450 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



The keeping quality of silage depends upon absolute exclusion of air. 

 When the air comes in contact with the silage, either through the leaks 

 in the silo wall or through improper packing at the time the silo is filled, 

 decayed silage is inevitable. Frequently a space from eighteen inches 

 to two feet all around a knot hole, or a little cavity in the silo will be 

 spoiled silage. This shows the extreme importance of properly packing 

 silage when the feed is being stored. 



Perhaps the most ideal silage, from the theoretical standpoint, is made 

 of corn and either Soy beans or cow peas mixed, about two parts of the 

 corn to one part of the other plant. This furnishes, in addition to the 

 carbohydrates of the corn, considerable protein in the other plants. As 

 suggested, such silage is superior to all others theoretically, but it is 

 not always practical. 



SILO PRESERVES PLANT'S FOOD VALXJE. 



The supreme advantage of the silo is that it saves all of the food value 

 of the plant at a time when it is most suited to the animal nutrition. 

 There are certain seasons of the year when the corn plant or any other 

 crop contains the maximum amount of food value. If it is left to ripen 

 in the field, the plant tissues become woody, and it naturally loses much 

 of its nutritive value. It is impossible to use the entire crop just at the 

 right time, and, as a result, a loss is inevitable. If the crop is put into 

 the silo, it is all saved, and the work of the season is not spent on a crop, 

 40 per cent of which will be left to be bleached out by the winter winds. 

 Thus it is that silage is most economical for feeding. 



Silage is not, by any means, the entire ration. In fact, the farmer who 

 tries to depend upon silage exclusively will find that he is working along 

 the wrong lines; but silage is the foundation of every successful dairy 

 ration because of its succulence and because it is so well adapted to keep- 

 ing the cow's system in the best of condition. 



The silo has its place, too, in the maintenance of soil fertility. In 

 a field of corn, 40 per cent, or at least 25 per cent, of the food value 

 remains in the stock. This, if it is left standing in the field, is of little 

 value to the soil. There is a certain amount of humus that works back 

 into the land, but not very much that becomes quickly available. 



Now, if this same field of corn were put into the silo and fed, practi- 

 cally the entire plant would be utilized by the cattle, and it would go back 

 to the soil in the form of barnyard manure — the richest and most com- 

 plete fertilizer that can be found in this section o'f the country. Therefore, 

 the silo is an important factor in maintaining soil fertility, as well as in 

 maintaining the herd at its maximum production throughout the year. 



There are various kinds of silos. All are good. All have their good 

 points. People are in the habit of proclaiming that one is superior to all 

 others, just as one man will tell you that the Guernsey cow is better than 

 every other cow, while another will stand up for the Holsteins, or the 

 Ayrshire, or the Jersey. But all silos are good, and it is only a question 

 of which is best adapted to your particular locality, or to your particular 

 need. 



