154 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



THE VALUE OF THE SILO. 



BY R. R. MURPHY, GARDEN PLAIN, ILL. 



The secretary having assigned me the subject of ensilage I 

 find I will have to depend mostly on quotations from other 

 writers. There are several very important things to be con- 

 sidered and very strictly adhered to to make the storing of 

 ensilage a success, (going on the supposition you have your silo 

 built and ready to fill.) From what I have experimented I 

 would want the cutter set to cut three-fourths of an inch in 

 length, and now comes the most important help in the filling of 

 of the silo. The man in the silo must be one of good judgment 

 and not afraid of some hard work. He must keep the lighter 

 and heavier parts of the corn (as it is corn mostly put in the 

 silo in this country) well mixed and the sides and the corners 

 well tramped down and keeping the outside the highest all the 

 time. If the lighter and heavy parts are not kept well mixed 

 you are very liable to have mouldy spots in your silage when 

 you go to feed out. I will now quote from Stewart on feeding 

 animals: Ensilage as a Complete Ration. Ensilage as gen- 

 erally discussed in this country has been used to signify pre- 

 served green corn. This single food is quite inadequate to the 

 complex wants of the animal system. 



It is deficient in albuminoids to nourish the muscular 

 system, and deficient in the phosphates to build the bones. 

 Yet it is a very valuable ingredient in the ration of animals 

 because of the large weight grown upon an acre, and because it 

 is relished by all our farm animals. Some of the grasses and 

 clovers are rich in the elements in which corn is deficient. To 

 make a complete ensilage ration only requires a proper combina- 

 tion of green grasses and clovers with green corn. Corn having 

 the least proportion of albuminoids can seldom be used for more 

 than half of the ration. The next quotation is storing several 

 ensilage crops together. 



If second crop clover is ensilaged with corn, the clover fills 

 the spaces between the coarser pieces of corn, makes a more 



