110 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



with oats early in spring. A seeding of oats, followed imme- 

 diately by one of peas on the same land, using about one 

 bushel and a half of each seed to the acre, gives one of the 

 very best green feeds for early and middle summer use. This 

 combination may be safely fed to farm animals generally, 

 and it is much relished by horses, cattle, sheep and swine. 

 If desired, it can easily be cured into a very superior hay. 



SILAGE 



Silage is a feed more or less green and succulent, pre- 

 served in a tall and usually circular structure known as a 

 silo. Green feed is cut and stored in the silo, where it goes 

 through a process of fermentation, with slight loss of its pro- 

 tein and carbohydrates. Under fair management this loss 

 need not be over 10 per cent. The silo is one of the most 

 valuable things on the stock farm, for in it a bulky feed can 

 be stored more economically than in any other way. 



Silage may be made from a variety of plants; but at the 

 present time corn is used nearly altogether, because it com- 

 bines the largest yield of the most easily stored and preserved 

 forage crop generally relished by stock. Sorghum, clover, 

 cowpeas, soy beans, and alfalfa are sometimes used. With 

 the exception of sorghum, these plants are not always stored 

 in the silo with satisfaction, as they may heat badly and sus- 

 tain considerable loss in food value, unless well handled. 

 For this reason, corn silage only will be discussed here. 

 Sorghum and Kafir corn may be preserved in the silo equally 

 well with corn, a feature of importance in the Southwest. 



The importance of silage lies in the fact that it enables 

 the stockman to give his cattle and sheep especially a suc- 

 culent feed during the winter months of the year, and also 

 when the pastures are dead and no green feed is obtainable. 

 If one has plenty of silage, then one is quite independent of 

 summer drouth. In fact, many owners of dairy cattle feed 

 silage the year round. Because of its tender, succulent 



