, wooden silos will generally be built; where the op- posite is true, stone silos will have the advan- tage on the point of cheapness, while concrete
48 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
silos are likely to be preferred where cobble- stones are at hand in abundance, and lumber or stone are hard to get at a reasonable cost. So far as the quality of the silage made in any of these kinds of silos is concerned, there is no difference when the silos are properly built. The longevity of stone and concrete silos is usually greater than that of wooden silos, since the latter are more easily attacked by the silage juices and are apt to decay in places after a number of years, in spite of all precautions that may be taken to preserve them.
We shall now consider somewhat in detail the various types of silos, and shall give direc- tions for their building in each case.
Description of the Different Kinds of Silos.
I. Pits in the Ground.
The primitive form of silos was simple trenches or pits dug in the ground, in which the grain or fodder to be preserved was buried, and covered with boards and a layer of earth. Sometimes the trench was cemented; in the earlier stages of underground silos, it was not. Immense quantities of sugar beet tops and beet chips have been siloed in this way in European countries, especially in Germany and France. In this country, before silo structures proper
became general, a few farmers, not wishing to |
SILOS. 49
risk much money on a system they knew only from hear-say, obtained their first silo experi- ence in this simple way.
An excavation about 30 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 2 1-2 feet deep was made in 1889, in a cornfield at the Kansas experiment station ; the soil was dry and sandy; corn stalks with ears on were carefully piled in this pit in Octo- ber, and the mass rolled with a heavy iron roller; the fodder was then covered with a four-inch layer of straw and twenty inches of earth. When the pit was opened late in De- cember, the silage was found to be in a very excellent condition.
This rather crude method of preserving fodder will, however, always be accompanied by large losses on account of the excessive and faulty fermentations occurring during the siloing period. It can not, therefore, be reeommended. Much the better plan to follow for the farmer intending to try silage, is to travel about a little, and examine some modern silos before build- ing; with the wide distribution of silos at the present date, he will usually not have far to go to find one.
II. Silos in the Barn.
A large number of silos have been built in a bay of the barn. Where the necessary depth can be obtained and where the room can be spared, such silos can be built very easily and at less
50 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
cost than a separate structure, since lighter materials in this case may be used, and no roof will be required for the silo. Silos built in this manner have generally the advantage over other silos in being near at hand. This 1s a very important point; feeding time comes twice a day throughout the winter and spring, and a few steps saved in hauling the silage mean a good deal in the ageregate. Many farmers first made silos of this kind, and later on, when familiar with the process, built additional sep- arate structures.
Bays of the barn may be easily changed into silos according to the following directions given by Professor Whitcher:
‘“Bemove floors, and if there is a barn cellar, place sills on the bottom of this and set 2x8 scantling vertically, bringing up the inside edges even with the sills of the barn. The bottom may or may not be ce- mented, according as the eround is wet or dry. -If to be cemented, three casks of cement and an equal amount of sharp sand or gravel will cover a bottom 16x16 and turn up on the sides two feet, which will give a tight silo. Common spruce or hemlock boards, square- edged and planed on one side, are best for boarding the inside of the silo; these are to be put on in two courses, breaking joints, and, if thoroughly nailed, will give a tight pit. No. tonguing or matching is needed. Tarred paper
ee —_ -
SILOS. 51
may be put between the boarding, if desired, but I doubt if it is of great utility. At some point most easily accessible, an opening extending nearly the height of the silo must be made to put in the corn and take out the ensilage. The courses of boards should be cut shorter than the opening, to allow loose boards to be set. in, lapping on the door studding and making an air-tight joint. For all this work medium lumber is good enough, and a very limited amount of mechanical skill and a few tools, which all farms should have, will enable most farmers to build their own silo. <A few iron rods, one-half inch in diameter, may be neces- ‘sary to prevent spreading by side pressure, but ‘this will depend upon the strength of the orig- inal frame of the barn. Narrow boards, from five to eight inches wide, are better than wide lones, as they are not likely to swell and split. Hight-penny nails for the first boarding and itwelve-penny nails for the second course will ‘hold the boards in place.
_ “A silo constructed as above outlined will (cost from 50 cents to $1 for each ton of its leapacity, according as all materials, including lumber and stone, are charged, or only labor fand nails, rods, and cement.”’
JOHN GouLp’s $43 Srto.—The well-known ‘agricultural writer and lecturer, John Gould of Ohio, has described his one-hundred-ton silo
uilt in one-half of the bay of his barn at a cost
52 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE,
of $43. As it may be helpful to some farmers, we give below the full description of the silo. Mr. Gould says: ‘‘Having become convinced that cheaper material than that usually em- ployed could be used, and even stone and cement discarded, I set out with this end in view. The barn has a basement of eight feet beneath it. This was utilized to make the silo deeper, making it twenty-two feet in depth and fourteen feet square inside.
‘“« Frame of Silo.— On one side (E) I had the backing of my old silo, and on the opposite side (B) a stone wall of eight feet. On the two sides, B and C, the studding only had the cen- ter backing of the sill, and cross-beam at C, eight feet from the basement floor. The bot- tom of the silo was leveled off, and a footing made for the studs on the B and C sides by digging a trench, about 12 inches wide and 6 inches deep, under where the studding would — come. Two sticks of timber, 6x12 inches, were thoroughly saturated with gas or coal tar, and laid in these trenches, and made solid by tamp- ing them at sides. The studding, 2x6 inches, | were hoisted in place and set about 18 inches © apart, made perpendicular by the aid of a spirit — level, and on the sills toe-nailed with 20-penny wire spikes. The studding against the wall were | allowed to rest against it without a sill, and the — studding of the old silo came in for double duty, its own wall becoming now a partition.
| | | | |
|
SILOS. 53
On the A and B sides, false girths were added to those of the barn frame by building out with an 8-inch plank, so that they would be flush with the inside facing of the sill. This also lends additional strength to the barn frame, and makes three more back supports for the silo, and avoids at the same time ‘cobbling’ or bridging to connect barn and silo.
“The slo was then sheeted up inside with cheap, but good, sound, $8 per 1,000 inch-lum- ber, taking 1,230 feet, costing $9.85. The whole inside was then paperel up and down witha 3-inch lap with tarred building paper, costing 80 cents per roll, taking somewhat less than three rolls, or $2 more. The silo was then finished up by covering this inside again with inch cull pine lumber, single and untaced, so put on that it half lapped the cracks of the first boarding, the second layer being tacked on with 10-penny wire nails. This lumber was not even jointed or matched, and all put on horizontally, so that there can be no up and down cracks for the escape or entry of air. Ifa board did not joint closely upon the one below it, a little of its round or concave was taken off with a draw- shave, and a nail or two driven ‘toeing’ to bring it down snugly. This coating of lumber cost, for 1,230 feet, at the rate of $13 per 1,000, making a bill of $16, and for surfacing $1 more; total, $17.
“ Painting the Lining.—Six gallons of gas
54 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
tar, costing 24 cents, and 24 gallons of gasoline, costing 25 cents, were compounded, and the whole inside of the silo painted with it, the application being rapidly performed with a wash-brush. The gasoline causes the gas tar to strike in rapidly and dry quickly. After using hot tar and resin, and then this last, I greatly prefer it, and there is less danger of burning one’s-self.
‘© Doors.— Selecting the space between two studs at the middle of the wall C as the hand- iest place for taking out the silage, commencing at about three feet from the top, the boarding was sawed down close to each stud, eight feet. A strip was then made for three feet, to allow the center of the silo the full end strength of three boards. Another doorway was cut five feet and to within three feet of the bottom. An inch-by-four strip was then nailed on to each stud, on the outside and close up to the boards. The short lengths were all put back into their places in the order in which they were cut out, making a very close-fitting door. The boards were lightly fastened, and over each, on the in- side, is hung a curtain made of a piece of tarred paper, two feet longer and a foot or more wider than the door. When the silo is filled the pressure of the silage against the paper makes an almost absolutely air-proof door, and it is the cheapest and best devised.
“floor of Silo.—For the floor the original clay
SILOS. 55
was used. Commencing in the center of the pit the clay was removed and thoroughly packed along the walls, making the bottom of the silo somewhat concave. This throws the great weight and pressure of the silage into this depression, and relieves the silo of so much strain. If the silo has natural drainage, and one is sure of reasonably dry footing, clay is in all respects preferable to a grout or cement bottom, and cheapens the cost of the silo by so much. I now have my silo complete. The lumber and labor bill is:
‘SHITE. es rei eA eR ge Oc Peery > 1.00 SHAUN SG Gea, apse aiaks rer clapure wie Hee oe ae ree 9.00 ST CR TAM. s f.n visiens widciaity. sieoveas cine 17.00 MINA precise eno Sy See telig ase asc. sae aha ee ene ese sere wie 1.50 INCOMING ida crs fsigrcis «aie He Sake, ids eos wae 2 9.85 eMC Tega hes ayes atosio el = aro Bus ete the Shen ea 's hs 2.00 1 AI a Se a ea 50 Meliiitree Meet Rs ees 5 etc ea ss isa, Save weal hs sense 2.00
POU Maint: ott cpeaetah et Se ola gtr oe dS Sodss $42.85
‘“This does not include my own labor for four and a half days.” Ill. Separate Silo Structures. A. Wooden Silos.
In the Northwestern States wooden silos can as a rule be built cheaper than either stone or grout silos. While they may not last as long as the latter types, even with the best of care in both building and maintenance, they will last for a large number of years if necessary precau-
56 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
tions for their preservation are taken. They may be built by placing 2x10 pieces as stud- ding one foot apart, and boarding on the inside with matched boards or shiplap, or with two layers of siding with building paper between; and on the outside building paper, over which common boards are nailed. If double lining is used, the first one is nailed on the studding horizontally, and the second vertically.
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FIG. 5. RECTANGULAR WOODEN SILO. Dimensions, 48 x 24 feet, 22 feet high. (From a photograph.)
There is a good deal of difference of opin- ion as to the silo lining, several observing farmers claiming that double boarding, with or without tarred paper between, will rot before a one-layer lining of sound matched lumber or shiplap, free from cracks and checks, put on horizontally. Mr. H. B. Gurler, the well-known Illinois dairyman, says on this
SILOS. 57
point in a communication to the author: ‘‘ My first silo was built with a single boarding on inside of studdings. This wasa good quality of matched lumber, and it is still sound after hav- ing been filled eleven times ; I cannot find any signs oi decay, or at least could not before fill- ing last fall. The second silo I built was with double walls inside, with paper between. Jam confident that decay will sooner cause trouble with these walls, as I can see the effect of it now in some places, and this after nine fillings. I imagine moisture from the corn gets through the joints before it swells these tight, and saturates the paper, thus causing decay. I think if build- ing now I should select sound, kiln-dried lum- ber for the inside and put on one thickness.”’
Professor Robertson, the Dairy Commissioner of Canada, also recommends a single lining for wooden silos. He says: ‘‘I have found one ply of sound 1-inch lumber, tongued and grooved, and nailed horizontally on the inside of studs, 2 inches by 10 inches or 2 inches by 12 inches, to be sufficient. I did build silos with four ply of lumber and tar paper between them ; and I could not keep the silage any better than with one ply of lumber, tongued and grooved or planed on the edges.”’
No filling material is necessary or desirable in the dead air spaces formed by the studding and the outside and inside facing; air is a better non-conductor of heat than sawdust, chaff, or
58 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
any other material which has beenrecommended for this purpose.
As before stated, deep silos are better than shallow ones, and square better than rectangular, as they require less lumber. For the same and other reasons circular silos are to be preferred to either of these forms. Another point in favor of the round silo is the absence of corners in this type of silos, the whole inside forming a smoothround wall; corners are always objection- able in a silo on account of the loss of silage through spoiling, which generally takes place there, the reason being the difficulty of perfectly excluding air by pressure at these points.
To avoid the loss of silage in the corners of square or rectangular silos they should be partially rounded off by placing a square timber, split diagonally, in each of the corners; another plan is to bevel the edge of a ten-inch plank and nail it in the corners, filling in behind per- fectly with dry earth or sand; sawdust has been recommended, but it should not be used, as it will draw moisture and cause the plank and silo lining to decay; the space back of the plank may also be left empty.
A PRIMITIVE CoLorapo S1Lo.—Professor Cooke describes a wooden silo, made at the Colo- rado College Farm, which is still cheaper than Mr. Gould’s silo, previously described—and also more primitive. ‘‘The climatic conditions in large sections of the West are such as to allow
:
SILOS. 59
silos to be built very deep into the ground and render roof unnecessary. The silo was built on a slight slope; a hole, 21 feet square and 8 feet deep, was dug out with the plow and scraper. The only hand work necessary was in the cor- ners and the sides. Inside this hole a 2x6 “sill was laid on the ground; 2x6 studding, 12 feet long, erected every 2 feet, and a 2x6 plate putontop. This framework was then sheeted on the inside with a single thickness of unmatched, unplaned, rough boards, such as can be bought almost anywhere for $12 per 1,000.
‘*The inside was lined with asingle thickness of tarred building paper, held in place by per- pendicular slats. The floor was made by wet- ting and tramping the clay at the bottom, while the heavens above made an excellent and very cheap roof. The dirt was filled in against the sides, and banked up to within two feet of the top, except on the lower side, where were doors, reaching from near the top to within four feet of the bottom. All labor was done by the farm hands and teams, and could as easily be done by any farmer on his own farm.
‘The bill for material stands as follows:
240 feet, 2x6, for sill and plate. 528 ‘* 2x6, 12 feet long, for studding. 960 ‘‘ rough boards for sides.
Pies. + lumber at Sl2 per Miv sis... cce< ste $20.74 Nails lath and building paper:.c..:..... 7.00
60 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
‘‘ Had the hole been two feet deeper, and the sides two feet higher, with one partition, the two pits would then have been each 10x20 feet, and 16 feet deep, with a total capacity of 100 tons of silage; while the cost of material would have been $44. Thus, a silo can be built in Colorado for less than 50 cents for each ton capacity.”
SECOND STORIES. From a photograph. (King.)
RounD WooDEN SILOos may conveniently be built inside of large, round barns in a similar manner, as described in the Eighth Report of the Wisconsin Experiment Station, in case of a three-hundred ton silo at Whitewater, Wis. The dimensions of this silo are 20 feet inside
SILOS. 61
diameter, by 35 feet high. It was built from 2x6 studdings, sided up by two layers of fence boards, sawed in two. The illustrations, with legends given below, will explain further the details of the construction of barns of this kind.
Round silos can be built cheaper than square '
'\ “al
FIG. 7,— SHOWING ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF FIRST STORY.
_ A, Wagon drives for cleaning barn; B, Feed manger; C, Platform for cattle; 2, 4, Method of | Ventilation ; 5, Method of placing joists.
ones, both because of their greater relative capacity, and because lighter material may be used in their construction. The sills and stud- ding here do no work except to support the roof, since the lining acts as a hoop to prevent spreading of the wall. Professor King, of Wisconsin Experiment Station, who has given a great deal of study to the proper construction
62 - MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
of silos, and who first advocated the building of round silos, gives the following directions
for their building. ‘* Houndation of the Silo.— The silo should be so situated that surface water can not drain
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of placing them; 2, Showing method of placing rafters; H, Entrance drive,
into it. It is also best to set it as deeply into the ground as practicable. Wherever building stone is cheap, and where the soil is naturally dry to a sufficient depth, the bottom of the Silo may well extend two or three feet below the level of the ground floor where the silage
| SILOS. 63
is removed, even though this be that of a base- - mentbarn. For the wood silo the foundation wall should have a thickness of about eighteen inches, with the upper eight inches beveled back as shown in Fig. 9, when the silo is com- pleted; otherwise the foundation wall should
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| A, Ventilators between studding.
be thoroughly plastered with a good cement, in the proportion of two of cement to three of sand, plastering up flush with the inner face of the lining, so as to effectually close all air passages under the sill. Finally, when the plaster has set, it will be well to whitewash with
64 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
a coat of pure cement, and to repeat this treat- ment every one or two years, the object being to neutralize the acid of the silage, and thus prevent it from attacking the wall itself, which it will certainly do unless protected in some way.
“Sls and Plates. —These may be made of 9x4’s cut into about two-foot lengths, on a slant of two radii of the circle of the silo, the sections of the sills being toe-nailed together on the wall, and then bedded in mortar and leveled. The pieces for the plate may be spiked directly upon the tops of the studding. One thick- ness for either sill or plate is all that is needed, and it is unnecessary in either case to cut the pieces to a circle.
“« Studding.—The studding for the round silo, unless more than 35 feet in diameter, need never be larger than 2x4’s, and should be placed a trifle less than 12 inches from center to center, in order that lumber bending around aslightly larger circle may not cut to waste. If lengths of studding greater than 20 feet are re- quired, these may be procured by nailing two shorter lengths together, lapping them about two feet.
‘To put the studding in place, seta strong post in the center of the bottom of the silo, reaching, say, six feet above the level of the sill. Set in place every alternate stud, toe-nailing at the bottom, and staying by a single board to
SILOS. 65
the center post. After the stud has been made plumb, stay the studding sidewise with strips of lining, binding around the outside, and tacking to each stud. After this is done, the intermediate studs may be set up, and simply tacked to the bent strips, and toe-nailed to the sill. At this stage, the sheeting outside may begin at the bottom, and be carried to the height of the first staging, when the siding may be started, and carried to nearly the same height.
‘* Lining and Siding.—The lining of the silo, of whatever size, is best made of fencing split in two, making a little less than half-inch lum- ber, and it is best to have the fencing first sized, so that it will all be of the same width ; but it need not be surfaced. Three layers of this lumber should be used on the inside, with a. layer of good quality tar paper between each layer of boards, the first two layers being nailed with eight-penny wire nails, and the last layer with ten-penny nails, in order that the boards may be drawn very firmly together. The sheet- ing outside should also be of the same lumber for diameters less than thirty feet, and if extra warmth is desired, a iayer of paper may be placed between this and the siding. The siding for small silos should be the ordinary beveled type, rabbeted on the thick edge deep enough to receive the thin one; but for silos twenty-eight or more feet in diameter, ship-lap or drop
siding of the ship-lap type may be used instead. 6
66 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
As the outside sheeting is carried up, the stud- ding should be kept plumb sidewise by tacking on strips of sheeting as already described ; and the plate need not be put on until the last stag- ing has been erected. To carry siding and sheeting up together saves staging.
‘Tf the weather permits, it is usually best to put on the lining before the roof, and to cut out the doors afterward, except one at the bottom for convenience in work.
‘<The Roof.—This may be conical, octagonal, or two-sided, as shown in Fig. 10. On the whole, the conical roof is to be preferred, and no rafters are required for silos 18 feet or less in diameter. For the roof of small silos, a circle may be sawed out of 2x8’s, and the pieces spiked together in two layers, the pieces break- ing joints. It should have an outside diameter of 5 to 7 feet, according to the size of the silo. With this type of roof, the roof boards will be cut the length which would be required for rafters, and then sawed diagonally from corner to corner, leaving the two ends of such widths as will correspond to the size of the two circles made by the opposite ends. This should be done at the mill. The circular frame is sup- ported in place, and the roof boards nailed directly to it, and to the plate, when the whole becomes self-supporting.
‘* Larger silos may be roofed in the same man- ner, by using two or three circles.
SILOS. 67
————
FIG. 10.~ SHOWING TWO METHODS OF ROOFING SILOS AND THE MANNER OF CONNECTING THEM WITH A BARN.
A, Shows where air is admitted between the studdirg to ventilate behind the lining. B, Feeding chute; C, The filling window. The cupola is essential to perfect ventilation.
68 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
[The arrangement shown in the second view, Fig. 9, is preferable, since the two-sided ro does away with a dormer window, thus decreas- ing the expense of the silo ee a
“The roof may finally be covered with ordi- nary shingle, or with some form of roofing felt. In the latter case, the felt would be cut into lengths equal to the roof boards, and then these pieces cut diagonally from near corner to corner, making the two ends of such widths that the strips may overlap two or three inches. The cupola, or ventilator, may be made of wood, as shown in Fig. 10; or of metal, as shown in Fig. 11.
‘Ventilation of the Silo.— Good ventilation, both inside of the silo and behind the lining, is of the greatest importance in preventing the lining from rotting. The inside lining should lack two or three inches of reaching the plate, and the open space be covered with wire net- ting to prevent silage from falling over when filling; and then at the bottom, outside, just above the sill, an inch and a half hole should be bored through the siding, between each pair of studs, as shown in Fig. 9; and this should be done before the lining is put on, and the holes covered with pieces of wire net- ting to keep out vermin. ‘This provision keeps the lining dry behind, and dries the inner lining as fast as the silage is removed. In silos less than eighteen feet in diameter, where the
Se ee ee
SILOS. 69
sill is made as described, there will be opening enough for ample ventilation at the bottom, between the sill and sheeting, so that the holes are not required.
‘* The Doors.—The filling door should be in the roof, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, and about
FIG. 11— WOODEN ROUND SILO AT WISCONSIN EXPERIMENT STATION. Diameter, 16 feet; height, 27 feet; capacity, about 80 tons.
three feet wide and four feet high, so as to leave room fora man to enter by the side of the carrier. Of the feeding doors there should be about three in a height of twenty-four feet. They should be about two feet wide by three or four feet high, and studding should be set with reference to them at first, making them double where the sides are to come. To make
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the doors, saw two cleats for each door out of 4x 6’s, having the curvature of the sides of the silo, and to these nail on the inside two layers of matched four-inch flooring, up and down, with tar paper between, and one layer outside. Hinge with six-inch T hinges, and fasten shut with two strips of half-inch band-iron, 13 inches wide and 18 inches long, bolted to the
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FIG. 13.— ROUND WOODEN SILO. Dormer window kept open for ventilation when silo is in use. (From a photograph.)
cleats of the door, and provided with a long hole, which shuts over a half-inch bolt put through the studding, and provided with a handle-nut, like that on the rod of the end- board of a wagon.”
Round silos, built according to the preced- ing or similar plans, have proved very satis- factory after several years’ trial. We believe that this type, made either of wood, stone,
72 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE,
brick, or grout, are destined to become the silo type of the future, at least on our continent; hence we have given up considerable space to detailed directions for its construction. While the round silo has some limitations and draw- backs, its advantages will, in most cases, out- weigh these. Among the disadvantages may be mentioned the greater skill required: (or supposed to be required) to build a round structure than a square one. This is not based on fact, but is caused by unfamiliarity with the construction of such buildings.
Since the capacity of round silos is not as readily computed as in case of rectangular silos, we reproduce here a table, given by Professor King, which shows at a glance the approximate number of tons of silage that a round silo, of a diameter from 15 to 26 feet, and 20 to 32 feet deep, will hold.
TABLE GIVING THE APPROXIMATE CAPACITY OF CYLIN- DRICAL SILOS FOR WELL-MATURED CORN SILAGE, IN Tons.
DEPTH INSIDE DIAMETER OF SILO, FEET. OF
SILO,
FEET. 1516 7 | 18 -|19" | 20) 21 22s ees aes ebm imeeb DOM arte 59| 6731 %6)| (85 | 94.) 105%) 115 | aera tesa ols GS s 77 Dliisisyse kets 63 | %2 |} 81 | -91 | 101) 112 |) 1230) 285 1) 148) |) 161 Sa 89 Bel accieees 67 | 77 | 86} 97 | 108 | 120 | 132 | 145 | 158 | 172 | 187 | 202 23 MG 82} 92] 103 | 115 | 128 | 141 | 154 | 169 | 184 } 199 | 216 OA aileron 76 | 87 | 98 | 110 | 122 | 135 | 149 | 164 | 179 | 195 | 212 | 229 Oba e ewes 81} 90 | 104 | 116 | 129 | 143 | 158 | 173 | 190 | 206 | 224 | 242 Bs caronee 8 97 | 110 | 123 | 187 | 152 | 168 | 184 | 201 | 219 | 237 | 257 Pi Ameen 90 | 103 | 116 | 180 | 145 | 160 | 177 | 194 | 212 | 281 | 251 | 271
Seaiasen 95 | 108 | 122 | 1387 | 152 | 169 | 186 | 204 | 223 | 243 | 264
2a Peeps 100 | 114 | 128 | 144 | 160 | 178 | 196 | 215 | 235 | 256 | 278 | 300 OS otiewiele 105 | 119 | 1385 | 151 | 168 | 187 | 206 | 226 | 247 | 269 | 292 | 315 SIS fo: 110 | 125 | 141 | 158 | 176 | 195 | 215 | 286 | 258 | 282 | 305 | 330 3 AeA o ue 115 | 186 | 148 | 166 | 185 | 205 | 226 | 248 | 271 | 295 | 320 | 346
- en abel
SILOS. ea
B. Stone or Brick Silos.
These silos are usually more expensive than wooden ones, but, in return, they will last longer when carefully built. Some of the first silos built in Wisconsin and other North- western states were made of stone, and are still in good condition, which can not be said about the earliest wooden silos made. Stone silos are easily built, being just like a cellar wall, if possible without any opening except the door, and provided with a roof like any other silo. The walls should be at least sixteen inches thick, and should be jacketed with wood on the outside, to prevent injury from frost, and to form dead-air spaces, which will insure perfect preservation of the silage clear up to the silo wall. The earlier stone silos built were not protected in this manner, and, as a result, the silage often spoilt several inches around the walls, the stone being more or less porous, and being a fairly good con- ductor of heat and cold. This applies still more to brick than to stone walls. With the outside covering nailed to studdings, 2x4, no trouble will, however, be experienced in either case. Ventilation of the silo frame must be provided for as in the case of wooden silos.
The following arrangement of constructing stone silos has proved very convenient, and will make good, substantial silos. The silo is
74 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
built five to six feet into the ground, if it can_ safely be done; the foundation wall is made two feet thick, and at the level of the ground a 4x6 sillis laid on the outer edge of the wall and bedded in mortar; a wooden frame is then erected of 2x6 studding, sheeted on the inside with common flooring, and on the outside with ship-lap boarding, with or with- out building paper on the studding. The stone wall is then continued on the inside of this wooden frame up to the plate, the corners well rounded off, and the whole inside cemented.
The stone or brick wall must be made smooth by means of a heavy coat of a first-class cement. Since the acid juices of silage are apt to grad- ually soften the cement, it may be found neces- sary to protect the coating by a whitewash with pure cement every other year before the silo is filled. If this precaution is takén, the silo will last for generations ; some of the earliest stone Silos built in this country have now been filled every year for nearly twenty years without de- teriorating perceptibly.
Like the wooden silos, these may be rectangu- lar, square, or circular ; if according to either of the first two forms, the corners should be rounded off so as to assist the settling of the siloed mass, and avoid loss through insufficient packing of the mass in the corners.
SILOS.
~
Cr
C. Grout Silos.
Where stone is scarce, and lumber high, the best silo is made of grout. Grout silos may be made according to the following directions: ‘‘Having excavated for the silo, dig a trench all around the bottom, and fill it with cobble- stone, and from one corner lead a drain, if pos- sible, so as to carry off all water. The trench under the proposed walls of the silo being filled with cobble-stones, place standards of scantling long enough to extend 12 inches higher than the top of the wall when itis finished. Place these standards on each side of the proposed wall, and if you desire the walls to be 20 inches thick, place the standards 23 inches apart, a pair of standards being placed every 5 or 6 feet around the entire foundation ; be particular to have the standards exactly plumb, and in line ; fasten the bottoms of standards firmly in the ground, or by nailing a strip of wood across at the bottom of the standards, and a little below where the floor of the silo will be; fasten the tops of the standards by a heavy cross-piece securely nailed, and fasten the pairs of stand- ards in their plumb positions by shores reach- ing the bank outside. Planks 1 1-2 inches thick and 14 inches wide are now placed edge- wise inside the standards, 20 inches apart, thus forming a box, 14 inches deep, and running all along and around the entire foundation of
716 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
the proposed wall. Fill this box with alternate layers of cobble-stone or any rough stone, etc., and mortar or concrete. First a layer of mor- tar, and then a layer of stones, not allowing. the stones to come quite out to the boxing plank, but having concrete over the edges; the concrete must be stamped down solid.
The concrete is prepared as follows: One part of good cement is mixed thoroughly with four parts of dry sand, and then with six parts of clear gravel; make into a thin mortar, sprinkling with water over the same by means of a sprinkler, and use at once. Put an inch or two of this mortar into the box, and then bed in cobble-stones; fill in with mortar, again covering the stones, and again put ina layer of stone. When the box is filled, and the mortar ‘set’? so that the wall is firm, raise the box one foot, leaving two inches lap of plank on wall below, and go around again, raising the wall one foot each day, or every second day, accord- ing to the amount of labor on hand. If no gravel is obtainable, use five barrels of sand to one of cement, and bed in all the cobble-stones possible. Stone with rough edges are better than smooth ones, as they bind the wall more thoroughly, but any flat stones found about the fields will do as well. A layer of loose cobble- stones should be placed against the outside wall before the earth is brought against it, so as to have an air space, and a [ree passage for water.
SILOS. ri
As in case of the stone silos, the inside walls of grout silos must be made perfectly smooth, and preserved from softening by means of ocea- sional whitewashings with pure cement; they must also be protected from frost by an outside wooden lining nailed on the 2 x 4 studding.
D. Stave Silos.
These are wooden silos of a similar construc- tion as large railroad tanks. The stave silos
FIG. 14.— TWIN STAVE SILO, KENOSHA COUNTY, WIS. From a photograph.
have found some enthusiastic friends, and their merits and demerits have been thoroughly discussed of late years in the agricultural press ; they can not be recommended, both on account of the danger of the staves shrinking in sum- mer, making the silo leaky, and on account of the danger of frost in such silos, and, finally,
18 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGH.
because a substantial stave silo will cost greatly more than a first-class wooden silo of the same capacity. A 150-ton stave silo built in 1894 in Michigan is described as follows, by a writer in Hoard s Dairyman: ‘‘Diameter, 20 feet; height, 24 feet ; made from 3-inch tank plank of selected hard pine, free from sap, shakes, or unsound knots, sides built perpendicular. Silo carried on twenty-one piers on which rest five main sills of 8x 8 inch. Crosswise on these sills are placed the chine joists, 6x8 inches, placed eighteen inches between centers, and on these rests the bottom of the silo, which is of same stock as staves. Chine in staves 3-4 inch deep. Eighteen substantial hoops of band steel are used, with three pairs of adjustable or take-up lugs, with draw-rods on each hoop. Size of hoops ranges from 8-16 inch thick by 6 inches wide at bottom to 1-8 inch thick by 3 inches wide at top, properly spaced.
‘In one side of silo are three delivery doors 24 inches square, placed one above the other, five feet apart. These are made wedge shaped and are secured by specially heavy wrought- iron hinges and staples.
‘© A special frost-proof roof is employed, con- ical in shape, with galvanized iron ventilator, 3 feet in diameter in center, which ventilator is provided with frost-proof trap door for use when needed. The roof is formed by two thick- nesses of inch boards, tightly fitted with tarred
ES
SILOS. 49
sheeting paper between and also on top, and then shingled. No rafters are used, but truss circles take their place, leaving clear space under the roof, affording opportunity to fill up enough to allow for settling or shrinkage. Roof has two trap doors, frost-proof.
‘‘Outside painted two coats of best paint and inside coated all over with tar. Our silo is water-tight, except at three doors, and these are as nearly so as possible, and in filling silo we face these on inside with tarred sheeting paper, and with the adjustable hoops we have the means to always Keep it tight. Frost cannot penetrate three inches of hard pine, neither can it penetrate the roof of the ventilator when the trap door is closed.
‘*- This silo was set up in one day by five men, but was not roofed or painted. No scaffolding was used except to place roof, and that was a staging carried on four uprights placed inside ot silo;”’
E. Metal Silos.
Solid steel silos have been put cn the market, but it is not known what kind of results they have given in the limited number of cases where they have been tried in practice. They are built of homogeneous steel plate, lapped and double-riveted so as to make them perfectly air-tight. According to Professor Waters, the cost is about $4 per ton capacity, or more
80 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
than twice the amount which will build a first- class modern stone silo. It is difficult to see what advantage a steel silo would have over these ; on the other hand, the danger of frost is far greater ; the silage juices will furthermore attack the steel, and slowly corrode the wall, in spite of any paint or preservative that may be put on the inside.
F. Silo Stacks.
It is somewhat strange that the practice of stack silage has not yet found any distribution in the United States, since it has met with such great favor in foreign countries, especially in Great Britain, where, according to official statis- tics, 1,862 persons in 1887 reported their inten- tion of making silage stacks, against twenty- seven in 1886; the number given for 1887 is half of the total number of silos existing in that year. No official data are at hand during late years, butas far as weare able to judge, the silo stacks have increased far more rapidly in England than other forms. The main objections to silage stacks in this country would seem to be the danger of frost and of excessive fermenta- tive losses on account of the probable drying out of the fodder on top and the sides. Until practical experiments have been made, we can not, however, know anything definitely as regards these points.
The stack system has been adopted, besides
SILOS. 81
in Great Britain, in Sweden, on the Euro- pean Continent, and in Australia, every- where seemingly with great success. There
K(
i
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= g eS =x
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y
SILO STACK, ROUND FORM.
|
| are mainly two systems in use, the Blunt
| and the Johnson silage press; the fodder is
| stacked in both systems and the stacks pressed
down by heavy weights or by means of ratchet 6
|
|
82 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
,
drums. The capacity of the Blunt press is about 100 tons. The amount of waste under English
conditions is stated to be about 14 per cent and
not to exceed 2 per cent, which the advocates of the system claim is less than interest on the money that has to be put into a separate silo structure. Results of German experiments do
FIG. 16.— BLUNT’S SILO STACK, SQUARE FORM.
not, however, show such small losses as those given above. Wolff placed forty-eight tons of meadow hay in a silo stack, of which quantity only twenty-four tons was good silage; forty tons was weighed back in all, so that sixteen tons or 33 per cent must have spoiled on the top and the sides of the stack. Muller obtained
SILOS. 83
somewhat better results ; 132 tons of vetch fod- der and sugar beet leaves were stacked in a
Ss
LS SS ——
FIG. 18— CROSS SECTION OF JOHNSON'S SILO STACK.
Blunt’s silage press; there was a loss on the outside and top amounting to about seven tons
84. MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
(5.4 per cent), while nearly 103 tons (77.9 per cent) of the silage was fed out to cattle.
Preservation of Silos.
A silo building wili prove a rather short-lived structure unless special precautions are taken
z = - = — - FSS L674 11 MW SA SSS se > = SS
AP asi ctiee. = 1 Et eel SOS a LL : : | | il | : | |
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oe" eh fT Mt SOS Z S44 Y PLS Ves XG? SAN i ‘ % I, lat es ar \ i Wig Jo 3 | UA SS MN | WY fi) a a | EF - Aig, ,? en rH fA S a ye Z wit Zab yoy | LAMA ‘ SSESS ee ——"%.. ln pe WHT st tiepenerey a rH = : ==) OOUMROREA LED OES a5 2th — ras = Ss ————— =. = a
FIG. 19.— RAMSTROM’S SILO STACK.
to preserve it. This holds good of all kinds of silos, but more especially of wooden ones, since a cement coating ina stone silo, even if only fairly well made, will better resist the action of the sil- age juices than the woodwork will be able to keep sound in the presence of moisture, high tem- perature, and an abundance of bacterial life.
SILOS. 85
We have seen that the inside of the walls of stone silos should be given a whitewash of pure cement as often as found necessary, which may be every two years, and perhaps not as often. The degree of moisture and acidity in the silage made is, doubtless, of importance in this re- spect, aS a very sour silage made from imma- ture corn will be likely to soften the cement coating sooner than so-called sweet silage made from nearly mature corn.
In case of wooden silos it is necessary to ap- ply some material which will render the wood impervious to water, and preserve it from decay. A great variety of preparations have been re- commended and used for this purpose. Coal tar has been applied by a large number of farmers, and has been found effective and dur- able. It may be put on either hot, alone, or mixed with resin, or dissolved in gasoline. If it is to be applied hot, some of the oil contained in the tar must previously be burnt off. The tar is poured into an iron kettle, a handful of straw is ignited and thrown into the kettle, which will cause the oil to flash and burn off. The tar is sufficiently burnt when it will string out in fine threads, a foot or more in length, from a stick which has been thrust into the blazing kettle and afterwards plunged into cold water. The fire is then put out by placing a tight cover over the kettle. The kettle must be kept over the fire until the silo lining has been
86 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
gone over. A mop or a small whisk broom cut short, so it is stiff, may serve for putting on the tar.
Coal tar and gasoline have also been used by many with good success. About half a gallon of coal tar and two-thirds of a gallon of gaso- line are mixed at a time, stirring it while it is being put on. Since gasoline is highly inflam- mable, care must be taken not to have any fire around when this mixtureisapplied. Lathing and plastering of the silo walls are used by some farmers; the method can not, however, be recommended, since the plastering is very apt to crack and break off, even if great care is taken to preserve the walls intact.
I have not seen any silo walls in better condi- tion than those of anumber of Wisconsin silos, preserved by application of a mixture of equal parts of boiled linseed oil and black oil, or one part of the former to two of the latter. This mixture, applied every other year, before filling time, seems to preserve the lining per- fectly. In building round silos, Professor King recommends painting the boards with hot coal tar, and placing the painted sides face to face. Ordinary red ochre and linseed oil have also been used by some farmers; others prefer to line the whole inside with building paper every time the silo is to be filled, in the manner ex- plained by Mr. Gould. (See page 59.)
Walls of wooden silos that have been pre-
SILOS, 87
served by one or the other of these methods will only keep sound and free from decay if the silos are built so as to insure good ventilation. Preservatives will not save a non-ventilated silo structure from decay.
Cost of Silos.
The cost of a silo will depend greatly on local conditions, as to price of labor and materials; how much labor has to be paid for; the size of the silo, etc. The author, in the spring of 1895, made some inquiries in regard to this point among farmers in different States of the Union who have builtsilos, with the following results:
The cheapest silos are those built in bays of barns, as would be expected, since roof and outside lining are here already at hand. Num- ber of silos included, fourteen; average capac- ity, 140 tons; average cost of silos, $92, or 65 cents per ton capacity.
Next come the square or rectangular wooden silos. Number of silos included, twenty-five; average capacity, 194 tons; average cost of silos, $285, or $1.46 per ton capacity.
The round silos follow closely the square wooden ones in point of cost. Only seven silos were included, all but one of which were made of wood. Average capacity, 237 tons ; average cost, $368, or $1.54 per ton capacity. The data for the six round wooden silos are as follows: Average capacity, 228 tons ; average cost, $346,
88 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
or $1.52 per ton capacity. The one round ce- ment silo cost $500, and had a capacity of 300 tons (dimensions: diameter, 30 feet; depth, 21 feet); cost per ton capacity, $1.67. _
The stone or cement silos are the most expen- sive in first cost, as is shown by the data ob- tained. Number of silos included, nine; aver- age capacity, 288 tons; average cost, $577, or $1.93 per ton capacity.
The great difference in the cost of different silos of the same kind is apparent without much reflection. Therangein cost per ton capacity in the twenty-five wooden silos included in the preceding summary was from 70 cents to $3.60. The former figure was obtained with a 144-ton silo, 20x18 x 20 feet ; and the latter with a 140- ton silo, built as follows : Dimensions, 14x 28x 18 feet ; 2x 12x18 feet studdings, set 12 inches apart ; two thicknesses of dimension boards in- side, with paper between, sheeting outside with paper nailed on studding ; cement floor. Par- ticulars are lacking as regards the first silo, beyond its dimensions.
A good many figures entering into the preced- ing summaries are doubtless somewhat too low; if all labor put on the silo is to be paid for, for in some cases the cost of work done by the farmers themselves was not figured in with the other expenses. As most farmers would do some of the work themselves, the figures given may, however, be taken to rep-
SILOS. 89
resent the cash outlay in building silos. In a general way, it may be said that a silo can be built in the bay of a barn for less than 75 cents per ton capacity; a round ora good square or rectangular wooden silo for about $1.50, and a stone or cement silo for about $2 per ton capac- ity, all figures being subject to variations ac- cording to local prices of labcr and materials.
I believe that cheap, poorly-constructed silos have done more to prejudice large numbers of farmers against silage, and impede the progress of the silo, than any other one cause ; if it pays to build a silo at all, it pays to build a good one, and none but silos built to last should be putup. Many of the early wooden silos built were not made with an eye to the future, or rather, it was not then suspected that silos are as easily destroyed as a few years’ experience plainly showed them to be. We now provide against the decay of the silo, as we have seen, by securing good ventilation, and by preserving the woodwork ; in the cement or stone silo we whitewash with pure water-lime. In either case, it is often found convenient and advantageous to put in a cement or concrete floor. All these matters increase the cost of the silo, but in return, silos thus built will last for an indefinite length of time, and will not require much out- lay after first cost.
Professor King figures that round silos will cost about 14 cents per square foot of surface,
90 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
and on basis of this figure arrives at the follow-
ing cost of round silos of different dimensions.
APPROXIMATE Cost oF RouND WOODEN SILos, THIRTY FEET DEEP, THEIR CAPACITIES AND CosT PER TON oF SILAGE.
Outside Diam. of Silo. Cap. in Tons. Total Cost. Cost per Ton, Outside Diam. of Silo Cap. in Tons Total Cost. Cost per Ton.
|
16 feet....]| 105/$2389. 268
28/24 feet... .| 247/$379. 96 $1.54 15||25 feet... .| 269) 398.58) 1.48 3/|26 feet... .| 292} 417.34) 1.48 2/27 feet....| 315] 4386.52) 1.38 3/28 feet... | 340) 455.70) 1.34 ar : 4/29 feet....| 366} 475.16) 1.30 22 feet....| 206) 343.42 7 0
[30 feet... 392| 494.76) 1.26 23 feet....| 226} 361.48
31 feet....| 419} 514.78] 1.23
2.
2.
19 feet....| 150) 290.36] 1. ai il
ike
i
ue
The data given in the preceding table show plainly that large silos are more economical than small ones. The expense per ton capacity of a 400 ton silo is thus only a little more than half of that of a 100-ton silo; the cost per ton capacity of the two silos being $2.28 and $1.23, for a 100 and 400-ton silo, respectively.
The following statements of the cost of the three types of silos were prepared by the same writer ; comparisons are made with a stone silo of 200 tons capacity, costing $500; the silo is 14x 24 feet inside, and 30 feet deep, 22 feet above ground. It is covered on the outside with dimension boards, battened, extending up and down, and nailed to 2x 4 studding, held in place by hooked pieces of band irons laid in the wall,
SILOS.
RECTANGULAR S110, 200 Tons.
Foundation, 13.44 perch at $1.20............ $ 16.18 Studding, 2x12, 28 feet, 8,736 feet at $20..... 174.72 Sills, etc., 2x10, 26 feet, 206 feet at $19....... 4.94 Sills, etc., 2x10, 16 feet, 426 feet at $14..... 5.96 Rafters, etc., 2x4, 20 feet, 400 feet at $16..... 6.40 Roof boards, fencing, 450 feet at $15......... 6.75 pa ledy OM MEAG tsetse cs ca,- 5 Slew 5, d.6s:c1w'o os 15.00 Drop siding, 8 inch, 2,779 feet at $16........ 44.46 Lining, sur. fencing, 4,256 feet at $15........ 63.84 marred paper, 426 lbs. at 2 cents....... ..... 8.52 Woasltar VuDATTE). op. )oe c's 3 acess oie SS ee ee 4.50 iRaimtines GO cents per SQUAaTC.....5.. oes. oe ets 15.00 PER AMOM DIN OES. cy. ers oe ss sials os eae ake < dinar 10.00 WP SMIEMEIN GO DORLOMN se. «vos cieJo.clsie eo Seats 6he%ei0 0 5.00 Eighteen 3-4 inch bolts, 18 inches long........ 2.70 Carpenter labor at $3 per M, and board...... 41.16
MG ete hates ete ocsie's = oidinice Sages © Ceainloe $425.08
RounpD S110, 200 Tons,
20 feet inside diameter, 30 feet deep.
91
Moundation, 1-o.perch at $1.20... 2.22 cee. ae... $ 9.00 Studs 2x4, 14 and 16 feet, 1,491 feet at $14..... 20.93 Rafters, 2x4, 12 feet, 208 feet at $14.......... 2.91 Roof boards, fencing, 500 feet at $15......... 7.50 SIM SIES BO MAU DOr. aces ovis sea dite aie te es 18.00 Siding, rabbeted, 2,660 feet at $23............ 61.18 Lining, fencing, ripped, 2,800 feet at $18...... 50.40 » Tarred paper, 740 lbs. at 2 cents.............. 14.80 (CORAM TS aI One gel its ae ee ae ere or 4.50 ELST OR AOTUE LG 3 ls vc CR ee Ie a aI 6.00 Painting, 60 cents per square...........--.+.. 13.20 Wementing DOUOM, .0...:5:6 655 cele wns oe ee eos ne 5.00 Carpenter labor at $3 per M, and board...... 33.17
Mae ee eo ale ee san 8 sina apeawrow
92 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
‘“The three silos are outside, and wholly in- dependent structures, except the entrance and feeding chute shown in Fig. 10, which con- nects with the barn. This method of connec- tion for outside silos, while a little more costly, is, I feel confident, much the best in the long run.’’
It may be in order to state, In comparing the figures given in the preceding statements with the average data for the cost of the different silo types obtained by the writer, that the round silos in the latter summary were built uniformly better than the rectangular wooden silos included, and according to modern re- quirements, while many of the latter were old and of a comparatively cheap construction, so that the figures cannot be taken to represent the relative value of rectangular and round silos built equally well.
CHAPTER III.— SILAGE. Filling the Silo.
Having built our silo, we proceed to fill it with the fodder grown for the purpose. Since Indian corn is our main silage crop, we shall first consider the siloing of corn, and after- ward take up other crops. We saw before that corn should be allowed to pass through the dough stage before cutting, 7. e., when the ker- nels are well dented, or glazed, in case of flint varieties. Where very large silos are filled, and in cases of extreme dry weather when the corn is fast drying up, it will be well to begin filling the silo a little before it has reached this stage, as the greater portion of the corn would other- wise be apt to be too dry. There is, however, less danger in this respect now than formerly, on account of our modern deep silos, and because we have found that water applied directly to the fodder in the silo acts in the same way as water in the fodder, and keeps the fermenta- tions in the silo in the right track.
CUTTING THE CoRN IN THE F1ELD.— The cut- ting of corn for the silo is usually done by hand
by means of a corn knife. Some farmers are (93)
94 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
using a self-raking Champion reaper for this purpose, while others report good success with a sled or platform cutter. If the corn stands up well, and is not a very large variety, the end sought may be reached in a satisfactory manner by either of these methods. If, on the other hand, much of the corn is down, resort must be had to hand cutting. A number of
FIG. 20.— McCORMICK'S CORN HARVESTER.
different makes of corn harvesters and corn cutters have been placed on the market during the past season; it is very likely that hand cut- ting of fodder corn will be largely done away with in years to come, at least on large farms; indeed, it looks as if the day of the corn-knife was passing away, and as if this implement that has figured so long will soon be relegated to obscurity with the sickle of our fathers’ time.
FILLING THE SILO. 95
Fig. 20 shows the latest and most im- proved machine that cuts corn and binds it into bundles of a convenient size, thus saving one-third of the work necessitated by handling loose stalks in the field and at the cutter.
The corn is bound whilst standing on end, thereby assuring a square butt to the bundles and making a secure shock. The machine is built by the McCormicks in Chicago, and, according to the testimony of the farmers who have in use the 8,000 that were manufactured last season, it 1s a perfect machine for its purpose.
A platform cutter, which has been used with great success, is described by the veteran Wis- consin dairyman, Mr. Charles R. Beach, in a communication to the author:
‘“We use two wagons, with platforms built upon two timbers, eighteen feet long, sus- pended beneath the axles. These platforms are about eighteen inches from the ground and are seven feet wide. The cutting-knife is fastened upon a small removable platform, two feet by about three and one-half feet, which is attached to the side of the large platform, and is about six or eight inches lower. One row is cut ata time, the knife striking the corn at an angle of about forty-five degrees. One man kneels on the small platform and takes the corn with his arm; two or three men stand upon the wagon, and as soon as he has gotten an armful, “he
96 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
men, each in turn, take it from him and pile it on the wagon. If the rows are long enough a load of one and one-half to two tons can be cut and loaded on in about eight to ten minutes. The small platform is detached from the wagon, the load driven to the silo, the plat- form attached to the other wagon, and another load is cut and loaded. None of the corn reaches the ground; no bending down to pick up. One team will draw men, cutter, and load, and I do not now well see how the method could be improved. With a steam engine, a large cutter, two teams and wagons, and ten men, we filled our silo, 22x24x18 feet (190 tons), fast, in less than two days. Mr. —— owned the whole outfit, and filled his own and several silos for his neighbors, the same gang of men doing the work.”
Professor Georgeson of Kansas Experiment Station has described a one-horse sledge-cutter which has given better satisfaction than any fodder-cutter tried at that station. It is pro- vided with two knives, which are hinged to the body of the sled, and can be folded in on the sled when not in use. It has been improved and made easier to pull by providing it with four low and broad cast-iron wheels. It is pulled by asingle horse and cuts two rows at a time. Two men stand upon the cutter, each facing a row; as the corn is cut they gather it into arm- fuls, which they drop in heaps on the ground.
FILLING THE SILO. 97
A wagon with a low, broad rack follows, on which the corn is loaded and hauled to the silo.
A low-down rack for hauling the cut corn to the cutter is shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 22). It has been used for some years past at the Wisconsin Experiment Station, and is a great convenience in handling corn, saving both labor and time. Professor King states that these racks not only dispense with a man upon the wagon when loading, but
FIG. 22— LOW-DOWN RACK FOR HAULING FODDER CORN.
they materially lessen the labor of the man who takes the corn from the ground, for it is only the top of the load which needs to be raised shoulder-high; again, when it comes to unloading, the man can stand on the floor or eround and simply draw the corn toward him and lay it upon the table of the cutter, without stooping over and without raising the corn up to again throw it down. A plank that can easily be hitched on behind the truck will
prove convenient for loading, so that the loader 0
98 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
ean pick up his armful and, walking up the plank, can drop if without much exertion.
A very cheap and convenient s!ed for hauling fodder corn from the field has been recommended - by Professor Hickman of Ohio Experiment Sta- tion; it is said to answer all purposes if the silo corn is not too far from the silo: The sled can be made out of a couple of 2x10 or 2x 12 planks, say twelve feet long. Four2x4 cross pieces, well mortised into the planks, and fastened by 20-penny nails, will finish the sled, except the trimming of the runners so that they will have a well-formed curve on the front end. Loose boards thrown upon this kind of sled will enable one to haul very easily a ton of fodder at a load; and by placing the butts of the fodder corn all one way and putting a 3x8 scantling under the tops the load can be unloaded when it arrives at the cutter by two hands taking each an end of the scantling, and raising that side of the load until the fodder corn is turned completely over. In hauling the fodder corn long distances a low-down rack similar to the one shown in Fig. 22 should be used.
If wilted fodder corn is to be siloed it should be shocked in the field to protect it as much as possible from rain before hauling it to the cutter. 3
WHOLE AGAINST Cut SILAGE.— One import- ant matter to be decided at this point is whether
FILLING THE SILO. 99
or not the corn is to be cut before being filled into the silo. In the large majority of cases corn is run through a feed-cutter on being siloed. This is, however, by no means neces- sary, as it may be siloed whole with perfect success; in some localities and by some farmers, this practice is followed exclusively. The advocates of whole silage claim, with a good deal of plausibility, that there will be smaller losses from fermentations with whole than with cut silage, and that silos will be less subject to decay when corn is siloed whole than the other way. No direct proof of either of these state- ments is, however, at hand, and the practice followed must be decided by the greater advan- tages of one system or the other in the opinion of each farmer.
In experiments with whole and cut corn silage, conducted at the Massachusetts Experi- ment Station in 1884-85, the conclusion drawn was that the silage obtained from whole plants was in a better state of preservation than that which had been obtained from the same quality of corn previously cut into pieces of from 14 to 14 inches in length. The mechanical condition of the whole corn silage was less satisfactory for feeding purposes, as far as an economical consumption of the same weight of both is concerned, than that pro- duced from corn previously cut.
The saving of machinery, cutter, and carrier
100 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
makes an important point in favor of the whole silage, especially for small farmers, while the greater ease with which the cut silage may be fed out is in favor of the cutting of the corn crop. Professor Cook of Michigan says on this point: ‘‘My silo, fifteen feet square and twenty feet high, cost less than €130, and my feed-cutter, with an eighteen-foot carrier, also costs more than $100. But the same tread-power enables me to cut all my dry corn stalks and oat straw ata great saving, and to grind all my oats and corn at a slight expense, with one of the excellent Amer- ican grinders, while the cutter is also used as just indicated. For safety and convenience in feeding I prefer to run all the corn through a cutter. I believe that silos will soon be so common that engines and cutters will go from farm to farm, as threshers do now; then even the small farmers may cut the mate- rial for the silo, and yet not need to own the expensive machinery. I believe that it will pay even the small farmer to own the machin- ery, if he can purchase without incurring debt.’’
In siloing fodder corn whole, it is well to grow the smaller varieties and to plant rather thickly. One successful whole-silage farmer thus uses as much as twenty to twenty-four quarts of seed to the acre, which gives a stalk of corn nearly every inch, with rows 3% feet
FILLING THE SILO. 10]
apart. We have seen that a maximum of food materials per acre can not be expected from such close planting. Others use only half this amount and have equally good, or most likely better, whole silage. Too close planting is to be avoided, both on account of the decreased yield of dry matter from the land and the large amount of acid found in silage made from very immature corn. A medium thick planting, obtained by using, e. g., ten to twelve quarts per acre, is profitable for whole silage, for two reasons —the corn may be handled more easily, both in filling it into the silo and in feeding it out, and there is no waste in feeding, since cattle will eat the slender stalks and leave nothing of the silage.
In siloing corn whole it.is put into the silo in a systematic manner; beginning with a small armful in one corner of the silo, bundles of the same size are placed along the wall ina tier; then another tier is formed close up to the first one, being laid in the opposite direc- tion, and successive tiers: are formed in the same way until the whole bottom of the silo is covered. When the first layer has been formed, a second one is put on top of it, starting with bundles where the first layer was finished, and completing it where the first layer was begun; in the same way layer after layer is put on until the silo is full. Every time a corner is reached a number of stalks are bent in the middle and
102 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
pressed down solidly in the corner, so as to leave noempty space. When the silage is to be fed out, the silo is emptied from the top in exactly the opposite direction from that in which it was filled; the different bundles and tiers will then separate from the rest of the silage without much trouble, although at best the process of feeding out whole silage must be considered back-aching work.
Farmers who can not very well afford to buy the machinery necessary for cutting corn for the silo should make whole silage until they find themselves able to invest in a cutter, if they should prefer a change. While siloing whole corn may not be any saving in the end, the first cost of making silage will be greatly lessened by following this method. Better whole silage than none at all; better cut silage than whole, in the majority of cases, at least.
SILOING Corn ‘*‘ EARS AND ALL.’’—It is the practice of a great many farmers to silo the whole corn plant without previously husking it. If the ear corn is not needed for hogs and horses, or for seed purposes, this practice is in the line of economy, as it saves the expense of husking, cribbing, shelling, and grinding the ear corn. The possible loss of food materials sustained in siloing the ear corn speaks against the practice, but this is, as we shall see, very small, and more than counterbalanced by the advantages gained by this method of pro-
FEGOENG THE SILO: 103
cedure. In proof of this statement it may be well to give here briefly the results of a some- what extended feeding trial with milch cows, conducted by the author in 1891, at the Wis- consin Experiment Station.
Corresponding rows of a large corn field were siloed, ‘‘ears and all’’ and without ears, the ears belonging to the latter lot being carefully saved and air-dried. The total yield of silage with ears in it (whole-corn silage) was 56,459 pounds ; of silage without ears (stover silage), 34,496 pounds, and of ear corn, 10,511 pounds. The dry matter content of the lots obtained by the two methods of treatment was, in whole corn silage, 19,950 pounds; in stover silage 9,484 pounds, and in ear corn 9,122 pounds, or 18,606 pounds of dry matter in the stover silage and ear corn combined. This shows a loss of 1,344 pounds of dry matter, or nearly 7 per cent, sustained by handling the fodder and ear corn separately instead of siloing the corn ‘‘ears and all.”
In feeding the two kinds of silage against each other, adding the dry ear corn to the stover silage, it was found that seventeen tons of whole-corn silage fed to sixteen cows produced somewhat better results than fourteen tons of stover silage, and more than two tons of dry ear corn, both kinds of silage having been sup- plemented by the same quantities of hay and grain feed, The yield of milk from the cows
104. MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
was 4 per cent higher on the whole-corn silage ration than on the stover silage ration, and the yield of fat was 6.9 per cent higher on the same ration. It would seem then that the cheapest and best way of preserving the corn crop for feeding purposes, at least in case of milch cows, is to fill it directly into the silo; the greater portion of the corn may be cut and siloed when the corn is in the roasting stage, and the corn plat which is to furnish ear corn may be left in the field until the corn is fully matured, when it may be husked, and the stalks and leaves may be filled into the silo on top of the corn siloed ‘‘ears and all.’’ This will then need some heavy weighting or one or two applications of water on top of the corn, to insure a good quality of silagefrom therather dry stalks. (See page 109.)
An experiment similar to the preceding one, conducted at the Vermont Experiment Station, gave results going in the same direction. The product from six acres of land was fed tomilch cows; the results showed that corn siloed ‘fears and all’’ produced 3.3 per cent better results than siloed stalks and ground ear corn from the same; when the yield of milk and fat per acre of corn was considered in either case, the whole corn silagefrom an acre of land, fed with 4,313 pounds of clover rowen and 2,157 pounds grain, produced 8,118 pounds of milk and 333 pounds fat; while in case of the
FILLING THE SILO. 105
stover silage fed with ground earsand thesame quantity of other feed, 6,399 pounds of milk and 264 pounds of fat were produced ; that is, it would have taken the product from 1.26 acres to give anequal amount of milk and milk prod- ucts in the latter case as was produced by the silage from whole corn plant. This shows that husking, shelling, and grinding the corn, processes that may cost more than a quarter of the market value of the meal, are labor and ex- pense more than wasted, since the cows did better on the corn siloed ‘‘ears and all’ than on that siloed after the ears were picked off and fed ground with it.
THE FILLING PRocrEss.—If the corn is to be cut before being filled into the silo, it is un- loaded on the table of the fodder-cutter and run through the cutter, after which the carrier elevates it to the silo window and delivers it into the silo. The length of cutting practiced differs somewhat with different farmers, and according to variety of corn to be siloed. The general practice is to cut the corn in one- half to one-inch lengths ; a few cut in two-inch lengths. The corn will pack better in the silo the finer it is cut, and cattle will eat the larger varieties cleaner if cut into inch lengths or less. On the other hand, it is possible that fine cut- ting implies larger losses through fermenta- tions in the silo; fine cut silage may, further- more, not keep as long as silage cut longer after
106 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
having been taken out of the silo. There is, however, not sufficient experimental evidence at hand to establish either of these points; the majority of farmers filling silos, at any rate, practice cutting corn fine for the silo.
The carrier should deliver the corn as nearly in the middle of the silo as possible; by means of a chute attached to the carrier, the cut corn may be delivered to any part of the silo desired, and the labor of distributing and leveling the corn thus facilitated. If the corn is siloed ‘‘ears and all,’’ it is necessary to keep a man or a boy in the silo while it is being filled, to level the surface and tramp down the sides and corners; if left to itself, the heavier pieces of ears will be thrown farthest away and the light leaves and tops will all come nearest the dis- charge; as a result, the corn will not settle evenly, and the feeding value of different layers of silage will differ greatly. To assist in the distribution of the corn it is recom- mended to hang a pyramidal box in front and below the top of the carrier; this may be made about three feet square at the base and tapering to a point, at which a rope is attached for hanging to rafters. The descending mass of cut corn will strike the top of the box and be divided so as to distribute to all parts of the silo. Another simple device is to place a board vertically, or nearly so, in front of the top of the carrier, against which the cut corn will strike.
FILLING THE SILO. 107
Fast or SLow FILLiInG.— The original prac- tice in filling silos was to fill as rapidly as the conditions present would possibly admit; other outdoor farm work was therefore dropped at the time of silo filling, and all energies con- centrated on completing this job. It was, how- ever, found later on, perhaps by accident, that no harm will result if the filling be interrupted for some time, and -the practice of slow filling gradually developed. The theory of the prac- tice was worked out by Prof. M. Miles of Michigan, and he was one of the early cham- pions of the slow-filling process in this coun- try. The advantage claimed for the slow filling was, besides appreciably facilitating the work of filling the silo, the superior quality of the silage produced, viz., so-called sweet silage. We shall be able to discuss this subject more fully when we have considered the chemical composition of silage, and the changes occur- ring in the silo. (See page 120.) It will only be necessary here to state, concerning the slow or rapid filling of silos, that the silage produced by either method will be good, provided the cornis not too immature. It is, therefore, mainly a matter of convenience, which method proves preferable. Generally speaking, rapid filling has the advantage in point of economy, both of ‘labor and of food materials. The fermentations are left to proceed farther in case of slow filling than when filled rapidly, being greatly aided
108 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
by the oxygen of the air, which then has better access to the separate layers; this is plainly shown by the higher temperature reached in slowly filled silos. The rise in the temperature is due to the activity of bacteria, and a high temperature, therefore, means greater losses of food constituents.
As there may be some farmers who still hold slow filling to be preferable, we give the direc- tions for filling the silo in this way: When enough corn has been added to fill about three feet of the silo, the filling is discontinued and the mass allowed to heat up to 120° to 140° Fahrenheit. This may take a day or two; the filling is then continued, and another layer of about three feet filled in, which is left to heat as before. This method of intermittent filling is continued until the silo is full.
COVERING THE SILOED FoppER.—A great many devices for covering the siloed fodder have been recommended and tried, with varying success. The original method was to put boards on top of the fodder and to weight them heavily by means of a foot layer of earth or sand, or with stone. The weighting having later on been done away with, lighter material, as straw, marsh hay, sawdust, etc., was sub- stituted for the stone or sand. Building paper was often placed over the fodder, and boards on top of the paper. There is no special advantage derived from the use of building
FILLING THE SILO. 109
paper, and it is now rarely used. Many farm- ers run some corn stalks or green husked fodder through the cutter after the fodder is all in.
None of these materials or any other rec- ommended for the purpose can perfectly pre- serve the uppermost layer of silage, as far as my experience goes, some six to eight inches of the top layer being usually spoilt. Occasion- ally this spoilt silage may not be so bad but that cattle or hogs will eat it up nearly clean, but it is at best very poor food and should not be used by any farmer who cares for the quality of his products. The wet or green materials are better for cover than dry substances, since they prevent evaporation of water from the top layer; when this is dry, air will be admitted to the fodder below, thus making it possible for putrefactive bacteria and molds to continue the destructive work begun by the fermentation bacteria.
During the past couple of years the practice of applying water to the surface of the fodder in the silo has been followed in a large number of cases. The surface is tramped thoroughly and a considerable amount of water added. In applying the method at the Wisconsin Experi- ment Station, Professor King, a few days after the completion of the filling of the silo, added water to the fodder corn at the rate of about ten pounds per square foot of surface, repeat-
110 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
ing the same process about ten days afterward. By this method a sticky, almost impervious layer of rotten silage, a couple of inches thick, will form on the top, which will prevent evap- oration of water from the corn below, and will preserve all but a few inches of the top. The method seems to have worked very satisfacto- rily, and can be recommended in cases where the corn or clover goes into the silo ina rather dry condition, on account of drought or extreme hot weather, so as not to pack sufficiently by its own weight. While weighting of the siloed fodder has long since been done away with, it may still prove advantageous to resort to it where very dry fodder is siloed, or in case of shallow silos. Under ordinary conditions neither weighting nor applications of water should be necessary.
None of the different methods given in the preceding will preserve all of the silage intact, and the author knows of only one way in which this can be accomplished, viz.: by begin- ning to feed the silage within a few days after the silo has been filled. This method is now practiced by many farmers, especially dairymen, who in this manner supplement scant fall pastures.
By beginning to feed at once from the silo, the siloing system is brought to perfection, provided the silo structure is air-tight and con- structed so as to admit of no unnecessary losses
Sts
FILLING THE SILO. MB
of nutrients. Under these conditions there is a very considerable saving of food materials over silage made in poorly-constructed silos, or over field-cured shocked fodder corn, as we shall presently see.
Before leaving the subject of filling and covering the silo it may ve of interest to give an extract of a recent address by the well- known Ohio siloist, Mr. John Gould, in regard to these points: ‘‘I have flung aside all ma- chinery for cutting the standing corn, and now have the crop hand-cut. I get it cut for about 80 cents an acre and the board of one man. A corn harvester costs $130, and will not last more than eight years, and $18 interest on money and wear of the machine yearly will cut my corn by hand twice over each year., A man cutting by hand can take three rows at a time, and a good man can cut three acres a day if he works alone. Never allow corn when cut to drop into the furrows. Let itbe put crosswise of the rows, so that the man who comes along to take it up can do so without using his finger nails for a rake. In picking up the corn we do not usea low wagon, but an ordinary high one, and one man loads and unloads his own wagon. We have four men in the field—the cutter, a loader, and two ‘ pick-me-ups.’ A great deal depends upon careful loading. Get the driver to load his wagon seven bundles high, and keep it there until the wagon is loaded. Formerly in
112 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
operating the cutting machine we had two men to feed it and one man to boss the job. Now we have one man to feed the machine and no one to boss him. He must simply keep gang the machine or get buried.
‘We used to put two men in the silo when filling; now we find that one man can attend to that part of the work, look after the engine, and do odd jobs. <A load of corn weighs more than a man, and that is why we do not do any tramping now. In filling a silo you should always aim to keep the highest portion near the walls. We place a sort of table or small platform over the center of the silo, run the ensilage on to it, making a pyramid; then the corn must fall toward the walls, and not to the center. Now and then it may take five minutes’ work with the fork to make things even and level up. Do not cover your silo. Ten pails of water evenly distributed over the top, when the corn is all in and the top well tramped, is best of all. Then come away and put your trust in Providence. The mois- ture on top of the silo will quickly develop a fine mold, which is better than anything else by way of preserving that which is beneath. You will lose only about ten bushels of ensi- lage by the moulding, and that costs less than would a day’s work making an artificial covering.”
SILAGE. 113
“Dry” Silage.
The objection has been raised that we handle an unnecessarily large quantity of water in siloing green fodder corn, nearly three-fourths of the crop being made up of water, and it has been argued that some of this amount might advantageously be removed before placing it in the silo, by partially wilting or curing the fod- der. The efforts to silo such wilted fodder have, however, often been unsuccessful, because of insufficient pressure in the silo; the wilted fodder will not pack sufficiently by its own weight to exclude the air, and as a result white, moldy spots are apt to appear in the silage, destroying large amounts of the contents. This may possibly be avoided in deep silos by weighting the fodder or by applying a liberal quantity of water to the well-tramped surface of the fodder corn. An experiment in silo- ing wilted fodder, made at Wisconsin Experi- ment Station in 1887, showed great losses of materials, more than half of the fodder being destroyed during the siloing process. The silage was dry and very light, with an odor similar to that of drying tobacco leaves. Chemical analyses made by the author showed the composition of the silage and the corre- sponding partly cured fodder corn (yellow dent) to be as follows:
8
114 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF ‘‘ Dry” SILAGE AND CORRE- SPONDING PARTLY CURED FODDER CoRN.
at o Tish es HO 3) o a o Col ¢ “
2 . | Sigs Vee slae (Scie
1 a as} = BR apel er |Om/oOn
3 n Ow ES | SS 0/1 Bk [8 o\oo
= | <4 |-A| Of lan > A \Adid<
Dry oUlage,. -. seeccie 30.76)4.38/6. 18/21 .48/35.84)1.36).14)...
Partly Cured Fodder Comttraneasceon: 34.77/38 .52)4.87'23 .37/82.51] .96)...]...
Scattered reports of success in siloing wilted corn fodder are at hand. Professor Sanborn, late director of Utah Experiment Station, re- ports very favorable results from silage pre- pared from such fodder. Hesays: ‘‘ In seven- teen years’ experimental work in animal nutri- tion, during every year of which there has been some feeding trial or trials with fodder corn or corn fodder, and during the time several trials with methods of preserving the corn plant, I have never found a method of preserving this plant that has given so much satisfaction. Not the slightest change of the plant in Silo 3 was visible to the eye except that it was softer or more pliable. It was eaten better than I have ever known corn fodder to be eaten; fully as well as hay is usually eaten. I believe that no appreciable loss occurred under this system of storage, and I am sure that it is far less than by the regular silo system of green storage.”’
Mr. John Gould says in regard to dry silage: ‘While those who have tried this dry fodder Silage are satisfied with it, none claim it as superior to putting up the green fodder. It is
SILAGE. 115
far more difficult to cut. The silo cannot restore to the dry fodder what it has lost, nor its original digestibility, but it does make it more palatable and easier fed, creating a large saving by having the coarser parts consumed. Instead of cutting fodder each day for the stock, the fodder is cut at one job and time economized. The chief point is, that it is pos- sible by this process to save a big surplus corn crop, which otherwise would rapidly deterio- raste.’’
Clover Silage.
Green clover may be siloed whole or cut; when the former method is followed, it should be put into the silo in a systematic manner, in a similar way as explained in case of whole silage (101).. The silo may be filled by means of a hay fork, or by hand; the hay fork makes harder work of the feeding out of the silage, so that generally it is preferable to fill by hand. Since whole clover does not pack very solidly, most farmers either fill the lower half of the silo with whole clover, putting clover cut in two-inch lengths in the upper half, or cut all the clover put into the silo. The arguments for and against whole clover silage are the same as in case of whole corn, although whole clover silage is more easily handled than whole corn silage. The clover should not be left to wilt between cutting and siloing, and the silo should
116 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
be filled rapidly, so as to cause no unneces- sary losses by fermentations.
The different species of clover will prove sat- isfactory silo crops; ordinary red or medium clover is most used in Northwestern States, along with mammoth clover; the latter ma- tures later than medium or red clover, and may therefore be siloed later than these. Alfalfa or lucern is often siloed in the West; on account of its coarser stems it had better be cut for the silo. Under the conditions present in the Western States it will generally produce much larger yields than corn, and, preserved in a Silo, will furnish a rich supply of most valuable feed. Prof. Neale recommends the use of scarlet clover for summer silage, for Delaware and states under similar climatic con- ditions.
By filling clover into the silo at midsummer, or before, space is utilized that would otherwise beempty ; the silage will furthermore be avail- able for feeding in the latter part of the sum- mer and during the fall, when the pastures are apt to run short. This makes it possible to keep a larger number of stock on the farm than can be the case if pastures alone are to be relied upon, and thus facilitates greatly inten- sive farming.
In several instances where there has still been a supply of clover silage in the silo, green corn has been filled in on top of the clover, and
SILAGE. 117
the latter has been sealed and thus preserved for a number of years. <A sample of two-year- old clover silage which the author saw during the past season was perfectly preserved in the manner given, and, aside from being somewhat drier than ordinary clover silage (possibly due to exposure during transportation), it looked like first-class silage, of a uniform brown color, and of a sweet, aromatic odor. I may mention in this connection that corn silage will also keep for a number of years when left undis- turbed in the silo. An extensive dairy farmer of Mahwah, N.J., who has twenty-four silos on his farm, ranging in capacity from fifty to seventy-five tons each, who feeds about 2,000 tons of corn silage each year, informs me that he always keeps silage for two years before feeding, and that the best silage he ever had was seven years old. While it is difficult to see the advantage of the system, if shows that corn silage, once settled and left ‘*sealed up,’’ will keep for a series of years without suffering noticeable deterioration.
Freezing of Silage.
Freezing of silage has sometimes been a source of annoyance and even loss to farmers in Northern States; the difficulty may be avoided by checking the ventilation in the silo and by leaving the door to the silo carefully closed in very cold weather. If the top layer
118 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE. |
of silage freezes, some of the warm silage may be mixed with the frozen silage an hour or so before feeding time, and all the silage will then be found in good condition when fed out. Professor Cook recommends keeping a layer of straw as a cover over the silage; this will pre- vent it from freezing, and may easily be cleared off when silage is to be taken out.
Cost of Silage.
Corn silage will generally cost $1 to $1.50 per ton, including cost of seed, preparation of land, interest on same, cultivation of corn, cutting, filling into the silo and ready for use. The cost will vary according to local conditions, yield, price of land and labor, facilities for work, etc. Professor King found that the average cost of cutting and putting corn into the silo on a number of Wisconsin farms was 58.8 cents per ton, when it was put in cut; adding to this amount the interest and taxes on the silo investment per ton and 2 per cent for insurance and maintenance, he finds that the cost of harvesting and feeding a ton of Silage amounts to 73.2 cents. Various Ameri- can experiment station men have given the cost per ton of the silage as put into the silo. Professor Henry, in a trial at the Wisconsin Experiment Station, put thirty-one tons into the silo at a net cost of 89 cents a ton. The late Professor Porter found the cost of one ton
SILAGE. 119
of silage to be 88 cents, according to Minnesota prices. Professor Whitcher gives $1.62 as the cost per ton in New Hampshire; this sum in- cludes 55 cents paid for fertilizers and manure, an item considerably smaller for Western farmers. Professor Plumb of the Indiana (Purdue) Experiment Station states that ‘‘esti- mating on the cost of plowing, harrowing, planting, seed, manure, interest and taxes, cultivating, cutting and hauling from field, and placing in silo,” a ton of silage will cost about $1.50. Dr. Goessmann obtained thesame figure in siloing fodder corn at the Massachusetts Ex- periment Station.
Clover silage will usually cost less than corn silage on account of the smaller expense of growing the crop. The cost may be estimated at about $1 aton. (See page 31.)
The yields of silage crops are of direct im- portance in determining the cost of the silage. Corn of Northern flint or dent varieties will seldom yield over eighteen tons to the measured acre, and yields over twelve tons may be con- sidered satisfactory; fifteen tons will be counted a good crop by most farmers. The large Southern varieties, on the other hand, will yield toward twenty or more tons of green fod- der per acre, ordinarily containing, as we have seen, somewhat larger quantities of dry mat- ter than yielded by Northern smaller varieties under similar conditions, Green clover will
120 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
yield toward fifteen tons per acre, twelve tons being a good yield.
Chemical Composition of Silage.
The chemical composition of silage will of course depend on the character of the siloed fodder and on the intensity of the fermenta- tions occurring in the silo. The main com- ponents affected by the siloing process are starch and sugar (non-nitrogenous matter) and the nitrogenous bodies ; carbonic acid, water, and organic acids are formed from the former, and from the latter, decomposition products of simpler constitution than the flesh-forming substances proper, the so-called amides. The
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GREEN AND OF SILOED FODDER Corn, IN PER CENT.
Yellow Dent Corn. SOO ew Corn
: : Composi- A : Composi- all tion of ¢ | 3 tion of z = Dry 2 a Dry ) R Matter. c} n Matter. Si- Si- Green loed. Green loed. WiALer eee. eee ee R100 OsOe| ean neeleeee se R2e30 So Ghee eal eee Mineral Matter........ 2.22] 2.59] '7.65]) 8.82|| 1.59) 1.83! 9 00} 10.58 Crude Protein......... 2.49] 2.70} 8.59) 9.17]| 1.81] 1.73] 10 22] 9.95 Grudembibers-.a.e5. fee 7 82] 9.68] 26 96] 32 94|| 6.80] 6.89) 38.43) 39.73 Starch, Sugar, etc..... 15.98] 13.69] 55.12] 46.63]| 7.22) 6.23} 40.75) 36.00 ther HW xiract. 4. scecer .49 .72| 1.68] 2 44 .28 .65| 1.60) 3.74 100 00/100 .00/100 00/100.00)/100.00|100.00 100.00)100.00 TACTICHA CIO. 622 bc we ceeail miners 24 Oliscrace Altes al ese eH lonesenlecon ac INCCTICUNGIO? 4. fa ee acl neice E()<) mete | eee lI lec pre 2 8 eee oaoeoc TotalNitrogen 2 5 pate colll-n oon torso ICY alee Yleads ae SS 164 159 Amide Nitrogen. soc als.) le se] selels= = 31 B15 | reese aie 55] =. 68 Per Cent in Amide ONMIS otek a ete oe bee 294 | Oieke leeee 83.8 | 42.5
SILAGE, 121
percentage composition of silage will, as a re- sult, differ somewhat from that of the siloed fodder. The foregoing sets of analyses made by the author will illustrate the changes in the chemical composition of fodder corn before and after the siloing period.
RELATION OF MOISTURE AND ACIDITY IN SILAGE.— Silage will contain varying quanti- ties of free organic acids formed during the siloing period, mainly lactic, acetic, and butyric acids. The amounts of acid in the silage will depend largely upon the water content of the siloed fodder, or, more correctly speaking, upon the intensity of the fermentations occurring in tle silo, one important factor of which is the percentage of water in the fodder. I have pre- pared the following table showing the relation of the water in the siloed fodder, the tempera- ture in the silo, and the acidity of the silage. The analyses and observations were taken by the author in silo experiments conducted at Wisconsin Experiment Station during 1887. Six one-inch gas pipes were placed in each of the six experimental silos; one set of three pipes, which went down to within three, six, and nine feet from the bottom of the silo, was placed in the middle of the silo, and a similar set within two feet from one of tle outside walls; observations of thermometers kept at the bottom of the closed pipes were taken three times a day during the first couple of weeks
122 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
and later on twice or once a day. Only the maximum temperatures observed in the three silos are here given.
RELATION OF WATER CONTENT OF FODDER, ACIDITY OF SILAGE, AND TEMPERATURE IN SILO.
2 a 5 E
3 _
Pe | 3 13 |¢ VARIETY OF FODDER Corn. he) 43 ple B
aes og o> =
eI on Sn ia)
Ay 4 <q A
Per ct. | Per ct. sae) as 7
Stowell’s Evergreen sweet corn| 77.22 | 1.10 .21 | 125.6 Pride of the North, yellow
Gent COM. Sis.28 siceatsiocle sere 4 71.00 40 .08 | 120.0 Same, partially cured......... 04.77 yO eg Se 1538.0 B: &-W.. ensilace’ corn, o.... 2% 82.30 85 .31 | 129.5 Same, siloed whole........... | 82.72 .36 AO: Nagin Stowell’s Evergreen sweet corn 66.40 . 82 -16 | 126.5 B. & W. ensilage and yellow)
Aint Gorn, MICs s2iec%s ote. 65.65 .80 .08 | 122.0
Glover silage st c* cern cece oie 65 We ek
We notice that, as a general rule, the more water in the fodder the higher the acidity of the silage, and the lower the temperature. In case of the dry silage only a very slight acidity was found, and the temperature in the silo went up to 153° F. A high temperature, as we have seen, means a great loss of nutritive mate- rials, and large losses have usually also been observed where the conditions favoring high temperatures have been present. The follow- ing analyses, made at Michigan Agricultural College, plainly show the relation of water content of siloed fodder, and acidity of silage.
SILAGE. 193
Different lots of corn were siloed from the time of tasseling till the ears were glazed.
RELATION OF WATER CONTENT TO ACIDITY.
Se ER es Flos |S DaTE OF CUTTING. bi bb eh ) = 3 3 < 4 < < R DO | w Water content of corn, PDEERCED I, oc1.)0a0.. 2 90.00/87 .30/84.40'82.00'78 . 60/75. 73,70. 10 Acidity (calc. as acetic ACIG), Per Cent. « » 2% MecOlycOel. (Glia. Ne| athe «hele 10
)
The influence of the percentage of water in the siloed fodder and of methods of filling the silo is well illustrated in the following experi- ments, conducted by the Bath and West of Eng- land Society in 1886. The description of the experiments is taken from R. Henry Rew’s treatise on Stack Ensilage (London, 1888). ‘‘ The object was to obtain the comparative results, as ascertained by chemical analysis, from grass made into (1) hay, (2) sweet silage, (8) sour silage. Six small silos, each having a capacity of about 250 cubic feet, were carefully filled. The grass was all taken from the same meadow, and the conditions of making both silage and grass equalized with great pains. The following were the six different descrip- tions made:
“No.1. Sour Ensilage—rammed and com- pressed as rapidly as possible. The tempera- ture to be kept down to 50° F., or as near
124 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
thereto as possible. The silo to be filled and covered in one day. It is anticipated that the only acid present in this ensilage will be lactic, and perhaps a little butyric acid.
“No. 2. Sour Hnsilage—temperature to be kept below 120° F. This to be trodden and compressed as much as would be practicable in a general way. The filling of this silo may extend over a week. The acid in this ensilage, it is expected, will be both lactic and acetic.
PER CENT WATER, ACIDITY AND PROTEIN COMPOUNDS IN SAMPLES OF GRASS SILAGE.
No. 4 Dry Silage.
No.1 Silage. No. 2 Silage. No. 3 Silage. No. 5 Silage No. 6 Silage.
ef | | | |
WV GHEE: 5 sc werd 70.50|15.60 79 .40,79.17,77.12/49.75|76.90/77.91 WactiGeacide:s)|. ao< clea 26)- 1T octee a are ae Acetic acids 7 i sSaclc oe 821 - 18) 406i .04> 2102 sat Total nitrogen.| .42} 1.45) .34| .32) .37) .86) .37) .3d Amide nitro-
POM oes ome: 08) .42). .14) °.12) .10)° 22) fo) 1 Per cent loss in gross weight.|..... 73.97) 9.10, 9.2818.40/60.61] 4.50) 9.89
|
‘“No. 3. Sweet Hnsilage—made by carting the grass as cut direct to the silo, treading it well in at the sides, but not in the center. Temperature regulated from 140° to 150° F. This should produce a fruity type of sweet ensilage.
‘“No. 4. Sweet Ensilage — the grass allowed
SILAGE. 125
to lie in the field one day after cutting, and then made in the same way as No. 3. In- tended to produce an aromatic type of sweet ensilage.
“No. 5. Sour Ensilage—the grass to be chaffed and the silo filled at once and covered, as in No. 1.
‘“No. 6. Sweet Hnsilage— the sameas No. 3 silage, with the exception that the grass is to be chaffed.”’
We notice that the analyses by Doctor Voelcker, given in the preceding table, do not corroborate the predictions made concerning the acidity of the different kinds of silage. On the other hand, the largest amount of acetic acid was obtained in No. 1 silage, which was not expected to have any volatile acid, while No. 6 silage, made at a temperature from 140° to 150° F., contains the same amount of acetic acid as No. 1 and two-tenths of one per cent more lactic acid. The average losses of dry matter in the different kinds of silage were about 14 per cent.
SwEET AND Sour SiLaGE. — The analyses of silage given in the preceding do not show the differences between sour and sweet silage as we understand the terms. The former is rich in water and in volatile organic acids, while the latter is as a rule comparatively dry, only slightly acid, and contains especially but a very small quantity of acetic (volatile) acid. There
126 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
has been a good deal of discussion on the sub- ject of sweet and sour silage, and various theories have been advanced in explanation of the fermentations taking place in the silo at different temperatures.
Mr. George Fry was one of the earliest advo- cates of sweet silage; his book, ‘‘The Theory and Practice of Sweet Ensilage,’’ published in 1885, has been translated into German, and has had a good deal of influence in England and on the European continent. His practice was in general much better than his theories explain- ing the same.
It may be stated in passing that the term sweet silage, correctly speaking, is a misnomer, as any kind of silage will contain a quantity of acid. Acetic acid seems to be present in the sour silage in larger quantity than in sweet silage, and being volatile, will at once be noticed. The pop- ular idea that there is no acid in sweet silage may come from the fact that it does not give off a strong acid odor like sour silage. The English have made careful observations concerning the question of temperature in silage making. In the silo stacks which are very common in England, the temperature of the mass may be closely followed without any difficulty, and may be largely governed by applications of ereater or smaller pressure. Doctor Fream, in his ‘‘ Elements of Agriculture,’’ gives the fol- lowing discussion of the appearance of silage
SILAGE. 127
in different layers, and of the relation of tem- perature to acidity in the silo:
‘‘If an open-air silage stack is viewed in section from top to bottom, the lower layers will be seen to be greener than the upper, whilst the color gradually becomes browner toward the top, which will be almost of a burnt-coffee color. The bottom layers have been converted into green or sour silage, because the pressure of the material above has excluded the air, and fermentation has taken place at a low temperature, there not having been sufficient air to supply the oxygen for a high-temperature fermentation. As less weight was applied to the upper portion, there was freer access of air to it, and more air was retained among the mass, hence a higher fer- mentation. The color thus affords an indica- tion of the temperature at which the fermenta- tion took place. It is generally recognized that silage made at a temperature below 120° Fahrenheit is sour silage, whilst that which has not risen above 90° Fahrenheit is com- monly spoken of as ‘low-temperature sour,’ and that which has exceeded 90° Fahrenheit as ‘high-temperature sour.’ Between 120° and 130° there are generally veins or seams of sweet and sour silage intermingled. From 130° to 140° a shade of brown is discernable. Between 140° and 160° it is decidedly brown, and above 160° it is over-heated and very similar in
128 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
appearance to over-heated hay, whilst the flavor denotes burning. In any case fermen- tation ceases as soon as all available oxygen is used up, the air that exists amongst the herbage being then rich in carbonic acid Gass”
In our modern system of siloing fodders in separate silo structures we rarely have low- fermentation silage, since the somewhat dry condition of the siloed fodder necessarily admits of considerable air in the silo, which gives the bacterial life a chance to flourish for a short time. On the other hand, our deep silos increase the pressure of the mass so as to hold the fermentations in check to a certain extent. The temperature in most of our silos will not be likely to exceed 180° Fahrenheit, at least not in the lower layers. While silage pro- duced at this temperature would not be termed sweet silage according to the preceding defini- tions, the comparative absence of free volatile acids in it, its pleasant aromatic odor and not marked sour taste, properly bring it within the term as used by American writers. In the system of slow filling of silos, the various layers of silage have ample time to heat up and temperatures above 150° are reached. Silage produced at this temperature contains less acid than that produced below 150°, but the losses of food materials are at the same time larger.
SILAGE. 129
Digestibility of Silage.
A considerable number of digestion experi- ments with various kinds of silage have been ~made. The author, in 1888-89, conducted a digestion experiment with corn silage and with corresponding field-cured fodder corn, feeding two cows exclusively on these feeds in two successive periods. The average digestion coefficients obtained for both cows were as follows:
DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS OF CORN SILAGE AND FODDER
Corn. Dry Crude | Crude | Nitro 2-0! Ether |Albumi- Matter | AS}. |Protein.| Fiber. pies * \extract| noids. Corn silage.| 63 20 54 47 72 82 24 Cured fod- _ der corn. 60 19 49 56 65 69 30
This statement shows a somewhat lower digestibility of the dry matter, protein, nitro- gen-free extract, and ether extract of the field- cured fodder corn, and a higher digestibility of the crude fiber and the true albuminoids. As these data were obtained with only two cows, in one trial with each cow, too much import- ance should not be attached to the detailed results. We may only call attention to the fact that the digestibility of the corn silage proved fully equal to that of the dry fodder
corn of the same origin. 9
130 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
Since this experiment was conducted, a num- ber of digestion experiments have been. made with different kinds of silage and fodder corn. The average digestion coefficients obtained have been computed by Jordan, and include the work done with twenty-four samples of fodder corn and seventeen samples of corn silage, fifty and thirty-seven single trials, for fodder corn and corn silage respectively, having been made. The average digestion coefficients for green fodder are also given, and include thirty trials, with fifteen different samples.
AVERAGE DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS FOR CORN SILAGE AND FOR GREEN AND CURED FODDER CoRN.
Crude | Crude | N. Free} Ether
Dry z Ash. | protein| Fiber. | Extract| Extract
Matter.
Green fodder corn..| 68 35 | 61 61 74. 74
Cured fodder corn..| 66 at 55 66 69 72 Corn silage: 2.5.2.5 66 dl 53 67 70 81
While the dry matter of green fodder is slightly more digestible than that of cured fod- der corn or corn silage, there is no difference between the digestibility of the dry matter of the two latter. The coefficients for protein, crude fiber, and nitrogen-free extract are practically the same for corn silage and for cured fodder corn, since the differences in any case are below 2 per cent. The higher coeffi- cients found for the ether extract in the silage are due to the lactic acid formed during the siloing period, which is wholly digestible.
SILAGE. Lt
It may, therefore, be said in general that so far as our present knowledge goes, there is no appreciable difference in the digestibility of corn silage and dry fodder corn, and that both of these foods are somewhat less digestible than the green fodder corn.
Losses of Food Materials in the Silo.
In the early stages of the silo movement in this country and abroad, a great deal was said about the losses of food materials in the silo, and scientific men were rather inclined to take a stand against the silo on account of the results of the investigations made on this point. Neither is this to be wondered at when we remember that chemical analyses had repeatedly shown that one-third to one-half of the total dry matter put into the silo had disappeared during the siloing period through the fermenta- tion processes taking place in the silo. Later investigations with deep silos, where modern siloing methods were followed, have shown, however, that these results were due to the im- perfect silo methods followed, and not inherent in this process of preserving green forage. It was furthermore not known at that time that similar, or, in fact, still greater losses take place in ordinary field-curing and handling of dry fodder corn.
LosskEs IN FIELD-CuRING FoDDER CorN.— The experiments conducted at the Wisconsin
182 MAKING AND FEEDING SiLAGi.
Experiment Station in 1887 by Professor Henry and myself were, as far as [ know, the first attempts to ascertain the amount of the loss of nutritive elements of fodder corn, on being field-cured in Jarge shocks and stored during the greater portion of the winter. Corn fod- der was left shocked in the field for a month, and then stored in a barn until fed out. By analyses of the fodder as it was shocked, and when fed out, it was found that a yellow dent corn had lost in the interval 18.55 per cent of the dry matter originally contained in it, while a large sweet corn, that had to be reshocked in the field on account of its begin- ning to heat, lost 36.61 per cent of dry matter. Nearly nine tons of green fodder was cut and shocked in each case.
These losses were surprisingly large, and the work was carefully repeated the following year in a similar way as before. The quanti- ties of fodder corn shocked, and the losses of dry matter and protein obtained are shown below. At the same time that these shocks were put up, strictly comparative Icts of the same varieties were cut for the silo, and the quantities of dry matter and protein put into and taken out of the silo determined as in case of the shocked fodder. The results obtained with both lots of fodder are shown in the fol- lowing table.
SILAGE. 133
LossEs IN FIELD-CURING AND IN SILOING INDIAN Corn.— 1887-88.
Field-Cured Fodder Corn. Siloed Fodder Corn.
VARIETY OF CORN. ae S H Loss. ce a Logs. Rr cs) 3} as © a ae S s n zs wn z wa aS wo = L. h a mo =) ; —= 2 é6f2l6e2| 4 oléee!| 2 | a led Warmnows MuINT...-111.401 13,847 | 7,554. |... 0]. 0. cece lewccees fevsseee|eece Dry Matter....... 2,552 .7/2,256 DOG Rail le Glee eel we ool eno ees Crude Protein...| 159 138 Oe WGA eee wacilNerioe gle cce set leeas SHEEP'S TooTH....|14,972 5,142 5) 9 829.5}... .|14,002 112,225 [1,777 {12.7 Dry Matter... ..| 4,689 63,669 | 1,020.6/21.8] 3,431.5) 2,800.7] 630.8 18.4 Crude Protein. ..| 322.1] 308.9 | 18 2| 4.1] 235.8] 182.9] 42 9122.4 SMEDLEY YELLOW DENT....:..../15,464 [5,076 |10,888 |..../15 288 12,151 |3,137 |20.5 Dry Matter.... ..| 8,997 .9|8,483 514.9/12.9) 4,150.3) 3,373.5) 776.8 16 7 Crude Protein....| 292.2) 277 15.2| 5.2) 303 3] 231.7] 71.6/23.6 YELLow Fuint..../14,890 (4,358 .5)10,531.5 117,218 [14,540 [2,677 15.5 Dry Matter...... 4,197 |3,357 840 (20 3,844 3,355 489 {12.7 Crude Protein...| 343.4] 282 61.4/17.9| 314.4) 258.3) 56.1/17.8 AVERAGE LossEs.. Dry MALter =. 0. .|\..- +0. s|sescees [eos eens 16: Biers ctot | sce onteactc seca 15 9 @ridererotelMeen|ee ess ales. ssi ver Oe aL Oy lilistetie oer al ottSece ser | asta 21.3
As shown by the table, the average loss of dry matter in the shocked corn was but slightly higher than in the small experimental silo used (8x7, 14 feet deep ; capacity about 12 tons), while the loss of crude protein was less than half as much.
These results led to a further study of the losses in field-curing and siloing fodder corn during 1889, when the problem was investi- gated in a more systematic manner and under a greater variety of conditions than before. We can not here give the results in detail ; suffice it to say that 149 shocks of corn, of nine different varieties, were put up in all, and the
134 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
amounts of dry matter and protein contained in the shocks when fresh and when cured were determined in all cases; the shocks presented a large variety of conditions, small and large, husked and unhusked corn, shocks left in the field for different lengths of time, and shocks cured indoors, etc. The losses of dry matter found ranged from 6.9 per cent to 383.9 per cent. The former result was obtained in case of four shocks of Pride of the North, yellow dent corn, and the latter in case of ten shocks of Stowell’s Evergreen sweet corn, husked and left in the field for 24 months, on the average. Eleven shocks of large sweet fodder corn, cured under cover, lost, on the average, 8.2 per cent of dry matter. The averages of the results obtained during this year at the Wisconsin Station are given below.
LossEs IN FIELD-CURING AND IN SILOING INDIAN CORN.
Field-Cured Fodder Corn. Siloed Fodder Corn.
Loss. ;
mH a a = av oh) a od o ou ov +/|50 on 5 +3 oD - HOD n Al ov Ca Ring ox m)s R 2 4 n = 2 2 Se£2 ie 5 |holon2| we 4 lho Av. for 9 Varieties, Tae 149)ShHoOcKsSines co DryaVatters 2s. 14,906 /|11,979.212,926.8)i9.6)12,781 (10,040 12,741/21.5 Crude Protein...... eee 905.7] 266.8)/22.8) 1,024.6 876.6) 158/15.4
This investigation was continued during the season of 1890, on a larger scale than in previ- ous years. Sixty-five tons of green fodder corn was siloed, and the same quantity was cut
SILAGE. 135
e
and shocked in the field. The resulting losses of dry matter and protein found in both cases are shown in the following table, with a sum- mary of the work done in this line for four consecutive years.
LossEs IN FIELD-CURING AND IN SILOING INDIAN CorN.
Field-Cured Fodder Corn. Siloed Fodder Corn,
ey at Ke __ Loss. Fie Loss. ce] -| qo o —_—_—_—— se) oS 5 5) 5s : g3.(23.| 2 lsel eel 2a | 2 [ss 4, Os B Of 2 ool ®#O@ — 2 2 > oO eS ee aes ed! Z Mes AY. FoR Two VAR., — ToTAL WEIGHT. |129,014 }31,738 |..-..-.|.--- 129,014 |105,824 |23,190 |18
Dry Matter....... 32,432 (23,270 | 9,162 |28.3) 32,432 | 29,090 3,342 |10.3 Crude Protein....| 2,580.5} 1,682 898 5134.8] 2,580.5} 2,557 | 823.5)12.5 REsutts OF FOUR - YEARS’ WORK.. Dry Matter....... 12,164 |54,937 |17,227 |23.8) 68,034 | 5 4 : Crude Protein....| 5,706.4 4,317 .5)1,888 .9|24.3 5,490.8] 4,569.5 921 .3\16.8
pee ee
The results given in the preceding table show that 15.6 per cent and 23.8 per cent of dry matter were lost in the siloing and the field-curing of fodder corn, respectively, while the protein (flesh-forming substance) lost amounted to 24.3 per cent in the field-curing process, and 16.5 per cent in the siloing pro- cess.
Later researches have proved that these aver- age figures must be considered rather low losses for the field-curing of fodder corn, and rather high losses for the silo. The results given in the last table concerning the losses in field- curing fodder corn have been corroborated by similar work at the New Jersey, Vermont,
136 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
Pennsylvania, Colorado, and other experiment stations, where shocks of fodder corn were carefully kept in the field, or under cover, fora period of one to several months, and the dry matter contents at shocking time, and when the shocks were taken down, were carefully determined by chemical analysis. As the con- ditions described in the investigation at the Colorado Experiment Station will apply to most places on our continent, particularly in the Northwest and West, we quote rather fully from the account of the experiments given by Professor Cooke:
‘Tt is believed by most farmers that, in the dry climate of Colorado, fodder corn, where cut and shocked in good shape, cures without loss of feeding value, and that the loss of weight that occurs is merely due to the drying out of the water. <A test of this question was made in the fall of 18938, and the results obtained seemed to indicate that fully a third of the feeding value was lost in the curing. This re- sult was so surprising that the figures were not published, fearing that some error had crept in, though we could not see where there was the possibility of a mistake.
‘*In the fall of 1894, the test was repeated on a larger scale. A lot of corn was carefully weighed andsampled. It was then divided into three portions: One was spread on the ground in a thin layer, the second part was set up in
SILAGE, tod
large shocks, containing about five hundred pounds of green fodder in each, while the rest was shocked in small bundles. After remain- ing thus for some months, until thoroughly cured, the portions were weighed, sampled, and analyzed separately. The table gives the losses that occurred in the curing.
Large Shocks. | Small Shocks. |On the Ground.
Total | Dry Total | Dry Total | Dry Weight.) Matter. |Weight.| Matter. /Weight.| Matter.
Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs.
When Shocked.....| 952 | 217 | 2941-77 186 | 42 After Guring....... 258 150 64 44 oe 19 Loss in Weight..... 694 Gi) 2307) 265 1538 | 28 Per Cent of Loss.... 63 31 78 | 48 82 | 55
‘‘So far as could be told by the eye, there had been no loss. The fodder had cured in nice shape, and the stalks on the inside of the bun- dles retained their green color, with no sign of molding or heating. And yet the large shocks had lost 31 per cent of their dry matter, or feeding value; the small shocks 438 per cent, and the corn spread on the ground 55 per cent.
‘‘On breaking or cutting the stalks, these losses were explained. The juice was acid, and there was avery strong acid odor, showing that an active fermentation was taking place in this seemingly dry fodder. We had noticed this strong odor the fall before and all through this winter. When the fodder corn for the steers
138 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
is put through the feed cutter, that same strong smell is present.
‘Tt can be said, then, that the dryness of the climate in Colorado does not prevent fodder corn from losing a large part of its feeding value through fermentation. Indeed, the loss from this source is fully as great as in the damp climate of New England.
‘“As compared with the losses by fermenta- tion in the silo, the cured fodder shows consider- ably the higher loss.”’
In the experiments by the author during the fall of 1889, quoted above, eleven shocks cured under cover in the barn lost on an average over 8 per cent of dry matter and toward 14 per cent of protein. In a recent experiment at Maine Experiment Station, 14.13 per cent of dry mat- ter was lost inthe process of slow drying of a Jarge sample of fodder corn under the most favorable circumstances. ‘‘It is interesting to note that this loss falls almost entirely on the nitrogen-free extract, or carbohydrates, more than two-thirds of it being actually accounted for by the diminished percentage of sugars.”
Since such losses will occur in fodder cured under cover with all possible care, it is evident that the average losses of dry matter in field- curing fodder corn, given in the preceding, by no means can be considered exaggerated, but must, on the other hand, be too small, as a care- ful study of the conditions of the various
SILAGE, 139
experiments will readily show. Exposure to rain and storm, abrasion of dry leaves and fine stalks, and other factors tend to diminish the nutritive value of the fodder, aside from the losses from fermentations, so that very often only one-half of the food materials originally present in the fodder is left by the time it is fed out. The remaining portion of the fodder has, furthermore, a lower digestibility and a lower feeding value than the fodder corn when put up, for the reason that the fermentations occurring during the curing process destroy the most valuable and easily digestible part, 7. e., the sugar and starch of the nitrogen-free extract which are soluble, or readily rendered soluble, in the process of digestion.
NeEcEssARY Losses IN THE SiLo.— The losses of dry matter and protein during the siloing period previously given amounted to 15.6 and 16.8 per cent respectively, as an aver- age of four years’ trials at the Wisconsin Ex- periment Station. There is, however, an abun- dance of evidence at hand showing that these figures are higher than those found in actual practice, and that they considerably exceed the necessary losses sustained in the silo. During the last half-dozen years our methods of siloing green fodder have been greatly per- fected, mainly through improvements in the construction and form of silo buildings. The old silos were shallow, and the experimental
140 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
silos in the experiments reviewed in the pre- ceding, as well as elsewhere, were both shallow and very small. Under these conditions it is but natural that the losses found should be ex- cessive, since two of the essentials in siloing fodders were absent— sufficient pressure to largely exclude the air from the siloed mass, and a minimum of wall space in proportion to the quantity of fodder siloed.
There are now plenty of cases on record showing that the results obtained by the author in the experiments of 1890 amply cover the necessary losses of dry matter in siloing fodder corn and that 10 per cent represents the maxi- mum loss of dry matter in modern deep, well- built silos. The losses of dry matter obtained in siloing corn at the Wisconsin Experiment Station during the last four years have come at or below this figure. It is possible to reduce this loss still further by avoiding any spoilt silage on the surface, which we saw may easily be done by beginning to feed immediately after the filling of the silo. Experiments conducted on a small scale by Professor King in 1894 gave losses of only 2 to 3 per cent of dry matter, on the strength of which results, amongst others, he believes that the necessary loss of dry matter in the silo need not exceed 5 per cent.
Summarizing our considerations concerning the relative losses of food materials in the
SILAGE. 141
field curing and the siloing of Indian corn, we may say that far from being less economical than the former, the silo is more so, under ordinarily favorable conditions, for both sys- tems, and that therefore a larger quantity of food materials is obtained by filling the corn crop into a silo than by any other method of preserving it Known at the present time. NecEssaRY LossEs In Srtoine CLovEeR.— Only a few siloing experiments have been made with clover, but enough has been done to show that the necessary losses in siloing this crop do not much, if any, exceed those of the green corn. Lawes and Gilbert of the Rotham- sted Experiment Station, England, placed 264,318 pounds of first and second-crop clover into one of their stone silos, and took out 194,470 pounds of good clover silage. Loss in gross weight, 24.9 percent. This loss fell, how- ever, largely on the water in the clover. The loss of dry matter amounted to only 5.1 per cent, very nearly the same amount of loss as that which the same experimenters found had taken place in a large rick of about forty tons of hay, after standing for two years. The loss of protein in the silo amounted to 8.2 per cent. In another silo 184,959 pounds of second-crop grass and second-crop clover were put in, and 170,941 pounds were taken out. Loss in gross weight, 7.6.per cent; loss of dry matter, 9.7 per cent; of crude protein, 7.8 per cent pounds,
142 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
In a siloing experiment with clover, con- ducted at the Wisconsin Experiment Station, on a smaller scale, Mr. F. G. Short obtained
the following results: Clover put into the
silo, 12,279 pounds; silage taken out, 9,283 pounds; loss, 24.4 per cent; loss of dry mat- ter, 15.4 per cent; of protein, 12.7 per cent. There is nothing in any of these figures to argue against the siloing of green clover as an economical process. On the other hand, in view of what has been previously stated concerning clover silage, we conclude that this method of preserving the clover crop is highly valuable, and, in most cases, to be preferred to making hay of the crop.
-
CHAPTER IV.—FEEDING OF SILAGE.
Silage may be fed with advantage to all classes of farm animals, milch cows, steers, horses, mules, sheep, swine, and even poultry. Neither does this enumeration finish the list of animals that take readily to silage. Kuhn states that not only did the various European breeds of cattle in the herd of the Agricul- tural College of Halle (Germany) eat corn silage with a relish, but this was also the case with the long-horned Sanga, directly imported from Africa; the Yak, a native of the plains of Central Asia; and the crosses of Yak and Gayal. The corn silage was also eaten by all of the common breeds of sheep, and by the Asiatic and African breeds; the fine-wooled Electoral, Negrettis, and Ram- bouillet, especially, took to it kindly. The Mouflon crosses also ate it, but less readily. It was liked by goats, and especially by those of the Angora breed. The same was true of the asses and the mules bred at the Halle College.
Silage should not be fed as an exclusive coarse feed to farm animals, but always in
connection with some dry roughage. The (143)
144 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
nearer maturity the corn is when cut for the silo, the more silage may safely be fed, but it is always well to avoid feeding it excessively.
The silo should always be emptied from the top in horizontal layers, and the surface kept level, so as to expose as little of the silage as possible to the air. It should be fed out suf- ficiently rapidly to avoid spoiling of the silage; in ordinary Northern winter weather a couple of inch layer should be fed off daily. (See p. 42.) A convenient cart for hauling silage is shown in Fig. 23.
Silage for Milech Cows.
Silage is par excellence a cow feed. Since the introduction of the silo in this country, the dairymen, more than any other class of farmers, have been among the most enthusiastic siloists, and up to the present time we find a larger number of silos in dairy districts than * in any other regions where animal husbandry is a prominent industry. As with other farm animals, cows fed silage should receive other roughage in the shape of cornstalks, hay, etc. The quantities of silage fed should not exceed forty or, at the outside, fifty pounds per day per head. It may be given in one or two feeds daily, and, in case of cows in milk, always after milking, and not before or during the same, as the peculiar silage odor
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FIG. 23.— CART FOR HAULING SILAGE. From a photograph.
146 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
will, in the latter case, be apt to reappear in the milk.
Silage exerts a very beneficial influence on the secretion of milk. Where winter dairying is practiced, cows will usually drop considera- bly in milk toward spring, if fed on dry feed, causing a loss of milk through the whole re- maining portion of the lactation period. If silage is fed there will be no such marked decrease in the flow of milk before turning out to grass, and the cows will be able to keep up well in milk until late in the summer, or early in the fall, when they are to be dried up pre- paratory tocalving. Silage has a similar effect on the milk secretion as green fodder or past- ure, and if made from well-matured corn, so as not to contain an excessive amount of acid, is more like these feeds than any other at the disposal of the farmer.
The feeding of silage to milch cows has some- times been objected to when the milk was intended for the manufacture of certain kinds of cheese, or of condensed milk, and there are instances where such factories have enjoined their patrons from feeding silage to their cows. When the silage is properly prepared and properly fed, there can be no foundation what- ever for this injunction; it has been repeatedly demonstrated that Swiss cheese of superior quality can be made from the milk of silage- fed cows, and condensing factories among
FEEDING OF SILAGE. ead
whose patrons silage is fed have been able to manufacture a faultless product. The quality of the silage made during the first dozen years of silo experience in this country was fre- quently very poor, being sour and often spoilt in large quantities, and, what may have been still more important, it was sometimes fed in an injudicious manner, cows being made to subsist on this feed as exclusive roughage. Under these conditions it is not to be wondered at that the quality of the milk should be impaired, and that manufacturers decided to entirely prohibit the use of it rather than to teach their patrons to follow proper methods in the making and feeding of silage. There is an abundance of evidence at hand showing that good silage fed in moderate quantities will produce an excellent quality of both butter and cheese. According to the testimony of butter experts, silage not only in no way injures the flavor of butter, but better flavored butter is produced by judicious silage feeding than can be made from dry feed.
The combinations in which corn silage will be used in feeding milch cows will depend a good deal on local conditions; it may be said in general that it should be supplemented by a fair proportion of nitrogenous feeds like clover hay, wheat bran, ground oats, linseed meal, cotton-seed meal, etc. To illustrate the quan- tities and combinations in which silage may be
148 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
fed to milch cows, we give below a number of practical feed rations published in two bulle- tins by the author, viz.: Nos. 33 and 38, of the Wisconsin Experiment Station (October, 1892, and January, 1894). The former of these pub- lications includes the rations fed to the herds of milch cows of fifteen Wisconsin dairymen, and the latter those fed by one hundred dairy- men and breeders scattered over different parts of the United States and Canada. Only rations which include silage are given here; they are the outcome of practical feeding experience under varied conditions, and may be used as guides in making up feed rations for dairy cows. While they may not all be theoretically correct, they may easily be modified, if need be, so as to conform to our best knowledge on the subject.
It will serve as an illustration of the present general use of silage among progressive dairy- men in ourcountry to state that of the one hun- dred farmers contributing the feed rations fed to their dairy cows, in the latter bulletin men- tioned, sixty-four were feeding silage to their stock, this feed being used a larger number of times than any other single cattle food, wheat bran only excepted.
American Silage Rations for Dairy Cows.
1. Corn silage, 301bs.; hay, 6 1-2 lbs.; corn and cob meal, 5 lbs.; ground oats, 5 lbs.; linseed meal, 3 lbs. 2. Corn silage, 27 lbs.; dry fodder corn, 8 lbs.; clover hay,
FEEDING OF SILAGE. 149
6 lbs.; oat straw, 1 1-2 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 lbs.; linseed meal 4 lbs.
3. Corn silage, 35 lbs.; hay, 5 Ibs.; malt sprouts, 4 lbs.; wheat bran, 2 1-4 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 1 1-2 lbs.
4. Cornsilage, 30lbs.; cut sheaf oats, 6 1lbs.; mixed meadow hay, 10 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 lbs.; linseed meal, 2 lbs.
5. Corn silage, 301bs.; cut cornstalks, 12 lbs.; wheat bran, 3 8-4 lbs.; corn meal, 3 lbs.; oats, 3 1-4 lbs., with a sprinkling of peas.
6. Corn silage, 32 lbs.; clover silage, 22 lbs.; clover and timothy hay mixed, 5 lbs.; wheat bran, 6 lbs ; ground oats, 4 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 3 lbs.
7%. Corn silage, 35 lbs.; hay, about 11 Ibs.; wheat bran, 3 1-3 lbs.; ground oats, 2 1-3 lbs., and linseed meal (O. P.) 2 1-3 lbs.
8. Corn silage, 30 lbs ; hay, 8 lbs.; corn fodder, 5 lbs., ground oats, 4 lbs.; pea meal, 2 Ibs.
9. Corn silage, 40 Ibs.; clover hay, 8 lbs.; wheat bran, 6 lbs.; pea meal, 2 Ibs.
10. Whole corn silage, 25 lbs.; clover hay, 10 lbs.; wheat bran, 10 lbs.
11. Corn silage, 40 lbs,; clover hay, 5 lbs.; timothy hay, 5 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 1-2 lbs.; middlings, 4 1-2 lbs.
12. Corn silage, 45 lbs.; clover hay, 12 lbs.; wheat shorts, 8 lbs.; corn meal, 4 Ibs.
13. Corn silage, 24 lbs.; corn fodder, 15 lbs.; clover hay, 5 lbs.; wheat bran, 5 lbs.
14. Corn silage, 40 Ibs.; alfalfa hay, 15 lbs. ; wheat bran, 4 Ibs.; corn chop, 4 lbs.
“15. Corn silage, 35 lbs; hay, 10 Ibs.; wheat bran, 3 lbs. ; corn and cob meal, 3 1bs.; cotton seed meal, 2 Ibs.; gluten meal, 2 lbs.
16. Corn silage, 50 lbs.; wheat shorts, 4 lbs.; grano gluten feed, 4 lbs.
17. Corn silage, 30 lbs.; clover hay, 5 Ibs.; corn fodder, 3 Ibs.; straw, 2 lbs.; wheat bran, 5 Ibs.; linseed meal, 2 lbs. ; cotton seed meal, 2 lbs.
18. Corn silage, 40 lbs.; timothy and clover hay, 9 lbs.; wheat bran or shorts, 7 lbs,
150 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
19. Corn silage, 40 lbs.; English hay, 5 Ibs.; clover hays 5 lbs.; wheat bran, 2 lbs.; gluten meal, 2 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 1 1b.; linseed meal, 1 Ib.
20. Corn silage, 40 lbs.; hay, 6 lbs.; gluten meal, 2 lbs.; corn and cob meal, 2 lbs.; shorts, 2 lbs.
21. Corn silage, 50 lbs.; hay, 8 lbs.; wheat bran, 3 Ibs.; wheat shorts, 2 lbs.; ground rye and oats, 3 lbs.; barley, 2 Ibs.
22. Corn silage, 35 lbs.; clover hay, 10 lbs.; oat straw, 2 lbs.; corn meal, 5 Ibs.; wheat bran, 5 lbs.; oats, 5 Ibs.
23. Corn silage, 35 lbs.; hay, 7 lbs.; brewers’ grains, 20 Ibs.; gluten meal, 1 1-2 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 1 1-2 lbs ; wheat shorts, 1 1-2 lbs.; linseed meal, 1 1-2 lbs.
24, Corn silage, 24]bs.; corn meal, 8 lbs.; wheat bran, 2 lbs.; oats, 4 lbs.; linseed meal, 2 lbs.
25. Corn silage, 40 Ibs.; corn fodder, 10 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 2 1-2 lbs.; N. P. linseed meal, 2 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 lbs.
26. Corn silage, 40 lbs ; timothy hay, 10 lbs.; wheat bran, 5 lbs.; corn meal, 3 Ibs.; linseed meal, 2 Ibs.
27. Corn silage, 50 lbs.; hay, 5 Ibs.; wheat bran, 4 lbs.; linseed meal, 2 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 1 1b.; ground rye, 1 |b.
28. Corn silage, 40 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 3 lbs.; corn starch feed, 18 lbs.
29. Corn silage, 80 lbs.; clover hay, 12 lbs.; wheat mid- dlings, 8 lbs.; linseed meal, 1 1b.
80. Corn silage, 42 lbs.; clover and timothy hay, 5 lbs.; corn and cob meal, 8 lbs.; dried brewers’ grains, 1 1-2 Ibs.
31. Corn silage, 30 lbs.; fodder corn, § lbs.; corn meal, 3 Ibs.; wheat bran, 3lbs.; cotton seed meal, 1 Ib.
32. Corn silage, 50 Ibs.; clover hay, 8 ]bs.; wheat shorts, 5 lbs.
oe. Corn silage, 30 lbs.; corn stover, 8 lbs.; wheat bran, 5 lbs.; malt sprouts, 4 1bs.; linseed meal, 1 Ib.
34. Corn silage, 50 lbs.; clover hay, 9 lbs.
30. Corn silage, 45 lbs.; mixed hay, 7 lbs.; wheat bran, 6 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 2 Ibs.
36. Cornsilage, 15 lbs.; sugar beets, 22 Ibs.; hay, 10 lbs.; oats, 5.4 lbs.; corn meal, 7 lbs.
37. Corn silage, 40 lbs.; clover hay, 8 lbs.; coarse linseed meal, 6 lbs,
FEEDING OF SILAGE. Lol
38. Corn silage, 30 lbs.; sorghum hay, 18 1-2 Ibs.; corn meal, 1.3 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 2.6 lbs.; cotton seed, 2.2 lbs.; wheat bran, 1.3 lbs.
89. Corn silage, 35 lbs.; mixed hay, 10 ]bs.; wheat bran, 2 lbs.; corn meal, 3.2 lbs.; linseed meal, 1 lb.; cotton seed meal, .8 lbs.
40. Corn silage, 20 lbs.; hay, 14 1bs.; wheat bran, 8 lbs.; gluten meal, 2 lbs.
41. Corn silage, 80 Ibs.; hay, 10 Ibs.; corn meal, 2 lbs.; gluten meal, 2 lbs.; wheat bran, 2 lbs.
42. Corn silage, 48 lbs.; corn and cob meal, 2 1-2lbs.; ground wheat, 21-2 Ibs.; oats, 21-2 lbs.; barley meal, 2 1-2 lbs.
43. Corn silage, 40 lbs.; hay, 5 lbs.; straw, 5 lbs.; wheat bran, 4 1-2 lbs.; oats, 4 1-2 lbs.
44, Corn silage, 15 lbs.; turnips, 45 lbs.; wheat chaff, 7 lbs.; oats, 2 1-2 Ibs.; pea meal, 2 1-2 lbs.
45. Corn silage, 30 lbs.; hay, 12 lbs.; ground oats, 10 lbs.
46. Corn silage, 40 Ibs.; turnips, 30 lbs.; clover hay, 8 lbs.; straw, 1-2 lb.; oats, 2 lbs ; wheat bran, 2 lbs.
47. Corn silage, 50 Ibs.; clover hay, 10 lbs.; straw, 3 lbs.; pea meal, 5 lbs.; oats, 2 lbs.
48. Corn silage, 30 lbs.; hay, 71-2 lbs.; straw, 6 1-2 lbs.; turnips, 25 lbs.; pea meal, 1.3 lbs.; oats, 2.5 lbs.; barley, 1.3 lbs.
49. Corn silage, 35 lbs.; English hay, 8 lbs ; carrots, 30 Ibs.; wheat bran, 1.2 lbs.; wheat middlings, 1.8 lbs., cotton seed meal, 8 lbs.; oats, 1 ]b.; wheat, 2 lbs.
50. Corn silage, 40 Ibs.; clover hay, 7 1-2 lbs.; straw, 3 lbs.; oats, 1 1-3 Ibs.; barley, 1 1-3 Ibs.; pea meal, 1 1-3 lbs.; wheat bran, 3 lbs.; cotton seed meal, 1 Ib.
Silage for Steers.
Silage may be fed with advantage to steers, in quantities from forty to fifty pounds a day. The health of the animals and the quality of the beef produced on moderate silage feeding leave
152 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
nothing to be wished for. If the silage is made from immature corn, care must be taken not to feed too large quantities at the start and to feed carefully, soas not to produce scouring in the animals. Professor Henry says in regard to the value of silage for steer feeding: ‘¢ As with roots, silage makes the carcass watery and soft to the touch. Some have considered this a disadvantage, but is it not a desirable condition in the fattening steer? Corn and roughage produce a hard, dry carcass, and corn burns out the digestive tract in the short- est possible time. With silage and roots, diges- tion certainly must be more nearly normal, and its profitable action longer continued. The tissues of the body are juicy, and the whole system must be in just that condition which permits rapid fattening. While believing in a large use of silage in the preliminary stages, and its continuance during most of the fatten- ing period, [ would recommend that gradually more dry food be substituted as the period advances, in order that the flesh may become more solid. Used in this way, I believe silage will become an important aid in steer feeding in many sections of the country. Results from Canada, Wisconsin, and Texas experi- ment stations show the broad adaptation of this food for stock-feeding purposes.”’
Young stock may be fed half as much silage as full-grown ones, with the same restrictions and precautions as given for steers.
FEEDING OF SILAGE. 153
Silage for Horses.
When fed in moderate quantities, not to exceed twenty pounds a day, silage isa good food for horses. _ It should be fed twice a day, a light feed being given at first and gradually increased as the animals become accustomed to the food. Some farmers feed it mixed with cut straw, two-thirds of straw, and one-third of silage, and feed all the horses will eat of this mixed feed. Some horses object to silage at first on account of its peculiar odor, but by sprinkling some oats or bran on top of the Silage and feeding only very small amounts to begin with, they soon learn to eat it and relish it. Some horses take it willingly from the beginning. Horses not working may be fed larger quantities than work horses, but in neither case should the silage form more than a portion of the coarse feed fed to the horses. Silage-fed horses will look well and come out in the spring in better condition than when fed almost any other food.
Professor Cook says in regard to silage asa horse food: ‘‘It has been suggested by even men of high scientific attainments that silage is preéminently the food for cattle and not for other farm stock. This is certainly a mistake. If we raise fall colts, which I find very profita- ble, then silage is just what we need, and will enable us to produce colts as excellent as
154 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
though dropped in the spring. This gives us our brood mares in first-class trim for the hard summer’s work. I find silage just as good for young colts and other horses.
Mr. James M. Turner, an extensive Michigan farmer and horse breeder, gives his experience in regard to silage for horses as follows: ‘‘ Last winter we had nearly two hundred horses, including Clydesdales, standard bred trotters, and Shetland ponies. They were wintered entirely upon straw and corn ensilage, and this in face of the fact that I had read a long article in a prominent horse journal cautioning farmers from the use of ensilage, and citing instances where many animals had died, and brood mares had aborted from the liberal use of corn ensilage.
‘Desiring to test the matter to the fullest extent, our stallions and brood mares, as well as all the young stock, were fed two full rations of ensilage daily, and one liberal ration of wheat or oat straw. The result with our brood mares was most phenomenal, for we now have to represent every mare that was then in foal on the farm, a weanling, strong and vigorous, and apparently right in every way, with only one exception, where the colt was lost by acci- dent. Ofcourse there may have been something in the season more favorable than usual, but this was the first year in my experience when every colt dropped on the farm was saved.”’
FEEDING OF SILAGE. 155
Professors Thorne and Hickman give their experience in feeding silage to horses and to other farm animals at the Ohio Experimental Station: ‘‘Oursilo was planned and filled with special reference to our dairy stock, but after opening the silo we decided to try feeding the silage to our horses, calves, and hogs. The result was eminently satisfactory. We did not find a cow, calf, horse, colt, or hog that refused to eat, or that did not eat it with apparent rel- ish, not only for a few days, but for full two months. The horses were given one feed of twenty pounds each per day in place of the usual amount of hay, for the period above named, and it was certainly a benefit. Their appetites were sharpened, and the healthfulness of the food was further manifest in the new coat of hair which came with the usual spring shed- ding. The coat was glossy, the skin loose, and the general appearance was that of horses run- ning upon pasture.”’
Doctor Bailey states that silage has as good an effect on work and driving horses as an occa- sional feed of carrots or other roots, and Rew informs us that there is a demand for silage in London and other large English cities, especially for omnibus, cab, and tram horses. According to the testimony of Mr. H. J. Elwes, the cart horses fed silage ‘“‘looked in better condition and brighter in their coats than usual at this time of the year.”’
156 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE,
What has been said about silage as a food for horses will most likely apply equally well to mules, although only very limited experience has so far been gained with silage for this class of farm animals.
Silage for Sheep.
Silage is looked upon with great favor among sheep men; sheep do well on it, and silage-fed ewes drop their lambs in the spring without trouble, the lambs being strong and vigorous. Silage containing a good deal of corn is not,well adapted for breeding stock, as it is too fatten- ing; for fattening stock, on the other hand, much corn in the silage isan advantage. Sheep may be feda couple of pounds of silage in a day and not to exceed five or six pounds per head. Professor Cook reports as follows in regard to the value of silage for sheep: ‘‘I have fed en- Silage liberally to sheep for three winters and am remarkably pleased with the results. I make ensilage half the daily ration, the other half being corn stalks, or timothy hay, with bran or oats. The sheep do exceedingly well. Formerly I was much troubled to raise lambs from grade Merino ewes. Of late this trouble has almost ceased. Last spring I hardly losta lamb. While ensilage may not be the entire cause of the change, I believe it is the main cause. It is positively proved that ensilage is
FEEDING OF SILAGE. LOT
a most valuable food material, when properly fed, for all our domestic animals.”’
Mr. J. 8. Woodward, the well-known New York farmer and Farmers’ Institute worker, who has made aspecialty of early lamb raising, says, In an address before the New York Agri- cultural Society, regarding silage as feed for lambs: ‘‘In order to be successful in raising fine lambs it is imperative that the ewes and lambs both should have plenty of succulent food. Nothing can supply the deficiency. For this purpose roots of almost any kind are good. Turnips, rutabagas, mangolds are all good. Corn silage is excellent. Could I have my choice I would prefer both silage and roots. If I were depending on silage alone for succu- lent food I would give four pounds per hundred pounds live weight of sheep, all at one feed, at the forenoon feed; but when feeding both silage and roots I would feed silage in the morning and roots in the afternoon.”’
Mr. J. M. Turner of Michigan says concern- ing silage for sheep: ‘‘Of late years we have annually put up 3,200 tons of corn silage, and this has been the principal ration of all the live stock at Springdale Farm, our Shropshire sheep having been maintained on a ration of ensilage night and morning, coupled with a small ration of clover hay in the middle of the day. This we found to fully meet the require- ments of our flock until after lambing, from
158 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
which time forward we of course added liberal rations of wheat bran, oats, and old-process linseed meal to the ewes, with a view to increas- ing their flow of milk and bringing forward the lambs in the most vigorous possible con- dition. Our flock-master was somewhat anx- ious until after the lambs dropped, but now that he saved 196 lambs from 122 ewes, his face is wreathed in smiles, and he gives the ensilage system the strongest endorsement.”’ Mr. Turner states that, after becoming accus- tomed to the silage, his horses, cattle, and sheep would all push their noses down through the hay, if there was silage at the bottom of the manger, and little or no hay would be eaten until the silage was first taken.
The following interesting experience illustrat- ing the value of silage for sheep feeding is given by Mr. William Woods, a celebrated English breeder of Hampshire Downs. ‘‘ Last year, in August, I found myself with a flock of some 1,200 Hampshire Down ewes, and about twelve or fourteen acres of swedes, on a farm of 4,000 acres, and these were all the roots there were to feed them and their lambs during the winter. Knowing how we should suffer from want of milk after lambing in January and February, I thought I would try (which no doubt has often been tried elsewhere, though not in this district) the effect of ensilage on ewes after lambing, having learned by hear-
FEEDING OF SILAGE. 159
say that it increased the milk of cows nearly 30 per cent. I at once set to work to irrigate what water meadows I could spare, and in the month of October had a crop of grass that, had it been possible to make it into hay, would have made a ton of hay to the acre. I bought from the Aylesbury Dairy Company one of their Johnson’s ensilage rick presses, and put some seventy to eighty tons of cut meadow grass under pressure. It must, however, be borne in mind that second-cut water meadow grass 1s some of the poorest stuff that is con- sumed, either green or in hay, and, therefore, my ensilage was not as good, and consequently not as favorable a trial, as if it had been made of better material.
‘In January, when well into lambing, I opened the stack, and began to feed it to the ewes that had lambed. At first they hardly cared to eat it, but by degrees they seemed to like it more. They had a night and morning meal of best sainfoin hay, and a small lot of ensilage with the cake given at midday. After three weeks’ trial, what the shepherd observed was this: That when best sainfoin hay, worth £4 a ton, was put in the cages, and ensilage in the troughs at the same time, half the sheep would go to the hay and half to the ensilage, although there was sufficient accommodation for the whole flock at either sort, and we now observe that with the ewes that are most con-
160 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
stant to the ensilage, their lambs are nourished better than the others. We have not lost a single lamb from scour, and have some 470 lambs from 880 ewes lambed as yet, which I think proves the value of the experiment. <As soon as the stuff arrives in carts the ewes are crazy for it, and almost come over the hurdles, so eager are they to get at this new sort of feed, which, as I have stated, is only water meadow grass ensilaged.”’
Silage for Swine.
The testimony concerning the value of silage as a food for swine is conflicting, both favor- able and unfavorable reports being at hand. Many farmers have tried feeding it to their hogs, but without success. On the other hand, a number of hog-raisers have had good suc- cess with silage, and feed it regularly to their swine. It is possible that the differences in the quality of the silage and of the methods of feeding practiced explain the diversity of opinions formed concerning silage as hog food. According to Professor Cook, Col. F. D. Cur- tiss, the great American authority on the swine industry, states that silage is valuable to add to the winter rations of our swine. Mr. J. W. Pierce of Indiana writes in regard to silage for hogs: ‘‘ We have fed our sows, about twenty- five in number, for four winters, equal parts of ensilage and corn meal put into a cooker, and
FEEDING OF SILAGE. 161
brought up to a steaming state. It has proved to be very beneficial to them. It keeps up the flow of milk of the sows that are nursing the young, equal to when they are running on clover. We find, too, when the pigs are far- rowed, they become more robust, and take to nursing much sooner and better than they did in winters when fed on an exclusively dry diet. We also feed it to our sheep. To sixty head we put out about six bushels of ensilage.”’ Dr. Bailey, the author of ‘‘The Book on En- silage,’ fed large hogs ten pounds of silage, and one pound of wheat bran, with good re- sults; the cost of the ration did not exceed 2 cents per day. He states that clover silage would be excellent, and would require no addi- tional grain. Young pigs are exceedingly fond of the silage.
In feeding silage to hogs, care should be taken to feed only very little, a pound or so, at the start, mixing it with corn meal, shorts, or other concentrated feeds. The diet of the hog should be largely made up of easily di- gested grain food; bulky, coarse feeds like silage can only be fed to advantage in small quantities, not to exceed three or four pounds per head, per day. As in case of breeding ewes, silage will give good results when fed with care to brood sows, keeping the system in
order, and producing a good flow of milk. 11
162 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
Silage for Poultry.
Many farmers are feeding a little silage to their poultry with good success. Only small quantities should be fed, of course, and it is beneficial as a stimulant and a regulator, as much as a food. A poultry man writes as follows in Orange Judd Farmer, concerning his experience in making and feeding silage to fowls. Devices similar to that here de- scribed have repeatedly been explained in the agricultural press. ‘‘Clover and corn ensilage is one of the best winter foods for poultry raisers. Let me tell you how to build four silos for $1. Buy four coal oil barrels at the drug store, burn them out on the inside, and take the heads out. Goto the clover field when the second crop of the small June clover is in the bloom, and cut one-half ton three-eighths of an inch in length, also one-half ton of sweet corn, and run this through the feed cutter. Put into the barrel a layer of clover, then a layer of corn. Having done this, take a com- mon building jack-screw and press the silage down as firmly as possible. Then put on this a very light sprinkling of pulverized charcoal, and keep on putting in clover and corn until you get the barrel as full as will admit of the cover being put back. After your four barrel silos are filled, roll them out beside the barn, and cover them with horse manure, allowing
FEEDING OF SILAGE. 163
them to remain there thirty days. Then put them away, covering with cut straw or hay. When the cold, chilling winds of December come, open one of these ‘poultry men’s silos,’ take about twenty pounds for one hundred hens, add equal parts of potatoes, ground oats, and winter rye, place same in a kettle and bring to a boiling state. Feed warm in the morning, and the result will be that you will be enabled to market seven or eight dozen eges per day from one hundred hens through the winter, when eggs bring good returns.”
CHAPTER V.—COMPARISON OF SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS.
I. Economy of Production.
We shall briefly consider in this chapter the comparative value of silage and feeds that may take its place in the feeding of farm animals. The first point to examine in this connection is the question of the cost of production of the different foods. Silage may be replaced by roots and by dry roughage, like hay of various kinds, dry fodder corn, corn stalks, straw, ete.
Corn SILAGE vs. Roots.—In our country, the comparison of roots and corn silage will come out more favorable to the latter feed than almost anywhere else, since corn is wonderfully well adapted to our climate, requiring a hot growing season and an occasional good supply of moisture for its perfection; roots, on the other hand, do best in a cool and moist climate, and yields obtained under such conditions are much larger than we can hope to reach in nor- mal seasons. This being so, it follows that, if roots are considered a more expensive crop than corn in countries where they will do best,
they must be still more so with us. (164)
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. 165
R. Henry Rew discusses the relative value of the two foods from the standpoint of the Eng- lish farmer, as follows: ‘‘The root crop has, for about a century and a half, formed the key- stone of arable farming; yet it is the root crop whose position is most boldly challenged by ensilage. No doubt roots are expensive — say £10 per acre as the cost of producing an ordi- nary crop of turnips —and precarious, as the experience of the winter of 1887-8 has once more notably exemplified in many parts of the country. Inasuggestive article in the Farm- ing World Almanac for 1888 Mr. Primrose Mc- Connell discusses the question: ‘Are Turnipsa Necessary Crop?’ and sums up his answer in the following definite conclusion:
‘*¢Kverything, in short, is against the use of roots, either as a cheap and desirable food for any kind of live stock, as a crop suited for the fallow break, which cleans the land at little outlay, or as one which preserves or increases the fertility of the soil.’
“Tf the growth of turnips is abandoned or restricted, ensilage comes in usually to assist the farmer in supplying their place. : When one comes to compare the cultivation of silage crops with that of roots, there are two essential points in favor of the former. One is their smaller expense, and the other is their prac- tical certainty. The farmer who makes silage can make certain of his winter store of food,
166 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
whereas he who has only his root crop may find himself left in the lurch at a time when there is little chance of making other provision.”’
A number of our American experiment stations have furnished data for comparing the yields and the cost of production of corn silage and roots in our country. The Ohio, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Ontario Experi- ment Stations raised roots in comparison with corn for one or more years. The aver- age yields of green substance and dry matter are shown in the following table.
YIELDS PER ACRE oF RooTs AND FODDER CORN.
Maine Pennsylva- Ohio Ontario Station. || nia Station. Station. College. d S) o o Co oO Co Oo S| qi =| q i) 3 3 3 S : = ; = ' S : 2 S 2 5 2 5 2 B = + r=} +2 =] + =) = <P) = N = N = N 3 5 a 5 zi a A S = co) ‘a o val 3) ial o a ~ i) ~ = me ~ HH S = i) =) 1) = ie) =
Lbs. | Lbs. |} Lbs. | Lbs. || Lbs. | Lbs. |} Lbs. | Lbs.
Rta DAA ee este cielo lel: 38 5) Is? Shs) | Weert) aS eool louoodcl | soon. 42780| 4877 Mane old siete. <'s1s1¢ 15375) 1613)] 16177] 2382]] 31500} 38000)| 55820) 5034 TRUETUP SE er pices see Pele QE500} 22559) Jac eulllawe rel seers | emreiee 46120) 4382 Surarlpeetsacseasccce at eels ae T1436 i) LOO) eee aleeeeee 32663] 4737
21690}, SION see. ol sere cette rele eae see eeeintoe Fodder Corn....... i soea0| Esau iespil Gesales =. 6000|| 41172] “8135
In the Pennsylvania experiments a careful account of the cost of growing, harvesting, and storing the two crops was kept, with
results as follows: Cost for one acre of beets in the pit.......... $56.07 fs ee se’ 88 (Gorn in the silo... eee eke
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. 167
These figures can only be considered approx- imations, but it is believed that the ratio between the cost for an acre of roots and of corn, expressed by them, is, at all events, not too unfavorable-to the former. According to official statistics, the average cost of raising an acre of ear corn in the United States is $11.71. The siloing of the whole corn crop will not be likely to exceed much the expense of harvesting or gathering, housing, and mar- keting included in this estimate, and amount- ing to $2.98. On the other hand, the cost of raising a crop of beets has, in different States, been found to range from $31.36 to $60 per acre.
CorN SILAGE vs. Hay.—Two tons of hay per acre is generally considered a very good crop. The average yield for a number of years will seldom exceed 14 tons with the best farmers. Since hay contains about 86 per cent dry matter, an average crop of 14 tons means about 14 tons of dry matter (2,580 pounds). Against this yield we have yields of 5,000 to 9,000 pounds of dry matter, or twice to three and a half times as much, in case of fodder corn. An average crop of green fodder will weigh twelve tons, of Northern varieties, and eighteen tons, of Southern varieties. Estimat- ing the percentage of dry matter in the former at 30 per cent, and in the latter at 20 per cent, we shall have in either case a
168 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
yield of 7,200 pounds of dry matter. The expense of growing the crop is, of course, higher in case of the corn, but by no means sufficiently so to offset the larger yields. It is a fact generally conceded by all who have given the subject any study, that the hay crop is the most expensive crop used for the feeding of our farm animals.
Sir John B. Lawes, of Rothamsted Experi- ment Station (England) says, respecting the relative value of hay and (grass) silage: ‘‘It is probable that when both (7. e., hay and ensilage) are of the very best quality that can be made, if part of the grass is cut and placed in a silo, and another partis secured in the stack with- out rain, one might prove as good food as the other. But it must be borne in mind that while the production of good hay is a matter of uncertainty —from the elements of success being beyond the control of the farmer — good silage, by taking proper precautions, can be made with a certainty.”’
The amount of space required for storing one ton of hay or of silage speaks very strongly for the latter. One ton of hay stored in the mow will fill a space of at least 400 cubic feet ; one ton of silage, a space of about 50 cubic feet. Considering the dry matter contained in both feeds, we have that 8,000 pounds of silage contains about as much dry matter as 2,323 pounds of hay, or 160 against 465 cubic feet,
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. 169
that is, it takes nearly three times as much room to store the same quantity of food materials in hay as in silage.
Corn SILAGE vs. FoppER Corn.—The cost of production is the same for the green fodder up to the time of siloing, in case of both sys- tems; as against the expense of siloing the crop comes that of shocking, and, later on, plac- ing the fodder under shelter in the field-curing process ; further, husking, cribbing, and grind- ing the corn, and cutting the corn stalks, since this is the most economical way of handling the crop, and the only way in which it can be duly utilized so as to be of equal value with the silage. As an average of five Wisconsin farms, Professor King, as we saw, found the cost of placing corn in the silo to be 58.6 cents per ton, or, adding to this amount, interest and taxes on silo investment, and insurance and maintenance of silo per ton, 73.2 cents. The expense of shocking and sheltering the cured fodder and, later cutting the same, will greatly exceed that of siloing the crop ; to obtain the full value in feeding the ear corn, it must, furthermore, in most cases, be ground, costing 10 cents or more a bushel. The advantage is, therefore, decidedly with the siloed fodder in economy of handling, as well as in the cost of production.
As regards the space required for storing dry fodder corn compared with silage, the former
170 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
will take up still more room than the hay, since it can not be packed so closely, butmust be set up rather loosely in bundles, to prevent the fodder from heating. According to Professor Alvord, an acre of corn, field-cured, stored in the most compact manner possible, will occupy a space ten times as great as if in the form of silage. While hay will contain about 86 per cent of dry matter, cured fodder corn often does not contain more than 60 and often only 50 per cent of dry matter ; the quantities of food mate- rials in fodder corn that can be stored in a given space are, therefore, greatly smaller than in case of hay, and, consequently, still smaller than in case of silage.
Il. Comparative Feeding Experiments.
While the economy of production speaks decidedly in favor of silage as compared with roots and dry, coarse fodders, it might happen that the nutritive materials of the latter were sufficiently superior to those of silage to more than make up their greater cost. Such is, however, not the case. In comparative feeding experiments with the various crops, silage has, as a rule, produced the better results, or practi- cally no difference in the nutritive effect of the different feeds has been found. We shall briefly summarize some of the data at hand bearing on this phase of our subject.
SILAGE vs. Roots.—We previously gave the
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. u Ley
average digestion coefficients obtained for green and dry fodder corn and for corn silage (p. 130). Only a limited number of digestion experi- ments have been conducted with roots, but enough has been done to ascertain that they are highly digestible, the digestion coefficients for dry matter found ranging from 78 to 98, against about 66 for corn silage. Nevertheless, owing to the larger yields per acre of dry mat- ter, the total quantity of digestible matter obtained from an acre of corn under our condi- tions is much larger than that obtained from an acre of roots. In the Pennsylvania experi- ment, as much digestible matter was produced on one acre when grown in corn, as was ob- tained from 1.91 acres of mangolds or 2.05 acres of sugar beets.
Feeding experiments have been conducted with milch cows, steers, sheep, and swine for the comparison of roots and silage.
In feeding experiments with milch cows at the Ohio Station, conducted for four consecutive years, the silage rations always gave somewhat the better results. The average gain in milk per 100 pounds of dry matter eaten amounted to 6 per cent in favor of the silage rations. The results of the different years are as shown below.
Pounps oF Mink PrRopucED PER 100 Pounps or DRy MATTER CONSUMED.
RATION. 1889.| 1890.| 1891.| 1892.
Beeh TaMwoOMes ess «os We AEA Sie aiees ae heer 59 | 59 | 62 | 69 POUISOMUACIO I slore sleis circ « c’s/an'c'e. :6.015)s vig aw o'ey0 5 62 | 60 | 66 | 76
172 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
Similar experiments conducted at the Penn- sylvania Station gave corresponding results, the net gain in favor of the silage being 5 per cent.
Steer feeding experiments with roots vs. silage have been conducted at the Ontario Agricultural College, where six steers, divided into three even lots, were fed as follows: Lot 1, corn silage ad libitum, with about twelve pounds of corn meal; lot 2, thirty pounds of corn silage, about twelve pounds of corn meal, and hay ad libitum, lot 3, forty-five pounds of sliced roots, corn meal, and hay as in lot2. The trial lasted 146 days; the average gains per day for the different lots were: Lot 1, 1.90 pounds; lot 2, 1.53 pounds; lot 3, 1.84 pounds. The total value of the animals at the close of the experiments was, $197.07, $188.24, and $189.67 for lots 1, 2, and 8 respectively, making the per- centage gain on investment, calculated accord- ing to Canadian prices of feed and labor, 22.7 per cent for lot 1, 20.0 per cent for lot 2, and 15.0 per cent for lot 3.
The Ottawa Experiment Station in 18938 con- ducted experiments for the comparison of roots and silage as feed for fattening steers, and found that a daily gain of 1.05 pounds was made on a hay, root, and straw ration, and of 1.35 pounds on acorn silage and straw ration. The average cost per head per day was 13.78 cents on the former ration, and 9.26 cents on
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. ie
the latter; calculated per 100 pounds of increase, the cost was $13.35, and $6.95 for root and silage rations, respectively, 7. ¢., a difference of 92.08 per cent against the root ration.
Silage vs. roots for fattening lambs have been compared in several experiments at Michigan Experiment Station. Sugar beets proved superior to silage for lambs in the first year’s experiment; the conclusion drawn was that either feed may enter largely into the fattening ration and may be fed with profit. In comparing rutabagas with silage for fatten- ing lambs the same gain was obtained in both cases, viz.: seventeen pounds per week per head. Although the quantity of grain fed was the same, the lambs fed rutabagas con- sumed a considerably larger quantity of hay than those fed silage, and the amount of ruta- bagas eaten as compared with silage was very large. The profit on the root-fed lot was 22 cents on each lamb; that on the silage-fed lot, 63 cents. The silage, therefore, produced the same gain in fattening lambs at a greatly diminished cost, as compared with rutabagas.
The relative feeding value of silage and roots for swine was studied in a single experiment at Ontario Agricultural College. The pigs fed silage and grain did not do very well, and gained less than those fed grain, or turnips and grain.
174 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
SILAGE vs. Dry RouGHAGE. — A large num- ber of experiments have been conducted with the various classes of farm animals for the study of the comparative feeding value of silage and dry roughage, either hay, fodder corn, or cornstalks. We can here only men- tion a few typical experiments.
In an experiment with milch cows conducted at the New Hampshire Station, where silage was compared with hay, the silage ration, con- taining 16.45 pounds of dry matter, produced 21.0 pounds of milk, and the hay ration, con- taining 16.83 pounds digestible matter, pro- duced 18.4 pounds milk; calculating the quantities of milk produced by 100 pounds of digestible matter in either case, we find on the silage ration 127.7 pounds of milk, on the hay ration, 109.8 pounds, or 17 per cent in favor of the silage ration.
In a feeding experiment with milch cows at the Maine Experiment Station, in which silage was compared with hay, the addition of silage to the ration resulted in a somewhat increased production of milk solids, which was not caused by an increase in the digestible food materials eaten, but which must have been due either to the superior value of the nutrients of the silage over those of the hay or to the general physio- logical effect of feeding a greater variety of foods. 8.8 pounds of silage proved to be some- what superior to 1.98 pounds of hay (mostly
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. 175
timothy), the quantity of digestible material being the same in the two cases.
In another experiment, conducted at the same station, where silage was compared with hay for steers, a pound of digestible matter from the corn silage produced somewhat more erowth than a pound of digestible matter from timothy hay. The difference was small, how- ever, amounting in the case of the last two periods, where the more accurate comparison is possible, to an increased growth of only 15 pounds of live weight for each ton of silage fed.
Feeding experiments with milch cows were conducted for a series of years by the author and others, at the Wisconsin Experiment Sta- tion, in which the relative value of corn silage and corresponding field-cured fodder corn were investigated. The earlier of these experiments were made with only a couple of animals, and no great reliance can, therefore, be placed on the results obtained in any single experiment. In later years a larger number of cows have been included in the experiment, and this has been continued for a sufficiently long time to have the animals show what they could do on each feed. In 1891 a feeding experiment with twenty cows was conducted by the writer, in which a daily ration of 4 pounds of hay and 7 pounds of grain, fed with corn silage or field- cured fodder corn ad libitum, was fed during sixteen weeks; a total quantity of 19,815.4
176 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
pounds of milk was produced during the silage periods, and 19,801.2 pounds of milk during the fodder corn periods. When the areas of land from which the silage and the fodder corn were obtained are considered, we find that the silage would have produced 243 pounds more of milk per acre than the dry fodder, or the equivalent of 12 pounds of butter, which is a gain of a little more than 8 per cent in favor of the corn silage.
This may appear a very small difference to some, but it must be remembered that in this, as in all similar previous experiments, the fodder corn was handled in the most careful manner, so as to avoid losses by fermenta- tions or abrasion. It was left in shocks in the field for about a month, then carefully transferred to the station barn, tied up in bundles, and cut before feeding. The results, therefore, show what dry fodder can do under the most favorable conditions. In ordinary farm practice the loss of food materials would be no larger in the silo, if as large, owing to the small size of the experimental silo then used, while the fodder corn, most likely, would not be as well cared for, being often kept shocked in the field until needed for feeding; in a majority of cases not even cut and shocked, and often fed whole in the yard, with losses of food materials ranging from 30 to 60 per cent, according to data found at
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. Lad
the Kansas Station. Cutting the corn fodder before feeding, according to Professor Henry’s experiments, may save more than one-third of the food value of the fodder. We can not, therefore, hope to obtain equally good results with silage and field-cured fodder unless special pains are taken throughout to guard against deterioration of the fodder; precau- tions, it will readily be granted, more labor- ious and costly than making silage of the corn crop.
A few more experiments illustrating the value of silage as a stock food, may be quoted. Pro- fessor Henry fed two lots of steers on a silage experiment. One lot of four steers was fed corn silage exclusively, and another similar lot, corn silage with shelled corn. The former lot gained 222 pounds in thirty-six days, and the latter lot 585 pounds, or a gain of 1.5 pounds per day per head for the silage-fed steers, and 3.7 pounds per day for the silage and shelled-corn fed steers. Professor Emery fed corn silage and cotton-seed meal, in the proportion of eight to one, to two three-yvear- old steers at the North Carolina Experiment Station. The gain made during thirty-two days was, for one steer 78 pounds, and for the other 85.5 pounds, or 2.56 pounds per head per day.
The late well-known Wisconsin dairyman, Hon. Hiram Smith, in 1888 gave the following
testimony concerning the value of silage for 12
178 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
milch cows: ‘‘My silo was opened December 1st, and thirty pounds of ensilage was fed to each of the ninety cows for the night’s feed, or- 2,700 pounds per day, until March 10th, one hundred days, or a total of 135 tons, leaving sufficient ensilage to last until May 10th. The thirty pounds took and well filled the place of ten pounds of good hay. Had hay been fed for the night’s feed in place of the ensilage, it would have required 900 pounds per day for the ninety cows, or a total for the one hundred days of forty-five tons.
‘‘TIt would have required, in the year 1887, forty-five acres of meadow to have produced the hay, which, if bought or sold, would have amounted to $14.00 per acre. The 135 tons of ensilage were produced on 84 acres of land, and had a feeding value, as compared with hay, of $74.11 per acre.’’ As the conclusion of the whole matter, Mr. Smith stated that ‘‘ three cows can be wintered seven months on one acre producing 16 tons of ensilage, while it required two acres of meadow in the same year of 1887, to winter one cow, with the same amount of ground feed in both cases.”’
Professor Shelton, formerly of Kansas Agri- cultural College, gives a powerful plea for silage in the following simple statement: ‘‘The single fact that the product of about two acres of ground kept our herd of fifty head of cattle five weeks with no other feed of the fodder
SILAGE AND OTHER FEEDS. 179
kind, except a small ration of corn fodder given at noon, speaks whole cyclopedias for the pos- sibilities of Kansas fields when the silo is called in as an adjunct.”’
CHAPTER VI.—THE SILO IN MODERN AGRICULTURE.
In closing our discussion of the making and feeding of silage, it may be well to consider briefly the main advantages of the system of preserving green forage in silos. In doing so, we shall summarize the conclusions previously arrived at, concerning the economy of the sys- tem, and shall call attention to some points that we have not before had an occasion to touch upon. Theadvantages of the silo enum- erated below will not be apt to hold good simultaneously in individual cases; but it is believed that a majority of them will be of general importance, thus showing the decided superiority of the siloing method over other systems of preserving coarse fodders for the feeding of farm animals.
I. The silo enables us to preserve a greater quantity of the food materials of the original fodder, for the feeding of farm animals, than is possible by any other system of preservation now known. We have seen that the necessary losses of nutrients incurred in the siloing pro- cess need not exceed 10 per cent, and that by beginning to feed from the silo soon after it has
been filled, the loss will be reduced. to a mini- (180)
THE SILO IN MODERN AGRICULTURE. 181
mum which may not be far from 5 per cent. In haymaking or field-curing of coarse fodders, there is an unavoidable loss of leaves and other tender parts, and in case of curing fodder corn there will be a fermentative loss of toward 10 per cent, or about as much asis lost in the silo. The loss of dry matter will approach 25 per cent in ordinary farm practice, and will even exceed this figure unless special precautions are taken in the handling of the fodder.
II. Rainy weather is a disadvantage in fill- ing silos as in most other farm operations, but when the silo is once filled, the fodder is safe, and the farmer is independent of the weather throughout the whole season.
III. Less room is required for the storage in a silo of the product from an acre of land than in cured condition in a barn. Hay placed in the mow will take up about three times as much room as the same quantity of food mate- rials put into the silo; in case of field-cured fodder corn, the comparison comes out still more favorably to the silo, on account of the greater difficulty in preserving the thick cornstalks from spoiling when placed under shelter.
IV. An acre of corn can be placed in the silo at less cost than the same quantity can be put up as cured fodder. To derive full benefit from the food materials in the field-cured fodder corn, it must be run through a feed cutter in
182 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
small portions at a time; the corn must, in most cases, be husked, cribbed, and either ground, cob and all, or shelled and ground. In siloing the whole corn plant, the cutting is all done at once, thus economizing labor and doing away with the separate handling of the ear Corn.
VY. Since smaller barns may be built when silage is fed, there is less danger of fire, thus decreasing the cost of insurance.
VI. The silo furnishes a feed of uniform quality, available at any time during the whole winter or year. This is of advantage to all classes of farm animals, but perhaps particu- larly so in case of dairy cows and sheep, since these animals are especially sensitive to sudden changes in the feed.
VII. Silage is of special value for feeding preparatory to turning cattle on to the watery pasture grass in thespring. The loss in weight of cattle on being let out on pasture in spring is often so great that it takes them a couple of weeks to get back where they were when turned out.
VIII. Succulent food is nature’s food. The influence of well-preserved silage on the diges- tion and general health of animals 1s very bene- ficial, according to the unanimous testimony of good authorities. It is a mild laxative, and actsin this way very similarly to green fodders. The good accounts reported of the prevention
THE SILO IN MODERN AGRICULTURE. 183
of milk fever by the feeding of silage are explained by the laxative influence of the feed.
IX. By filling the silo with clover or other green summer crops early in the season, a valu- able succulent feed will be at hand at a time when pastures In most regions are apt to give out; then again, the silo may be filled with corn when this is in the roasting stage, and the land thus entirely cleared earlier than when the corn is left to mature and the corn fodder shocked on the land, making it possible to finish the fall ploughing sooner and to seed the land down to grass or to winter grain.
X. Crops unfit for haymaking may be pre- served in the silo and changed into a palatable food. This is not of the importance in this land of plenty of ours that it is, or occasionally has been, elsewhere. Under silage crops were mentioned a number of crops which could not be used as cattle food in any other form than this, as ferns, thistles, all kinds of weeds, ete. In case of fodder famines the silo may thus help the farmer to carry his cattle through the winter.
XI. Where haymaking is precluded, as is sometimes the case with second-crop clover, rowen, etc., on account of rainy weather late in the season, the silo will preserve the crop, so that the farmer may derive full benefit from it in feeding it to his stock.
184 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.
XII. More cattle can be kept on a certain area of land when silage is fed than is other- wise the case. The silo in this respect fur- nishes a similar advantage over field-curing fodders as does the soiling system over that of pasturing cattle; in both the siloing and the soiling system there is no waste of feed, all food grown on the land being utilized for the feeding of farm animals, except a small un- avoidable loss in case of the siloing system incurred by the fermentation processes taking place in the silo.
Pasturing cattle is an expensive method of feeding, as far as the use of the land goes, and can only be practiced to advantage where this is cheap. As the land increases in value, more stock must be kept on the same area in order to correspondingly increase the profits from the land. The silo here comes in as a material aid, and by its adop- tion, either alone or in connection with the soiling system, it will be possible to keep at least twice the number of animals on the land that was possible under the more primi- tive system of pasturing and feeding dry feeds during winter. Goffart’s experience on this point is characteristic. On his small farm, of less than eighty-six acres (thirty-five hectares), at Burtin, France, he kept a herd of sixty cat- tle, besides fattening a number of steers during the winter, and eye-witnesses assure us that he
THE SILO IN MODERN AGRICULTURE. 185
had ample feed on hand to keep one hundred head of cattle the year round.
According to the testimony of hundreds of intelligent, observing dairymen, the silo is next to a necessity in modern dairying. It is also largely considered so by agricultural writers, and by farmers generally. It 1s, however, of no less importance where other branches of animal husbandry are followed more or less as a specialty. This, we think, is abundantly proved by the data and the results of practical experience and systematic investi- gations presented in the preceding pages. The spreading of silos, therefore, should not stop, and will not do so, until dairy and stock farmers in the width and breadth of our land have become acquainted with the siloing system, and are aware of its value. Tt is the hope of the author that this little book will, in some measure, help to make the system better known and understood among the mass of our farmers, and will assist them in their efforts to reduce the cost of production of their products, and thus enlarge the income from their farms.
PAGE Advantases’ of the: Silos: cw. {alot ose eens 180 Bays of barn, directions for changing into silos......... 50 Beets cCostioipe per aere.!s. i hc. 2.0 aot yore eee eee 166 Bick “Sil@s hea isic Balan TS tee lode eee 73 Chemical composition. Of silage iii Yee nee te 120 Glover =as'asilageerops...0:- ane eee eee BRE ae ay 30 OGlover-sllage x. os. S68 soe ee ae ee ee ee 115 Clover silage, Cost Ol 55-2: eee cia ate Srbare alana 119 Clover; time of cutting; for the: silot-2.2-en.- pee ee 31 Clover; yield: per acre, Of. .p25 eae aed eee 32 Conerete, directions for prepares. . oi <2s9-4.-2 ee oe 76 Corn; broadcast sowing .of,2. se eee eee 28 Corn, cutting of in. the tleld@ zpos sn eee ee 93 Com harvesters: . 224: <. cath Behe 3 dik SSO eee aes eee 94 Corn-land, preparation Of... 1:2 jen. bene epee eee 29 Corn, methods of planting *2.,.< 225,45. 5 5. eee eee ete 23 Corn silage vs. dry roughage, feeding experiments with.. 174 Corn silage vs. fodder com........ Sci Seeks ete 169, 175 Corsilave ves hay... ic. th Garde oe eee ee 167, 174 Corn Silage Ws: 70018 ps cso os eee eee eee 164, 170 Corm;-siloing of, “ears and a))*23.25 saat eee eae Oe Corn, see also Indian Corn and Fodder Corn. Cost of beets’ per{aere. 7 ee ees a 166 Cost of silage s cc 22a cherta se ets oie Serene ee {Reon tee 118 Costio£ silos. \A.c2% ics ose ae orice te eee eters 87 Cover Of Silage... cc fo isis aac ose tote eter eras yee) OS Definitions of terms ised’ <2 sen ae etcetera eet 12 Digestibility ofsilage .20 2. Nts ee ee ee eee 129 Digestibility of Southern and Northern varieties of corn. 22 Digestion co-cflicients for corn silage. ...... 2-.2....5.- 130
(186 )
INDEX.
Digestion co-efficients for green and cured fodder corn.. Digestion co-efficients for green Dent fodder corn....... WDrVESUACe cc se ae sok hh ROP ares Se eee ae ee Early lamb raising, eetriay of feeding succulent
GEC ATS 5S oe BeReCar Soe aan otcnets SSR ae ee Ecce Ua LOIN OG Ol, COTM .(..5 62.6. bee s'v's sos ad ox es LETC EROS Biter nhs CRN aN co ea Po a
Ensilage, see also Silage. Feeding experiments, comparative, with silage and other Riera Mee Ren cert oer aBeecs, wista,.e oa, aie mis Sree nel siislesiwaly-s alts Bee inewOlislaCe. oases des states seaaels shic ewan Sate alte Rveld-curine; omtodder corn, LOSSES 1M... 2. .s.s0.ees es alimneestash or slow, OL SUOSs..c<06 06: s055s62 SeaitelecisGt ore TTRUINSO NC ENS |g aCe oe Ae shes 9B: Fodder corn and roots, yields of, per acre......... See Fodder corn, compared with corn silage............169, Hodder corn, composition of dry matter of.........0. 5. Fodder corn, green, digestion co-efficients for........... Fodder corn, storage room required for, compared with corm silage;..... RS er are Stor aiis tse Ss os che wiseyecier shale cts Fodder corn, yield of food ingredients of............... Fodder corn, see also Indian Corn aud Corn.
HIRCE MIM OROIOSHIALE daisies sictes ss 6 ss.c 6. 0s eae tas ooheee Gould; John, $45-sit0-Ofeaenccwce 0000s ode ca ce ciatars toxe Grou CMOS E sexes cise ws» auaneh ste, cr ofosersave.s « Grr ereesfe estates: ois Hauling corn from field, rack or sled for............ Hay, compared with corn silage............ erate 167, Hay, storage room required for, compared wath corn SUG SU RASS ee en Oe CO ea eae ee idee 5 Eullsonidrails planting Of COM In... .... 2.6 s00.-2e 0s MOMS eS Stl Se OL e). 26 doe <a> 2% me, Bear aleiolesnseratens oe PMA NM COLM 2 2. a5, i222 © BERG has he A yaesies Sebo areas Indian corn, chemical changes in, with maturity........ Indian corn, comparative yields of Northernand Southern VELOC ocr See Cones See ee ra ave Indian corn, AEeclopme nt Ol Pees wiainsiciedcrss cts Le laren Cae
Indian corn, increase in food ingredients from banealinne OBI AND CINE Sete vetel icles fuoiejsiey (era's siniciv nie) >eig'e s 0% 0 v0'e onie 9s
187
130
Wi
188 INDEX.
Indian corn, varieties of, to be planted for the silo....... ue) Indian corn, see also Corn and Fodder Corn. Inbroductione yt 2.6% oGi ee sts Sp -a\ae.5 SSS Eos tes gattoneratetae 7 DBateral> pressure in silos. 5 occ s cen erence 45 Losses in field-curing fodder ‘corm... 2 sec. nie ee ee 131 Losses:in ‘silome clover 220 2¢e/0s.0 es aa seit eine eee 141 Losses of food materials in ‘silo; oc 0... 1s cs lap ee 131 Metall SilO8s.f5.65 Sicsesoc coed oie etal «geste ays emecee tee re eee io Milch cows, American silage rations for................. 148 Milch cows, silage for......... Jn Stn a: Gtteie eats odie O bee eer aie 144 Pits in: the-cround:as silos, 22). oe. oie om care eee 48 Planting corn; in hills or in-drills.. ..5.-haceece eee 20 Planting corn, methods of:........- sre: Bie taueye aga Reed pepe 23 Planting corn, thickmess Obs, 025 /s< iy «ss eke se ere 23 | ‘*Poultrymien’s silos "2.5.23 sins ccc eee eee 163 Poultry, slave fOr.s .’c isk Sess bist aa eee ates aerate eee 162 Preparation of corn land... 0--56<o0ess Wa alate Dattiaiee aiee 29 Preservation of silos....... Td 9 sich whens ae ae cae, eee 84 Rack; low-down, for hauling corns... 2 -% see ec seerereere 97 Robertson’s ensilage mixtures 2). 220 eles as ee re eee ee 38 Roots and fodder corn, yields per acré of................ 166 Roots, compared with corn silage.....-......+;-..8 164, 170 Rowtd ‘barns: 0.64.0 hse 6 cos cone eee eee eee 60 hound, silags2.ise.0caws eee eee ee: 41, 60 Round silos, capacity. Of; wins pesem ie ame eee 72 Round ‘silos, cost-Of 3 4d. a. 2. c65> Beste ee ee eee 90 Sheep silage fors'...c4 F< asslec ao etd eso puis eat eerie 156 Silage and other feeds, comparative feeding ee Withers cc Re Seah eae OO aot oe eel eee ie ene 170 Silage and other feeds, comparison of economy of pro- duction: Ofy.ic.o 0s ds os ais le ee ee eee eee 164 Silage: Carte iss Fhe eye seen weiss Seine Snes eee ear 145 Silage, chemical composjbion Of-25.j50 26 oe ye oie 120 SilaSe; COSE OF <i. cies sows ste neie nite meee nes aire teri 118 Silaere Craps, wixctete cis <uctcva’e aiecaie eyelet tener eae aie = renee 138, 35 Silage, digestibility Of 2. s 053s. < sles ser an eeeiee enea 129 Silage, drys: ates oe as aseseiis pees aoe eee 118
Silage: Teemine Oly slots vale tenis te Barrer rr? Jcohh et 143
INDEX. 189
Silage, feeding of, directly after filling silo.............. 110
Sila@e; Tor HOTses \ <6 <a. « gece ce © «8 5 aa res 153 lees LOK TMILCM CO WS:a esas cles sc aicleisle-s 0 wie sie Si oe sore « 144 Silt es LOrPOUWMLEY:. ws oe ase Peieleniain a's soe sis s Hleiee 162 Sila eer FOF SNEC Piss ae sce ciate cinislsts es che o's be ww 0 '9 65:6 156 SAC ESPLOMISLEET Sinai nc ett S > Snide be ae eis aie oe vie\eslr Scie 6 6'a a. 151 SU COMO OM MG wires c caaye eters cs siaccvaeres tere"! oe 44's e's ace, «oe 160 pil Ve nL CE Ziel On Ollie Serato ie ee eugene cht sary 0 Si ola ay) Sveley/elsle teats 117 Dilase nob CetOUs: tO, CONSICCTEM... 6.4% aac «ono 6a wielote a 146 Silage, quantities of, required for different herds........ 38 Silace, cations for milCM COWS: .< soy. aoe os nee oe eee ees 148 Silage, relation of moisture and acidity in............... 121 Per SWE HIV. COULD 6 acim s act's s.anss slots yee 6 6, « aye.6, sie wielee 125 Pil a Mem WOE BVSerCUL,. os ia actin, s\n ace CLS « ees « Gi we eie's, Ss ees 98 Rilom auvati aA GeSOtNcenenwisnge sc «foes Seine cece aye 180 Silos, PEIMMIGIVe WOOUCMoe amie. ars a a6 =, ors Mierer= ede ecana pa ai 58 SHOMDOMOMVOl set. a. c om Aerancre eens sso teri er she Ree rater 43 Silo sou ey Material Oasys 2. ci cerclsi< 12 oes 0 aes 3 ais ere 47 Sal meAUlNaa Os O fe erege ci Wa/eyener weepeieie <tersiaje ec © clei wee 84 =) 93, 105 Silom roun davon and: Wallon race isa sto s.cris 6 eco <s ave.6 44, 62 Silos im moderneaenicwlture, Neh. s.44-¢.54s-4- 9. Aee Je 180 SS Om O TING OU Cite. o1,5 oe teic. owls cqsire Sie! ¢ o's cco lagele Biel eieene fosaye os 51 SHO. ThE EOI ta SEG OO eeae GeO Or de rine So aon Tn anion 131, 189 Silos locatiON Of acm. + ROO On ee ror 43 Silo. lossesof food materials in... 22. 5.522. 0s 28a. 131, 1389 sll OHO O gO learns seater errs Ac ops se enats cpalste 9,0) ci oie a's m0 ont 47, 66 BUG CECH Ge reine 1s oi wrote thee: s age cinimep sisi oleh e 6s sae we 80 Silo, when! to Cul COnM [Ol.. s2... 4. 626550 sees ees wen sees 19 SilmeperoUder COVeI Ole... 6. see seas > vce 6 once = aisle cs ee 108 MOS MIO TIC Kerrey ye ctree ate Saeed na Sa se wile ei o's) «61a \9)5 © one "ola 73 Silos, coal-oil barrels den WITH OO. 2 eee ES erase otcus See eave 162 SUOGCOMCTCLE sfc ccc. cess. js see est nas etinns s celes ceca 75 BIOSeGOSt Olas ess coho. te ei ome 2 eee 2 ‘leone oblan oe 87 Silos, description of different kinds of ................-- 48 BOSS MOOTS OL oo. vena sa eee else sce od ose sens busine cere 69 STORY SITE ITH) Ea RIESE ICIAIOC COU CERIO oO SIO omen 40 Silos, general considerations .......... cess eee eee eeereee 35
SOS TOU ary toler win ciole Sols) sie.s wie ate «i eieielnieielosin wines sr eisie * 2 75
190 INDEX.
Silos in: the barn. <2). ..0s. <0. 2s. ee ke kee Ce een Es 49 Silos, line and siding Of |. <2. came = ieee eee 65 Sil@e; metal sccm. ciena's tars: covets wigheiciesta oe otetene eee arcing 79 Silos, preservablomiol oo 25s icles san sate tose eee eee rte 84 Silos, rectangular and round, statements of cost of...... 91 Silos, round wooden... 455. ce-s% se ses pa ere oe 60 Silos, round wooden, capacity Of « S<te.c. ss+ - enon 2, 200 Srios; round wooden, icOSHOL.J. jis). ch..ase ei ee ee 90 Silos, separate structures of as! 3. 3. aces eee eee siete eieee: 55 Silos; sills and plates Of0u7 2. ccsuece eee saan -- oe eee 64 SilOS, SIZE'OLs sinks ee tate, cious latins ales Sere eee eens 37 SHOS: SEACH tideete kon wien tace eee eiaral ave we) «ae epaeiare CON ee eee 80 SILOS; Sta VE wea nts ce s.c 50) cles etwas ate pasa ee oy eer eres Sees ia Silos, StONC 25 Seales jaajalsts Sings OAs + ae Sask e Be 73 Silos, ventilation Of «4.54 2205. ans es tee eee eee 68 Silos; WOOdEN 4 0's. ojae0)e sis a 3 aie ape ela ee am ae chee eee ee 55 Sled itor hauling’ COrnm.2.).0.00 ces as — deme eerste rd brairahaer mantis 98 Sled cutter for cutting com... .<.e0ec ester pete 96
Southern and Northern varieties of corn, digestibility of . 22 Southern and Northern varieties of corn, comparative
Vields.O8 23). ale. ws cons eae cee ereeee ee ee ~ aha bbegote estas 21 Sowine corn, broadcast. «215 <.wees s cements eee 28 Stack silos: . ss ccse es ses crm ence we 2 5 ee 80 SLAVE STLOS 12% sjarwie 3,5: 0' aoc. 5 eayoimeyn ute te oiels aes steer nate tenet Teh Steers, Silage TOPs... -< sSmlereyse ea wake eee Maciee suey 151 SUOMEBIUOS. . . v\in.00 emis oe Se eoeaen eae k aia tee eee ee 73 Storage room required for corn silage and for fodder
COLN, oo sit sbte tere oes od os ols ow oR eee ane tae 169 Storage room required for hay and for silage............ 168 Sweet: vs. sour silage.<.7 ic0%.,. 6 tose oon ee 125 Swine, ‘silage LOl.. =... «si. swatcc seme eee nie toaiet ee 160 Thickness of planting.cornk. J j-aes eee eee Sees EO Varieties of corn to be planted for the silo .............. 19 Water, addition of, to surface of siloed fodder .......... 109 Whole silage i255 Sick ste Ja ee ce ee ee ae eee 98 Yields of clover, per actewacv Mic ck eee ee ee ee ol
Yields of roots‘and fodder: corn’. caste oe eee eee 166
TRIU PH SULKY PLOW.
Perfect Work
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THE ONLY SULKY PLOW so constructed that BOTTOM ENTERS GROUND POINT FIRST WITH HEEL UP, and COMES OUT OF GROUND POINT FIRST WITH HEEL DOWN. BOTTOM RUNS LEVEL AT ANY DEPTH OF FURROW. ENTIRELY FREE OF LANDSIDE DRAFT, and WILL TURN SQUARE CORNER TO RIGHT AND LEFT. Operated by one lever. Pole controls in turning. Write for Illustrated Circular.
ECLI PSE CULTIVATOR.
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GANGS are LONG and HANG WELL FORWARD; THEY HAVE SWING- ING MOVEMENT in DODGING. LIFTING SPRINGS aid in operating. Write for [Illustrated Circular to
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