330 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



which horse beans and corn can both be grown suc- 

 cessfully on this continent are not extensive. 



Plants of the Clover Family. — Clover in all its 

 forms may be made into silage both in the natural 

 condition and after it has been run through a cutting 

 box. It is more common however to preserve thus, 

 only the medium red and the mammoth sorts. Al- 

 sike clover is more easily cured in the dry form than 

 either of these, because of its fine growth and the 

 frecjuency with which it is grown along with tim- 

 othy. It is much easier to grow an equal or nearly 

 equal mixture of alsike and timothy, than of the red 

 clovers and timothy, and the timothy thus admixed 

 with the alsike is favorable to quick curing in the 

 latter. Alfalfa is more commonly grown in dry 

 climates, hence the necessity for preserving it in the 

 silo is not very great. 



While fairly good silage may sometimes be 

 made of clover when put into the silo without ad- 

 mixture, it does not seem an easy task to preserve it 

 thus in a manner that will give entire satisfaction. 

 In too many instances, when taken out of the silo, it 

 is too dark in color and rank in odor to meet the re- 

 quirements of those who are seeking the very best 

 quality of milk. But the fact that it is sometimes 

 preserved with a fair measure of sweetness would 

 seem to indicate that it may always be so preserved 

 if the conditions that govern the making of good 

 clover silage were fully understood. 



Clover is more easily preserved in the silo when 

 admixed with corn, and when thus preserved the 

 ration provided is in better balance than if it con- 

 sisted only of corn, since the clover adds to the 



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