Rural School Leaflet. io6 



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place a pane of glass over the top of the pan to prevent drying out. 

 Keep the blotting paper and cloths damp. Examine at the end of 

 five or six days. If less than eighty out of one hundred kernels ger- 

 minate vigorously, it cannot be considered good seed com. 



Every farmer in the State should test the germination of the corn 

 he plants for seed. This is especially important with the seed intended 

 for next year's planting. The work had best be done on some of the 

 winter evenings before the spring work begins. Let the boys and 

 girls do it. 



SILOS AND ENSILAGE 



Edward R. Minns 



Origin. — More than a hundred years ago some farmers in Europe 

 had learned how to preserve green forage plants in pits, so that they 

 could be used as winter feed for the domestic animals. Grasses were 

 principally used in this process. The farmers covered the green grasses 

 with earth and excluded the air; the grasses fermented somewhat and 

 turned sour, but when fed to the animals were highly relished. Forty 

 years ago this system of preserving green fodders was introduced into 

 France, and there the names silo and ensilage originated. We still use 

 these terms. 



Definitions. — A silo is a structure — which may be built of w^ood, 

 stone, brick, concrete, or building blocks — in which green fodders are 

 preserved for future feeding: The process of packing the fodder into the 

 silo is kno\\'n as ensiling it. ' Ensilage is the name given to the pre- 

 served fodder when it is taken out for feeding purposes. This word 

 has been shortened to silage a term which we now hear oftener than 

 the word ensilage. 



Why ensilage keeps. — Green fodder piled in the open air soon decays 

 and for feed is worthless. If it is confined in an air-tight vessel and 

 the air it contains driven out of it, the fermentation soon stops. In a 

 silo the weight of the fodder and the tightness of the walls excludes 

 enough of the air to preserve the silage for a year or even longer. It 

 keeps because air does not get in, except at the top where the silage 

 is removed for feeding. 



Silos. — The first silos were built entirely under ground and the ensilage 

 was weighted down with earth or other heavy material to drive out the 

 air and better preserve the fodder. Now silos are built mainly above 

 ground, sometimes partly in the ground and partly above ground. 

 The first silos were square or rectangular in shape. A few square silos 

 are still in use, but by far the larger number are now built circular. It 

 has been found that a silo which is round inside and quite deep, has the 



