NEW YORK AUGUST 20, 1014. 
Vol. LXXIII, No. 4270. 
WEEKLY $1.00 PER YEAR. 
CO-OPERATIVE SILO FILLING 
Working in Groups of Farmers 
LANN1NG THE LABOR.—Silo filling is one of 
the rush jobs of the year. Where the silo has 
been in vogue so long as is the case in my com¬ 
munity the “bunch” labor question has nicely ad¬ 
justed itself. We work co-operatively. For several 
miles down the road and up the side lines as well 
practically every farmer has a silo. We have gath¬ 
ered into groups for 
silo filling sufficiently 
large to allow four 
teams in the field, two 
or three extra men to 
help the teamsters load 
in the field, a couple of 
men to feed the cutting 
machine, and from one 
to two men in the silo. 
These same groups of 
men have been working 
together so long now 
that everything at silo 
filling time moves like 
oiled machinery. We 
have proven in a small 
way that farmers can 
co-operate. 
L I G II T E N I N G 
HOUSEHOLD WORK. 
—Another feature about 
our silo filling that is 
worth mentioning is the 
fact that we have done 
away with the elabor¬ 
ate suppers that a few 
years ago always com¬ 
pleted the day’s work 
at both silo filling and 
thrashing. I can re¬ 
member how the house¬ 
wives in this section 
used to vie with each 
other to see who could 
put up the best meal 
for the visiting farmers 
or farm hands. These 
meals always represent¬ 
ed a considerable mon¬ 
etary outlay, were a 
needless • extravagance, 
and worst of all, they 
were a needless amount 
of labor for the farm 
women. Nowadays we 
stop work in plenty of 
time so that we can go 
home and get the chores 
done in good time, and 
we have our supper at 
our own tables. We 
have not yet cut out the friendly meeting around the 
neighbor’s dining table at the noon hour. But cut¬ 
ting out the supper is easy. 
WHEN TO GUT.—I want to give some pointers 
that I have learned from experience on the filling of 
the silo. The first point is the stage at which the 
corn is to be cut. Most of us used to have the Idea 
that corn for silage did not need to be particularly 
mature. In fact the first corn that I ever put in a 
silo had not reached the milk stage. It was green 
watery stuff, ami in the Winter it was so sour and 
the stock showed such a dislike for it that I was 
almost inclined to dub the silo a "frost.” I now 
value maturity in the corn for the silo. For some 
reason or other the cows milk better on mature sil¬ 
age, and it goes farther. The professors tell us that 
mature corn has much more food value, and they 
must be right. We used to cut the corn with corn 
knives, but for the last few years I and two of my 
neighbors have owned a corn binder co-operatively, 
and we would not be without it. In up-standing 
corn it does its work with neatness and dispatch. 
The corn is bound into bundles convenient for hand¬ 
ling and for feeding into silage cutter. Even where 
the corn is blown down or lodged the modern binder 
has devices that enable it to do creditable work. 1 
would advise every corn grower either to have a corn 
binder himself or a share in one. 
CUTTING THE CORN.—In the field we plan to 
start the corn harvester half a day before the engine 
and cutting machine arrive and the hinder is kept 
going all next day. In our silo filling circle the man 
on whose farm we are working supplies the horses 
and the driver for the hinder. While we consider it 
advisable to be well ahead with the cutting there is 
always the danger of getting too much corn down. 
In case of wet and consequently muddy weather men 
don’t like to go into the fields with their teams or 
to handle the muddy bundles of corn. And yet if the 
corn is to be gotten into the silo in the best condition 
it must be put in soon after being cut. One little 
point I would note here. Occasionally due to very 
unfavorable weather it 
is impossible to get the 
corn planted until very 
late in the season. 
When silo tilling time 
comes around the corn 
has altogether too large 
a water content to go 
into the silo immediate¬ 
ly after cutting. I 
would cut such corn 
and allow it to lie a 
while to dry out 
SHARP K N I V E S 
NEEDED.—The point 
in the management of 
the cutting box on 
which I would lay most 
importance is in keep¬ 
ing the knives sharp. 
This reduces the amount 
of power required and 
the machine is able to 
make a clean cut at 
every revolution. The 
knives should he sharp 
enough to cut the husks 
of the ears. When the 
knives begin to get dull 
the husks will be blown 
up uncut although the 
ears and stalks will be 
cut all right. I men¬ 
tioned that we have 
two men apportioned to 
feed the cutting box. It 
is hard active work to 
feed fast and properly, 
too hard for one man to 
stand for any length of 
time. According to our 
system the two men 
take turn about at the 
feeding, and while one 
is doing the main work 
the other gathers up the 
loose stalks and trash 
and feeds it into the 
cutter, and with the 
help of a boy to turn 
the grindstone or some 
kind of power to do it 
keeps the knives sharp. Another point in the cut¬ 
ting is to have a good powerful engine. With in¬ 
sufficient power the blower will be continually chok¬ 
ing, and it is poor economy to have several teams 
and a big bunch of men standing idle while a clogged 
blower tube is being cleared or repairs are being 
made. The customary length for cutting the corn 
stalks is about half an inch and this is about right. 
If cut in longer lengths the mass of corn cannot be 
tramped so compactly, the air is not excluded as 
well and the corn will not keep as long. As a gen- 
Copy rig Lit by l'ml er wood A* rnderwood, New York. 
“CANDIDATES FOR THE LADY’S HAND.” Fiu. 447. 
