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Series. No.71. Dec.,1895. Monthly. Sub., $8.00. RAND, McNALLY & CO., Publisher:
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A BOOK ON

SILAGE

FW.WOLL,

Assistant Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, University
of Wisconsin.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

N OF CONp
Co Rig NN
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DEC.19 1895}

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CHICAGO:
Ranp, McNatty & ComMPANyY.
1895.

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:

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.

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.

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

—————

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

———

—_—————————————

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.

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.

> =
SSS
SS

=
—

iS
Ps

<—
NNIAN

FIG. 5. RECTANGULAR WOODEN SILO.
Dimensions, 48 x 24 feet, 22 feet high. (From a photograph.)

There is a good deal of difference of opin-
ion as to the silo lining, several observing
farmers claiming that double boarding, with
or without tarred paper between, will rot
before a one-layer lining of sound matched
lumber or shiplap, free from cracks and
checks, put on horizontally. Mr. H. B. Gurler,
the well-known Illinois dairyman, says on this

SILOS. 57

point in a communication to the author: ‘‘ My
first silo was built with a single boarding on
inside of studdings. This wasa good quality of
matched lumber, and it is still sound after hav-
ing been filled eleven times ; I cannot find any
signs oi decay, or at least could not before fill-
ing last fall. The second silo I built was with
double walls inside, with paper between. Jam
confident that decay will sooner cause trouble
with these walls, as I can see the effect of it now
in some places, and this after nine fillings. I
imagine moisture from the corn gets through the
joints before it swells these tight, and saturates
the paper, thus causing decay. I think if build-
ing now I should select sound, kiln-dried lum-
ber for the inside and put on one thickness.”’

Professor Robertson, the Dairy Commissioner
of Canada, also recommends a single lining for
wooden silos. He says: ‘‘I have found one ply
of sound 1-inch lumber, tongued and grooved,
and nailed horizontally on the inside of studs,
2 inches by 10 inches or 2 inches by 12 inches,
to be sufficient. I did build silos with four ply
of lumber and tar paper between them ; and I
could not keep the silage any better than with
one ply of lumber, tongued and grooved or
planed on the edges.”’

No filling material is necessary or desirable in
the dead air spaces formed by the studding and
the outside and inside facing; air is a better
non-conductor of heat than sawdust, chaff, or

58 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.

any other material which has beenrecommended
for this purpose.

As before stated, deep silos are better than
shallow ones, and square better than rectangular,
as they require less lumber. For the same and
other reasons circular silos are to be preferred to
either of these forms. Another point in favor
of the round silo is the absence of corners in
this type of silos, the whole inside forming a
smoothround wall; corners are always objection-
able in a silo on account of the loss of silage
through spoiling, which generally takes place
there, the reason being the difficulty of perfectly
excluding air by pressure at these points.

To avoid the loss of silage in the corners of
square or rectangular silos they should be
partially rounded off by placing a square timber,
split diagonally, in each of the corners; another
plan is to bevel the edge of a ten-inch plank
and nail it in the corners, filling in behind per-
fectly with dry earth or sand; sawdust has
been recommended, but it should not be used,
as it will draw moisture and cause the plank
and silo lining to decay; the space back of the
plank may also be left empty.

A PRIMITIVE CoLorapo S1Lo.—Professor
Cooke describes a wooden silo, made at the Colo-
rado College Farm, which is still cheaper than
Mr. Gould’s silo, previously described—and also
more primitive. ‘‘The climatic conditions in
large sections of the West are such as to allow

SILOS. 59

silos to be built very deep into the ground and
render roof unnecessary. The silo was built on
a slight slope; a hole, 21 feet square and 8 feet
deep, was dug out with the plow and scraper.
The only hand work necessary was in the cor-
ners and the sides. Inside this hole a 2x6
“sill was laid on the ground; 2x6 studding, 12
feet long, erected every 2 feet, and a 2x6 plate
putontop. This framework was then sheeted
on the inside with a single thickness of
unmatched, unplaned, rough boards, such as
can be bought almost anywhere for $12 per 1,000.

‘*The inside was lined with asingle thickness
of tarred building paper, held in place by per-
pendicular slats. The floor was made by wet-
ting and tramping the clay at the bottom,
while the heavens above made an excellent and
very cheap roof. The dirt was filled in against
the sides, and banked up to within two feet of
the top, except on the lower side, where were
doors, reaching from near the top to within
four feet of the bottom. All labor was done
by the farm hands and teams, and could as
easily be done by any farmer on his own farm.

‘The bill for material stands as follows:

240 feet, 2x6, for sill and plate.
528 ‘* 2x6, 12 feet long, for studding.
960 ‘‘ rough boards for sides.

Pies. + lumber at Sl2 per Miv sis... cce< ste $20.74
Nails lath and building paper:.c..:..... 7.00

60 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.

‘‘ Had the hole been two feet deeper, and the
sides two feet higher, with one partition, the two
pits would then have been each 10x20 feet,
and 16 feet deep, with a total capacity of 100
tons of silage; while the cost of material would
have been $44. Thus, a silo can be built in
Colorado for less than 50 cents for each ton
capacity.”

SECOND STORIES. From a photograph. (King.)

RounD WooDEN SILOos may conveniently be
built inside of large, round barns in a similar
manner, as described in the Eighth Report of
the Wisconsin Experiment Station, in case of
a three-hundred ton silo at Whitewater, Wis.
The dimensions of this silo are 20 feet inside

SILOS. 61

diameter, by 35 feet high. It was built from
2x6 studdings, sided up by two layers of fence
boards, sawed in two. The illustrations, with
legends given below, will explain further the
details of the construction of barns of this
kind.

Round silos can be built cheaper than square '

'\
“al

FIG. 7,— SHOWING ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF FIRST STORY.

_ A, Wagon drives for cleaning barn; B, Feed manger; C, Platform for cattle; 2, 4, Method of
| Ventilation ; 5, Method of placing joists.

ones, both because of their greater relative
capacity, and because lighter material may be
used in their construction. The sills and stud-
ding here do no work except to support the
roof, since the lining acts as a hoop to prevent
spreading of the wall. Professor King, of
Wisconsin Experiment Station, who has given
a great deal of study to the proper construction

62 - MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.

of silos, and who first advocated the building
of round silos, gives the following directions

for their building.
‘* Houndation of the Silo.— The silo should
be so situated that surface water can not drain

Sse HEE
y ==
2 = — =

TTT

STITT
VITO
TMT,

—<—

SS
<> SS
ss
=—

INES <a

FIG. 8— SHOWING ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF SECOND STORY.
A, Barn floor; B Hay bay; T, Tool room; C, Workshop and granary; 1, Purline plates and method

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

S
S

18 Beg OO TON Se PL
ST le ee ee ae ee

SoS ES CS SS

en ee ed Ee

MSY)

ag
@
N

os ge

2
LT Bl ar TIT

UR Ie pera s
ieee i

NY,

i,
ABN: So ays BiF RS Or uy,
ye) agneegy Pie ee PEGS BS Sc
BV LAINIE ANY
=) ~
411

YEW |
Alli Ais
ANY

le 2 OS =
\ Sw: a) i

F'n
>, FS a je,
U.STINGUK ENG a JAWG/A=Z

FIG. 9.— CONSTRUCTION OF ALL-WOOD, ROUND SILO.

| A, Ventilators between studding.

be thoroughly plastered with a good cement, in
the proportion of two of cement to three of
sand, plastering up flush with the inner face of
the lining, so as to effectually close all air
passages under the sill. Finally, when the
plaster has set, it will be well to whitewash with

64 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.

a coat of pure cement, and to repeat this treat-
ment every one or two years, the object being
to neutralize the acid of the silage, and thus
prevent it from attacking the wall itself, which
it will certainly do unless protected in some
way.

“Sls and Plates. —These may be made of
9x4’s cut into about two-foot lengths, on a
slant of two radii of the circle of the silo, the
sections of the sills being toe-nailed together on
the wall, and then bedded in mortar and leveled.
The pieces for the plate may be spiked directly
upon the tops of the studding. One thick-
ness for either sill or plate is all that is needed,
and it is unnecessary in either case to cut the
pieces to a circle.

“« Studding.—The studding for the round silo,
unless more than 35 feet in diameter, need
never be larger than 2x4’s, and should be
placed a trifle less than 12 inches from center
to center, in order that lumber bending around
aslightly larger circle may not cut to waste. If
lengths of studding greater than 20 feet are re-
quired, these may be procured by nailing two
shorter lengths together, lapping them about
two feet.

‘To put the studding in place, seta strong
post in the center of the bottom of the silo,
reaching, say, six feet above the level of the sill.
Set in place every alternate stud, toe-nailing at
the bottom, and staying by a single board to

SILOS. 65

the center post. After the stud has been made
plumb, stay the studding sidewise with strips
of lining, binding around the outside, and
tacking to each stud. After this is done, the
intermediate studs may be set up, and simply
tacked to the bent strips, and toe-nailed to the
sill. At this stage, the sheeting outside may
begin at the bottom, and be carried to the
height of the first staging, when the siding may
be started, and carried to nearly the same height.

‘* Lining and Siding.—The lining of the silo,
of whatever size, is best made of fencing split
in two, making a little less than half-inch lum-
ber, and it is best to have the fencing first sized,
so that it will all be of the same width ; but it
need not be surfaced. Three layers of this
lumber should be used on the inside, with a.
layer of good quality tar paper between each
layer of boards, the first two layers being nailed
with eight-penny wire nails, and the last layer
with ten-penny nails, in order that the boards
may be drawn very firmly together. The sheet-
ing outside should also be of the same lumber
for diameters less than thirty feet, and if extra
warmth is desired, a iayer of paper may be
placed between this and the siding. The siding
for small silos should be the ordinary beveled
type, rabbeted on the thick edge deep enough to
receive the thin one; but for silos twenty-eight
or more feet in diameter, ship-lap or drop

siding of the ship-lap type may be used instead.
6

66 MAKING AND FEEDING SILAGE.

As the outside sheeting is carried up, the stud-
ding should be kept plumb sidewise by tacking
on strips of sheeting as already described ; and
the plate need not be put on until the last stag-
ing has been erected. To carry siding and
sheeting up together saves staging.

‘Tf the weather permits, it is usually best to
put on the lining before the roof, and to cut out
the doors afterward, except one at the bottom
for convenience in work.

‘<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

WMASACIEVETetraaE

Mss AS =

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.

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

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

S
=

= g
eS
=x

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

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

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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

19 feet....| 150) 290.36] 1.
ai il

ike

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.

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:

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

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.

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

STIL LE
Yh UE Lb pi
Mapppigh

yaustet

Hay

LLL
WML:

Y
j
y
Z
Y
Z
y
Z
%
Z
Z
'%
Z
y}
Z
Z
y
g
y
g
Z

NY
AN\\ \,
Cae wt: :

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

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

oo SS

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.

Long ‘ go % Double
, \s LEN J RACINE, WIS. :
Gangs. t \ Springs.
& 1 4\ q —
Four and og EE pea Exelctlay
: fa nk A eg at Ci and
ee Spring
=. Tooth
=a Gangs.
Steel aos
Throwgh- Hammock
out. Seat.

GANGS are LONG and HANG WELL FORWARD; THEY HAVE SWING-
ING MOVEMENT in DODGING. LIFTING SPRINGS aid in operating.
Write for [Illustrated Circular to

J. |. CASE PLOW WORKS, wrens.
RACINE, WIS.

THE

‘ FOR CATALOGUE AND
VILE US Furr particucars oF

Celebrated A pe i tator
Separators

NETHERY WIND STACKERS,
WOODBURY SWEEP POWERS,
AUTOMATIC SWINGING STACKERS,
SELF-FEEDERS, MEASURERS,
TREAD POWERS AND SAW FRAMES,
SAW MILL MACHINERY, AND

TRACTION AND PORTABLE : e
a
dk Case

THRESHING MACHINE GO.,
RACINE, WIS.

reeman

GALVANIZED Sag
STEEL

POWER anpb
PUMPING

WIND
MILLS

AND

Angle Steel
Towers

FANNING-MILLS, HORSE-POWERS, WOOD-SAWS,

reed ad Fnsilage Cutters

WITH SWIVEL-CARRIERS. ~
Write for
Complete Catalogue

ALSO
MANUFACTURERS
OF

Corn=Shellers,
End-Gate Seeders

a
\=

THE S. FRE REEMAN & ae Mre. Co.

220 Bridge St., RACINE, WIS.

“A

Ny
i

poet choke See
ote Ab rin che Cle oth 4 shal et ® 4

LIBRARY OF C

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