PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 351 



which the air cannot penetrate, at least to the extent of ap- 

 preciably injuring the fodder. When the food is cut, it is 

 the more easily preserved without waste and may also be 

 more easily fed out. Silos are built of wood, bricks, stone 

 or concrete. The circular form is preferred as it favors 

 quick and even settling of the contents. 



Almost any kind of fodder may be preserved in the 

 silo by those who follow the correct methods peculiar to the 

 proper curing of each. But corn is used to a far greater 

 extent in filling silos than any other food. This is owing 

 to the large production per acre, to superior adaptation for 

 being cured thus, to the ready means which it furnishes for 

 disposing of the crop without husking out the corn, and to 

 its great value in general feeding. Next in adaptation are 

 the sorghums. In some instances fodders are mixed in the 

 silo while filling it with a view to aid in bringing the food 

 more nearly into balance. For instance, such nitrogenous 

 foods as soy beans are sometimes mixed in with corn. 



The advantages from curing fodders and especially 

 corn in the silo are the following: (i) The silo preserves 

 food with but little, waste even though the weather should 

 be unpropitious. (2) It preserves such fodders as corn and 

 the sorghums with little waste and insures for them more 

 complete consumption than would be ordinarily possible 

 from any other mode of curing. (3) It furnishes an ex'- 

 cellent medium, and all prepared, with which to feed meal. 

 (4) It puts fodders, particularly such coarse fodders as 

 corn and the sorghums in a condition that admits of feeding 

 it at a minimum expenditure of labor. And {5) it may be 

 made to furnish succulence at all seasons of the year. 



In feeding corn silage, unless it is removed at the rate 

 of one to two inches of the surface daily, the parts exposed 

 may take harm from the exposure. It is seldom advisable 

 to feed more than 30 to 40 pounds a day, even to a 

 dairy cow. Should ensilage become frozen, as it does some- 

 times around the edges of the silo, it may still be fed, if fed 



