656 ReporI" of the Firj^t Assistant of the 



For convenience in handling the heavy material, a low wagon 

 having wheels with broad felloes and tires 5 or 6 inches wide 

 and having a nearly level tight rack of boards is best. By the 

 Wisconsin Station is recommended a wagon on high wheels hav- 

 ing a level rack, narrow at the front and somewhat longer than 

 usual hung under the axles, enabling a man to load readily from 

 the ground. The fodder cutter is set so that the carrier delivers 

 the material near the center of the silo. 



Clover is often put into the silo whole but it is better to run 

 it through the cutter. It is not so easy to pack clover closely as 

 il is the heavier corn and in a shallow silo it often fails to keep 

 well. During the process of filling it should be well trodden 

 down at the edges and corners. Clover should be cut for silage 

 when in bloom and if at the right stage of maturity, should not 

 be ensiled when very wet with dew or rain. On the other hand 

 the clover should not be too dry for there is much heat from 

 fermentation. Sometimes clover is moistened two or three 

 times in the silo during the process of filling. About two days 

 after the silo is full the surface should be well trodden and sat- 

 urated with water and again after several days. The matted 

 moist layer at the surface will better exclude air and i)rotect the 

 silage from decay. 



Silage from sorghum is made the same as that from corn but 

 it is more acid, and inferior to corn silage. 



In emptying the silo it is important to begin at the top and 

 remove from the entire exposed surface daily, otherwise there 

 will be great and unnecessary loss from rapid molding and sour 

 ing. It is advisable to have the capacity of the silo suited to the 

 size of the herd so that an average of about two inches or more 

 in depth of silage will be fed daily. The depth of silage removed 

 daily will be greater than this near the top of the silo and less 

 near the bottom. About five square feet of feeding surface per 

 cow is a fair estimate. For a herd of 30 cows a cylindrical silo 

 of about 14 feet inside diameter would be satisfactory. A herd 

 of 50 cows would take the silage from one IS feet in diameter. 



