Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1913-03-21

| - NANP VI ehS OhAtSu ObooCo
is worth on the farms one and one
half billion dollars. In a ripe corn
plant so per cent Of the feed value is
contained in the kernels and 40 per
cent in the stalk and leaves. With
The grain worth one and a half bill.
lion dollars, the feed value of the
rest OF the crop is a billion dollars.
At least 80 per cent Of the feed val
ue Of the stalk is lost under the pres.
ent system Of farm management
waste with this crop alone of almost
billion dollars yearly. No other
business but farming could stand
suth loss.
In the New En.,land and the Mid.
die states most of the stalks are
saved for fodder, and there are many
silos, but with the damage from
Weathering, the waste in handling
and the loss in digestibility from dry
ing, the farmers are very far from
utilizing the full feed value of the
corn stalk. In the corn belt, where
the bulk of the crop is raised, COM
paratively few corn growers harvest
the stalks, and the only returns most
OF them set from the forage is by
pasturing the dead stalks in the cold
and storms of winter. Frequently the
death Of stock pastured in the stalk
fields makes loss that far exceeds
the returns from the field.
Contrast this waste by the corn
grower with the practices Of large
business organizations. For years the
great packing houses have sold dress
ed meat for less than they have paid
for the live weight Of the animals.
Yet every year these packing
houses return millions of dollars pro-
fit because they utilize to the fullest
extent the value Of their by-products.
The Standard Oil Company takes
crude oil into its refining plants, puts
1t through costly processes, using ap-
paratus that requires an outlay of
millions, pays the freight and delivers
the kerosene and gasoline direct to
consumers at a lower rate than is ask
ed for mineral water, where the only
expense is to run the water through
pipe from the spring into a bottle.
At the same time the corn growers
are wasting most Of 40 per cent of
the feed value of over one hundred
million acres Of corn.
The silo provides the corn grower
with the means of utilizing the larg-
est proportion of the feed value of
his entire crop, grain and forage. The
whole crop can be stored economical
ly in the silo in compact form. The
silage can be kept for days, months
and years, or feeding may begin as
soon as filling the silo is completed.
The silo can be filled in good wealth
er, when it is raining, or in times Of
extreme drouth and hot winds. Sill
age is good feed, daily, both in win
ter and summer. When grass is
ready in the spring the feed that re-
mains in the silo can be covered and
will keep we'll until needed when
the summer drouth comes. Silage
furnishes a green, succulent, appetiz-
ing feed through the winter, the
same as grass through the summer.
1t keeps the animals system in as
good condition as when the stock is
on good pasture, and feeds given
with it are better digested.
Corn makes the best silage. Kaffir
corn, Milo and sorghum follow, their
value being in the order mentioned.
Green peavines, husks and cobs from
the canning factories make good ma
terial to put in the silo. In continu-
Gus rainy weather alfalfa, clover and
other hay crops may be saved in the
silo.
The vast dry farming sections OF
the West will be as thickly settled
with comfortable farm homes as is
the Northern corn belt whenever
stock raising, northwestern forage
crops and the silo are adopted, in
stead of exclusive grain farming.
Every live stock growing district in
the United States needs the silo. The
general use Of the silo will make the
high priced small farms Of the corn
belt profitable growers, as we'll as
finishers of cattle and sheep.