fi46 Report of thk First Assistant op thb 



age lost in weight. The conclusion was that for such a climate 

 where easy curing of fodder could be expected the silo was unde- 

 sirable. 



The results of a number of experiments with silage at the Kan- 

 sas Station were summarized as follows: " If we estimate that 

 77.2 per cent, of the amount put in can be taken out sound and 

 available for feeding, or about 1,544 lbs. for every ton put in the 

 silo, we find that, at the average feed of 32 pounds per day, one 

 ton will last one animal 48.2 days, or 100 tons will last a herd of 

 25 head 192 days; and in a reasonably favorable season, with 

 good soil and good culture, this 100 tons may be grown on about 

 10 acres. What other method of handling corn fodder will main- 

 tain an average farm herd during the long winter season from 

 grass until grass comes again, on so small an area ? " 



Maturity and Variety. 



Corn when just mature, at the time it would be cut for husk- 

 ing, when the grain is glazed and just before much drying of the 

 leaves occurs, is at its best for ensiling. In a deep silo corn can 

 be i)ut in when glazed and nearly ripe, when the best quality of 

 silage can be made; but in shallow silos the more mature corn 

 will not pack sufficiently to exclude air and greener and heavier 

 corn has to be used, making poorer silage. 



A variety of corn that is reasonably sure to mature before frost 

 is best to grow for silage even with the expectation of a lighter 

 acreage yield than could be obtained from some of the large, 

 late maturing varieties. 



The result of some investigations made at the Pennsylvania 

 Experiment Station was that '' As the corn crop approaches 

 maturity there is a very rapid increase in the yield of dry matter 

 per acre, while the digestibility of this dry matter appears to 

 increase slightly, rather than to decrease as in the case of other 

 crops. The yield of total digestible food by the fully mature 

 crop was from two to three times as great as that by the same 

 variety in the silking stage, and 36 per cent, greater than at the 

 time the ears were glazing." 



