Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1913-12-18
sLOS GROWING INTO
THE FARMERS, FAY0K
Silage is Recognized as Best and
Cheapest Form of ROughage for
Cattle and Sheep.

"O, dSS1SIdHC i've STOCK
agent of the Southern railway was in
Eendersonville last week in the in
terest of some live stock, ,silos, etc,
az which time he stated that the silo is
rapidly growing into favor with the
farmers n that during the pas
year a large number had been built
IN Western North Carolina.
He advises the farmers to build.
silos, and would be glad to take the
matter up personally with them while
travelling through this section. He
can be reached by addressing him at
Morristown, Tenn.
With reference to the silo the fol
lowing from the Progressive Farmer,
contributed by Prof. j. W. Ridgeway,
College Station, Texas, will probably
be OF interest to those contemplating
the erection of silos:
While the silo has been used for
the past Is or 20 years with success.
in the Eastern and Western States,
the idea was prevalent that they
would not prove a success in the
South because of the extreme warmth
which would be conducive to unsat-
asfactory lamentations This idea
has, of course, been proved imagi-
nary and the silo has come to the
South to stay.
The losses in SLIDING depend large
ly upon the condition of the crop a.
the time of SLIDING, the method of
putting the crop into silo, and the
construction of the silo. Any condi-
ton that provides for the admission
o. air, either through the walls of
the silo OF by large air space between
the cut material, would encourage
fermentation and increase the loss.
The loss is found to be vary from 5
to Is per cent.
Generally speaking, crops should
be put into the silo in as mature a
condition as possible, as this
a maximum amount of dry matter
per acre. If too dry, however, the
cut material will not pack sufficiently
to exclude the air between the par
ticles and the silage will dry rot"
or decay. Silage should be cut in
one-half inch lengths, if possible, as
this good packing. The
knives should be kept good and sharp
SO as to make a good clean cut with a
minimum amount of power. The cut
material should be equally distribu-
uted over the silo and should be pack
e1 thoroughly, especially around the
eGges. As many as foul men should
be kept in a silo during filing when.
the silo is over 16 feet in diameter.
Silage is a bulky feed containing
from 60 to 80 per CEN of water and
for this reason is not especially
adapted to animals with single stom-
achs, as the horse and the hog; but,
is especially good for ruminants, as
their digestive system is SO construct
Ell that they can handle this kind of
feed. AS a continental, however,
Stage. has a place in the ration of the
horse, but it should not be depended
upon for supplying exclusively the
necessary nutriments in the ration Oh
a work horse. Fed two OF three
times weekly it will keep the horse
in condition, just as a few hours run
il a good pasture will; and for young
horses that are not at steady work
silage may constitute the bulk of the
ration.
Silage is prominently a feed for
dairy COWS, as some form of %succulent
feed is necessary in the ration of a
dairy COW if she is to produce a max.
inum amount of milk. This is forci-
bly, illustrated, as every dairyman
knows, by the fact that COWS produce
more milk when on a good pasture
than when they are fed a dry ration,
even tho the dry ration may contain
al of the necessary nutriments for the
milk production. Cows fed. on sflage
will digest and assimilate more grain
feed than cows fed on dry roughness
because the acid in the silage has an
appetizing effect and keeps the diges-
tive system in good condition. AS
feed for milk production, silage has
its greatest value in the summer
when the pastures are dry and no
other succulent feed is available.
A summary of experiments demon
strating the value of silage for dairy
COWS would indicate that: % there
is a net saving of S. per acre in feed
ing corn as a silage plant cured dry,