Fifteen Years' Experience With the Silo Continued. 



By comparing the analyses we will see that to make silage 

 an economical food, and to get the most out of it, it is neces- 

 sary to feed in connection with it some food rich in protein. 

 It has been our experience that by using the succulent silage 

 as a basis for our ration and adding sufficient protein to dupli- 

 cate the analysis of pasture grass, we can have very nearly 

 summer food and secure very nearly summer results in the 

 winter. We have a theory that inasmuch as silage is a sum- 

 mer food that is, has the succulence of summer food summer 

 conditions of warmth should be provided to go with the food. 

 Nature in wisdom provides the succulent grasses for the warmth 

 of summer and dried grasses for the cold of winter. Possibly 

 many disappointments can be traced to a failure to provide 

 suitable conditions for the feeding of silage. 



Cost of Silage. 



Silage is one of the cheapest foods the stockman can use. 

 The cost of growing an acre of corn to maturity will be about 

 as follows: Use of land, $5; plowing, $2; fitting, $1; planting, 

 60 cents; seed, 25 cents; cultivating, $1.25. Total cost of an acre 

 of corn at maturity, $10. It will be seen at once that these 

 are very liberal allowances, giving the farmer a good income 

 from his investment, and good wages for all time spent In 

 producing the crop. On good land, with good care, in a fairly 

 favorable season, a crop of 16 to 20 tons per acre is not at all 

 unattainable, making the silage cost on the ground, 50 to 60 

 cents per ton. With modern machinery and good management, 

 it can be put into the silo for 35 to 40 cents per ton. Indeed, 

 with our large machinery and strong force of men, we have put 

 it into the silo for less than 30 cents. Interest on the cost of a 

 silo, and deterioration of the silo, will add 10 cents more, mak- 

 ing the total cost of a ton of silage $0.95 to $1.10. 



Fifty pounds of silage per day is a good ration for a grown 

 animal. Forty days feed for a dollar! And an acre of good 

 corn will feed three or four animals 200 days, or through the 

 winter. Surely there is no cheaper food. 



Filling the Silo. 



We have found that we fill the silo much cheaper by using 

 machinery of large size, and employing a sufficient force of men 

 to keep it running to its full capacity. Our machine, which is 

 a company affair, is a 24-inch "OHIO," and will handle about 

 .all the corn that can be got to it. Our force consists of five or 

 six teams and wagons, according to the distance of hauling, 

 six men in the field to load the wagons, two men at the cutter 

 to help driver unload, and one man in the silo. The corn is 

 cut with a harvester and tied in bundles as large as a man 

 can lift. We divide our help in the field in to two companies 

 or gangs, three men loading half the wagons and three the 

 other half. Thus they are not in each other's way, and three 

 men can hand the bundles up to the loader as fast as he can 

 place them. We load the wagons beginning at the rear end, 

 building up a tier of bundles against the rear standard, then 

 another, till the load is completed, and placing them so that 

 butts will be toward the machine in unloading. Loaded in this 

 way the bundles do not overlap and bind each other, and three 

 men at the machine, each taking a bundle in turn, and placing 

 It In the cutter, can feed the largest machine to its full capacity, 

 and unload a wagon in a surprisingly short time. In a trial we 



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