100 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE 



the decaying organic matter in the soil, and in conse- 

 quence stable manure is specially valuable as a manure 

 for this crop. 



149. Fodder Crops. — Instead of gathering the seed 

 for food, the entire crop may be harvested and fed to 

 animals. Crops harvested in this way make what is 

 known as fodder. The crop may be gathered before 

 it ripens, and may be fed at once, when it is known as 

 green fodder; or it may be dried and made into 

 dry fodder. The most important fodder crops are 

 corn and oats. Thus corn and oats are important both 

 as cereal and fodder crops. 



150. Green Fodder. — When crops are cut before they 

 ripen and are at once fed to cattle the process is known 

 as soiling. Any crop fit for cattle food may be used 

 for this purpose — corn, oats, rye, clover, cowpeas, etc. 

 It would require too much space to describe the many 

 advantages claimed by its advocates for this method 

 of feeding cattle; suffice it to say, the method is grow- 

 ing in favor, and when pasturage is scanty may be 

 advantageously practiced. 



151. Ensilage or Silage. — Another method of feeding 

 green fodder is to preserve it as ensilage and feed it to 

 stock during the winter months. Ensilage is made by 

 packing away green fodder in buildings or compart- 

 ments called silos, which are large pits dug in the 

 ground, or air-tight rooms built above ground. The 

 silo most generally used now is built above ground in 

 the shape of an immense barrel. A round silo is shown 

 in the cut of the model barn. (See frontispiece.) The 

 best constructed silos have double walls, between which 

 are layers of paper. The size of the silo is, of course, 



