ECONOMY OF SILAGE. 17 



through snow or mud to haul it from the field; once in the silo 

 the hard work is over, and the farmer can rest easy as to the 

 supply of succulent roughage for his stock during the winter. An 

 ample supply of succulent feed is of advantage to all classes of 

 animals, but perhaps particularly so in case of dairy cows and 

 sheep, since these animals are especially sensitive to sudden 

 changes in the feed. Also, stock raisers value silage highly on this 

 account, for silage is of special value for feeding preparatory to 

 .turning cattle onto the watery pasture grass in the spring. The 

 loss in the weight of cattle on being let out on pasture in spring 

 is often so great that it takes them a couple of weeks to get back 

 where they were when turned out. When let out in the spring, 

 steers will be apt to lose weight, no matter whether silage or dry 

 feed has been fed, unless they are fed some grain during the first 

 week or two after they are turned out. For more detailed in- 

 formation regarding the feeding of silage for beef production, see 

 chapter V. 



5. Economy of Storage. Less room is required for the storage 

 in a silo of the product from an acre of land than in cured condi- 

 tion in a barn. A ton of hay stored in the mow will fill a space of 

 at least 400 cubic feet; a ton of silage, a space of about 50 cubic 

 feet. Considering the dry matter contained in both feeds we have 

 found that 8,000 pounds of silage contains about as much dry 

 matter as 2,323 pounds of hay, or 160 against 465 cubic feet, that 

 is, it takes nearly three times as much room to store the same 

 quantity of food materials in hay as in silage. In case of field- 

 cured fodder corn, the comparison comes out still more in favor of 

 the silo, on account of the greater difficulty in preserving the thick 

 cornstalks from heating when placed under shelter. According to 

 Professor Alvord, an acre of corn, field-cured, stored in the most 

 compact manner possible, will occupy a space ten times as great 

 as in the form of silage. While hay will contain about 86 per cent, 

 of dry matter, cured fodder corn often does not contain more than 

 60 and sometimes only 50 per cent, of dry matter; the quantities 

 of food material in fodder corn that can be stored in a given space 

 are, therefore, greatly smaller than in case of hay, and conse- 

 quently, still smaller than in case of silage. 



Since smaller barns may be built when silage is fed, there is 

 less danger of fire, thus decreasing the cost of insurance. 



6. No Danger of Rain. Rainy weather is a disadvantage in 



