222 DAIRY FARMING 



as hay, because hay can be handled more cheaply and be- 

 cause the hay crops pack so loosely in the silo that the 

 losses are considerable. 



The higher the price of hay, the more important a silo 

 becomes. The more general use of silos in the East is pri- 

 marily due to the high price of hay. The average farm 

 price of hay in New York is 86 per cent above that in Ne- 

 braska, but in every region the price is rising so that interest 

 in silos is general. 



Next to the price of hay the number of cattle is the pri- 

 mary consideration in building a silo. A silo that holds 

 much less than 75 to 100 tons is expensive for its capacity. 

 But such a silo will furnish feed for 20 to 30 cattle during 

 the winter months. It is usually not profitable to have a 

 silo for less than 10 cattle. If one has over 20 cattle in a 

 region where corn grows well, a silo is usually profitable. 

 Between these limits the price of hay, the amount of money 

 available, the machinery that must be purchased, and 

 whether winter or summer dairying is followed, will deter- 

 mine whether or not a silo will be profitable. In Livingston 

 County, New York, only 7 per cent of the farmers who had 

 fewer than 15 cattle units had silos, but 83 per cent of those 

 who had 25 or more cattle units had silos. 



Silage costs more than the estimates often given. In 

 the Eastern States it usually costs about $4 to $5 per ton. 

 It is often considered to be worth one-third as much as hay. 



In the corn-belt a ton of silage often contains about five 

 bushels of corn. To compare the cost of silage with the value 

 of corn husked from the standing stalks, we must add to 

 the value of the corn grain the extra cost of putting it in the 

 silo, and interest on the money invested in the silo, and an- 

 nual depreciation of the silo. These extra costs often amount 



