NATURAL STOCK FEEDS 



sometimes used. Sometimes mixtures as oats and vetch, corn 

 and cowpeas, corn and soja bean, etc. are used. Crops that can 

 be quickly field cured are not generally made into ensilage. This 

 method of preserving crops enables the feeder to furnish green, 

 succulent feed at any time of the year, which is especially de- 

 sirable to promote the appetite, excite digestion, and increase 

 milk production. This method does away with the losses in- 

 curred in field curing because of unfavorable weather and loss 

 of leaves, etc. It puts the coarse fodders in a good mechanical 

 condition for handling. It is more completely consumed so that 

 there is little waste. On the whole the preserving of forage 

 crops in a silo is more profitable than field curing for crops 

 with thick stems. 



COMPOSITION OF SILAGE 



Silos are generally of the round (or circular) and square 

 forms. The square form is used in barns because of the sav- 

 ing of space and the round form is the better for outside the 

 barn. The latter form is to be preferred for a silo because the 

 materials settle more quickly and more evenly. Silos may be 

 constructed of wood, stone, brick, concrete, etc. Wood is very 

 satisfactory for building the silo. 



Losses in Silage are usually due to fermentation. Experi- 

 ments show that the quicker the ensilage is packed and the air 

 excluded the less will be these losses. 



Well handled silage has about the samie digestibility as corn 

 fodder. 



