SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VIII 469 



A small amount of water was added. The silage resulting was of ex- 

 cellent appearance and odor, clean, free from mold, and palatable. There 

 was quite enough sugar in the grain and cobs to furnish enough acid 

 to preserve the material, although the acidity developed was not as great 

 as in ordinary corn silage. One jar of this silage has now been kept in 

 perfect condition for more than a year. 



It is indicated by these experiments that in the event of another un- 

 favorable season or early frost, a great deal of valuable corn grain could 

 be saved by ensiling the ears alone. In this way the softer corn may be 

 preserved in a clean and palatable condition, and the most nearly ma- 

 ture corn may be allowed to dry out in the field until dry enough to 

 crib. However, the very softest corn had better be fed at once, since 

 the weight of the silage will crush corn that is too soft. It is considered 

 a good plan to ensile the husks with the ears since the husks tend to 

 tie the mass together. In contrast to ordinary corn silage, it must be 

 remembered that this silage is a concentrate and not a roughage. For 

 this reason soft corn ear silage can be used to considerable advantage In 

 feeding swine, while ordinary corn silage contains too much roughage 

 for them. 



PBECAUTIONS ^VITH SOFT CORN. 



If it is desired to make this kind of silage, the following precautions 

 must be observed. 



1. Chop quite finely. No pieces should be over an inch across, and 

 the smaller the better, within reasonable limits. 



2. Pack tightly by tramping well, especially near the walls. 



3. Add water. This is best done by adding slowly during the filling, 

 being careful not to add an excess so that the water collects at the bot- 

 tom of the silo. It is well to have a small opening at the base of the silo, 

 which will indicate when there is an excess of added water. In general, 

 late roasting corn will require about a ton of water to every 6 or 7 tons 

 of silage corn. Less mature corn may not require any water. 



4. Cover the filled silo with some cheap material such as stover or 

 straw, in order to avoid the loss by spoiling of a layer of good concen- 

 trated feed. 



5. It is best not to have too large a proportion of nearly mature ears, 

 because the hard cobs prevent packing, and also because the mature corn 

 inay not contain enough sugar to furnish the necessary acid to preserve 

 it in the silo. 



6. Snapped corn or ears plus husks, may be used in this manner to 

 better advantage than husked corn. 



7. Of course moldy corn should not be put into the silo, but corn in 

 good condition, ensiled carefully in a tight silo is perfectly safe from 

 mold. 



Silage made from the immature whole plant is generally of poor con- 

 sistency, too sour, too high in moisture, and otherwise unsatisfactory. 

 Its feeding value is much less than that of mature corn, because the 

 amount of nutrients stored in the corn plant increases continually up to 

 the ensiling time. The loss during the fermentation is also greater, 



