Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. ^^^ 



*CROPS FOR THE SILO, COST OF FILLING, AND EFFECT OF 

 SILAGE ON THE FLAVOR OF MILK. 



By Wilber J. Fraser, Chief In Dairy Husbandry, University of Illinois. 



Advantage of Silage. 



The digestive organs of animals that chew the cud are so 

 formed as to require comparatively juicy and bulky foods. The 

 cow cannot, therefore, thrive on exclusively dry food so well as 

 can the horse. The nearest an ideal food that can be obtained 

 for the dairy cow is good pasture ; but for more than six months 

 in the year green pasture is not available in Illinois. The best 

 substitutes to use during this period are corn silage and such 

 roots as mangels and turnips. Corn yields an average of twice 

 as much dry matter per acre as do root crops; and, since the 

 latter require much more labor, which in this country is relatively 

 expensive, silage is far more economical. 



Making corn into silage is a means of preserving the grain 

 as well as the stalk in the best possible condition for feeding and 

 without the expense of shelling and grinding. In feeding whole 

 corn, eiliher in the ear or shelled, many of the kernels are not 

 digested. With silage, the grain being eaten with the roughage, 

 nearly all the kernels are broken during mastication, and, since 

 they are somewhat soft, are practically all digested. 



By the use oi the silo the corn is removed from the field at 

 a time when no injury is done the land by cutting it up while 

 soft. As the corn is cut before the blades are dry enough to 

 shatter, there is no waste from weathering, and both stalk and 

 grain being in good condition, the whole crop is consumed by 

 the stock; while with dry shock corn a large percentage of the 

 leaves and butts of the stalk is wasted. 



It has been determined that one cubic foot of hay in the 

 mow contains about 4.3 pounds of dry matter, and that a cubic 

 foot of silage in a thirty-six foot silo contains about 8.9 pounds 

 of dry matter. From this it is evident that a cubic foot of space 

 in a silo of proper depth will hold more than twice as much dry 

 matter as the corresponding space in a mow. It is also true that 



*A bulletin on the construction of silos is now being prepared and 

 will soon be published. 



