IGO BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



preserved in seasons when they would be lost if drying was 

 attempted. 



11. All considered, Indian corn makes the most econom- 

 ical and satisfactory ensilage in most parts of the United 

 States, and with a crop of twenty to twenty-five tons to 

 the acre, when cut, which is a good average, the ensilage 

 may be made, ready for use, at a total cost of two dollars 

 per ton, and for less, under favorable circumstances. 



12. An acre of corn as ensilage will weigh four times 

 as much as the same crop dried as fodder. 



13. An acre of corn, field cured, stored in the most 

 compact manner possible, will occupy a space eight or ten 

 times as g-reat as if in the form of ensilao-e. 



14. The chemistry of the silo is still somewhat in the 

 dark. The contents of any one silo filled with crops from 

 the same land, apparently managed in the same way, year 

 after year, will difier in condition and quality in different 

 years. Knowledge of the subject is not yet accurate enough 

 to prescribe with certainty the procedure which will ensure 

 the best ensilage. Yet any forage crop can be preserved 

 in a moist, fresh form, substantially unimpaired as food, 

 although there is generally a considerable loss in the carb- 

 hydrate elements, and with sometimes a partially compen- 

 sating gain in the percentage of protein, and an increase in 

 the digestibility of the material. 



15. Correct theory, reasoning on scientific principles, 

 and the great preponderance of testimony resulting from the 

 longest practical experience, agree in recommending this 

 process to get the best ensilage : Cultivate corn so every 

 plant may have abundant air and sunshine to perfect itself 

 and bear ears of grain ; harvest when the kernels of the 

 ear begin to glaze, or even a little later, when the plant 

 leaves show some signs of drying ; harvest preferably in 

 good drying weather ; run the corn through a machine that 

 will cut it into lengths less than one inch ; carry on the 

 work as rapidly as possible ; keep the cut fodder leveled in 

 the silo, and when full, level the top, cover at once and 

 weight with at least 150 pounds to the square foot of sur- 

 face. 



