People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1892-08-05
FILLING THE SlLO,
The Proper Way of Preserving Green
Crops for Winter Use.

NANPs ioi Winter Use.
Considering the possibility of an
early winter to cut short the late plant.
ed crops, the Importance of the silo is
magnifed by which the green crops
may be preserved for winter use. II
will be well to take thought of the
morrow to anticipate the silage supply
by corn planting as late as into July on
the low lands which NAV be dry
by that time. A writer in the Ameri.
can Cultivator says that the value of the
silo goes without question now in pro.
gressive dairy regions The best meth.
cd OF constructing it is practically set.
tied also-built out of wood instead of
stone. Wood, being porous and poor
conductor of heat, is far more desirable
for the silo. The silo should be built
OF wood and then painted thoroughly
with waterproof paint making every
crevice and crack thoroughly tight.
The farmer has his choice between two
kinds of walls-the double-walled
wooden structure, with tarred paper
between, or the single wooden wall
lined inside with matched flooring, and
covering over carefully with paint.
Either one of these answers better
than the lathed and plastered sllo,
which was so universally received a
few years ago as the highest perfection
of wooden s3o walls.
Such silo built early in the year will
be ready for the corn by the time the
crop has properly matured, but one
must plant for the silo, and not trust to
field corn to answer the purpose. One
variety Of corn cannot be recommended
generally, for nearly every locality re-
quires a different kind. Generally one
can select the largest variety that
grows in his section, for the silo re-
quires corn that will make a heavy
growth and gives great yield of ears
and fodder. Such corn is the ideal one
for this work. The biggest crop to the
acre is the best, for generally such corn
will keep as well as the small crops.
After the proper selection of the variety
the corn should be drilled in the field in
rows from three to four feet apart, ac-
cording to its size and yield. Some of
the smaller varieties can be planted as
close as the minimum distance, while
the very large stalked kinds will need
the maximum distance between the
rows. In drilling it one kernel should
be dropped from seven to nine inches
apart in the rows, according to the kind.
The cultivation of the silage corn
will always produce better results
when it is attended to quite frequently
during the growing season. 1t should
be surface cultivation, however, rarely
extending down more than an inch or
two. The weeder should also be put
to work, and after this has torn up the
weeds crop of clover can be spread
between the rows. This will save a
year in the rotation, and not injure the
growth of the corn. The clover will
not grow much during the growth of
the corn, but when it is harvested for
the silo, the clover will spring us rap
idly, covering the whole ground in a
short time. In this way there is no loss
in growing the silage on the field, for
the land would have to be cultivated
for the clover crop if not for the corn.
The corn is gathered early in the sea-
son, long before the field crops are, and
this still leaves considerable period
for the clover crop to grow before cold
weather. In one season the amount of
corn and clover taken from an acre will
be great, and the clover will add to the
soil almost as much heterogeneous matter
as the corn takes from it.