The Billings gazette., 1899-06-30
STACK SILAGE.
A Practical Method Of Preserving
Forage In Arid Regions.


ject of new report (buIletin 16) in
the grass and forage investigations OF
the national department of agriculture.
In addition to the methods of improv-
ing the range by cnltivating the surface
OF the ground, raising native grasses,
etc, the cultivation Of the ranker and
bulkler forage crops isl sed. But the
practice Of making good hay from al
falfa cowpeas, johnson grass. the sor-
ghums and other coarse or sncculent
plants is often attended with much
difficulty, and the product varies in
quality and value according to treat
ment. Successful haymaking requires
considerable experience, besides taking
time and large force of laborers, SO
that the expense CT preparing a cured
crop often amounts to very nearly its
feeding value. The fact that it requires
a number Of men will sometimes pre-
vent cattle owners from trying to put
up any hay. The cost of building silo
precludes it's use by the majority Of
farmers and stock owners. especially in
the more sparsely settled districts and
in the arid and tsemiarid portions Of
the southwest, where lumber and labor
are high priced Fodder and hay are
very desirable, but they must be cheap
and easily prepared. else they will not
be used.
These facts lead Assistant Agrostol-
ogist J. G. Smith, author Of the report
mentioned, to the consideration of stack
or open air silage, which finds very
wide use in hot countries among stock
farmers and men whose means do not
permit them to purchase silage cutters
and build silos. The theory of making
silage is to pack the green forage into
compact mass, thus preventing the en-
trance of air into the material The
green mass undergoes a sufficient fer.
mentation to partially cook and pre-.
serve it. In building silo the walls
are made az nearly alright as is possi-
BILE, for, where fermentation is carried
too far, silage becomes moldy and in
digestible.
Where air has free access during fer
mentation the process will be carried
too far, but where the amount Of air is
limited the fermentation is only carried
to q certain point and the palatability
Of the food is improved 1t has been
found that silo and fodder cutting
machine to chatf the stems into small
pieces is entirely unnecessary in dry
climates. Instead the green grass or
green fodder is raked and stacked as
soon as cut Then, when the pile has
been carried up as high as convenient.
weights are put on the ), and the sides
are trimmed down perpendicular with
hay knife. This method produces a
sweet silage, which has very nearly the
same feeding value as silage prepared
at greater cost in built silos
1t has been found that by applying
the pressure at the right time one may
readily control the fermentation and
produce either sour or sweet silage. as
desired. Thus, if the fermentation is
not allowed to proceed above 1870 de-
grees F., if the stacks are weighted
when this temperature is reached, sour
silage is produced. If the fermentation
, is allowed to 90 on until the tempera-
ture rises to between $50 degrees and
1856 degrees F. before the stacks are
weighted, the mass will often become
highly carbonized, appearing dark
brown or almost as black as charcoal,
but the silage is sweet and relished by
cattle. Sour silage is considered more
satisfactory for dairy purposes than
sweet silage.
The possibility Of preserving large
quantities Of the coarser forage plants
by this method will undoubtedly prove
valuable for extensive Districts in the
arid grazing regions. 1t will not how
ever, be adaptable to humid climates.
One Way to Put Pigs Out to Grass.
While among the farmers in Wiscon-
sin we ran across novel device-a
movable pigpen, which many of our
readers who keep in pen pigs which