150 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



narily good soil, with fair culture, it yields 20 tons per acre; five 

 acres will produce 5,00U rations for one cow; planted in rows 42 

 inches apart and 8 or 9 inches in the row, makes stiif, handsome 

 stalks 14 feet tall, that will withstand all ordinary storms. When 

 the grains have passed from the milky to the putty condition and the 

 more mature ears show traces of brown on the husks is the time 

 to cut off close to the ground, run through a cutter, distribute the 

 stalks, blades and grain evenly over the whole surface of your silo, 

 tramping enough to detect the soft places, keeping the middle full. 

 If very dry, over ripe or frosted, add a fine spray of water, either 

 on the elevator or sprinkle in the silo. \\ hen full, pull off the ears 

 from the last load, feed them to the cows or pigs, cut the fodder 

 and gather up all offal and waste and put on the top; wet thor- 

 oughl}' (a barrel of water will not be too much), tramp solid, sow 

 half bushel of oats over the whole, and the job is finished. A mouldy 

 crust of G or 8 inches will exclude the air from the top in a few 

 days and form an air-tight covering. It will heat up to 120 degrees 

 and settle two feet or more. '\>'hen the lid is removed, you have the 

 cheapest and best bulky food for a dairy cow that I know anything 

 about, except clover hay. Why will farmers feed a ration costing 

 22 and 25 cents per day and cry hard times, when he can get equally 

 good results from 13 cents per day? Yet they do, and I fear always 

 will. 



I have spoken of corn silage and winter feeding only, because I 

 have had no experience with any other. I represent a grazing farm, 

 where we pasture 50 head of dairy stock through the summer months, 

 and onlv want an economical feed for the winter. The silo enabled 

 me to sell already this crop year, hay enough to pay the entire cost 

 of that silo, $209, and yet have 18 tons baled ready for shipment. 

 Possibly I have told the most of you here nothing new, but if we, 

 as farmers, add variety, coupled with profit, to our business, reduce 

 the hours of labor, stimulate our brains, aiming to reduce the cost 

 of our products, rather than increase the quantity, we have solved, 

 in a great measure, the future of agriculture and determined who 

 will succeed to the acres when we are done with them. 



