188 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE. 



ily than cattle by eating it and they are also more susceptible to 

 the effects of moldy or spoiled silage. 



"Freezing of silage," says Iowa State College Bulletin No. 100, 

 "is due to loss of heat; first, through the silo wall; and second, 

 to the air in contact with the feeding surface. 



"It may be impartially said that, as far as the prevention 

 of freezing is concerned, the stave, stone, single wall brick and 

 concrete silos are of about equal merit. 



"The second cause of freezing mentioned, that is, the loss of 

 heat from the silage surface, is too often the cause of unnecessary 

 freezing. If air above the silage is confined, no serious loss of 

 heat can possibly take place. When the top of the silo is open 

 and a free circulation of air permitted, it is almost impossible 

 to prevent the surface from freezing in severe weather. A per- 

 sonal investigation of silos in cold weather proved conclusively 

 that those provided with a tight roof did not contain nearly as 

 much frozen silage as those left open." 



The difficulty of the freezing of the silage may be avoided by 

 checking the ventilation in the silo and by leaving the door to 

 the silo carefully closed in severe weather. If the top layer of 

 silage freezes some of the warm silage may be mixed with the 

 frozen silage an hour or two before feeding time, and all the 

 silage will then be found in good condition when fed out. A 

 layer of straw may be kept as a cover over the silage; this will 

 prevent it from freezing, and is easily cleared off when silage is 

 to be taken out. 



Covering over the exposed surface of the silage with old 

 "blankets or hanging a lantern in the silo are other methods of 

 keeping out the frost. 



Silage from Frosted Corn. 



Experiments were conducted at the Vermont Station in Octo- 

 "ber, 1906, with immature corn, mature corn not frosted, and mature 

 corn frosted hard or frozen and the leaves whitened. No ill 

 results were noticeable in the butter product. It was found 

 that "the effect of frosting corn, and still more of freezing it, 

 appears very slightly to have been to depress its feeding value 



