240 EXPERIMENT STATION— BULLETINS. 



FILLING THE SILO. 



Various methods of cutting corn and drawing it have been suggested. No 

 one is probably always the best. Some use a reaper, cutting one row at a 

 time. We have cut our corn by hand, and have found that by driving the 

 wagon close along the row and cutting not more than two rows at a time, so 

 as to avoid carrying any distance and having the men who are cutting place 

 each armful directly on the wagon, never laying it on the ground to require 

 a second handling, the most satisfactory. 



The stalks, if proper care is taken in loading, are all laid straight and in 

 the best possible shape for going to the feeder, which enables him to feed 

 with more facility than would be possible with them tangled more or less, as 

 they will unavoidably be when cut with a reaper or thrown in bundles on 

 the ground. 



Some have advocated cutting the corn and allowing it to wilt for a day or 

 two before putting in the silo, but I do not think this practice is to be com- 

 mended. It increases the labor, and if the corn is properly matured, the 

 sooner it is placed in the silo after cutting the better. 



Some writers lay great stress upon having the corn dry when it goes 

 into the silo. That rain-water upon the corn injures it is denied by all 

 experienced silo men. Some say. that their best ensilage is that which went 

 into the silo when quite wet. It is no unusual thing to have a load or two 

 caught in a shower, and no one need fear any injury resulting from putting 

 the corn in wet. If corn fodder was over ripe, so that the stalks were quite 

 dry or had been frosted, I think the ensilage made from such fodder would 

 be improved by wetting it quite thoroughly when put into the silo. 



We use the Belle City feed cutter and carrier made at Kacine, Wis. ; our 

 power is a ten-horse engine. The tread, circular and geared powers, sold for 

 from $50 to $100, will be found satisfactory for cutting ensilage, and can 

 also be utilized in much other work where power is demanded on the farm. 



We have always kept a man in the silo (sometimes two or three when 

 student help has been plenty) to keep the ensilage evenly leveled and packed 

 solidly. I am aware that some writers seem to think this careful, solid 

 packing unnecessary; but I am convinced, after years of experience, that 

 when this has been attended to most carefully, everything else being equal, 

 we have had the best ensilage. It is well to throw the cool ensilage from 

 the corners and about the walls of silo into the center and replace it with 

 that which is warmest, thus preserving an even temperature. 



I should always advise cutting the corn. Some have practiced putting it 

 in the silo without, but the long stalks do not pack as closely as when cut in 

 half or three-quarter inch lengths, and there is more danger of injury to the 

 ensilage, while it is much more troublesome to take the long stalks from the 

 silo. I think it will be rare to find anyone who has practiced both methods, 

 who will favor filling with the uncut stalks. 



Clover may be placed in the silo without cutting. 



SLOW OR RAPID FILLING. 



During the first years of ensilage making, it was urged that the silo should 

 be filled as rapidly as possible. More experience has led to a change of 

 opinion on this point, and the theory has been advanced that if the silo was 



