ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 3OI 



the barn is properkiy ventilated and no silage is left strewn 

 around on the floor to decay and"to load the air with its odor, 

 there will be no objections to the feeding of silage. It is the 

 careless and indifferent dairymen who have led many people 

 engaged in the milk business to condemn the silo. 



The Advantages of the Silo. 



There are still extravagant claims made for the silo. A 

 few enthusiastic advocates claim that putting corn into a recep- 

 tacle of this kind doubles its feeding value. There are no facts 

 to prove assertions of this kind, for experiments from various 

 stations have proven that the loss incurred by putting corn into 

 the silo is nearly equal to the loss when it is put into shocks or 

 racks, and moreover, the digestibility of fodder corn and silage 

 are nearly the same, both being somewhat less digestible than 

 green corn. Dairy cows as a rule have given better results v/hen 

 fed silage than when fed equal amounts of corn fodder. A con- 

 siderable portion of the dry corn fodder is not consumed by 

 the stock, but all the silage can be eaten. 



On the other hand, the stock likes the silage better than 

 the corn fodder and will consume more of it, thereby leaving 

 more nutriment to form milk after the wants of the body have 

 been supplied. The real merits of the silo can be summed up as 

 follows : 



(1) Silage is more palatable the year through than dry 

 corn fodder. 



(2) It is succulent which makes a satisfactory substitute 

 for grass. 



(3) Stock will consume more silage than dry roughage. 



(4) It greatly increases the number of animals than can 

 be kept on a given acreage. 



(5) The silo assures plenty of green feed during dry sum- 

 mers when there is a shortage of grass. 



(6) Silage keeps stock in good physical condition. 



