SILOS AND SILAGE 



251 



not suited to making hay or curing fodder. There is less loss 

 of food material when a crop is thus stored than when it is cured 

 as fodder or hay. Silage is very palatable and like other succu- 

 lent feeds may have a beneficial effect upon the digestive organs. 

 Good silage properly fed is all consumed ; hence there is less 

 waste in feeding it than in feeding dry fodder. Corn silage is 

 a more efficient feed than is corn fodder. More stock can be 

 kept on a given area of 

 land when silage is the 

 basis of the ration than 

 when corn fodder or hay 

 is the basis. Silage is 

 the cheapest and best 

 form in which a succu- 

 lent feed can be pro- 

 vided for winter use. 

 Silage can be used more 

 economically than soil- 

 ing crops to supplement 

 pastures because it re- 

 quires less labor. Con- 

 verting the corn crop 

 into silage clears the 

 land early in the autumn, 

 thus leaving it ready for 

 another crop. 



325. Silos and crop 

 limits. The silo extends 



the northern limits of the corn belt because it is possible to 

 mature corn sufficiently to be put into the silo where it will not 

 mature sufficiently to be husked or field-cured. In the northern 

 part of the corn belt larger and more productive varieties can be 

 grown for the silo than for field-curing. In dry climates and in 

 dry seasons it is possible by means of the silo to preserve corn, 

 kafir, and sorghum in good condition. If allowed to stand, the 

 plants dry up before they are mature, and are largely wasted. 



FIG. 1 20. Monolithic concrete silos 



These silos are built solid in concrete forms, often 

 with water tanks on top, as in the silos here shown 



