INTRODUCTORY. 9 



soiling that it is bound to eventually do away with the use of 

 soiling crops." Prof. Eckels, of the Missouri Agricultural College, 

 says: "I would not attempt to produce milk in this state or any 

 other state in the Corn Belt without being provided with a silo 

 of sufficient capacity to supply silage through the winter, and 

 preferably with sufficient capacity to contain enough for a sup- 

 plement for a short pasture in the summer." Prof. Pew, of the 

 Iowa Experiment Station, says: "By the liberal use of silage the 

 cost of wintering the breeding herd of beef cows can be cut down 

 nearly one-third; also the cows will come through the winter in 

 better condition." 



Our first effort in writing this book will be to present facts 

 that will back up these statements, and show the reader the many 

 advantages of the silo over other systems of growing and curing 

 crops for the feeding of farm animals. We shall show that up- 

 to-date dairy or stock farming is well nigh impossible without 

 the aid of a silo. The silo enables us to feed live stock succulent 

 feeds the year around, and preserves the fodder in a better con- 

 dition and with less waste than any other system can. We shall 

 see the why and' wherefore of this in the following pages, and 

 shall deal with the best way of making and feeding silage to 

 farm animals. We wish to state at the outset that we do not 

 propose to make any claims for the silo that will not stand the 

 closest investigation. In the early days of the history of the 

 silo movement it was thought necessary to make exaggerated 

 claims, but this is no longer the case. Naked facts are sufficient 

 to secure for the silo a permanent place among the necessary 

 equipment of a modern dairy or stock farm. In discussing the 

 silo we shall keep close to what has been found out at our experi- 

 ment stations, and, we believe, shall be able to prove to any fair- 

 minded reader that the silo is the greatest boon that has come 

 to modern agriculture since the first reaper was manufactured, 

 and that with competition and resulting low prices, it will be 

 likely to become more of a necessity to our farmers in the future 

 than it has been in the past. We aim to convince our readers 

 that the most sensible thing they can do is to plan to build a silo 

 at once if they do not now have one. It is unnecessary to argue 

 with those who are already the happy possessors of a silo, for 

 it is a general experience where a farmer has only provided for 

 immediate wants in building his silo that he will build another as 



