PART I.—MISCELLANEOUS. (continued 3)

“A word in regard to the location of the silo. It may be built adjoining the feeding barn with the doors so placed that the ensilage be conveyed directly to the cattle, or if that is not possible, place it where the ensilage can be conveyed by a car or cart. Mr. Hiram Smith of this State, who has large silos and uses ensilage extensively, holds that it is not inconvenient to have the silo located a few rods from the feeding barn. The ensilage is pitched into a cart with forks and the cart driven into the feeding barn between the two rows of cows which stand facing each other. The ensilage is placed in front of the animals directly from the cart with great rapidity. In some cases a car can be used which can be run down grade into the barn in front of the cattle. I think either of these methods is preferable to attempting to carry ensilage in baskets any distance.

FILLING THE SILO.

“Probably very few stone silos will be built in the future, for experience shows that a stone wall chills the ensilage during the curing process and if it does not seriously injure that portion next to it to a thickness of several inches it renders it at least less palatable than ensilage nearer the middle of the silo. One reason, in my judgment, that the silo has not won more friends in the Eastern States is owing to the common use of stone in its construction. On our experimental farm at Madison our first silo, built in 1881, was of stone, and our conclusions in regard to ensilage were made up from results obtained with this silo; had we put up a wooden structure I am confident our results would have been worth vastly more to our people than they have been.

“The question of stacking ensilage is sometimes raised, being urged upon our people by the practice of our English friends, who are experimenting quite largely in this direction. It will be no more profitable to stack ensilage in the Northern States than to stack hay, and even less so in my judgment, for the waste would be very considerable and no one would relish the job of handling it during bad weather. Silos built of wood or made by changing over the bays of barns are the proper structures, judging from our present knowledge, for the Northern States; our friends at the South may find stacking successful.

“Having constructed the silo somewhat after the one described, though, be it remembered, large latitude is allowed in this matter, we will proceed to fill it with one of the two crops most suitable for the purposes; clover or fodder-corn. If clover is to be used I would recommend that a hay-loader be tried for the purpose of picking it up just as left by the mower. I have hopes that some form of hay-loader will do this work satisfactorily. The clover, either fresh or partly wilted, in any degree of dryness indeed, may be carried at once and unloaded into the silo, care being taken to fill and tramp down the corners and along the edges so that when all has thoroughly settled there will be no air spaces to favor decay. To fill a silo with clover is indeed a most simple process. By having two divisions the pits can be filled alternately, each layer of material heating up to the required temperature before the next is placed over it.

“For fodder-corn the processes are a little more complex, though in reality very simple. The fodder-corn should be allowed to approach maturity, the best point for cutting being not far from that at which we would ordinarily cut any shock. By this I do not mean to allow the leaves to become dry and crisp, but rather that they show a change from deep rank green to that yellowish tinge indicative of maturity, though with still an abundance of moisture in them. Formerly ensilage corn was cut shortly after the tassel appeared. Without doubt very considerable loss was incurred by such a practice.

“It is evident that if we cut our fodder at the time the corn is glazing our practice is as near correct as the present stage of investigation points out. Since the period of filling the silo will occupy several days, or even a couple of weeks, we must gauge the date of commencement to strike the best average conditions. For cutting the fodder some parties recommend the use of the reaper, but I judge from what I have been told that a good many rakes have been broken in attempting the work, and that many have given them up and gone back to the use of the corn knife. Such must be the case usually, at least where large varieties of corn are grown. The stalks should be cut close to the ground and thrown into bundles or gavels. If the weather is at all threatening I think it proper to cut and shock, since the fodder will dry off much more rapidly if rain falls, and it will not be so muddy and disagreeable to handle as when laid on the ground.

“Last season the writer urged that the fodder be wilted before it was put into the silo, and his own experience, with that of many others, corroborates this method of procedure, which has the additional advantage that less water is handled in the operation. If it is intended to allow the fodder to wilt the corn had better be cut and shocked, after which it may stand from three to ten days, depending upon the maturity of the stalks at time of cutting and the weather. If the fodder dries out rapidly, from four days to a week is amply long for it to stand in shock, while if the weather is somewhat damp or the fodder quite green it may even stand ten days with no loss. One of the advantages of cutting and shocking is that when it is over the force of men employed in this operation can be changed to filling the silo. If the corn is cut and placed in the silo at once quite a force of hands is needed, but by cutting and shocking first we can avoid this double force.

“For drawing to the silo truck wagons are better than ordinary ones, since the fodder is more easily loaded upon them. The common practice is to attach a plank to the rear of the wagon, up which the men can walk with their arms full of fodder, which should be placed with tops all one way for ease in unloading. If the fodder is to be put through the feed-cutter the cutter should be placed so that the carrier will deposit it in either of the two pits as required. Formerly the carriers were so constructed that they would not work ad­van­tageously at a much greater angle than 45 deg., but now I note that some manufacturers have them arranged to carry almost vertically.

“In regard to the kind of feed-cutter to be used, it may be said that there are several valuable machines before the public, any one of which will prove satisfactory if properly managed. The only point I desire to urge is that a large machine be purchased, one having about double the advertised capacity. Small cutters are a nuisance; hand-power cutters are out of the question. The cutter should be driven by three horses on a sweep power or two on a tread, or by a steam engine. Many farmers delay ordering the cutter until within a week or two of the time to fill the silo and are obliged to wait weeks until it is received, thereby suffering great inconvenience and loss. As soon as the question is settled in favor of having a silo a cutter should be selected and ordered, and it should be set up and run in a test trial not less than a week before actual filling is contemplated, so that repairs or changes can be made. To run a feed-cutter properly requires considerable experience and some knowledge of machinery, and many persons have suffered serious losses by not giving this side of the subject due attention.

“This brings me to a point in the discussion of considerable interest to many persons who desire to have silos but dread the experience and expense of machinery. Corn-fodder may be preserved in a perfectly satisfactory manner without running it through the feed-cutter, and may be drawn from the field and deposited directly in the silo. The expense of putting corn-fodder through the feed-cutter, first and last, is not far from half of all that incurred from the time of cutting the fodder to closing the silo. To fill the silo with long fodder let it be drawn in the usual manner and lifted at once into the pit, which can be accomplished in several ways, either by hand or the horse hay-fork carrier and slings. In the silo it should be distributed evenly and probably had better be placed in regular layers, lapping “shingle fashion” so that it will settle evenly.

“The use of long fodder for the silo has been urged with considerable vigor by Mr. I. J. Clapp of Kenosha, Wis., one of The Breeder’s Gazette’s correspondents, and I think much good has resulted from his advocacy. There is no doubt but that long fodder will keep just as well as that which is cut up, and I am not at all certain but such ensilage is even better in some cases than that made by cutting up the stalks into small pieces. When cut into small pieces the fodder is considerably bruised, and there is much more exposure of the juices to the air than there is where whole fodder is used. My attention was called to this point by a recent letter from Mr. Clapp, and I hope we can make some observations on the subject in the future. At any rate let those parties who either from choice or necessity do not wish to use the feed-cutter hesitate no longer in regard to the silo if they wish to try it, but go ahead and place the whole fodder in one, and I am confident they will not be disappointed in its feeding qualities. The only difficulty with long fodder comes at the time it is to be taken out for feeding purposes; then if large varieties have been used the man who attempts to get it out of the silo will need strong muscles and a large degree of patience to enable him to tug at the compact mass, which is quite difficult to manage. Twenty-five cows will eat up the ensilage about as fast as one man can get it out. It may be just as economical, however, to put two men into the silo for an hour or two each day during the winter, when labor is cheap, to get out the ensilage as it is to use more expensive labor in the fall to accomplish the extra work of running the feed-cutter.

“Slow filling is without doubt the best method for securing good ensilage, no matter what material we are using, be it clover, long fodder-corn, or fodder cut fine. When the pit has been filled three or four feet deep no more should be placed within it until this layer has heated to the neighborhood of 125 deg. Fahrenheit. Mr. John Gould of Ohio, who has been a deep student of this subject from the practical side, I believe holds that the ensilage should be allowed to pile up as it falls from the carrier, and after the pile has heated to the right temperature it should be distributed evenly over the silo, throwing that which is hottest to the corners and along the walls. It is certain that ensilage usually heats up easily and rapidly except in the corners and along the walls, where we find the temperature does not rise so rapidly nor to the same degree as it does in the body of the silo, and anything that will help us overcome this lack will improve its quality, and I deem Mr. Gould’s suggestion a valuable one. No packing down is needed except in the corners and along the walls; at these points we endeavor to firm the ensilage just as much as possible. I wish we could avoid this operation, and in the future we may do so. I believe the ensilage would be better without any tramping and packing if we could only get it to settle uniformly without. We should endeavor to secure an elevation in temperature of from 120 to 140 deg. uniformly throughout the mass of material. If the contents of the silo heat up to different degrees in different places we cannot expect them to be uniform in quality, though all will be eaten by the stock. The theory advanced by Mr. Fry of England that a temperature of 122 deg. Fahrenheit destroyed the ferment that produced the temperature seems hardly correct, for we find that the temperature goes on beyond this very rapidly—indeed, it is often very difficult to hold it below 140 or 150 deg., while in other cases I have known silos in which I could detect no faulty handling of the crop that would not heat to 120 deg. A case in point occurred last season; while we were busy filling our silos at the experimental farm I was called to the telephone by a young farmer living some thirty miles away who asked several questions about temperatures. I answered him to the best of my ability and the matter dropped from my mind. A couple of hours afterward, however, the party himself appeared on the scene in a troubled state of mind; he said he feared that he could not make his case plain through the telephone, and so had come on the first train to consult personally. His ensilage would not heat up to 120 deg., but was moulding badly instead. I advised that he go on filling the silo, ignoring the temperature question entirely. He did so, and in the winter reported satisfactory results. In my opinion we have much to learn in regard to this ferment, and that very close, patient study will be required to bring out the scientific side in a satisfactory manner. Fortunately we do not have to be very particular in our practice to obtain a very good quality of ensilage. I would advise, therefore, that a person allow the temperature to run from 120 to 140 when the thermometer is buried a foot deep in the fodder; but when these conditions are not obtained, no matter whether the degree be lower or higher, to go right on without feeling anxious in the matter. If the contents of the silo do not heat at all, or if the temperature gets up to 160 deg., the cattle will still eat the ensilage without complaint and relish it better than average dry fodder. I speak pretty positively upon this point because novices find it difficult to get over it and become quite excited and nervous if they cannot attain the exact directions given by most writers on this subject. The best rule is to go ahead, do the best one can, and the cattle will be very well satisfied with the result. Remember that the experience of a single individual or a single season may be no criterion for other cases. The reasons for these great variations are not yet apparent.

“Silo filling may go on for two or three weeks, or until the pits are filled, when they should be covered after standing a day or two to allow the last layer to heat. For covering material there may be placed over the ensilage building paper upon which may be placed sand, earth, chaff, cut straw, marsh hay, long straw, sawdust, or almost any material which will help keep out the air. If one wishes the pits may be left uncovered, in which case something like a foot of the ensilage will decay and form a covering and protection for that beneath. The practice of weighting the silo is now largely abandoned, though I am not certain but what some heavy material along the edges and in the corners will aid in saving the ensilage at those points, since it is here that the contents do not settle so well as does the body of the material. For a few weeks after filling the sides and corners should be tramped down occasionally to aid them in settling.”

PLANTING, CUTTING, FEEDING, ETC.

The following extracts from “Bulletin No. 2,” Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, by Thomas F. Hunt, answers some important questions in regard to planting, etc.:

“The filling of the silo was practically continuous, and was done in three days, Aug. 20 to 22, 1887, with 54,525 lbs.—twenty-seven and a quarter tons—of green corn. About twenty tons of this consisted of a medium sized, fairly early yellow dent corn (Murdock), which had been planted May 4 to 6, in rows 3 feet 9 inches apart, with two to three kernels dropped every 9 to 12 inches in each row. At the time of cutting the stalks had well-formed but small ears, the kernels of which had largely passed the milk state; that is, the kernels were mostly glazed. The lower leaves were yellowish, and some had begun to dry. The growth, though not large, was thought satisfactory, considering the long-continued and severe drouth that had prevailed here. The yield was not more than seven tons of fresh fodder per acre. Seven tons consisted of a large, late maturing yellow dent corn (Leaming), which had been planted May 28, 1887. The kernels were in the milk and the leaves were entirely green. No marked difference was noted between the ensilage from this and that from the other corn. * * *

“Feeding the ensilage was begun March 10, 1888, by mixing it with twice its bulk of dry, cut corn-fodder, not corn-stover, which our stock had been chiefly fed during the winter. The cattle soon learned to like the ensilage, and after the first week it was fed without mixing with any other substance and was eaten rather better, on the whole, than corn-fodder had been previously.

“Dairy weights of ensilage fed to the stock were not taken. From what weighing was done it is estimated that from March 17 to April 30 700 lbs. on an average were fed daily. During this time the following cattle were given ensilage: March 17 to April 30 two aged and five yearling bulls, one heifer, and one dry cow were fed ensilage, hay, and grain; eight milch cows, ensilage, straw, and grain; ten dry cows and five heifers, ensilage and straw. March 17 to April 16, three steers were fed ensilage and corn. April 13 to 30, four heifers and two dry cows were fed ensilage and hay. It will thus be seen that for 45 days 37 head were, on an average fed 700 lbs., about 19 each, daily. Of these 15 had ensilage and straw only; 8 had ensilage and straw with grain, usually four quarts of bran added daily; and 9 ensilage, hay, and grain. All thrived exceedingly well considering the amount of food eaten.”

For information as to the results of future experiments with ensilage we refer the reader to the various State Agricultural Experiment Stations and the authorities here quoted.