340 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



usually cut with a strong knife and thrown directly 

 into a wagon box. In this they are driven to where 

 the cutting box is placed. 



Whether crops should be wilted or not before 

 being put into the silo, and also the degree to which 

 they should be wilted, will depend largely on the 

 natural succulence in the crop, and the stage at which 

 it is cut. Crops that are cjuite succulent, as green 

 clover, are more easily preserved when wilted more 

 or less. On the other hand crops lacking in succu- 

 lence, as winter rye, cannot be placed in the silo too 

 soon after they have been cut. Corn cut at the 

 proper stage may be put directly into the silo, but 

 corn less mature should be wilted more or less ac- 

 cording as it is lacking in maturity. 



Putting Crops into the Silo. — Whether crops 

 should be run through a cutting box or not before 

 putting them into the silo will depend upon con- 

 ditions. When but a limited quantity of silage is 

 wanted, and where labor is not easily obtained, it 

 may sometimes be wise to store crops in the silo in 

 the uncut form. But this method of storing them 

 is not always practicable. In a silo entirely above 

 the ground, it would be almost impossible to get 

 corn, for instance, into the same without excessive 

 labor, and if put into a silo that goes far down belo^v 

 the surface of the ground it would be even more diffi- 

 cult to get the corn out again. The only crops that 

 could be stored in the over-ground siln without 

 excessive labor, are those which may be deposited in 

 the same with the aid of the horse forks. 



In a large majority of instances it will prove 

 more satisfactory in many ways to store food in the 



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