THE SILO, 423 



author gives the following as the contents of one New York silo: ist, 

 18 inches deep of green oats ; 2ncl, 6 inches of red clover ; 3rd, 6 inches 

 of Canada field peas; •4th, 3 inches of brewers' grains; 5th, 2 feet of 

 whole corn plants sowed broadcast, and more ragweed than corn; 6th, 

 5 inches of second crop grass ; 7th, 5 inches of sorghum ; 8th, a lot of 

 immature corn cut in short lengths. The silage came out pretty acid, 

 but good forage, all eaten up clean." 



The writer has put small quantities of common straw and salt hay 

 (coarse hay from the tide meadows along the sea coast) into the silo 

 along with the corn, and seen the cows in winter eat it all as though it 

 were green grass. 



FILLING THE SILO. 



When to Cut the Corn. — When the corn has reached the three- 

 fourths ripe stage, the stalks still green and the bottom leaves are dry- 

 ing, it should be cut and put directly into the silo. If the corn is not at 

 all mature and is very watery the silage will most likely be very acid, 

 while if the corn goes in dry it will mould, or "fire-fang," so that it will 

 be greatly or wholly damaged. 



Adding Water to Dry Corn. — If the corn, for any reason, has be- 

 come dry while standing or in the shock, it may still be made into good 

 silage by wetting it thoroughly when it is put into the silo. A half barrel 

 of water to the load of corn will not be too much if the corn is quite dry. 



Last fall, at the Missouri Experiment Station, two silos were filled 

 with corn from the same field and in same condition. Each silo was 

 air tight and the silage was equally well tramped in each. The only differ- 

 ence between them was that one, a new one, had no roof. Just after the 

 two were filled it began to rain. The sickness of the professor in charge, 

 the resignation of the farm foreman and a general piling up of work 

 caused the silo to remain open to the rain from September 10, when it 

 .was filled to November 15, when cover was provided. The silo is 20 

 feet in diameter and water tight on sides and bottom. During this period 

 of time 16.68 inches of rain fell. This silage was then forced to absorb 

 436.68 cubic feet, or 103.7 barrels of water. The silage was only 25 

 feet deep in the silo. There were then 7,854 cubic feet of silage to absorb 

 3,266.5 gallons of water, or one and two-third quarts of water per cubic 

 foot of silage. ; * 



This water fell soon after the sila'^e was put in, scarcely any falling 

 in November. This silage came out better by considerable than that 

 from the silo which had a roof. Some farmers n.ake a practice of letting 

 the corn dry in the field 3 or 4 days before hauling in to make lighter 

 work, and then wet the silage well while it is being put into the silo. 



Mr. Jones of Roanoke, Mo., has no roof on his silo, which was filled 



