Published by 
The Rural Publishing Co» 
333 W. 30th Street 
New York 
-The Rural NewYorker 
Weekly, One Dollar Per Year 
Postpaid 
Single Copies. Five Cents 
VoL. LXXVI. 
NEW YOItK, SEPTEWr.ER 22, 1017. 
No. 4448. 
The Silo and Its Filling 
As the Work is Done in Southern New York 
I TS VALUE.—No one dispnto.s that any longer 
hereabouts. If any dairyman keeping more than 
five cows hasn’t a .silo, it isn’t because he doesn’t 
want one; and there are many silos built and filled 
where not over five or six cows ai’e kept. The old 
stoi'ies of loosened teeth, ruined bovine stomachs and 
shortened lives are no longe? heaid. In dairies of 
from 10 to 15 head of cows, with a corresponding 
amount of young stock, the silos run from 10 to 12 
feet in dmmeter and from -‘>0 to do feet in height. If 
greater capacity is 
it is still a disi)uUMl iiuestion whether they are of 
:is much value in the silage as when hirskod and 
ground, (food observers heli('ve that, while Itiere 
may be no notic-eable difference In inilk flow when 
well-eared silage is fed. there is a very noticeable 
effect upon the flesh of the stock eating it. 
VARIETIES OF CORN.—Pride or the North and 
Learning have been the standard varieties of coiai 
planted for the silo in this section for many years. 
In favorable seasons they will mature their ears as 
well us give a heavy stalk growth. Eurdca has 
.also been in favor, ])artifadarly Avifh those wlio 
think little of the value of the corn grain in the 
wanted, a second silo 
is built, as a greater 
diameter is not want¬ 
ed, except where large 
herds are kept 
KIND AND LOCA- 
I’lON.—W o o d stave 
silos predominate, 
tlK're is no ciuestioii 
about that find a 
large number of these 
are homemade; built 
of 2x6 set on end, tub 
fashion, and girded by 
iron i-ods witli a turn 
buckle for tightening, 
Conci'ete, tile, and con¬ 
crete blocks are als<.) 
seen, and give satis¬ 
faction, but the lower 
first cost gives wood 
the i)i’efereuca The 
older fashione<l square, 
hexagonal or octa¬ 
gonal silos made from 
matched hemlock, pine 
oi- Soutiieru pine floor¬ 
ing placed vertically 
and bound by 2xG in. . 
girths, a.s well as dou¬ 
ble-boarded silos with. 
tarre<l paper between, 
are still seen, and no 
one having one admits 
that* It is a %vhit less 
satisfactory than the 
newer kind.s. 
T.OOATION A N D 
FIliEINC.—Some of 
the older silos were 
built within the 
l>arn, usually taking 
space from the hay¬ 
mow. Tliey are now 
built outside, however, 
iind connected with 
the barn by a covered 
gangway. Freezing of 
the contents is con¬ 
fined to a short space 
next to the walls; it 
occurs ia all of them, 
is slight and is consi¬ 
dered of little conse¬ 
quence. For the most 
part .silo filling is a 
community job, few 
farmers having facili¬ 
ties of their own. Neighitoring farmers exchange 
work with their teams; the cuttm' jind engine with 
two men to nin them are paid for at (he rate of 
a dollar an hour, and a little day labor is hired, 
q’he expense of filling a silo, aside from one’s 
ow’ii labor, usually runs from .$:10 to ifdO. .Silo 
filling is a rush job where everybody works at 
high tension for a few days. After the coi-n is 
r(*ady for cutting, the first killing frost is :ip- 
prehensively looked for and the time between 
tlu'se two dates is usually i^hort. It has iK'coiue 
l>retty well settled that corn should begin to glaze 
before it Is cut, and, if imminent danger of frost 
does not forbid, that stage is waited for. Few 
remove any ears before cutting for the silo, though 
All Ready for the Silo Fillinp. Fi?. 509 
silo. 'The popularity of Eureka i.'; jirobably wan¬ 
ing. however, and, while still seen in many fields, 
it is giving place to earlier maturing varieties of 
smaller size. Among the newer varieties now being 
tried, .Sweepstakes. West P.r.anch and Ence’s Favor¬ 
ite pomise wt'll and will probably take a prominent 
place anamg the silage corns, d’he first twn 
between which it is difficult to distingni.sh, combine 
large stalk growth ami heavy earing and will mature 
in ordinarily favnrahh' seast>n.''. 
EtjITPMENT FOR FTEf.TNO.—The blower tyi^e 
of silage cutter has snpers^Mled tlie carrier t.\iK'. ex¬ 
cept, perhaps, in the smallm- siz«‘s. The greater part 
of the .silage corn is still cut Ity a gang of men 
with hand sickU's. 'riu'sc imm go into the field ;i 
day or two before the machine .arrives ami soon lay 
the corn down. Farmers are nor. as particul.ar .as 
formerly to have the coni stand until the last 
minute; wilting lias been found not to injure it. 
Those fortunate enough to liave corn-binders find 
them great savers of labor, hotli in cutting and 
handling the bundles. Hay racks or specially-made 
low-down corn-racks are used for hauling from tlie 
field, the driver of the team loading the corn as 
fast as three or four men can hand it to him. 
AT ITIE SILO.—The corn is cut into lengths 
varying from a half inch to two inches; the shorter 
it is cut the belter it packs, but the more power and 
time required for fill- 
-; ing the silo. Thor¬ 
ough packing in the 
.silo Is recognized as 
essential to pri'serva- 
lion of the silage, and, 
exci'pt in the smaller 
silos, two or even 
three men are em¬ 
ployed in distributing 
and tramping the corn 
as it c-omes from the 
blower, q'his is no 
job for a fat man. 
though the inhumane 
practice of putting the 
m'nldle-aged and ixirt- 
ly owner of the farm 
into the tub during 
filling is common. 
FROZEN CORN.— 
If unfortunate enough 
to have the corn 
‘•frosted” hefori' it is 
cut, it is hurrieil into 
the silo as fast as pos¬ 
sible. Frosted com 
makes good silage, 
however, and the 
writer has never seen 
water run into the 
silo witli it, as is ad¬ 
vised. No doubt this 
would he advantage¬ 
ous. hut few farnu*rs 
have facilities for 
getting the water to 
the silo as it is want¬ 
ed. Some farmers 
pi'ofess to prefer a 
touch of frost upou 
their corn before it is 
cut. one of the writ¬ 
er’s ii e (1 u a i 11 t a uce 
waiting for this event. 
Even dry corn fodder 
makes good silage, or, 
at least, a good snli- 
.stitute for it. and 
much of this is cut 
into the .silo. A s(h*- 
ond filling aftei" the 
first has settled is 
necessary if the silo is 
to be full and this 
often has hut little 
natural juice in it. If 
the contents of the 
silo are not to be u.sed 
immediately, a layer of spoiler! silage on top is ex- 
pectetl, but the loss here is slight. >r. n. n. 
'Pioga Co., N. Y. 
Mixed Crops in the Silo 
I was (luite interested in the recent ‘‘Hope Farm 
Notes” in reference to cow peas vs. Soy beans on jiage 
lOOS. I am trying out a little experiment thi.s sea.son. 
having a couple of acres of cow peas and Soy beans, 
equal quantities, sown broadcast together, with about 
one-half bushel of corn broiidcast also over the field. 
'Phe erfhp is douig as well as I could expect, but the cow 
peas .seem to be in the ascendency, and actually dom¬ 
inate the field, for they are now asoending the corn with 
their runners, and while they are outstripping the Soy 
beans, they also have made the corn halt in its effort to 
reach the sun. The first idea which one would have in 
*1 /«•! 1 1 I y\' 
