FERTILIZERS FOR THE CORN CROP 149 



found, too, that corn cut in rather slowly and allowed to settle without much 

 packing, heated more rapidly and cured better than that packed tightly; as 

 the evolution of carbonic acid gas drove the air out better than any other 

 method we could use. But the damage along the walls bothered us. Then, 

 too, it was hard to persuade the farmers around that they could make ensilage 

 profitably, for they looked at the pits we were using, which cost thousands 

 of dollars, and they came to the conclusion that silage was not for the average 

 farmer, since the silo cost so much money. About this time we visited 

 the silos built by a wealthy cattle man in Southwest Virginia, which were 

 simply made with posts set in the ground and sheathed horizontally on the 

 inside, and then vertically, with dressed and matched stuff, and the gable ends 

 of the roof left entirely open. We found that these silos were keeping thous- 

 ands of tons of silage in better condition than ours, and at a tenth of the 

 cost per ton. 



It was evident, then, that the wooden silo above ground, with air-tight 

 sides and bottom and free ventilation above, had solved the whole question of 

 successfully ensiloing corn. 



The first improvement made in these was to cut off the corners, making 

 them somewhat octagon in shape, as it was found that the corners were the 

 places where it was most difficult to exclude the air. This led gradually to 

 the round silo, and finally to the simple stave silo made like a railroad water 

 tank, but with perpendicular sides, and with windows one above the other 

 for the easy unloading of the building. 



Prof. J. H. Grisdale, of the Dominion Experimental Farm, Canada, gives 

 the following table of dimensions and silage content for stave silos. As 35 

 pounds per day is a fair average feed, it will be easy from this table to esti- 

 mate the size needed for the farm stock kept. 



