CHAPTER VIII. 



HOW TO MAKE SILAGE. 



Filling the Silo. 



A. Indian Corn. As previously stated, corn should 

 be left in the field before cutting until it has passed 

 through the dough stage i. e., when the kernels are well 

 dented or glazed, in case of flint varieties. Where very 

 large siloa are filled and in cases of extreme dry weather 

 when the corn is fast drying up, it will be well to begin 

 filling the silo a little before it has reached this stage, 

 as the greater portion of the corn would otherwise be 

 apt to be too dry. There is, however, less danger in this 

 respect now than formerly, on account of our modern deep 

 silos, and because we have found that water applied 

 directly to the fodder in the silo acts in the same way as 

 water in the fodder, and keeps the fermentations in the 

 silo in check and in the right track. 



Cutting the Corn in the Field. The cutting of corn 

 for the silo is usually on small farms done by hand by 

 means of a corn knife. Many farmers have been using 

 self-raking and binding corn harvesters for this purpose, 

 while others report good success with a sled or platform 

 cutter. If the corn stands up well, and is not of a very 

 large variety, the end sought may be reached in a satis- 

 factory manner by either of these methods. If, on the 

 other hand, much of the corn is down, hand cutting is to 

 be preferred. A number of different makes of corn har- 

 vesters and corn cutters are now on the market; and it 

 is very likely that hand-cutting of fodder corn will be 

 largely done away with in years to come, at least on large 

 farms, indeed, it looks as If the day of the corn knife was 

 passing away, and as if this implement will soon be rele- 

 gated to obscurity with the sickle of our fathers' time. 



149 



