1. A piece of 2-inch pipe, 12 inches long, open at both ends. Four rows of %¢-inch holes 
should be drilled in the pipe, 10 holes to the row, and the rows should be equally distant apart. 
Starting 4 inch from one end of the Pipes drill the holes in each row 4 inch apart from center 
to center. Smooth off the burrs made by the drill on the inside of the pipe. 
2. A round hardwood plunger 14 inches long, beveled like a cold chisel on one end and flat 
on the other. It should fit the inside of the pipe snugly yet move freely. 
3. A2 X 4 lever 4% feet long. Use the lever flatwise, with the beveled end under a beveled 
block nailed to the wall. Stand the testing pipe on a flat surface (wooden block or cement 
floor) near the wall, so the top of the plunger will fit in a small groove on the under side of the 
lever 1 foot from the edge of the block on the wall. 
4. The material to be tested should be chopped with the silage cutter—not by hand. Ser 
the cutter for 44-inch lengths, if possible. Press the material firmly into the testing pipe 6 
inches deep, but do not tamp or press hard enough to squeeze out juice. 
' 
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La a 5 aes 
HOLES HOLES aan ea. eee 
Wy oY) | ae MUR — se 
TOP VIEW a aes hase 
: Rie sa spe 
| 
INO MOON 
+ 
TEN 3/16-INCH HOLES | 
PER ROW SPACED ~ 
1/2 INCH ON CENTERS it 
EST PIPE 
SIDE VIEW 
2-INCH TEST PIPE 
Figure 1.—Home-made tester for determining moisture content of grass silage. 
In testing any kind of crop, either to find out whether it 1s too wet or 
too dry, use the weight specified in table 1. Hang the weight at the 4-foot 
mark on the lever and leave it for 1 minure for all tests. 
If any juice whatever is expressed from any hole in the testing pipe by 
the weights shown in the ‘‘too wet’’ column (table 1), the moisture con- 
tent of the crop material is approximately 68 percent or higher. If no 
juice is expressed by the weights in the “too dry’’ column, the moisture 
content is lower than approximately 58 percent. 
In case a load has too much or too little moisture at the time of the test 
run it into the silo anyway, and then try to have subsequent loads nearer 
to the desired moisture content. 
TasLe 1.—Weights to use in testing different kinds of crop material 
Too wetif | Too dry if 
epemeenar juice is no juice is 
Kind of crop ! | 5 expressed expressed 
by these by these 
weights 2 weights 3 
Inch Pounds Pounds 
Ai 
ILASEAU Yaa Ver ese gS A DO er eo WO Gp Dice ee eres eet Do { ie iz 
Je ON aA aha ees 
Seal pa reaa tin Soe es epee ie ray ee ee eC { ‘| oe | 82 
Grassesame as ois he ale Seed ant ene a 2 to, { ic a 90 
1 For mixtures of these crops use intermediate weights depending on the proportion of the different crops. 
2 If these weights express juice, the moisture content is approximately 68 percent or higher. 
3 If these weights do not express juice, the moisture content is lower than approximately 58 percent. 
U, S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1944 
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