if the moisture content is higher than 68 percent. Adding molasses would 
prevent the development of offensive odors in such silages, but it would 
not overcome the other objectionable features caused by excessive moisture. 
The true grasses, such as timothy, orchard grass, bluegrass, etc., also 
tend to act like the legumes if they are harvested in the early stages of 
growth. Grasses at the usual hay-making stage, and small grains, is not 
make bad-smelling silages even if the moisture content is high; nevertheless 
their palatability is improved by keeping the moisture content as low 
as 68 percent. 
The Wilting Method 
The wilting method of making grass silage merely calls for leaving the 
crop in the field until it has wilted to the proper content of moisture. 
No preservatives are required. 
The only difficulty the farmer is likely to have in first using this method 
will be to determine just when the crop has wilted sufficiently to make 
good silage. Until experience enables him to judge when the crop is ready 
for the silo, just as he has learned to judge when it is ready for the mow 
or stack, he will do well to rely on the simple home-made moisture tester 
here described. 
The moisture content of the chopped material as it goes into the silo 
should be no higher than 68 percent, but preferably around 65 percent. 
Crops harvested at the hay-making stage of maturity ordinarily will have 
about 75 percent of moisture, if there is plenty of moisture in the soil, 
otherwise they may have less. The time to allow such crops to wilt in 
order to reduce the moisture content to 68 percent will depend on a number 
of factors, such as the yield of the crop, and the temperature, wind, humid- 
ity, and intensity of sunlight. On a good drying day 2 hours in the swath 
should be long enough. 
In case the crop becomes drier than 65 percent it can still be ensiled suc- 
cessfully, but it is not desirable to have it drier than 58 percent. The drier 
the crop is, the greater the care required to pack it firm enough to force 
the air out. Furthermore, the more drying that takes place the greater is 
the loss of carotene, both in the field and in the silo. 
If rain or cloudy weather interferes with the wilting of the crop after silo 
filling has started and the farmer wishes to continue filling, he can run 
some dry hay through the cutter at the rate of 100 to 300 pounds for each 
ton of the crop material. The dry hay will soak up the excess moisture in 
the ensiled material. If the weather clears so that wilting can again take 
place, no more dry hay need be added. 
Any hay that 1s added should be as good in quality as possible. The 
addition of straw is not advised. To avoid taking cured hay out of the 
barn for this purpose, make cocks of partly cured hay in the field and hold 
for use when needed. Fine-ground farm grains can be added instead of hay. 
The Home-Made Moisture Tester 
Almost any farmer will be able to make the moisture tester from mate- 
tials already on hand (fig. 1). With this tester he can determine whether 
the crop is dry enough to make good silage, and also whether it is drier 
than is most desirable. 
Following is a description of the materials needed and also of the pro- 
cedure to follow in using the tester. 
