CATTLE FOODS NATURAL PRODUCTS 233 



The mean loss of dry matter in the lower six layers 

 was only 3.66 per cent. These figures show that it is 

 profitable to make the walls of the silo air-tight, even 

 at large expense. 



318. Financial importance of silo losses. The im- 

 portance of reducing the loss in the silo to the lowest 

 possible percentage is almost self-evident. As this point 

 is capable of mathematical demonstration, it will be 

 interesting and suggestive to calculate what might take 

 place in a hundred-ton silo. In many of the trials which 

 appear to have been conducted under not unusual con- 

 ditions, a loss as high as 20 per cent of the dry matter 

 put in the silo has been observed. In a hundred-ton silo 

 filled with corn containing 25 per cent of dry matter, or 

 50,000 pounds, this would amount to the destruction of 

 10,000 pounds of dry food substance. As the loss falls 

 chiefly on the sugars or other soluble bodies which are 

 wholly digestible, the available nutrients in the fresh 

 material are diminished by an amount of digestible dry 

 matter equivalent to what would be required by ten 

 milch cows during two months. If, therefore, by good 

 planning and extra care this waste could be reduced three- 

 fourths or even one-half, the food resources for carrying 

 a herd of cows through the winter would be materially 

 increased, from five to seven and one-half tons of timothy 

 hay being the measure of the saving in a hundred-ton 

 silo. 



319. Ensiling vs. field-curing. The question is often 

 raised whether ensilage or field-curing is the more waste- 

 ful method of preserving a forage crop. Considerable 

 study has been given this matter, and the results secured 

 have been taken as a justification of the statement that 

 one method is about as economical as the other, which 



