THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
40 Jbs. silage. 
5 “ middlings. 
5 “ bran. 
6 “ hay. 
graiu ground, will be a fine grain feed for 
milch cows. 
Hut few are found who feed silage as the 
only forage ration. The quantity fed by 
those who do feed it exclusively varies from 
40 to 60 pounds per day. The ration varies 
according to the stage of maturity at which 
the corn was cut, the amount of grain on the 
stalks, and the time it was allowed to wilt 
before being placed in the silo. 
A Mr. Culbertson reported having experi¬ 
mented upon the two following rations, the 
silage ration being much the cheaper and 
giving about 30 per cent, better results 
7 lbs. bran. 
6 “ middlings. 
5 “ cut straw. 
Hay, all they wanted. 
I am asked to state any objectionable fea¬ 
tures, but as a matter of fact, no one who had 
used a silo but was so enthusiastic in its praise 
that he forgot to mention any objectionable 
features. One man lost nearly one-fourth of 
his silage, but was convinced it was owing to 
faulty construction of his silo. Some were 
afraid that raising such large crops of corn 
would deplete the land; but as these large 
crops enable much more stock to be kept than 
otherwise could be done, it is evident that the 
objection is not a good one. Again, a short 
rotation like the following will keep the land 
in a high state of fertility, owing to the fer¬ 
tilizing effects of clover: Corn on clover sod, 
followed by a crop of small grain; wheat] 
oats, or barley, to be seeded, kept one year in 
clover, turned under and put to corn again. 
Some thought the necessary machinery too 
large an investment for the average farmer. 
But a feed cutter and horse-power are parts 
of the equipment on more than half the farms 
iu Wisconsin. 
But several farmers have had excellent suc¬ 
cess with uncut silage, the silo being filled 
with whole corn, carefully laid one way, and 
securely packed. Some of the best silage at the 
experiment farm was the whole silage; but it 
was rather a disagreeable job to take it from 
the silo. 
One of the things we have learned in the 
YV est is that there is no necessity for weights 
on a silo. The top is simply covered with tar¬ 
red paper, and a few inches of sawdust, or 
two or three feet of straw or swamp hay, 
are thrown on this. The silage comes out in 
No 1 shape after such treatment. 
Brillion, Wis. 
THE SILO IN MICHIGAN. 
PROF. A. J. COOK. 
I FIND only one fault with my silo, and 
that is its size. I wish it were three times as 
large as it is. It soon will be, however. I am 
firmly of the opinion that with such silo 
capacity, I can double the amount of stock 
kept on my farm. Added stock means added 
fertility, greater crops, and then in turn 
more stock, more fertility, more produce, on 
to the end. Were I to build another silo, I 
should build just as before: Upright joists 3 
by 13 were placed about two feet apart. We 
are told to be very careful; that there is an 
immense pressure, and that unless the build¬ 
ing is very strong and firmly secured at the 
bottom it will spread. Now is this true? Si¬ 
lage is not liquid, and gravity does not pull 
sidewise. 1 b.dieve that the joists need not be 
so close together; but 1 do not positively know 
it, and so were I building again I should put 
the planks as before, about two feet apart, un¬ 
less 1 investigated the matter and found it 
useless. I used planks 30 feet long. Thus the 
silo is 30 feet high. 
It is usually wise, both because of economy 
and convenience, to build the silo right in the 
barn under the old roof; else a special roof 
would be required. If our barn will permit 
we may well make it 35 or 30 feet high. On 
the outside of the upright joists I nailed a 
double thickness of inch siding, inclosing 
common building paper. I had thought that 
in building again I should omit this outside 
sheeting. But a few days of last winter have 
modified this view. It was very cold, and 
the silage froze a little just next to the wall. 
So I think I shall still add this air-tight outer 
wall. On the inside of the joists I sheeted 
with grooved sidiDg and plastered with water- 
lime or cement, as I would a cistern. This 
wall is as hard as stone, is of course air-tight, 
and can never decay. In doing this we must 
be sure to get good cement. I know of a 
silo, built only last summer, where the wall is 
much broken owing to a poor article of water- 
lime. The bottoms of the joists were resisted 
outside by a stone pavement laid in cement. 
Thus the silo can not spread even if the pres¬ 
sure is great. A 3^-foot door extends from 
bottom to top. This is closed as the silo is 
filled. I use boards six inches wide and 
building paper to do this. It must be made 
air-tight. No one should build a silo with¬ 
out this door extending to at least within 
two feet of the top of the silo. 
1 his is for convenience in feeding, and also 
to keep the silage sweet while it is being fed. 
The esseutial features of the silo are, size— 
must be big, must be air-tight, should be made 
so as not to freeze in cold weather. My silo 
is 14 feet square inside, and 30 feet high, and 
cost $136.88. If my barn w as so that I could 
do so, I would have three just such silos side 
by side, in which case the partitions would 
only need to be one thickness of inch boards. 
This would save much expense in building. 
My silo runs from the floor of my basement 
to 13 feet above the first floor. The stone 
wall on one side, eight feet high, is plastered 
smoothly, and forms one side of the silo for 
eight feet. 
I cut my corn for the silo just as the corn 
was glazed. It was mature enough to cut for 
shocking. We put it iu as fast as cut, and as 
fast as we could. Two men cut in the field 
and stopped to hand up the bunches of stalks 
to the teamsters as they came to the field for 
them. Two men each with a team drew to 
the barn. One man fed the cutter, which 
was run with a two-horse tread-power, and 
each teamster as he came into the barn passed 
the stalks from load to cutter table. A sixth 
man—and he should be the least lazy of the 
lot—leveled the silage and trod about 
the edges of the silo. The silage about the 
edges cannot be too well packed; unless well- 
trodden, the air will not be excluded, and the 
silage will spoil for a short distance. We 
weighed the silage. A good load would weigh 
about one ton, and 43 tons were put in the 
silo, though because of a faulty carrier the 
silo was not filled more than three-fourths 
full. Next year it will be filled to the very 
top. Here was our first disappointment. At 
the usual estimate, 50 feet to the ton, my silo 
should hold about 59 tons. At three-fourths 
full it should hold something over 44 tons, 
while it only held 43. It is likely that the 
greater maturity caused this difference. 
As stated, it is so sweet that even a man would 
not refuse a bite. The corn is so soft that it 
is all digested. We find almost no trace of it 
in the manure. I am sure this deserves the 
name of sweet silage, as I think no one, 
upon entering the barn would think of a silo. 
I have fed this silage as the entire 
night ration of 30 cattle, 40 sheep, 
and 10 horses, and yet it is not more 
than half gone. After feedipg one mouth 
one two-year-old heifer that is suckling a calf 
was fed only silage. She ate clean 50 
pounds a day. She gained 1 % pound daily 
for the time, and her calf gained 2% pounds 
daily, and though all my stock look exceed¬ 
ingly well, this heifer looks a little the best. I 
wish I had silage so all could have it twice 
instead of once a day. The mares with fall 
colts and the sheep are doing exceedingly well 
on the silage. As 1 said, I feed this only once 
a day, at night. In the morning I feed cut 
corn-stalks moistened, and for cows iu milk, 
mixed with four quarts of meal—half oats and 
half corn ground with cob—as much as will 
be eaten up clean. 
My brother tried the following interesting 
experiment: He placed some of the silage and 
some very bright, nice green bay side by side 
in front of several of the cows. The cows, of 
course, had had silage once a day for weeks, 
but no hay. They commenced at once to eat 
the silage with avidity, but paid no heed to 
the hay. The hay was then replaced by meal, 
but the cattle still clung to the silage. Ah, 
this is the test! ! They like it. How a little 
fruit or acid often sets our own inactive diges 
tive machinery actively in motion; just so 
silage takes the place of grass, and gives that 
mellow touch and beautiful gloss which de¬ 
lights every breeder. I wish Michigan might 
follow Wisconsin and build 1,000 silos the 
coming season. 
Agricultural College, Mich. 
Agaiu, it took five acres of very heavy field 
corn which grew in rows, or was drilled in, to 
fill it. Thus we got a little more than eight tons 
to the acre, instead of from 15 to 30 as has been 
talked about. The expense of putting into 
the silo was just about what it would have 
been to have husked the corn and harvested 
the stalks. The corn was cut and passed with 
the cut stalks iqto the silo. Thus it is a real 
saving of labor, as it is much easier to feed 
silage, than to cut and feed the stalks, not 
to speak of shelling and grinding the corn. 
When full, I covered with building paper, 
this with boards, and all with two loads of 
seasoned wood. 
Next year I shall raise about two acres of 
the large Southern (B. & W.) corn. If this 
will mature it will be far more profitable. I 
think it very desirable to let the corn mature 
so as to glaze, as we thus get much more nu¬ 
tritious material, and are sure of much sweeter 
silage. I think we can hurry or take things 
at our leisure in filling the silo. If desired the 
corn can be cut and bunched or shocked fora 
day or several days. The silo may be filled 
rapidly or filled on alternate days or every 
third day. Where one has two or three silos 
this latter method serves well. Heavy weight¬ 
ing is not necessary. As seen, I weighted very 
little and I never saw or smelt sweeter, nicer 
silage than I have in this silo. 
My silo was opened December 1st. It was a 
little white or black—the white within the 
black—for a narrow space on top and at the 
sides only a few inches at the widest place. 
Even this did not smell or taste bad, but 
seemed tasteless. Mixed with the good silage 
it w'as eaten with no hesitation by the stock. 
A VERMONT SILO. 
My silo is made of stone, being under my 
barn and filled from the barn floor, and situ¬ 
ated in front of my tie-up for cows, with an 
entrance through a door through which I 
carry the silage to the cows as easily as pos¬ 
sible. My cow-barn is on a side hill, with one 
side open to the sun. The silo is in three com¬ 
partments, 8x10, 10 feet deep, with doors con¬ 
necting. By having the silo in small sections 
there is very little spoiled, as we uncover the 
whole of one, and use from the top, taking 
care to keep it level as we work along down. 
In this way it is all good. At first I tried un¬ 
covering a part at a time; but the exposed 
side would spoil, which is prevented by hav¬ 
ing a section silo'and using rapidly. It is just 
like putting up berries in large jars or small 
jars. If put up in large jars, some will spoil 
before a small family can eat them; but if in 
small jars none are lost and all are fresh. 
I prefer Southern sugar corn planted in 
drills, not too thick, letting it mature to about 
the boiling point; this I cut and let it wilt a 
few days, and draw to the barn and cut with 
a power cutter into pieces about one-half inch 
long. I then shovel it into the silo and pack 
well, then let it heat to about 140 degrees and 
cover tightly and load. This makes silage 
relished by stock, and which is sweet and fra¬ 
grant, and adds to the health of stock. The 
first year I kept an account as follows: I had 
a piece of clay loam containing about two 
acres in good condition on a gentle incline. I 
manured it well with a good coat, charging 
simply for the team work in drawing, also 
cost of plowing, etc. In short, I charged the 
lot nothing for the laud or manure, but for all 
the work, and for the power and team in cut¬ 
ting. I could not get all the corn into the 
silo; but estimated 30 tons in at a cost of $38 
for work and seed for the whole crop. I had 
half an acre left that I could not get into the 
silo. 
I think the best results are obtained by feed¬ 
ing in connection with hay and grain, two 
feeds of hay and one of silage. Fed in this 
way, the cows are kept in a more natural con¬ 
dition of bowels, seem to be healthier and 
have a better relish for hay, and keep in bet¬ 
ter condition and give more milk.- I feed each 
cow all she will eat clean once a day. Some 
take more than others, the same as with hay. 
I have never seen any objectionable features 
in its use in my way of feeding; but where 
cattle are fed on it entirely I do not think they 
do well. I feed it as a relish, as I used to feed 
beets, and find it of more value and cheaper. 
If a small farmer must be at the expense of a 
power cutter and is not producing milk in 
winter for a good market I should think it 
would not pay him; but usually in this coun¬ 
try we can hire a power with cutter, etc., two 
men for $6 a day. 
If any farmer builds a silo I would advise 
him to make it in sections, also not to try si¬ 
lage as a complete food. If a farmer has a field 
which is convenient to his cattle, and can hire a 
cutter, I think he would do well to try it in a 
moderate way to start. My silo cost me $135 
built of stone and lined with cement. I think 
the silo of value to the milk producer, or to a 
stock raiser where cattle are well cared for, 
and kept warm, but to a common, careless 
farmer I do not think it would prove of much 
value. c. m. winslow. 
Sec. Am. Ayrshire Breeders’ Association. 
SILAGE IN A DAIRY HERD. 
We have several silos of brick, two of con¬ 
crete and several of wood. Wooden silos, if 
properly constructed, will keep silage well and 
are for the present cheaper, but not as dur¬ 
able. 
The silo should be located where it is most con. 
venient for feeding. To save space in the barn 
for other purposes, the silos had better usually 
be outside. If silos are properly constructed, 
properly filled when the crop is in the best 
condition for cutting, and properly covered, 
there should be no loss worthy of note. 
We have used nearly all the crops grown on 
the farm, but find com most desirable and pro¬ 
fitable, clover next; we prefer for stock a part 
of each. Corn should be drilled thin enough 
to produce ears, which should be well glazed 
before cutting. Would leave it lying in field 
one to three days, to wilt and partially dry 
before ensiloing; cut one-quarter inch, pack 
thoroughly and see that the corners of the silos 
are well filled. We prefer to fill one silo three 
or four feet and then change to another, leav¬ 
ing the first two or three days to heat. When 
full and the last filling has heated, cover with 
building paper, on which place matched 
planks. We weight about 150 pounds per 
square foot, but some parties have good suc¬ 
cess with very little weight. Clover should be 
cut when nicely in bloom. It can be put in 
the pit and kept nicely without running 
through the cutter, but it will require less 
room in silos and probably will give better 
satisfaction to cut it. 
Corn silage can be made at from $1.35 to 
$3 per ton, according to value, condition, and 
production of the land. Nearness of the crop 
to the pit has much to do with the expense. 
Clover will cost somewhat more than corn. 
The feeding value of an acre of good corn 
silage we judge to be fully equal to that of 
three acres of clover hay from land of the 
same quality, either for milk or beef.. 
The value of clover when properly ensiloed 
is, we judge, increased 75 to 100 per cent, over 
the same crop as ordinarily made into hay. 
We feed with silage about one-third hay, and 
when feeding for quantity of milk we feed 
wheat bran, and ground oats, 10 to 15 pounds 
per day, in winter when the cows are in full 
flow, and when testing for butter we change 
the feed to one-third each corn meal, wheat 
bran, and ground oats. We have fed silage 
largely for eight years, and have never seen 
any injurious effects from its use. The silo is 
destined to revolutionize the dairy and cattle 
breeding interests of the Eastern and Middle 
States. SMITHS, POWELL & LAMB. 
HIRAM SMITH’S SILO. 
Here is a rough diagram of my silo. The 
main building, see Fig. 134, is 30 by 40 feet 
outside, with lean-to, 30 by 16 feet on the rear 
side. All is built on level ground set on a 
mortar wall one foot above the outside sur¬ 
face. A plank, 3x13 inches, is placed on the 
wall, and the studs are 3x13 inches, 16 feet 
long, 15inches apart and toe-nailed to the 
plank on the wall. On these studs I put tar- 
board paper outside and inside: on the inside 
one thickness of matched flooring, on the 
outside drop siding. The bottom of the 
silo I filled with dirt nearly as high as the wall, 
