568 



SILAGE -CROPPING 



SILAGE -CROPPING 



siderable use in Ohio is made by boarding perpen- 

 dicularly of half-inch stuff on horizontal hooping, 

 this hooping being made of half-inch stuff. These 

 hoops are several layers deep and of an increasing 

 distance apart from bottom to top. It is loudly 

 proclaimed that the coming age is to be one of con- 

 crete, and, true to this propaganda, a few cement 

 silos on the interlocked block plan are being erected, 

 and, it is said, successfully used. 



In effectiveness and true economy the Gurler 

 silo, so named from its maker, appears to offer the 

 largest number of advantages per dollar of invest- 

 ment. It is round, made of studding and half- 

 inch stuff laid as above directed, and differing only 

 in being lathed with beveled one-half -inch stuff to 

 hold the cement plastering applied in the interior. 

 This will not decay under the acids of the silage, 

 permits free settling of the silage and excludes 

 the air probably more perfectly than other 

 structures. It is thought that loss of the organic 

 matter of the silage in this silo is reduced to its 

 economic minimum. None is spoiled on the sides, 

 and if feeding begins at filling time little is lost 

 from the surface. 



The rapid evolution of the silo and its quick 

 adaptation to the needs of the farm are vivid 

 illustrations of the versatility of the American 

 farmer, and a refutation of the oft-repeated charge 

 that he is slow or slower than other industrialists 

 in perception and execution. 



Processes of ensiling. 



The old or early method of thick planting of 

 corn and its early harvesting for the silo, has 

 given way to the reverse custom, as, according 

 to investigations, a less ratio of water to handle, 

 a larger ratio of digestible ear corn and a more 

 complete conversion of amid bodies into their 

 final and probably more valuable organic forms 

 resulted from the change. The proper time to 

 harvest is not to be a part of this discussion any 

 further than to note that the proper preservation 

 of silage depends in some measure on the time of 

 harvesting. As is well shown by investigators, 

 crops increase in total weight of dry matter up at 

 least to the dough stage of the seed and to the 

 early hardening period. If we cut corn before this 

 period it is at a loss of total dry weight, and, if 

 after it, at such a loss of water content of leaves 

 and stems that the cells of the plant carry an 

 increased volume of air in replacement of the 

 evaporated water. If in our comparatively air- 

 tight silo we are to have well-preserved silage, we 

 must introduce fodder in a condition approximating 

 closely to its fully grown state. All crops having 

 hollow stems have proved unsatisfactory silage 

 crops, as too much air is introduced into the silo 

 and is not easily excluded. 



Remembering that exclusion of air is the sine 

 qua non of well-preserved silage, it appears that 

 the. not infrequent method of cutting corn by a day 

 or so before it is drawn in order that it may wilt, 

 and its subjection to frost and rapid volatilization 

 of moisture, or to slow filling, are wrong practices. 

 They involve the more ready access of air, to be 



followed by an increased fermentation in the silo. 

 This process is one of slow combustion and loss of 

 matter. It is not alone an error of carrying air 

 in the cells of plants into the silo, but equally 

 one of retention of air by the lessened pressure of 

 the silage due to loss of water and its added weight. 

 In short, less air is pressed out of the silo or from 

 between the pieces of fodder. Slow filling is 

 increased burning. 



The above basic reasons call for fine cutting of 

 the silage. It packs closer and therefore excludes 

 more air. It has the further merit of economizing 

 room. All careful owners of silos advocate heavy 

 tramping around the edges to overcome the friction 

 of the sides in the settling mass. Their action is in 

 line with this reasoning. The proper practice of 

 sprinkling over-dry fodder as it enters the silo, or 

 the top at the conclusion of filling, has the same 

 defense. Such scientific data as bear on this mat- 

 ter, if massed here, would add much to space, and 

 is so obviously well founded as to be dispensable. 



The increasing depth of construction of silos is 

 but a popular recognition of the principles stated. 

 Thirty-five feet has become a common depth, while 

 extremes of sixty feet have been reached. Profes- 

 sor King estimates the weight of silage at the first 

 foot at 18.7 pounds, and at thirty-six feet depth at 

 sixty-one pounds per cubic foot. The deeper the 

 better the silage averages, and into this position of 

 little-included air silage, should quickly come. In 

 this connection it should be said that the more air 

 the less acetic acid or sour silage, but the greater 

 the loss of fodder. In open silage acid conditions 

 develop, but the difference, while in favor of loose 

 packing, is only one of small degree and hy no 

 means an offset to the extra loss of material. 



Silage cutters (By J. W. Gilmore). 



The silage cutters have grown up with the use of 

 the silo in dairying regions, and, while they are 

 capable of much improvement, yet they are very 

 efficient and economical in rendering what other- 

 wise would be waste material on the farm into 

 acceptable forage for cattle. Silage cutters may be 

 divided into two classes according to the method of 

 disintegrating the material : Those which cut and 

 those which shred the material. In recent years 

 the tendencies are in favor of the shredders, because 

 the material to be put in the silo is more thoroughly 

 disintegrated. Precaution must be taken, however, 

 in not having the material too moist. In many 

 instances when green corn is shredded, the mois- 

 ture is so abundant as to be pressed out at the 

 bottom of the silo and lost. On the other hand, 

 with the cutters some tough and large pieces of 

 the stalks may not be eaten by the cattle, and, 

 moreover, the cut fodder does not pack so readily 

 in the silo as that which is shredded. If the 

 material can be put in the silo and enter into the 

 state of silage within two or three days, it is better 

 than that which requires five or six days to become 

 silage. 



Both blowers and elevators may be used in con- 

 nection with either of these classes of machines 

 for elevating the material into the silo. The 



