30 The Colorado Experiment Station. 
cutter and engine, he could fill his silo whenever he chose or when 
his crop was ready, instead of trying to borrow his neighbor’s when 
he is using it himself. This is hardly practical, as the cost of ma¬ 
chinery considering the amount it is used is too great to be borne 
economically by each farmer. Four or five neighbors who get along 
peacably can form a company for the purchase of machinery and 
for the silo filling to good advantage. It can be agreed at plant¬ 
ing time in what order the filling shall he done and the corn planted 
at intervals of a few days apart in the same order so that all the 
corn will not be in the best condition for silage at the same time. If 
it is possible, it is economical to hire a threshing engine for power, 
saving expense, unless one cannot be hired during such a busy sea¬ 
son of the year. The silos can all be filled and then refilled in the 
same order, thus allowing about a week for settling. Always re¬ 
move all decayed silage before adding fresh fodder. Companies of 
this kind are greatly reducing the cost of their silage and also over¬ 
coming the obstacle of finding sufficient hands by exchanging labor. 
Silage From Cured Fodder .—It often occurs that cured fodder 
is on hand after the silo is empty. It has been proven by numerous 
instances that such cured fodder can be converted into a good grade 
of silage by running it through a cutter, soaking it thoroughly and 
packing it well in the silo. Such cured fodder will of course absorb 
a great amount of water to restore it to a succulent form. After 
filling, water can be turned on the silage from the top and soaked 
well and tramped. In one case where all the corn was cut in ad¬ 
vance, and through a serious breakdown in filling machinery, was 
shocked in the field and allowed to cure and subsequently put into 
the silo, good silage resulted. This silage was fed in almost unlim¬ 
ited quantities to horses with excellent results, SO' that its quality 
can scarcely be questioned. 
Cost of Silage .—Three factors are of prime importance in con¬ 
trolling the cost per ton of silage; namely, first, cost of raising the 
crop; second, cost of putting the crop into the siloq and third, the 
yield per acre of the crop. All factors are sufficiently influenced by 
the personal capability of the farmer, so that various costs are re¬ 
ported under very similar conditions. As a general thing costs per 
ton of silage under both dry land and irrigated conditions run right 
around $2.00 per ton in the silo. 
FEEDING SILAGE. 
To Dairy Cattle .—Silage was perhaps first used by dairymen, 
and some people are still of the opinion that it is a feed fit only for 
the dairy cow. It is a fact that dairymen consider it a feed which 
is practically indispensible to profitable dairying, hut such are not 
