The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-09-17
SiLAGE.

When to Cut the Corn and How to Fill
and Cover the SiIo.
When to cut the corn is now pretty
well determined The agricultural ex
pertinent stations east and west have
agreed that when the corn is in tn,
glazing stage it is in its best condition
for the silo. Professor Roberts, of Cor
nell, found that between the develop
ment of the tassel and the glazing of the
ear the gain in feeding value was nearly
200 per cent.
The methods of cutting the corn il
the field when it has reached the right
stage are undergoing Improvement
The corn knife in the hands of an active
man is yet the chief implement relied
upon to cut the corn and lay in gavels
in the field. Numerous machines have
been devised but all failed until the past
year, when harvesters were brought out
that promise well. They may be so i'm
proved that they will take the place OF
hand labor in the field. Many devices
are contrived on which to draw the long
bundles of fodder from field to silo, but
the vehicle most used is a farm wagon
with the usual fiat hayrack upon it,
floored over. The gavels are picked up
from the ground by man and handed
up to the driver Of the wagon, who de-
posits them on the rack, the tops all one
way. The load of 1900 pounds is quick
ly put on, and the load is driven to the
silo. Others use a low swung platform,
hung between the widely separated fore
and rear wheels Of wagon, and the
loader lays the gavels upon the platform
without assistance.
At the silo the process is substantially
now everywhere alike. The silage cut
ter is run by steam engine of S-horse
power. The cutter has carrier that
elevates the cut silage up over the
walls of the silo. The fodder is I'M
loaded from the wagon directly upon
the table of stha cutter without rehan-
ding. The silage is kept leveled in the
pits, but only now and then does a far
mer attach any Importance to the tramp
ing that was once considered so essential.
John Gould, from whom we quote the
foregoing, tells as follows in The Ameri-
can Agriculturist how he fills silo:
"The writer has platform 80 feet
square hung just below the upper end of
the carrier. The silage as it is thrown
out falls upon this platform, quickly
forming pyramid of the fine fodder.
The cut silage, as itslides down the slant
of this pyramid, is given shoot to
the sides, and in falling twenty-five feet
or more is thrown all over the surface OF
the pit. It accomplishes by its own gray
ity what man is otherwise required to
do with forks. AS the silage will natu-
rally be the highest at the walls, the grain
is equally distributed through the mass,
and the labor of an hour per day in the
pit has resulted better than when man
was constantly employed, for now have
no moldy or spoiled silage in the corners
and along the sides of the pit, which did
happen to some extent when tramping
was INDUCED in"
In regard to covering, Mr.. Gould says
the old way of close covering and heavy
weighing have proved more damaging
to the top layer of silage than no cover
ing at all. In Ohio the custom of put
ting on few inches Of wet straw imme-
diately after the silage is in and leveled
off is rapidly gaining favor. Some put
on wet swale hay, and now and then a
man does not cover with anything, and
has as good success as any one. Wet
chaf or straw cut fine, on being damp
ened down, has proved as perfect a cover
as anY, Still covor aS one NAV, there
will be loss of about two inches OF 81
lage Oh the surface in any event.