198 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



dent varieties will be well dented. Ensiling the crop should not be 

 delayed longer, else the corn will become too mature to make the most 

 palatable silage, and it may mold unless water is added to the cut forage 

 as it is ensiled. On the other hand, it should not be ensiled before the 

 kernels are in the glazing stage, as was usually done some years ago. If 

 ensiled earlier, a sourer silage is produced, and still more important, a 

 great waste of nutrients occurs, for as has been pointed out previously, 

 the corn crop stores much of its highest quality nutrients during the 

 later stages of growth. (23-7) 



297. Losses in ensiling and field curing. Ensiling is decidedly the best 

 method of preserving corn forage, for less nutrients are lost than when 

 the crop is cured as corn fodder, and corn silage also has a higher feed- 

 ing value than the same amount of dry matter in dry corn fodder. 

 Trials at various experiment stations 3 have shown that even when cured 

 in well-made shocks, so as to reduce the losses to a minimum, corn fodder 

 or stover standing in the field for a few months loses on the average 

 about 20 per ct. of the dry matter it contains, due to weathering and to 

 fermentations which gradually waste the forage. The losses fall chiefly 

 on the most valuable parts the sugar, protein, and starch which are 

 less resistant and more soluble than the fiber. 



The losses due to weathering can be lessened by making larger shocks. 

 However, Cooke 4 found that even in the dry climate of Colorado heavy 

 losses of dry matter occurred in corn fodder standing in well-made 

 shocks. In the southern states, due to the heavy winter rainfall, it is 

 especially difficult to cure corn fodder or stover, and the losses in feeding 

 value are much higher than in the North. 



Losses also occur when corn fodder is ensiled, because of fermentations 

 which take place in the ensiling process. (404) The extent of the losses 

 will vary quite widely, depending on the stage of maturity of the corn 

 when ensiled, the care with which the cut fodder is packed in the silo, 

 the tightness of the silo walls and doors, and the depth of the silo. Im- 

 mature corn suffers more loss than corn ensiled at the proper stage of 

 maturity. If the silage is not packed well, or if the silo is not built so 

 that the silage will settle well and so that air will be excluded, much 

 greater losses will occur, and parts of the silage will even be entirely 

 spoiled by mold. As the surface losses, due to the decay of silage at the 

 top of the silo before feeding is started, are the same for shallow and deep 

 silos, obviously there will be a much smaller percentage loss of feed in a 

 deep silo. 



In trials during 4 years at the Wisconsin Station 5 King found that the 

 average loss of dry matter in silage from well-matured corn, excluding 

 the loss at the surface of the silo, was 9.1 per ct, ranging from 4.9 

 per ct. to 12.9 per ct. On the other hand, in trials during 2 years by 



"Woll, Wis. Rpt. 1891; Hills and Cooke, Vt. Rpts. 1892, 1894; Armsby, Penn. 

 Rpt. 1889. 

 'Colo. Bui. 30. 8 Wis. Bui. 59. 



