FREEZING OF SILAGE. 187 



load or half day's run. Frosted corn can also be made into a 

 good quality of silage if a liberal amount of water is added as 

 directed. 



There is only one way in which all of the silage can be pre- 

 served intact, viz., by beginning to feed it within a few days 

 after the silo has been filled. This method is now practiced by 

 many farmers, especially dairymen, who in this manner supple- 

 ment scant fall pastures. 



By beginning to feed at once from the silo, the siloing system 

 is brought to perfection, provided the silo structure is air-tight, 

 and constructed so as to admit of no unnecessary losses of 

 nutrients. Under these conditions there is a very considerable 

 saving of food materials over silage made in poorly constructed 

 silos, or over field-cured shocked fodder corn, as we have already 

 seen. 



Freezing of Silage. 



Freezing of silage has sometimes been a source of annoyance 

 and loss to farmers in Northern states, and in the future, with 

 the progress of the stave silo, we shall most likely hear more 

 about frozen silage than we have in the past. As stated in the 

 discussion of the stave silo, however, the freezing of silage must 

 be considered an inconvenience rather than a positive detriment; 

 when the silage is thawed out it is eaten with the same relish 

 by stock as is silage that has never been frozen, and apparently 

 with equally good results. If frozen silage is not fed out directly 

 after thawed it will spoil and soon become unfit to be used for 

 cattle food; thawed silage will spoil much sooner than ordinary 

 silage that has not been frozen and thawed out. There is no evi- 

 dence that silage which has been frozen and slowly thawed out 

 is less palatable or nutritious than silage of the same kind which 

 has been kept free from frost. 



Frozen silage should be avoided, not because it is unwhole- 

 some, but because it is too cold. The warmer the silage can be 

 kept the more palatable it will be and the less energy will be 

 required to raise it to the body temperature of the animals. 

 Frozen silage also has a tendency to make the cows laxative, 

 but not overmuch. It does not seem to bring down the milk 

 flow as might be supposed. Sheep seem to be affected more read- 



