586 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



is filled up anything that looks as though it was not air tight should be 

 filled with a handful of clay. Any cracks or openings in masonry silos 

 should be properly fixed with cement before filling. Great care should be 

 taken to have the door fit well and air tight. In a good silo, properly filled, 

 there should be no waste except at the top. 



PREVENTING WASTE ON TOP OF SILO. 



There is always some waste on the top of the silo, unless feeding opera- 

 tions are commenced as soon as the silo is filled. The amount of waste ma- 

 terial varies under different conditions of management from two inches, 

 where great care is exercised, to ten or twelve inches, where practically no 

 precautions are taken to protect the same. Various methods for lessening 

 the amount of waste have been tried out. One of the first precautions is to 

 thoroughly pack and level the top of the silo. Some use oat chaff or cut 

 straw. Others thoroughly soak the top with water, then seed with oats. The 

 oats germinate and form a thick covering which serves to keep out the air, 

 thus lessening the waste. One of the easiest and most satisfactory methods 

 to pursue is to pick the ears of the last three or four loads of corn, then run 

 the stalks through the cutter into the silo. Thoroughly tramp the same. 

 Then put on from twenty to thirty barrels of water. This has the effect of 

 hermetically sealing the silo and only a very thin layer of waste will be 

 on top. 



COST PER TON OF FILLING SILO. 



The cost of filling the silo ( cutting the corn in the field, hauling it, putting 

 it through the silage cutter; tramping, leveling and covering the silo) var- 

 ies from 40c to $1.00 per ton. It depends on many factors. First the dis- 

 tance the corn must be hauled from field to silo. Second, the kind of weather, 

 as it will cost about fifty per cent more to fill a silo during wet and broken 

 weather than during dry, clear weather. Third, the kind of machinery 

 used. The cutter must be a strong well built machine with a wide feed 

 mouth because at times it is put to very severe tests. The motor power must 

 be ample; a fifteen horse power engine is much more satisfactory than a. ten 

 where rapid filling is practiced. Fourth, a well organized crew of men will 

 fill a silo much cheaper than where organization is lacking. The machinery 

 should be kept going at full blast all of the time. 



The following statement, furnished by a very successful dairy farmer, 

 gives a fair idea of the cost of filling the silo: "We hire an extra man or 

 two and make long days with the regular help during the filling season. We 

 have our own outfit, silo cutter and engine (16 horse gasoline) also corn 

 binder. We use our regular low wheel, flat rack wagons and have two 

 pitchers in the field and let one of them take the herdsman's wagon for the 

 first few loads in the morning and the last few at night. 



4 teams and drivers $16.00 



Corn binder, man and team 10.00 



Cutter and engine with one man 15.00 



Two extra men to pitch 5.00 



Two men in the silo 5.00 



Thirty gallons of gasoline 3.60 



Total cost per day $54.60 



