140 



MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



face. In rapid filling a day or so must be allowed for settling and 

 the silo filled up a second or third time so as to utilize all the space. 

 In all cases it is important to have the forage packed into the silo 

 as tight as possible. Tramp it very thoroughly around the edges. 



Crops for Silage The crops most generally used for silage are : 

 corn, sorghum, soja beans, winter vetch, clover, alfalfa, wheat, rye, 

 oats and millet. Both stalk and ear of the corn are used. The 

 following table shows the composition of various silage crops: 



Feeding Silage. When judiciously used silage can be fed 

 with advantage to all classes of farm animals. It should not be fed 

 as an exclusive coarse feed, but always in connection with some dry 

 roughage. The nearer the maturity the forage is cut for the silo, 

 the more silage may safely be fed, but it is always well to avoid 

 feeding it excessively. The difference in the chemical composition 

 and digestibility of the same forage green, and in the form of silage, 

 is very slight and the relative feeding value of the different forms 

 is dependent chiefly upon their palatability and physical effect. 

 Silage is usually more palatable to animals than dry feeds and it 

 acts as a mild laxative and keeps the digestive system in better con- 

 dition than is usual with most dry feeds. Silage, green soiling, feeds, 

 and pastures seem to keep the digestive system in about the same 

 condition. Silage furnishes that succulency in a ration that seems 

 necessary for stock to do their best work. (Consulted and used in 

 part. Purdue Univ. B. 40, 91 ; Md. Exp. Sta. B. 129 ; Off. Exp. Sta. 

 FT. Inst. Lee. 5 ; Va. Exp. Sta. B. 182 ; Iowa St. Col. B. 100 ; Cor- 

 nell Univ. B. 167; Univ. Wis. B. 214; Univ. Mo. B. 48, 49; Mich. 

 Agl. Col. B. 255; Bu. An. Ind. B. 136.) 



FARM FENCES. 



The fence problem is a serious one to the farmer, and as the 

 supply of timber decreases the problem will increase. The time has 

 passed when it is possible to build the old-fashioned rail fence, few 



