THE SILO AND SILAGE 28 1 



One acre of corn should yield 10 to 15 tons of sil- 

 age. The number of tons of silage that a square 

 or a rectangular silo will hold may be determined 

 roughly by multiplying the length, width and depth 

 of the silo in feet, and dividing by 50, the approxi- 

 mate number of cubic feet in a ton of silage. A 

 round silo 15 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep will 

 hold about 60 tons. The same silo 25 feet deep will 

 hold 80 tons. A round silo 20 feet in diameter and 

 25 feet deep will hold a little more than 140 tons. 



Filling the Silo. Nowadays the corn binder is 

 desirable for cutting silage corn. It saves the ex- 

 pense of several men and makes loading and unload- 

 ing more economical and less fatiguing and irksome 

 than the old method. One man with a low wagon 

 and a rack can in a few minutes secure his load, all 

 that a two or a three-horse team can draw. It is 

 most convenient to take two or three rows at a time. 

 It is necessary, therefore, that the binder be at work 

 for some time in order that the hauling and the 

 cutting crews may not be delayed for want of corn. 



The work in the silo, however, is the most impor- 

 tant of all operations connected with silage making. 

 Really good silage depends largely upon the faith- 

 fulness, constant tramping and the "everlastingly at 

 it" of the man in the silo. Let him shirk, or do his 

 work poorly, and he will get less corn in the silo and 

 poorer quality in the product. Many of the criti- 

 cisms directed against the silo belong, not to it, but 

 to the man within. He was either lazy and irre- 

 sponsible, did not know what was expected of him 

 or how to do what was required of him. 



