Marble Hill press. (Marbel [sic] Hill, Mo.) 1881-1923, 1905-09-28
Doesn't My Farm Need a Silo?
weekly Agricultural Letter.

(WeekIy Agricultural Letter.
The silo is no longer q new thing
1t has been in use for hundreds OF
years, it has passed out ofthe expert
mental stage and is now permanent
thing. Only those who have never
used silage condemn the silo. The
most enthusiastic silage advocates
are the men who have had the most
experience with it.
But is it not too expensive for
the plain farmer? No. Not more so
than the self binder or corn harvest
er, they all cost something at first but
pay it back many times over. A one
hundred ton silo will cost from S1O0
to $500 depending upon the kind,
and will last many years.
What does it cost to fill them?
About soc Il ton Or about the same
as the cost of harvesting corn in the
usual way, husking and grinding the
corn for stock.
But will my stock like the stuff
All farm animals, from horses to
hogs, soon learn to relish it and do
we'll on it. I eten know a man who
became fond of chewing silage while
feeding his cows.
What crops are used for siiage?
Corn is the principal one, the almost
anything may be used and will make
palatable silage if it Is cut fine, put
in green, and packed tightly in q
siio with air tight sides. A silage of
corn, three parts, and COW peas, one
part, makes an excellent feed. the
presence of the COW peas doing away
with the necessity ofbuying so much
concentrated protein feed. Sorghum
is excellent for wintering breeding
owes, and it gives feeding steers gloss
and thrift. If the corn is rather
watery, common straw may be cut
into the silo with it and in winter
Will be eaten with equal relish. If
the corn has become dry, before cut
ting into the silo could be done, it
may be made to keep by wetting
we'll at the time of filling. WheD the
corn is beginning to dent or glaze,
the corn plant contains as much food
as it ever will and should be cut at
once and put into the silo. The fill
ing and hardening of the corn is only
effected by the transfer of material
from the leaves and stalk to the grain
The silo may be made the means
of supplying cheap, homegrown,
balanced rations, the vital point in
dairy farming in these days. To test
this point, Prof. C. G. Williams of
Ohio divided his herd into two
groups, feeding one silage composed
of corn, COW peas, soy beans, mixed
hay and tuur pounds Of grain, and
the other corn stover, mixed hay
and 1876 pounds of grain per day.
The actual amount of fdigestible food
was as nearly the same in each as
could be wished. The two sections
were fed this for an entire winter.
Each COW was charged with what she
consumed and credited with what
she gave. At the end of the five
months the following results were
found: "The cows fed the silage
ration produced 96.7 lbs. of milk
and sos lbs. of butter fat per 100
lbs. of dry matter. The cows fed
ithe grain ration produced 81.3 lbs.
of milk and 80 lbs. of butter fat per
100 lbs. of dry matter. The cost of
feed per 100 lbs. of milk was s0.6S7
with the silage ration and Sl.055
with the grain ration. The cost of
feed per pound of butter fat was 13.1
cents with the silage ration and 22.1
cents with the grain ration. The av
erage net profit per cow per month
(over cost of feed) was s5,864 with
the sllage ration and s2.465 with
the grain ration"
To sum up, what are the advan-
tages Of the silo?
l. Silage enables cows to produce
,more economically.
.. The silo enables. larger'num-