40 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



When filled, the top should be covered to exclude air. 

 This was formerly done with a foot or so of earth, the 

 weight of which assisted the settling. Usually, however, 

 the top portion is allowed to decay, and it thus makes 

 a nearly air-tight layer, but sometimes a layer of straw, 

 chaff or green grass is used to exclude the air so as to 

 preserve all the silage. 



This name " summer silage " has been given to silage 

 prepared in late spring or early summer to feed after the 

 corn silage of the previous season is exhausted. Among 

 crops that have been thus used are rye, wheat, oats and 

 red clover. The principal precaution to be taken is to 

 have the silo small enough so that at least 4 inches is 

 removed a day, as during hot weather silage spoils more 

 quickly. It is claimed that the use of summer silage is 

 far more economical than soiling and just as satisfactory, 

 but few data have as yet been published. 



In using silage, the material is generally removed from 

 the top. About 2 inches per day should be removed, 

 as otherwise considerable loss occurs from mold. 



Silage is sometimes made simply by piling the green 

 plants in large compact stacks. This method has been 

 used with sorghum and is sometimes employed by can- 

 neries to preserve green pea vines from which the peas 

 have been separated. Such silage stacks are not economi- 

 cal unless they are very large, as there is always consider- 

 able loss on the surface. 



32. The nature of silage fermentation. The investi- 

 gations at the Wisconsin Experiment Station by Babcock, 

 Russell and King lead -to the conclusion that the fermenta- 

 tion of silage under proper conditions is not due to bacteria 

 or other organisms, as has generally been held. Among 

 the facts that are significant are the following : 



