BUILDING SILOS AND MAKING SILAGE. 195 



.this precaution is taken the silo will last for generations; some of the earliest 

 stone silos built in this country have now been filled every season for over 

 twenty years without deteriorating perceptibly. 



Like the wooden silos, stone silos may be rectangular, square or circu- 

 lar; if built according to either of the first two forms the corners must be 

 rounded off so as to assist the settling of the siloed mass, and avoid loss 

 through insufficient settling of the mass in the corners. 



PLANTING. 



Corn is beyond all question the best material for making silage; how- 

 ever, many other materials are used, Clover, green oats, peas, and even 

 sugar beet pulp is often used, yet it is safe to predict that the corn plant 

 will always be the chief material used, especially in the corn belt; its enor- 

 mous yield and the difficulty in handling corn fodder in other forms 

 particularly recommends it for this purpose. 



Some recommend extremely thick planting for the silo while others 

 prefer thinner planting that will produce coarser stalks and the necessary 

 corn to make a portion of the grain ration; in our own experience we have 

 obtained more satisfactory results from the thinner planting thus securing 

 a fair percentage of ears. 



WHEN TO FILL. 



Corn -fodder for the silo should be cut at about the same stage as for 

 the shock, viz: when the lower leaves begin to turn yellow or when ths 

 small ears are half or two thirds dented. 



MACHINERY FOR SILO FILLING. 



We are frequently asked if the shredder can be used in silo filling. A 

 shredder can be used, yet we prefer a cutter. Cut silage packs better than 

 shredded, then most shredders are combined huskers and shredders and 

 it is a difficult task to get the ears to go through a machine that was de- 

 signed to keep the ears back. The husking rolls are made small for the 

 purpose of snapping off the ears, while feed cutter rolls are made large or 

 with pegs to grasp the ears. We have found it next to impossible to ad- 

 just the husking rolls so they will not snap off the ears and still give the 

 necessary draft for feeding the machine. Last season many farmers who 

 used the husking machines for silo filling were forced to allow the machine 

 to husk out the green ears. Now this is a very wasteful thing to do, as 

 there is no better nor cheaper way of handling those ears than in the silo. 



There is but one way of making a satisfactory use of the combined 

 husker and shredder for silo filling that is, get a machine with two sets 

 of feed rolls, one small set for husking, and for silo filling one must have 

 a large roll that will grasp the ears, or a small roll covered with pegs of the 

 feed cutter style. One thing is certain the same arrangement will not 



