TWELFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX 405 



milk COW is a sensitive animal at hard work and should be nurtured 

 on the best feed possible. Silage makes possible a succulent feed 

 for winter use, spurring the appetite of the cow and causing her to 

 relish her feed in winter as well as summer. 



Several years ago at the Ohio Experiment Station the substitu- 

 tion of silage for grain in the ration proved very successful. Silage 

 was used to take the place of over half the grain ration and proved 

 to b6 much cheaper. The silage ration produced milk for 68 cents 

 per 100 pounds and butter fat at the rate of 13 cents per pound. The 

 grain ration produced milk at $1.05 per 100 pounds and butter fat 

 for 22 cents per found. This made the profit from the silage ration 

 $5.86 per month and of the grain ration $2.46 per month. 



There is usually a time during every summer when the pastures 

 dry up, due to lack of rain and the hot dry winds. The dairyman 

 should be prepared at this time with some feed to stimulate the 

 milk flow and keep it up; a soiling crop or silage are the more 

 available crops. Soiling crops require too much time and labor for 

 the average Iowa farmer as they must be cut and hauled every day, 

 so this leaves silage as the remaining substitute. Chas. L. Hill of 

 Guernsey fame says he feeds silage 365 days in the year, and that 

 the cows relish the silage even when supplied with green pasture 

 grass. 



In constructing a silo there are many things to be considered, the 

 most important of which are shape, capacity, efficiency, durability, 

 cost and location. In regard to capacity the silo should be con- 

 structed with reference to the size of the herd and the length of 

 time you wish to feed silage. Each animal will consume from 30 to 

 40 pounds per day, so if silage is fed for 200 days she will consume 

 about 4 tons per year. Figuring from this, a herd of ten cows will 

 require a 40-ton silo ; 15 cows a 60-ton silo and 50 cows a 200-ton 

 silo. The quality of silage improves as the depth increases due to 

 the weight above. A certain percentage of mouldy silage found 

 near the top of the silo proves that a certain weight is necessary to 

 compress the silage and exclude the air. A silo should be at least 

 30 feet deep with a diameter gauged by the size of the herd. In or- 

 der that silage may be fed in good condition about one and a half 

 inches should be used from the top in winter and three inches in 

 summer. 



It is all important that silage be perfectly preserved and this all 

 depends as to whether the silo is air-tight. There are many types 

 of silos upon the market today and all have their advantages, the 



