EXERCISE 58 



Fig. 78. All classes of live stock eat silage with a relish 



THE SILO AND SILAGE 



Object. To understand the construction and function of the silo and the manner of preparing 

 silage, and the method by which it keeps. Also to learn how this material is used. 



Materials. A neighborhood silo 

 and apparatus for filling it ; sales- 

 man's descriptions of the different 

 kinds of silos; the textbook data 

 upon quantities of corn and other 

 material required to fill silos of 

 given size, and upon the amount of 

 silage needed to feed different kinds 

 of farm animals. 



Directions. The class should 

 visit one or more good silos under 

 the guidance of the teacher and 

 the farmer who owns the silo, when 

 the silo is being filled and later 

 when the silage is being fed. 



1. The points to be studied in the first visit should include the structure and size of the silo, its 

 relation to the barn and to the stock to be fed, material used for silage, the stage of maturity when 

 harvested, how cut and loaded, the arrangement of wagon racks, methods of unloading, cutting, and 

 filling the silo. All the members of the class should be permitted to go into the silo and to help distribute 

 the silage and tramp it around the 

 edges. Make a complete record of 

 all the above facts and note any 

 particulars in which improvements 

 might be made with profit. 



2. On the occasion of the second 

 visit the points to be considered 

 should include condition of silage, 

 number of inches of silage used 

 each day, amount of silage that is 

 lost by decay, where the loss occurs, 

 the changes in temperature, color, 

 and odor which have occurred in 

 silage between the time when the fresh material was placed in the silo and the time when it is fed. 

 Note the relish with which the animals eat the silage. And how much each kind eats daily. 



Questions. Ascertain the number of animals of each class on each farm visited and calculate the 

 amount of silage required to feed them throughout the season ; the dimension of the silo or silos neces- 

 sary to contain the feed. Estimate the number of acres of corn, sorghum, or kafir required to supply 

 this amount of fresh material. What would be the approximate cost of erecting such a silo or silos and 

 what would it cost to fill them? 



References. Waters, H. J. Essentials of Agriculture, pp. 248-259. Ginn and Company. Plumb, C. S. 

 Beginnings in Animal Husbandry, pp. 298-30x3. Webb Publishing Company. Wilson and Warburton. 

 Field Crops, pp. 91-92. Webb Publishing Company. 



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Fig. 79. Before the silo came into general use, one of the principal drudgeries 

 of feeding stock was digging corn fodder out of the snow 





