190 HOW TO MAKE SILAGE. 



sonai investigation of silos in cold weather proved conclusively 

 that those provided with a tight roof did not contain nearly as 

 much frozen silage as those left open." 



The difficulty of the freezing of the silage may be avoided by 

 checking the ventilation in the silo and by leaving the door to 

 the silo carefully closed in severe weather. If the top layer of 

 silage freezes some of the warm silage may be mixed with the 

 frozen silage an hour or two before feeding time, and all the 

 silage will "then be found in good condition when fed out. A 

 layer of straw may be kept as a cover over the silage; this- will 

 prevent it from freezing, and is easily cleared oft when silage is 

 to be taken out. 



Covering over the exposed surface of the silage with old 

 blankets or hanging a lantern in the silo are other methods of 

 keeping out the frost. 



Silage from Frosted Corn. 



Experiments were conducted at the Vermont Station in Octo- 

 ber, 1906, with immature corn, mature corn not frosted, and mature 

 corn frosted hard or frozen and the leaves whitened. No ill 

 results were noticeable in the butter product. It was found 

 that "the effect of frosting corn, and still more of freezing it 

 appears very slightly to have been to depress its feeding value 

 when made into silage." The testimony seemed in faVor of run- 

 ning frost risks in order to gain a greater maturity, rather than to 

 silo the immature product. 



Steamed Silage. 



While fermentation in silage causes a small unavoidable loss, 

 it develops flavors and softens the plant tissue. Excessive fer- 

 mentation causes high acid. Steam has been used with much 

 success to check it in such cases, says Farmer's Bulletin No. 316. 

 It is piped at the bottom and middle of the silo until the whole 

 mass is hot. j 



Steaming seems beneficial and silage so treated is considered 

 much better than that which is not steamed. Stall fed animals 

 have eaten from 50 to 75 lbs. of silage per day, but the safar 

 method is to feed less than 50 lbs. per day. 



