150 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE. 



If a corn harvester is used, it will be found to be a 

 great advantage to have the bundles made what seems 

 rather small. It will take a little more twine, but the 

 loaders, the haulers, the unloaders, and even the Silage 

 Cutter itself will handle much more corn in a day if the 

 bundles are small and light, and it will be found to be 

 economy to see that this is done. 



A platform cutter, which was used with great suc- 

 cess, is described by a veteran Wisconsin dairyman, the 

 late Mr. Charles R. Beach. 



"We use two wagons, with platforms built upon two 

 timbers, eighteen feet long, suspended beneath the axles. 

 These platforms are about eighteen inches from the ground 

 and are seven feet wide. The cutting knife is fastened 

 upon a small removable platform, two feet by about three 

 and one-half feet, which is attached to the side of the large 

 platform, and is about six or eight inches lower. One row 

 is cut at a time, the knife striking the corn at an angle of 

 about forty-five degrees. One man kneels on the small 

 platform and takes the corn with his arm; two or three 

 men stand upon the wagon, and as soon as he has gotten 

 an armful, the men, each in turn, take it from him and pile 

 it on the wagon. If the rows are long enough a load of 

 one and one-half to two tons can be cut and loaded on in 

 about eight or ten minutes. The small platform is de- 

 tached from the wagon, the load driven to the silo, the 

 platform attached to the other wagon, and another load 

 is cut and loaded. None of the corn reaches the ground; 

 no bending down to pick up. One team will draw men, 

 cutter, and load, and I do not now well see how the method 

 could be improved. With a steam engine, a large cutter, 

 two teams and wagons, and ten men we filled our silo 

 22x24x18 feet (190 tons), fast, in less than two days." 



Professor Georgeson, has described a one-horse sledge- 

 cutter which has given better satisfaction than any fodder- 

 cutter tried at the Kansas Experiment Station. It is 

 provided with two knives, which are hinged to the body 

 of the sled, and can be folded in on the sled, when not in 



