140 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



components, like rolled barley would be worth more when fed with 

 alfalfa than with grain hay. Assuming that alfalfa or another protein 

 feed, like skim milk, is to be fed with grain feed, the relative values of 

 the feeds given may be considered as follows: barley, middlings, bran, 

 and alfalfa meal. 



If fed to hogs, there will be some advantage in wetting the alfalfa 

 meal, but it should not be scalded or cooked, and for other farm 

 animals, it is preferably fed dry mixed with grain feeds if fed at all. 



Alfalfa meal with barley and middlings will make a balanced 

 rations for hogs, as for other farm animals. F. W. W. (See also 

 of barley, one of middlings, and one of alfalfa meal, by weight. Feed 

 four to five pounds per hundred pounds of live weight. If skim milk 

 is available, less of middlings and alfalfa meal may be fed, but if the 

 feed is made into a slop with water, the mixture given is about right. 

 If alfalfa meal costs almost as much as middlings, or if it does not 

 appear to be of good quality, middlings had better be substituted for 

 it. The market prices of the different feeds will determine the pro- 

 portion of each that may be used to the best advantage in making up 

 rations for hogs, as for other farm animals. F. W. W. (See also 

 Part VI, Vol. I.) 



Frosted Corn and the Silo. 



Is it advisable to use frost-bitten corn for silage? 



In his book on "Soiling and Silo Crops," Professor Thomas Shaw 

 of Minnesota says: "When corn is struck with frost and is then 

 allowed to stand for some time, it will be greatly injured for feeding. 

 But if when thus stricken, the crop is at once cut and put into the 

 silo, the value of the silage made from it, though reduced, is not 

 seriously impaired." 



Pit Silos Seldom Desirable. 



I -would like to have information regarding underground silos. I am 

 contemplating one about fifteen feet deep and seventeen feet in diameter. 



We have no local data on underground or pit silos as we do not 

 know anyone who has used them in this State. However, we doubt 

 the advisability of constructing such a silo in your location, as 

 experience in the Middle West shows them to be of little value except 

 on high, dry ground, where the rainfall is light and the water level 

 well down. Then too, the slight saving made in their construction 

 over the ground silo is counteracted by the cost of labor in taking 

 the silage out. It is a good deal easier to elevate silage by machinery 

 than it is to raise it out of the pit by hand. If, however, you desire 

 to try a pit silo, the walls must be thoroughly cemented to prevent 

 loss by earth contact and the ground-water should not rise above the 

 bottom of the pit. 



Feed Value of Horse Chestnuts. 



Are buckeyes or horse chestnuts good for horse feed? They are 

 abundant this year and might be cheaper than grain. 



