212 • , i;(i.\i;i> oi' .\(ii;i< 1 i.ii'iii-,. 



uol liy llic luitlcr r.il contents. I iiiiulo (luitc m scai-cli I'nv (hiiiy Sliort- 

 lidiiis. 1 wrote to a ^'reat many Itreeders askinjr if lliey had any Short- 

 horn eatth' for sale, and asking for l)nlls of tlie milUiiifi strain. In only 

 one or two ]»laces did I find any acctirate information in rejjard to the 

 dairy qualities of tiie eattle. As tlic dairy business did not prove very 

 satisfactory or prolital)le, I decidi-d to fxo into Die Slioitliorn business 

 and let tiie calves do the milidn;;-. 11 was wliile I was in the dairy 

 business that 1 became interested in the (lucstioii of ensilage. 1 think 

 v«-ry likely if 1 liad ,i;i)ne into the Sliorllioni Imsincss in the ordinary 

 way 1 mi.iiiit iiave done as most of you liave done in reference to the 

 silo— done without it. As a dairy ration 1 thiidc silafj;e is jtarticnlarly 

 desirable. As we had the silo when Ave began the Shorthorn business, 

 we natuially used it. and it is the results we have obtained by the use 

 of silajie I am to speak of this evening;. 1 shall speak very lirietly on 

 the subjet-t. and merely refer you to the best literature availal)le on the 

 matter of construction of silos. There is a l)ulletin or two published by 

 our State, anotln-r l)y the Wlsc(»nsin station, whieh I think will l)e sent 

 to anyone who Avill pay the i-ostajie. These l»ulletins jrive very full 

 accounts of the cost of construction, the dift'erent kinds of construction 

 and the results obtained. There are two problems to be considered, one 

 of which is tlu' initial cost and tlie other is tlie durability of the silo. 

 The two kinds most commoidy usi'd are the .sijuare silo and the hoop 

 silo. Twenty years ajio or more when we first constructed silos they 

 were scjuare. There are tAvo thinj,'s necessary in making a good silo, or 

 perhaps I mi;,dit say there is one principle and two ways of conforming 

 to that re(iuirement. The essential reipiisite is the exclusion of the air. 

 The process is precisely that of cauuiufi fruit. You must take your corn 

 or sorghum at the stage when its feeding qualities are best and put it 

 in an air-tight compartment and keep the air away from it. When you 

 take it out for feeding it is in about the same condition as Avhen you 

 put it in the silo. The two methods by which you i)ractically exclude 

 the air are by making your silo deep and i-ouiul. If you make it square 

 there Avill lie places at the coi-ners wliere the silage will not pack suffi- 

 ciently to exclude the air. and you will always find silage in the corners 

 that is spoiled. If you make it round it is easy enough to make it strong 

 enough to withstand the pressure, ami there will be no spoiled silage in 

 the corners. Make your silo round and make it deep. The stave con- 

 struction is a good one. The tirst silo we built has been tilled four times, 

 and shows very little signs of decay, and there has never been any 

 apprecialjle loss in the silo. A little air will sometimes get down next 

 the wall, and in such places there Avill be a little mouldy silage. Our silo 

 is forty feet deep and twenty feet in diameter. It will hold forty acres 

 of corn. The silage is better towards the bottom than at the top. We 

 have always begun feeding immediately after tilling the silo. We cut the 

 feed and carrv it to our cattle in the summer time, and feed them out 



