DAIRY MEETING. 153 



feeding value equal to one hundred and eighty pounds from 

 the immature plant. The tendency, I believe, in the State, i? 

 to feed wider rations, and I know of no more economical way 

 to widen the ration than by feeding corn silage containing a 

 good amount of the grain. Of course, I realize that some of 

 you men are planting corn for the factory, and in this case, 

 you cannot use the entire plant for silage, but where the crop 

 is planted for silage alone, I strongly recommend the use of a 

 corn that will reach maturity. This will necessitate a larger 

 acreage than where the larger varieties are used, but this is 

 not a serious drawback, as it simply helps to shorten the rota- 

 tion of the farm. I believe that rye and wheat, sown in Sep- 

 tember and put into the silo in the early summer, will solve 

 some of the problems of succulent feed that you are now con- 

 fronting here in Maine. Your silos are probably empty by 

 June, and you find it necessary to feed silage by the latter part, 

 or by the middle of July. It is hardly time to cut your corn, 

 and your clover is so good that you want to make hay of it. 

 The winter rye and wheat can be used here and prove a profit- 

 able silage. 



FILLING THE SILO. 



Filling the silo you will say is a simple process, but it is not 

 so simple if done well and most economically. The corn can 

 be cut by hand, or by a specially constructed V-shaped drag, 

 with a knife along one side, or with a corn harvester. The 

 drawing to the barn may be accomplished with a low platform 

 wagon, or where only one wagon is used and the haul is a short 

 one the tip-cart is often preferable. 



The ensilage cutter should have, preferably, the blower attach- 

 ment, as there is less waste about the silo with this type of car- 

 rier, and the delivery of the silage on the inside is more satis- 

 factory. The corn should be cut, preferably, from half an inch 

 to an inch in length, as this will allow it to pack more uniformly 

 in the silo, and it can be fed out much more easily to the stock 

 than when cut coarser or put in whole. 



COST OF FILLING THE SILO. 



The cost of filling the silo depends upon the number and 

 distribution of men, quantity of corn per acre, the efficiency of 



