184 Practical Farming 



a very immature product with few ears and little grain. 

 Then, when this immature corn was put into the silo it 

 made a very sour silage, and many formed a prejudice 

 against the whole practice from this quality of the prod- 

 uct. It was also thought important that the cut com be 

 packed very tightly as the silo was filled, and when the 

 filling was completed a board cover was placed over the 

 top and tons of rock or bags of sand were piled on it to 

 still further compact the mass. 



The result was a slow fermentation and a very sour 

 article of feed, and though cattle soon got fond of it the 

 odor was not pleasant and the milk was apt to absorb 

 some of it, so that the companies engaged in making con- 

 densed milk refused to take the product from cows fed 

 on silage. 



Another difficulty was found in the use of the imder- 

 ground pits. This was the labor and cost of hoisting out 

 the feed, and the large amount of spoiled silage from the 

 constant condensation on the cold cement walls, and in 

 the corners where it was hard to exclude the air. In 1886, 

 after thinking seriously over the defects in the then com- 

 mon practice, I came to the conclusion that we were mak- 

 ing a mistake in the tight board cover and the weighting 

 of it with rocks. I had also come to the conclusion that 

 com planted so that it would make good ears would be 

 more valuable as ensilage. Therefore, that season, for the 

 first time, I had well-matured corn and cut it in the silo in 

 the state a little too hard for roasting ears but still quite 

 green. After filHng the silo I covered it with a foot of cut 

 straw to catch the mold that always gathers near the top^ 

 The result was the best and sweetest ensilage I had ever 



