THE SILO. 429 



filled quickly it will settle several feet and while doing so generates 

 this gas. If all doors inside of silos were closed when it was first filled 

 and the silage settled down to, say 8 or 10 feet below any opening, 

 this apparently empty bin will be filled with gas. It is heavier than 

 air and will flow out if it has a chance ; give it the chance before sending 

 any one in there to work. Running in fresh material will soon stir 

 this gas up with the air and make it safe. 



There is just enough danger here to make it wise to notice the 

 conditions in the morning when starting up. 



THE FEEDING OF SILAGE. 



To Dairy Cozvs.—Cows unaccustomed to silage will become very 

 fond of it in two or three days. They then eat of it as greedily as of 

 green fodder. They eat more of it than they would of dry feed, and, 

 therefore, have more food in their systems with which to make milk 

 after they have subtracted their regular allowance for support. Then, 

 too, food that is relished will be more thoroughly digested than that 

 eaten with repugnance. The bowels of the silage-fed cow are as loose 

 as though on blue grass pasture. This insures health and easy delivery 

 of calves, and lastly, they will, according to Professor Williams' test, 

 give more milk and butter fat per unit of food eaten than those that 

 get only dry food. f 



The quality of the milk will not be injured in the least, even when 

 the cows are fed heavily, 35 to 40 pounds per day, if the silage 

 be fed after milking instead of just before, and if no silage is allowed 

 to remain in the manger, under the cow, or in a heap in the passages to 

 ferment. Feed only as much as the cow will eat up clean, 30 to 40 

 pounds per day, and keep the alleys clean. It is the abuse of silage, 

 not its use, that has brought it into disfavor in some quarters. Mr. H. 

 B. Gurler, who produces exceptionally fine milk for infant feeding 

 in Chicago, uses silage freely, but not carelessly. The writer has had 8 

 years' experience with silage-fed cows and their milk and has not had 

 any trouble with bad odor or acid in the milk or butter from it. 



To Bulls. — By some it is still considered doubtful . whether a full 

 feed of silage is good for breeding bulls, claiming that it has a tendency 

 to make them heavy, slow and uncertain. The writer once fed a mature 

 Holstein bull a ration of 40 to 50 pounds of corn silage a day for a 

 period of six months with excellent results. He got over a hundred 

 robust calves that year, and was exceedingly active and sure. He 

 received a little grain, but only 2 to 3 pounds of hay a day. 



Mr. William Plummer, Hale, Carroll county. Mo., feeds silage to 



