The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1913-10-03
THE SiLO: ITS IMPOR-
TANCE TO THE FEEDER
The Kind of Corn for the Silo-The
Conditions Of the Corn Before Fill.
inG-The Filling Of the Silo.

inG-The Filling Of the Silo.
by Chris Gurslee, Graduate Of State
College, 1879
If we Will look back a few years
in the history of this country, and
especially OF this great Northwest, we
find that the range cattle make very
large daily gains during the summer
months when they have access to the
green grass of the free range and the
These seem to be ideal conditions for
the animal and they store up consid-
cradle energy to keep them during the
months when such conditions can not
be had and they must live on rough
age and no succulent feed Of any kind.
The feeder sees that this is not a very
economical way of managing his herd
and with a little reasoning comes to
the conclusion hat he must provide
some green pasture in order to keep
his stock in a good healthy condition
SO they can put III daily gains in spite
of the long winter easOn Expert
ment stations all over the country
prove u uS IlldI lIG SlIO anu It's plOu-
ucts are now fixed factors of vast i'm
portance in American agriculture. By
the use Of corn silage, combined with
other roughage, young cattle can be
made to gain steadily all winter at
small cost, so that with the coming
Of spring they will not only have in
creased in weight but are in condition
- ~.J IL tlo ac-
est possible gains.
On farms heavily stocked with cat
tie the owner will find Indian cor
and the legumes his best crops. By
seeding a little thicker than for grain
the proper proportion OF ears and
stalks develop to form a rich silage.
Corn should be cut for silage while
most Of the leaves are yet green and
s~ucculent, but not until the kernels
are denied and hardened. Any vari-
ETY. OF corn that will mature in ones
locality is the best. as immature corn
makes SOUL silage of low feeding value.
Provided tie material is closely
! packed it is not essential that green
forage be cut into bits to preserve it
in the silo. The legumes, such as al.
falfa, clover. COW pea vines, etc, are
often ensiled uncut, III some farm.
ers prefer to ensile whole corr forage
tied in bundles. Because of the great.
er ease in filling and especially in re.
moving the material. cora forage is
usually cut into lengths varying from
u to ? inches. When filing the silo
the i%npouring material should be thor
oughly mixed, evenly spread, and well
tramped next to the walls, as the fric.
ton then tends to in set
Ting. The filling should be by daily
additions, though experience shows
that intermissions of l or 2 days work
little or no harm.
If possible the operation should ex
tend over / or 2 weeks, as this per
mits close packing and insures better
silage than is made by hurrying the
operation. Time is required for the
forage to soften, settle, and thereby
expel the entangled air through heat
and the generation of carbonic acid
gas. II feeding is not to begin i'm
mediately, there should be a covering
Of about a foot of any cheap or waste
material, such as straw, corn stalks
weeds, oats, etc. This should be
spread evenly and wet with water sc
as to quickly decay and seal the en-
SLED mass beneath. Oats scattered
over the cover will terminate and help
increase the density of the