lo June, 191 i] The Silo : A Factor in Moderti Agriculture. 415 



The influence of well-preserved silage on the digestion and general 

 health of all farm animals is very beneficial. It is a mild laxative, and 

 acts in this way very similarly to natural green fodders. An ample supply 

 of succulent feed is of advantage to all classes of farm animals ; and more 

 particularly in the case of dairy cows. At the New Jersey Experiment 

 Station it was found that silage, as compared with corn fodder, increased. 

 the milk flow by 12.8 per cent. The siloing process is the only known 

 method of j)rovidhig such succulent food the year round. 



Crops for the Silo. 



By filling with such crops as oats and tick beans, or in fact any spring 

 crop, a valuable succulent feed will be at hand at a time when pastures 

 in most districts are apt to give out. Then again, in the southern districts, 

 the silo may be filled with maize in the autumn and fed to the cows through- 

 out the winter. In many districts the silo may be filled twice a year. 

 Should natural pastures be so abundant that silage is not required, it will 

 keep for an indefinite period. 



Crops totally unfit for hay-making can be preserved in the silo and 

 changed into a palatable food. This may not be of such importance in a 

 land of plenty like ours, as it is elsewhere. Many forms of vege- 

 tation, such as thistles, spear-grass, weeds, &c., which could not be used: 

 for cattle food in any other form, may be converted into silage. They 

 do not obtain a higher nutritive content by the process of siloing, but the- 

 woody fibre (cellulose) they originally contained, being acted upon by 

 enzymes or bacteria that cause fermentation, is broken down, and the food' 

 materials original! v contained therein are thereby made more digestible. 



Pasturing Cattle. 

 Pasturing cattle is an expensive method of feeding, as far as the use 

 of land goes, and can only be practised to advantage where this is cheap. 

 In many places, at present, the land is used only for grazing, and the con- 

 sequence is that the life of the dairy cow alternates lietween times of 

 plenty and those of semi-starvation. As land values and rents increa.se, 

 more stock must be kept on the same area in order to augment the profits. 

 The plough must be used, and here the silo comes in as a material aid. 

 By its adoption, either alone or in connexion with hay. or by the practice- 

 of feeding off catch crops, it will be possible to keep twice the number of 

 animals. 



A Necessary Adjunct. 



That the silo is a prime factor in modern agriculture is no longer 

 a matter of doubt. It is not the sum total in it.self , but it is an adjunct ; 

 and, in the case of dairying, a necessary adjunct to successful and profit- 

 able methods. Its value is difficult to over-estimate. 



If inconvenient to erect a silo, rlo not turn the cows into the maize, 

 or allow surplus feed to spoil in the paddock. Begin by making 

 stack silage. There will certainly be more waste th.ni if it hml been 

 chaffed and stored in an airtight silo; but "better h;df a loaf than no 

 bread." Tiie cows will think so when the winter sets in. St.ick silage is 

 general Iv the forerunner of a silo. 



One of the great advantages of tiie silo is that, as an innovation, it 

 Viecomes a stepping-stone to better methods ; it stimulates its owm-r, and' 

 spurs him on to see the results he can obtain from his improved system 

 of management. Tlv ^il" i- P"' m enticing '^i>i'.iil ition Ii\ nir.mv; of 



