i2g8 Rural School Leaflet 



SILOS AND SILAGE 

 E. R. Minns 



More than a hundred years ago some farmers in Europe learned how 

 to preser\^e green forage plants, prineipally grasses, in pits so that they 

 could be used as winter feed for domestic animals. The farmers excluded 

 the air from the green grasses by covering them with earth ; the grasses 

 fermented somewhat, but when fed to the animals were highly relished. 

 Forty-five years ago this system of joreserving green fodders was intro- 

 duced into France, and there the names silo and ensilage originated. 

 These terms are still used. 



A silo is a structure, which may be built of wood, 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 known as ensiling it. 

 Ensilage is the name given to the presei*ved fodder. This word has been 

 shortened to silage, a term which is now used oftener than ensilage. 



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

 and becomes worthless for feed. 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 exclude 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 underground, and the silage 

 was weighted down with earth or other heavy material in order to drive 

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

 above ground, though 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 that is round inside and fairly 

 deep, has the best shape for preserving silage. The deeper the silo the 

 tighter the silage is packed, and the better it keeps. Many silos have 

 been built in this country of wooden frames lined with thin lumber and 

 building paper, fastened tightly together so that air cannot enter through 

 the walls. Many are built of upright staves, like those in a water tank, 

 and held together with metal hoops. Some have been built of stone or 

 brick laid in mortar, and in recent years silos have been built of reinforced 

 concrete — a mixture of sand, gravel, and cement, with steel rods bedded 

 in the concrete to give it more strength. Every year brings out some 

 new method of building silos to meet the conditions in different parts 

 of the United States. All silos need to have a good foundation, prefer- 

 ably of stone or concrete. A good many silos have a floor of concrete. 

 In order to be convenient in use, a silo must have openings, one above 

 another, on the side so that the silage can be taken out as it is wanted 



