SILOS AND SILAGE 159 
Clover and other legumes are not often used as silage crops 
for the reasons stated above, and when so used the silage is generally 
made under conditions similar to those just given for alfalfa, when 
they cannot very well be cured into hay. As the legumes have a 
large proportion of leaves and tender stems, they dry out rapidly 
and must be run through a cutter and siloed as soon as possible 
after being mowed. Clover, like alfalfa, is cut for the silo when 
about one-third of the plants are in full bloom, or before the first 
single heads are beginning to wilt. According to trials conducted at 
several experiment stations, the largest. yields of dry matter and of 
all feed components except fiber are obtained from clover when it 
is cut at this stage (p. 57). If the cutting has been delayed beyond 
this stage, the safer plan is to add water’ to the clover as it is ele- 
vated into the silo, or to add water in the silo after each load or 
half-day run. 
The losses of feed materials in the siloing process in the case of 
clover, alfalfa, etc., are but slightly larger than for corn, so far as 
can be judged from the limited data at hand regarding this point. 
When put up in the manner stated and well packed in an air-tight 
silo, the necessary loss of dry matter in clover or alfalfa will not 
be likely to exceed 10 per cent. This is a much lower loss than that 
sustained in making hay from alfalfa (and probably from elover 
and other leafy legumes as well), on account of the unavoidable 
and often considerable abrasion of leaves and tender parts in the. 
process of haymaking; as previously shown, this has been esti- 
mated at 15 to 20 per cent as a minimum, and as high as 60 per . 
cent of the hay crop in extreme cases (p. 59). Aside from the losses 
sustained through abrasion, rain storms, when these occur, may 
reduce the value of the hay one-half. The losses from either of 
these sources are avoided in preserving the crop in the silo, and in 
their place 2 small loss of 10 per cent or less will occur under 
ordinary favorable conditions through the respiration of the plant 
cells and the fermentations in the silo. 
The reason why legumes are not siloed more generally must be 
sought in the fact that it is more difficult to secure a good quality 
of silage from these crops than from Indian corn, unless the neces- 
sary conditions for success in making legume silage are clearly under- 
stood ; furthermore, the flavor of the silage is not, as a rule, as agree- 
able as that of corn silage, and farm animals do not relish it quite so 
much, When once accustomed to legume silage, however, they do 
well on it; dairy cows will eat 20 to 25 pounds of clover or alfalfa. 
