232 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The combination in which corn silage will be used in feeding milk 

 cows will depend a great deal on the local conditions. It should be fed 

 with a fair proportion of nitrogenous feeds, such as wheat bran, ground 

 oats, corn cob meal and clover hay. Silage furnishes a uniform quality 

 to be had during any time of the whole year, hence it is succulent food, 

 it is nature's food, and aids the digestion and the general health of the 

 animal. 



CLOVER SILAGE EXPERIENCE. 



Alson Secor in Wallaces' Farmer. 



Perhaps the inquirer for silo experience that is not full of boast may 

 be enlightened a little by my experience with clover. The mistakes of 

 the first year are very impressive and may be a good lesson for others. I 

 bought a factory stave silo — Philadelphia patent — 12x24 with the inten- 

 tion of putting clover in for summer feed but the silo did not arrive in 

 time so I made hay of the first crop. Had but little corn and the dry 

 weather made that too valuable to put in silo so I run second crop of 

 clover in. 



It was past middle of September when I went to work. Got a corn 

 shredder with blow stacker run by steam engine, but the shredder wan 

 not made for green stuff and the stacker clogged unless the machine was 

 fed slowly. Got nicely started when the fall rains set in and almost every 

 ton was soaked. The second day the rain stopped the machine and I 

 quit using it. 1 ne silo was then two-thirds full. It rained so that nothing 

 could be done until the eighth day after the machine left, when three of 

 us picked up what was already cut in the field. The silo is in the corner 

 of hay barn, two feet in the ground. We pitched the green clover uncut 

 into the hay mow then over into the silo, one person inside to pack it. 

 We filled within about five feet of top. Some of the last was almost as 

 dry as hay. Some are frostbitten. 



Other things prevented further work although I had enough clover 

 left to fill it. The silo was left just as it was when we quit hauling. It 

 should have been wet, weighted and sown with oats, but it wasn't. When 

 it quit settling it was about 16 feet full. You see there wasn't enough 

 weight there. It should have been refilled until it couldn't settle any 

 more. Being the first and only one around here to use a silo, it was the 

 wonder of the people. Very few knew what a silo was. Had plenty of 

 visitors during the filling. Nearly everybody ventured to say it would 

 burn up. They thought I was a fit subject for the asylum when I con- 

 tinued to run in green clover wet with rain. It did get hot, of course, 

 and cooked the clover. It could be smelled for a long distance until cold 

 weather came. Visitors continued to come to see it, but I did not open it 

 until the first part of January. About three feet of spoiled silage was 

 on top. It had dried out too much and being loose the air penetrated 



