FARMERS' INSTITUTES. I83 



silo is square, the corners should be thoroughly packed as the filling 

 progresses; otherwise the silage will not be compact, and consequently 

 will be more liable to decay. Since the addition of carriers to the 

 machines for cutting the silage, the trouble and expense of filling the silo 

 have been greatly decreased. Some are using windmills to run the 

 machines, with satisfaction. At first it was thought that the silo must 

 be covered with heavy weights put on to aid in settling and packing, but 

 it has been found that covering with chaff or marsh hay will answer 

 every purpose; even if no covering is put on; while a few inches of the 

 silage on top will decay in that process, it becomes a protection to that 

 below, and, with the exception of the loss of five or six inches at the top, 

 the remainder will be well preserved. 



SILAGE IN OTHER STATES. 



Silage seems to be held in greater estimation in some other states than 

 in ours. In Wisconsin, in the dairy district, nearly all the dairymen 

 have silos. Governor Hoard, of Jefferson county. Wis., writes me that in 

 his county, which is a great dairy county, the farmers think they could 

 not get along without the silo, and that no one who uses one ever returns 

 to the old way. But it is true that in our State there is still a prejudice 

 against their use and a feeling that ensilage is not a good food for stock. 

 Yet, with a failure of clover, it seems to me that the use of corn silage will 

 take the place of clover better than any other forage crop yet introduced. 

 But it must always be remembered that some nitrogenous food must be 

 used with corn. Nothing is better for this purpose than wheat bran, 

 although, of course, oil meal may be used at present prices with favor- 

 able results. There is no question but the same acreage will pro- 

 duce more stock fodder with corn than with any other crop that can be 

 used, and with our present system of cultivation it can be produced about 

 as cheaply per acre as any crop, and much cheaper for the same value. 



A word as to the growing of corn fodder for silage. I believe as to 

 thickness of planting, neither extreme should be followed. If sown too 

 thickly the fodder is not of so good a quality, not so many ears, and if too 

 thinly, while the quality is high, there is not enough of it. My observa- 

 tion and experience indicate that the most value can be secured by plant- 

 ing or sowing the corn about twice as thick as with ordinary field corn, 

 using about ten to twelve quarts of seed per acre. This makes a large 

 amount of fodder and also a large quantity of ears of corn, making a 

 silage quite rich in grain. 



Corn has been the only crop used for silage to any extent in this State. 

 I have heard of a few silos that have been filled with clover, but usually 

 the clover has been made into hay. In Wisconsin, I learned that they 

 frequently filled the silo with clover with good results, but there is not 

 so much advantage in putting clover in the silo unless it might be in a 

 wet season when there is difficulty in curing it. At the College, millet 

 was successfully used in the silo, and rye cut green has also been pre- 

 served, and might be worth trying, particularly for summer use to help 

 out the pastures in July and August. 



