224 AGRICULTURE OI* MAINE. 



THE SILO— CHARACTERISTICS, LOCATION, COST 

 AND CONSTRUCTION. 



By Professor R. W. Redman. 



In any factory the supply of raw material largely determines 

 the possibilities of the business. If the raw material is limited 

 in quantity or quality, or the cost is excessive, the profit is 

 necessarily curtailed. In the dairy business the storage of large 

 quantities of palatable, nutritious, yet low cost feed, is funda- 

 mental for success. At the present time there is no method 

 for storing dairy fodders equal to siloing them. A part of the 

 ration will profitably be the dried fodders and another part the 

 concentrates or grains ; yet the silage is the greatest factor in 

 making an economical and palatable ration. 



By use of a silo, large quantities of green food may be eco- 

 nomically stored for winter use. True it is that this same fod- 

 der could be dried, yet the drying process is expensive for many 

 of the leaves are lost, and in the case of corn, small animals 

 and birds frequently eat an appreciable amount, especially if 

 the ears are at all matured. Also the labor of handling the dry 

 fodder is nearly, if not quite, as great and many times as much 

 storage room is required. 



The building of a silo by the dairyman usually marks a great 

 advance in the net returns from his business. The chief time 

 for feeding silage is during the winter, when otherwise only 

 dry feeds would be available. A secondary time for feeding 

 silage is during those summer months when the pasture grass 

 is short and dried. Silage will help the dairyman over this 

 trying time, usually at a smaller expense than by the use of 

 soiling crops. 



The popularity of the silo in Maine is shown by it? presence 

 on so many farms. Its value is attested by every dairyman 



