EEGULATION OF PRODUCTION 175 



silage as a food for milch cows, and especially as food 

 for cows producing nursery or certified milk. 



The building of silos and the ensiloing of crops are 

 new procedures in America, as elsewhere, and methods 

 both of construction and filling have undergone rapid 

 development. Only a few years ago, when square, 

 poorly buUt silos were used, some of them built as pits, 

 below ground, and before silage cutters and elevators 

 had been developed, and when it was the practice in 

 some cases to ensilo green maize stalks without cutting, 

 and in bundles, there was much decomposed, putrid and 

 mouldy silage, which had a very offensive odor and 

 which was decidedly objectionable as food for dairy 

 cows or, indeed, for any animals. 



In these days, however, silos are better made and 

 better filled; they are usually round or octagonal, thus 

 facilitating even filling and settling, machinery for cut- 

 ting has been perfected, so that the silage is divided 

 into short lengths of from one-half to one inch, and 

 Indian corn, the chief silage crop, is no longer used in 

 the soft, immature state, but is permitted to come al- 

 most to maturity. Putrefaction does not occur in prop- 

 erly handled silage. The fermentation that takes place 

 is caused partly by bacteria and partly by enzymes in 

 the maize plant. Good silage is a wholesome, nutritious 

 food that is appetizing and comparatively easy of di- 

 gestion. 



Silage is fed to cows on nearly, if not quite, all of 

 the large farms in America devoted to the production of 

 certified and nursery milk. It is not known to be subject 

 to any objection other than if fed in too large quantity 

 it produces an undesirable degree of laxativeness, and 

 if fed just before or during milking, if it is not first class, 

 the odor of the silage may be eliminated with or ab- 

 sorbed by the milk. This is avoided by feeding it after 



