30 



THE POLK SYSTEM 



trition in it is at its highest bafore that 40 per cent, of food mat- 

 ter that is not in dry fodder has escaped. Frequently in catting 

 up corn for fodder the farmer runs across patches that are too 

 green. If, when the corn is shacked out, the grains are loose on 

 the cob, the corn is too green for silage. It is better to put up si- 

 lage too dry than too green, for green silage is always too sour, 

 while a small stream of water thrown 

 on corn a trifle dry will make good 

 ensilage. 



PLACING SILAGE IN THE SILO. Put- 

 ting the corn in the silo is perhaps 

 the most important single step in 

 making good ensilage. In fact most 

 users of silos personally supervise 

 this work or have perfectly trust- 

 worthy men to do it for them. - Slip- 

 shod work here means spoiled silage. 

 The chopped fodder must be well 

 packed in even layers of about two 

 inches thickness. There must be no 

 large bunches or ' 'knots" of it any- 

 where, for these check regular set- 

 tling, form cavities for air spaces, 

 and consequently endanger the si- 

 lage. It is a good idea to keep the 

 silage slightly higher in the middle 

 in filling, because the wall, be it 

 ever so smooth, will have a tendency 

 to retard the settling. An experienced silo man told us recently 

 that he got excellent results from having his silage tramped a lit- 

 tle around the edge each day for five or six days after it had been 

 put in the silo. This, you see, overcomes wall friction and insures 

 solid packing. 



How TO FEED SILAGE. Silage may be fed just as soon as the 

 silo is filled. It is not necessary to wait a few days for the "cur- 

 ing process" to set in; and in our Monolithic Concrete Silo it may 

 be fed at any time after storing that you may wish. The average 

 dairy cow will eat about 40 pounds a day. The silage should be kept 



Polk System Silo on George Fox farm, 

 Sycamore, Illinois. Size, 16x40 feet. 



"They are not built of pieces and they 

 cannot go to piece*. " 



