< Ibe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
673 
A Discussion of Silo Filling 
Two Silos Instead of One 
M S. P.’s question, page 505, on corn for the silo,, 
• leads me to submit my experiences and the¬ 
ories on this subject. I desired as large a volume of 
succulent Winter feed as my small farm ■would pro¬ 
duce. T had a 70-ton silo, which took six acres to 
fill it. I tried corn planted for grain, corn planted 
thick, corn and Soy beans planted thick, and kept 
record of production of individual cows during these 
three years. I could not see any differ¬ 
ence in milk flow. At this time I mixed 
my own rations: grains cottonseed 
meal, gluten, bran, corn distillers’ 
grains, in fact* whatever I could secure 
at the time. Oorn and Soy beans planted 
thick would irot make.as much tonnage 
as corn alone. It filled the silo just 
as full, but never seemed to settle as 
firm as corn alone, also fed out quicker 
by weight. Very likely the addition of 
water would overcome this condition. 
After this experience T concluded my 
acres could not afford so much silage 
corn at the expense of my crib corn. 
Large silo proved of inferior quality, 
so I sold it and replaced it with two 
small silos, taking 40 tons capacity. It 
is my calculation to get equal service 
from this outfit as formerly secured 
from the 70-tou outfit. At same time 
I have two acres more for crib corn. 
Four acres of thickly planted corn and 
Soy beans in drills will fill these small 
silos, leaving me equal acreage for crib 
corn. I feed out No. 1 silo, then refill 
with corn stover and water, leaving 
this to cure while No. 2 silo is being 
fed. When No. 2 is empty refill with 
stover and water. No. 1 will by this 
time be properly cured and ready to 
feed. Having my own outfit, I am in 
no way rushed at filling time, particu¬ 
larly considering the fact that my 
pumping engine and pump are along¬ 
side the silos, this making it possible 
to haul the corn and beans from the 
field in a drier condition, a saving in 
hauling and handling. 
Considering these facts and theories 
it is my belief that two small silos as 
40 being tillable, the rest pasture and “sprout.” 
The farm used to have the largest apple orchard in 
Shelburne, but this has pretty much passed usefulness, 
and while the Farm Bureau has started on renewal 
demonstration work on a few trees, there is practically 
no income from the source of apples. The whole source 
of revenue comes from wholesale milk. 
_When Mr. Loomis took over this place it supported 
15 cows, but now he keeps 80 cows and 25 of them in 
milk most of the time. He has reduced his operations 
to a very simple rotation, raising 12 acres of corn and 
seeding to clover in oats about six acres per year, these 
being his only crops. lie has used lime liberally, and 
secured heavy crops of clover. During the first years 
he used considerable commercial fertilizer in building 
the production of his farm much more, but they are now 
handling all that can with one man as assistant. 
It is rare to find a straight dairy farm that pays a 
profit, hence it is interesting to study this farm and 
see what factors are responsible for its making good. 
It is a natural dairy farm, with good pastures: it is 
close to the market, so that the milk always commands 
a little advantage. Mr. Loomis is a hard-working man, 
and the hard work is one of the prime factors, as is 
always the case in success on the farm. His abilitv for 
selecting high-producing cows, his judgment as a feeder, 
las balanced rations, his farm accounts and milk 
records improving his pastures, which are growing bet¬ 
ter every year, taking pains to produce an extra good 
grade of milk, which gives him a steady and profitable 
market, although it is sold at wholesale 
price, are all factors which have been 
influential in his success. 
We cannot recommend this' tvpe of 
farming as the most profitable, because 
all careful surveys show that the largest 
profits are made where at least a good 
cash crop is grown in combination with 
dairy. We believe that had new orchards 
been planted when the old orchards began 
to pass the farm would now he much 
more profitable thau it is. However, 
l ude Sam says that although Mr. Loomis 
is raising two daughters there will have 
to be an income tax on his last year’s 
business. 
Self Filling of a Silo 
Owing to labor shortage I have been 
able to fill my silo but once in three 
years. Ho you know of a silage cutter 
on the market that could he nin by a five 
or six horsepower gas engine? With such 
an outfit I could do practieallv ail the 
work myself. Silos are 8x20. I hate to 
give up the silo, but it has been a losing 
venture under existing conditions. 
Minnesota. a. w. sarty. 
I HAVE filled an 18x24 silo several 
times with the help of only one or 
two men. At first I bought a six-horse 
gasoline engine and a 10-inch cutter 
with elevator. The reason that I bought 
a carrier machine instead of a blower 
was that one can cut and elevate a 
given amount of corn with much less 
power if the elevator machine is used. 
Of course I understand that the eleva¬ 
tor is much harder to set up and that 
more corn is wasted by the elevator 
method, i think that T filled the big 
silo two years with the six-horse en¬ 
gine. but I had more or less trouble 
with it a 1 ! the time. I could cut corn 
fairly well if I did not feed the cutter 
too fast, but if I fed it to the capacity 
of its 16-inch throat I would stall or 
heat the engine. So I exchanged for 
A foundation planting of the smaller growing shrubs, including barberry, Weigela, 
Spiraea and Deutzia. The total cost for these was $15. This picture was takeu 
six mouths after planting. 
specified will prove a more economical 
feature on most farms than one large 
one holding almost double the capacity 
of the two smaller ones. I would like 
to have my It. N.-Y. neighbors e£sr 
constructive criticism on these views. 
H. II.. page 406. brings up the ques¬ 
tion of Soy beans in silage. I cannot 
understand why Prof. Minkler consid¬ 
ers it mere difficult to cultivate corn 
containing boy ber.as than corn alone. 
It is my experience that corn planted 
normal distance apart, then Soy beans 
(Wilson here) drilled thick in the row, 
about 15 lbs. to the acre, is a far more 
simple cultivation problem than just 
corn. The Soy beans shade the rows 
and make it impossible for weeds to 
flourish. Once over my field last year 
with cultivator, then a number of 
mulchings with a mowing machine 
wheel laid flat, and nd hoeing neces¬ 
sary, the beuus smothered the weeds. 
We use harvester and consider it very 
successful. It seems to me that in 
New York State the naturally short 
foddered corn and a tall Soy bean 
would make an ideal silage proposi¬ 
tion. In this locality the Wilson Soy beau along 
with nine and ten-foot corn seems to harvest with¬ 
out difficulty. ARTHUR W. ROSSITER. 
Chester Co., Pa. 
A mixed planting of the native pink and white honeysuckle or Azalea, barberry, 
Ted cedar and Japanese Spiranu the larger part of which was found growing native 
or the woodlot of this farm. Such a border planting not only frames in the lawn 
area, screens off the unsightly view of the barns, hut makes an excellent background 
for the old-fashioned hardy border. 
Straight Dairying That Pays 
A Connecticut farm whose grounds have received the attention they deserved. By 
making the most out of the treea already existing and adding to them such other 
planting material as was needed a most attractive effect has been gained. Such 
grounds add hundreds of dollars to the value of the farm and many added moments 
of happiness to the occupants of the home. 
up the place, but now he Las sufficient manure for his 
crops and top-dressing his hay land, and only buys a 
little nitrate of soda and acid phosphate for the corn. 
He finds the place is continually increasing in produc¬ 
tivity and that even the pastures are very noticeably 
improved by being heavily pastured with stock which 
is well fed in the barn, where they receive grain and 
silage throughout the Summer. 
Mr. Loomis early realized that the large producing 
an eight-horse engine, and have had 
no more trouble of that sort. With 
the eight-horse engine and the 16-inch 
cutter I have no difficulty in running 
through whole bundles of heavily-eared 
corn as fast as’one cares to unload. 
If I were in the place of A. -W. 8. I 
would place a little “want” advertise¬ 
ment for a second-hand cutter of 12 or 
14-inch capacity. Be sure that you get 
a nearly new machine. Then it is very 
important that your engine works well. 
Magneto ignition is best, and i- should 
be perfectly timed. With one or two 
men working alone it will he necessary 
to stop the engine after every load of 
corn, so one can see the desirability of 
an engine that starts up easily and 
promptly. I would not undertake to 
run this machine all alone if I could 
avoid it. I have taken corn direct from 
the load and run it through the cutter, 
but it is very hard work and more or 
less dangerous. The man who feeds 
the machine should have nothing else 
to do and keep his mind strictly on the 
job. Of course after each load the 
corn should be mixed and stamped 
evenly in the silo. If properly done, a silt) will hold 
a lot more silage if filled slowly instead of being 
filled in a few hours. j. graxt morse. 
Mature Corn for Silos 
UQTR’ 
U far 
AIGIIT” dairying means running a dairy 
m without any side lines, such as fruit, 
garden truck. Most of the advisers say 
potatoes, or 
that straight dairying is not likely to pay—that 
' here should be some other source of income besides 
■ he milk. The Franklin Co.. Mass., Farm Bureau 
has found such a dairyman, however, and he seems 
to make the business pay. It is doubtful if this 
plan can safely be suggested to the average man. 
the dairyman's name is Clint Loomis, who lives 
near Shelburne, Mass. Mr. Loomis has 225 acres— 
cow is the first and absolutely essential fact for the 
profitable production of milk, and owes much of his 
success to his ability in selecting this kind of a cow. 
lie was an enthusiastic member of the Cow Test Asso¬ 
ciation. and always had several cows well toward the 
head of the list. By careful culling and renewing cows 
as fast as they became unprofitable and by using 
unusual judgment in his selecting, he has built up and 
maintained a herd that averages 7.000 pounds per cow. 
selling about SO.000 quarts per year from the farm. He 
raises no heifer calves, depending entirely upon pur¬ 
chased stock to keep up the production. He is a careful 
and liberal feeder. lie has built a modern stable and 
uses a milking machine, because it is impossible to get 
help to do the milking, and lie finds the machine is 
practically a necessity. In fact, if it were not for the 
labor question, he says be could very easily iucrease 
Aftei 15 years’ experience in growing corn f< r silage, 
I want corn well matured. It goes further: cows will 
eat less and be satisfied, and it stay.- put in silo—will 
not settle so much. Let me illustrate by my experience 
of last Summer: I have two silos, eabh 10x24. I 
filled one with Eureka corn, planted May 15. on 
acres of good land. It was put in silo about October 
1. and was very big. ears about in roasting condition. 
The ether silo was filled with Eureka corn, planted 
three weeks later, on two acres. This corn was big, 
but immature, soft, full of juice, no ears. It settled.' 
so that after throwing out the spoiled 1 had 16 feet of 
good silage. It does not matter how many men you 
have in silo to tramp down ; if your corn is immature 
it will settle more in silo thau mature corn, and I have 
found that cows will eat less mature than immature 
corn silage. lee servey. ' 
Jefferson Co., N. Y. 
