THE SILOING PROCESS. 17 



small loss through fermentation occurs, under ordinary favorable 

 conditions, amounting to about 10 per cent, or less. 



There is this further advantage to be considered when the 

 question of relative losses in the silo and in hay-making or field- 

 curing green forage, that hay or com fodder, -whether in shocks 

 or in the field or stored under shelter, gets poorer and poorer the 

 longer it is kept, as the processes of decomposition are going on 

 all the time; in the silo, on the other hand, the loss in food sub- 

 stances is not appreciably larger six months after the silo was 

 filled than it is one month after, because the air is shut out, so 

 that the farmer who put up a lot of fodder com for silage in the 

 fall can have as much and as valuable feed for his stock in the 

 spring, or in fact, the following summer or fall, as he would have 

 if he proceeded to feed out all the silage at once. 



"Generally speaking, 3 tons of silage are equal in feeding value 

 to one ton of hay. On this basis a much larger amount of digest- 

 ible food can be secured from an acre of silage com than from 

 an acre of hay. The food equivalent of 4 tons of hay per acre can 

 easily be produced on an acre of land planted to com." — (Plumb.) 



3. Succulence. Succulent food is nature's food. — ^We all know 

 the difference between a juicy, ripe apple and the green dried fruit. 

 In the drying of fruit as well as of green fodder water is the 

 main component taken away; with it, however, go certain flavor- 

 ing matters that do not weigh much in the chemist's balance, but 

 are of the greatest importance in rendering the food material pal- 

 atable. It is these same flavoring substances which are washed 

 out of the hay with heavy rains, and renders such hay of inferior 

 value, often no better than so much straw, not because it does 

 not contain nearly as much food substances, like protein, fat, 

 starch, sugar, etc. (see Glossary), but because of the substances 

 that render hay palatable having been largely removed by the rain. 



The influence of well-preserved silage on the digestion and 

 general health of animals is very beneficial, according to the unan- 

 imous testimony of good authorities. It is a mild laxative, and 

 acts in this way very similarly to green fodders. The good ac- 

 counts reported of the prevention of milk fever by the feeding of 

 silage are explained by the laxative Influence of the feed. 



4. Uniformity. The silo furnishes a feed of uniform quality, 

 and always near at hand, available at any time during the whole 

 year or winter. No need of fighting the elements, or wading 



