NINTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XIl 701 
TPIK SILO. 
GKO. S. LISTKI!, INI A XCiriCSTKH, IOWA. 
(Before Delaware County Farmers' Institute.) 
The advantage of the silo I will try and give from what I can gather 
from the experience of others and my own. 
I find the silo in this section of the country is fast growing in favor. 
A few years ago if you would speak to a farmer about a silo he would 
tell you that it cost too much and was too hard work to fill them, but 
some of them have put in silos and others are getting interested. 
There are so many arguments in favor of them and so few against 
them, I wonder why more have not got them, but the past two years has 
made great strides in that direction. 
I think corn is the crop to put in the silo as you can raise so much 
more of it to the acre than other crops. In regard to the ground, take 
a piece of pasture or sod, top dress it, make it as rich as you can, plow 
it and make a good seed bed. Use common field corn of the early va- 
rieties, drill it in, not too thick, so the corn will have a chance to grow 
large and tall with good ears and well matured when put in the silo. 
I filled a 75-ton silo last season from 5i/^ acres with good rich feed 
and have heard of persons getting 30 tons from one acre. What crop is 
there you can raise on the farm, cared for in the usual way, that would 
return you one-quarter the feed for the amount of ground, quality taken 
into consideration. 
The shrinkage of hay, corn and other grains cured in the fields, is 
from 25 to 50 per cent, and corn cut and put in the silo shrinks only 
5 to 10 per cent. It shows a great economy in favor of the silo as it 
takes less than one-half the room for the same amount of ensilage as it 
does for hay and dry feeds. I think, taking all things into consideration, 
the round stove silo is the best for farmer use. 
One has said when the green stalks are put in the silo they are worth 
as much for feed as the corn. Another writer says the green stalk 
without the corn is worth $8.00 net per acre after the expense of putting 
in the silo. When they are left in the field they are not worth over $1.00 
per acre. 
V. A. Hooper, Professor of Dairy Husbandry of Arkansas, says: "The 
silo is not only a valuable but a necessary adjunct to the dairy farm." 
Prof. W. J. Kennedy, of the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames, said at 
the institute held here three years ago — I will try to quote his words: 
"If you want to make money dairying, you must put in a silo. With a silo 
I can produce milk cheaper during the winter months than in the sum- 
mer with pasture, and milk is usually 40 to 50 per cent higher." 
It is not only valuable feed for cows but a cheaper feed for steers, 
young stock and sheep. 
The 1908 Missouri Bulletin of Agriculture, says: "The silo in America 
will some day be as common as the cow stable I am satisfied beyond 
a doubt a farm of 120 acres with the silo will give a net income equal 
to 160 acres without a silo." 
