THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



277 



HOW TO PACK ALFALFA IN A SILO 



BY M. E. SHERMAN 



A Paper Read Before the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



THE use of alfalfa as silage is rather a new idea 

 to many people, yet since 1897 we have used it 

 every year, often filling the silos the second time 

 in the fall. The secret is simple and can be readily 

 put into practice by anyone. The first thing is to 

 cut the alfalfa when the bloom begins to show. 



\Vet it down thoroughly by having water drip- 

 ping on it as it goes through the cutter. Pack it 

 well by keeping the edges higher and tramping 

 them firmly down. Give the silage time to settle 

 well. My silo is thirty-two feet deep and twenty-six 

 in diameter. I have found that when we put in ten 

 feet as solid and wet as possible and we stop for a 

 day or two, then put in up to the twenty-foot mark 

 and after two days fill it up, we have caught up 

 with the settling. 



The first ten feet will often go down to five, 

 then the next filling to the twenty-foot mark comes 

 down to the fifteen or sixteen mark. \Ye make the 

 silo as full as possible and want it to heat up hot. 

 The heat sterilizes and prevents any rotting of con- 

 tents. It also cooks the mass. Woody alfalfa or 

 over ripe stems will often show small spots of white 

 mold due to the want of moisture to make enough 

 heat and this indicates a lack of greenness in the 

 plant. One of the latest advocates of alfalfa silage 



recently told me that he wondered why he ever got 

 along without a silo so long. 



The alfalfa can be put into a silo full length or 

 by cutting it into short lengths. The latter plan, 

 however, makes the best silage, because it packs 

 better and besides it is easier to get it out of the 

 silo when wanted. Long alfalfa mats so firmly in 

 the silo that it is anything but an easy matter to 

 handle such an entanglement of stems and branches. 

 Another reason for cutting is that it is difficult to 

 elevate the alfalfa to the top of the silo. The easiest 

 way to elevate it is by means of a blower after it 

 has gone through the chopper. By using the cutter 

 and blower all one has to do is to deliver the alfalfa 

 to the cutter, and the machinery does the rest, 

 besides making a better quality of ensilage and in- 

 volving less work to remove it from the silo. 



SOUTH AFRICANS STUDY U. S. METHODS 



Fifty South African farmers will arrive in Cali- 

 fornia early in August for the purpose of investi- 

 gating irrigating systems and studying agricultural 

 methods. The party will be made up of delegates 

 from Cape Colony, Rhodesia, Natal, Transvaal, 

 Orange Free State and Bechuanaland. Special at- 

 tention will be given those parts of the country 

 where climatic and growing conditions approximate 

 those of South Africa. 



HULL YOUR SEED QUICKLY, PERFECTLY and ECONOMICALLY With a 

 "MATCHLESS" CLOVER and ALFALFA HULLER 



That's just what you will do if you use a "Matchless" Huller on the job. It's the one huller that will hull all the Clover or Alfalfa you 

 can get to it without sacrificing the quality of the work. Here's the reason! We use square steel brads in our hulling cylinder. This construction 

 has every advantage over rasps of spikes, because no set of spikes will knock the seed out of the damp pods. Rasps gum up and are easily destroyed. 

 Our system of separation is unique and effective. This consists of a series of rotating troughs with perforation in the bottom, with provision for 

 adjustment to meet the various conditions of clover. The Patented Steel Scrapers attached to the bottom of these troughs thoroughly scrape the 

 separator bottom and insure a. steady and positive delivery of the pods to the nulling cylinder, regaidless of the condition of the clover. This con- 

 struction enables you to hull seed under conditions in which no other huller can operate ; enables you to hull earlier in the morning and later in the 

 evening than with any other this insures a longer day, thus increasing your earning power. Give us an opportunity to piove to you right 

 on your own farm that the "Matchless" is thespeediesc and cleanest huller on tae market. WRITE FOR CATALOG TODAY, or call at our nearest 

 Branch House. 



THE AULTMAN & TAYLOR MACHINERY COMPANY, MANSFIELD, OHIO. 



Sole Builders of Aultman-Taylor "Starved Rooster" Line of Machinery. 

 BRANCHES: Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; Lincoln. Nebr.; Kansas City. Mo,; Wichita, Kan.; Decatur, 111,; Indianapolis, Ind. 



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