234 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



is correct if we consider only the outcome of certain com- 

 parisons. A general sm^ey of the data accumulated 

 shows that on the whole the waste has been the larger 

 in field-curing. Observations made in six states reveal 

 a loss by the old method as low as 18 per cent in only 

 one case, and from 21 to 34 per cent in all others. Pos- 

 sibly under favorable conditions of weather, field-cured 

 corn fodder may lose as little dry matter as silage, though 

 this is doubtful, but in bad weather the waste from the 

 exposed fodder is extensive. The greatest advantage in 

 silo preservation is that conditions can usually be con- 

 trolled with more satisfactory average results than are 

 possible in field-ciu-ing. Other advantages pertain to the 

 silo which are of a business nature and which need not 

 be discussed here further than to afiirm that the cost of 

 a unit of food value is in general diminished by the use 

 of the silo. 



320. Crops for silage. — ^The number of crops that may 

 be successfully ensiled is not large. Maize is the most 

 valuable one for this purpose, and clover and alfalfa 

 are stored in this manner with a fair degree of success 

 although silage from these latter crops often, if not gen- 

 erally, carries an offensive odor. So are peas, especially 

 when mixed with com. The true grasses and cereal 

 grains outside of corn are not desirable silo crops, first 

 because the silage from them is generally poor in quality, 

 and second because usually they may be successfully and 

 more cheaply stored in an air-dry condition. Any crop 

 with a hollow stalk, giving an inclosed air space — oats, 

 for instance — is not adapted to silo conditions, and there 

 is no justification for ensiling any fodder which is sus- 

 ceptible of prompt and thorough drying in the field, 

 because in such cases there is an unnecessary waste of 



