24 



gestible mass. Where air lias free access during fermentation, the 

 process will be carried too far, but where the amount of air is limited 

 the fermentation is only carried to a certain point and the palatability 

 of the food is improved. It has been found that a silo and fodder- 

 cutting machines to chaff the stems into small pieces are entirely 

 unnecessary in dry climates. Instead, the green grass or green fodder 

 is raked and stacked as soon as cut. Then, when the pile has been 

 carried up as high as convenient, weights are put on the top and the 

 sides are trimmed down i)erpendicular with a hay knife. This method 

 produces a sweet silage, which has very nearly the same feeding value 

 as silage prepared at greater cost in built silos. 



Mr. Fred Koehler, of Bee County, Tex., has used stack silage made 

 of sorghum, and considers it, when fed in connection with cotton- 

 seed meal and hulls, the cheapest and best fattening material for top- 

 ping oft" beef steers for the market. He builds a sort of paling fence, 

 using 4- or 6-inch fence boards in 10 to 16 feet lengths, woven together 

 with heavy galvanized fencing wire, leaving about a 2-inch space 

 between the boards. The length of this fence can be accommodated 

 to the diameter of the stack which it is desired to make. When the 

 sorghum is ready to cut, which is about the time that the seeds are 

 commencing to harden, one of these paling fences is set up in a circle, 

 varying from 12 to 20 feet or more in diameter. Then using horse 

 rakes, loaders, and stackers, the freshly cut or slightly wilted sorghum 

 is fed over the tops of the boards into tliis pen, and the process is con- 

 tinued until the pen is tilled. During the lilling, the fodder is stamped 

 down around the edges so as to leave no air s])aces. When the pen is 

 filled to the top a layer of straw is added and built up to a peak to shed 

 rain. On tliis is piled dirt or stones or bags of earth to the depth of 2 

 or 3 feet, in order that the pressure shall range from 125 to 200 pounds 

 to the square foot. Pressure may also be applied by means of a Span- 

 ish windlass or by levers. The palings remain in place until the stack 

 has settled and compacted sufficiently to stand alone, when they may 

 be removed and set up elsewhere and the process repeated. 



It has been found that by applying the pressure at the right time 

 one may readily control the fermentation and produce either sour or 

 sweet silage as desired. Thus, if the fermentation is not allowed to 

 proceed above 130° F., if the stacks are weighted when this temi)era- 

 ture is reached sour silage is produced. If the fermentation is allowed 

 to go on until the temperature rises to between 150° and 165° F. before 

 the stacks are weighted, the mass Avill often become highly carbonized, 

 appealing dark brown, or almost as black as charcoal, but the silage is 

 sweet and relished by cattle. Sour silage is considered more satisfac- 

 tory for dairy purposes than sweet silage. 



The ])ossibility of i)reserving largo <|uantities of the coarser forage- 

 plants by this method will undoubtedly prove valuable for extensive 

 districts in the arid grazing regions. It will not, however, be adapt- 



