The Ensilage of Fodders. 255 



400. Cost of putting green corn fodder in the silo. — The cost for 

 labor involved in placing a corn crop in the silo is reported by 

 several Stations to be as follows: 



New Hampshire (Bui. 1) $1.08 per ton. 



Massachusetts (Rept. 1884) 1.50 per ton. 



Kansas (Bui. 48) 71 per ton. 



Maryland (Rept. 1889) 1.43 per ton. 



King, of the Wisconsin Station, * studied the operation of silo 

 filling on four Wisconsin dairy farms, and found the average 

 amount of green fodder placed in the silo per man, daily, to be aa 

 follows: 



Farm No. 1 2.96 tons per 10 hours labor. 



Farm No. 2 2.60 tons per 10 hours labor. 



Farm No, 3 2.45 tons per 10 hours labor. 



Farm No. 4 2.43 tons per 10 hours labor. 



Station Farm, 1893 2.37 tons per 10 hours labor. 



Average 2.56 tons per 10 hours labor. 



This shows that for each man working ten hours, about two 

 and one-half tons of green corn fodder were placed in the silo. 

 Estimating labor at fifteen cents per hour we have 58.6 cents as 

 the cost of putting one ton of green corn in the silo. (655) 



401. Crops for the silo. — Indian corn is pre-eminently suited 

 for silage, the solid, succulent stems, when cut into short lengths 

 or shredded, packing closely, thereby excluding the air and form- 

 ing a solid mass which keeps well. By planting the kernels 

 rather thickly in the row the corn plants will develop the proper 

 proportion of ear to stalk to form a silage sufficiently rich in 

 nutrients while still furnishing a larger quantity of roughage. 

 Investigation and experience teach that the corn crop should 

 be well matured before it is harvested for the silo. Silage from 

 immature com is sour and of low feeding value. Many of the 

 adverse reports on silage are due to the use of immature, watery 

 com plants. See Chapter X. 



Bed clover stands next to corn for silage purposes. There is 

 still much to be learned concerning the proper method of convert- 

 ing clover into silage, if we may judge from the wide range in the 



1 Rept 1893. 



