Rural School Leaflet 1299 



for feed. The size of a silo should be in proportion to the number of ani- 

 mals to be fed from it. 



Silage crops. — Although there are several farm erops that can be 

 preserved in the silo, Indian eorn is the most widely used for this purpose. 

 The first man to make silage from Indian corn was a German sugar 

 manufacturer, who was trying to grow varieties of corn imported from 

 the United States. Because he could not ri])en these varieties in his 

 country and because he had been successful in making silage from sugar 

 beet pulp and leaves, he thought of preserving the Indian com, stalks, 

 ears, and all, in his silos. In doing this he was very successful. The 

 first silos built in the United States for preserving green fodder were 

 erected in Michigan in 1875. Other crops that have been preserved 

 successfully in this way are sorghum, wheat, oats, rs'e, alfalfa, clovers, 

 and grasses. Some crops can be mixed with corn fodder for silage more 

 successfully than they can be preserved alone. Sunflowers, soy beans, 

 and alfalfa have been used in this way. It is easier to make good silage 

 from Indian com than from any of the other crops named, but some- 

 times the other crops can be preserved in the silo more economically 

 than they can be dried and preserv^ed as hay. 



The silo furnishes the most economical means of preserving these 

 farm crops, especially where the weather is likely to interfere with their 

 being cured and stored in other ways. Besides this, the quality. of suc- 

 culence, or juiciness, found in the fodder is mostly preserved in the silage. 

 Some chemical changes take place as the silage ferments, which, if properly 

 controlled, make the silage easily digested and very palatable for domestic 

 animals. 



In order to pack the com fodder into the silo and drive out the air 

 so that the fodder will keep, it has been found best to use a machine called 

 a silage cutter to cut up the stems and leaves into pieces about two inches 

 or less in length. The freshly cut fodder is elevated to the top of the 

 silo and distributed inside from a spout. There are two types of ele- 

 vators, one an endless conveyor running in a wooden trough, the other 

 a long pipe up which the cut fodder is blown by a strong cirrrent of air 

 from a fan. Men are placed in the silo to tramp down this fodder and 

 see that it is properly distributed, especially near the walls of the silo 

 where the greatest danger from spoiling is found. If a silo is deep the 

 weight of the fodder put into it forces the air out of the fodder gradually, 

 and it settles down into a compact mass of silage, except at the top, where 

 a little spoils. It is cheaper to throw away some of the spoiled silage 

 on top than to hoist heavy weights up into the silo to press down the top 

 of the silage. Some farmers after tramping down the silage at the top, 

 pour on water, and sow oats thickly on the surface. Growing oats lessen 



