The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1915-01-13
FEEDING OUT
THE SILAGE
Many Of the Farmers OF: Crawford
County Have Built and Are Using
Their First Silos This Wear.

s
Many Of the Farmers Of: Crawford
County Have Built and Are Using
Their First silos This Wear.
MAY NEED SOME SUGGESTIONS
Waiiaces' Farmer Prints the Follow.
lowing and Same May. Be Read by
Non-Readers Of That Paper.
A great many Of our readers have
this year built their first silos, and
they may need some suggestions as,
to the way to feed out the silage. Some
of them are likely to be disappointed
with the results. They may expect
too much to begin with. If disap-
pointment comes, however, it will not
be because OF the silage, but because
OF the mistakes they have made eth
er in the construction or filling of the
silo, or in feeding out the silage.
Some of them may have built the
silo too wide, for its height, and hence
there is not the pressure there would
be il, they had made it narrower and
higher. When silos were first built,
farmers thought the silage ought to
be weighted down with stone or some
thing else, They found out by expert
ence that il they buflt them high
enough and not too wide, the silage
would furnish its own weight. Some
Of them may have built the silo too
large for the amount Of stock they
have to feed, and hence can not take
of enough from the top each day to
keep the silage in good condition.
Some OF them may have put in corn
too dry, or frosted. They may not
have used enough water to make up
for the lack of moisture in the corn
Some Of them may not have distrib-
uted sle grain equally, so that the sill
age may be rich in some places and
poor in others. These are some ,of
the mistakes which they may have
made, some Of which can he corrected
easily another, and some not.
Even if no mistakes have been made
In the construction. there are likely to
be some made lin feeding out; the sill
age There will inevitably be "a lot
of poor silage on top when the farmer
first begins to feed out Of the silo. He
may undertake to- get the value out
of it by feeding to stock. Don't feed
spoiled silage. :. II the silage has been
we'll tramped, has been covered with
burlap OF sown with oats. or protectsd
lin some way, there would not have
been so much gt31xES1sglaet That
can. not be helped now. fhIuN AWAY !,
what is on top, and feed only the so6d
silage. ses3F I'll -
Next, be. careful. not to feed too
much of it ut first. It Is never wise
to give any animal q full feed Of any
grain or forage, not even grass The
system must become used to 1t, and
'thfs can be done only by degrees.
Don't feed too much ct hrst. Never
feed more than the animal eats up
clean. f2 s,e
Begin with your dairy cows. By and
by, you will get then. mp to point
where they will consume thirty pounds
day some big cows possibly forty.
Don't assume for a moment that stl. Z
age is balanced ration. II is not.
There is nothing more In the silage
than there was in the corn or sorghum
that went into the silo There is real
ly not as much, for fermentation has
been going on, and fermentation al
ways means more or less deficiency In
plant food. Silage, however. Is the
best, and in the end the cheapest win
ter feed you can get Therefore, You
can bank on it.
What feed must be given to bal
ance up the silage?. That depends on
what you have and what you are feed
-, t.,t.A ~ hnu havonnn ho
cause it contains, the flesh formers.
while silage is fattenfng and heat
producing feed. Glover hay Is the
next best. Eighteen to twenty pounds
Of clover hay. or fifteen to sixteen
pounds of alfalfa and thirty to forty
pounds of silage, would make q proper
balance for the dairy COW. Timothy
hay is probably the poorest balance
for silagc, because 1t ID too much like
corn in its composition. Cowpea hay
or soy bean hay will rank close to
clover. The same may be said OF
sweet clover. lf'you are feeding dairy
cows. and don't have any of these.
you had better sell your timothy hay
or your wild hay and substitute oats
or barley. The best substitute will be
hSdls w AbSA 80 AAAAVsy w w
cheaper this year on account Of the
misfortunes of the cotton farmers Of
the south.
Go little slow about feeding silage
to horses. A few pounds once In q
while will be ali right but be sure
that 1t is not mouldy. SilaGe II not
of much use for hogs. They can't
hold enough of it. You can use 1t to
good advantage with your cattle,
Give them .ii9ge and corn fodder or
shredded fudGel, and enough nesh
formers to balance that, an you ought
to be able to keep young cattle or stock
cattle through the winter e4eaper than
you can in any other waya and still
keep them growing.
We shall have to learn by experi-
ence. We can not learn to farm 0r
feed live stock altogether out of books
or agricultural papers or bulletins.
These will give you, facts, knowledge,
but not wisdom Wisdom is simply
knowledge worked in, aud you must
do the work. Close observation will
help you get practical wisdom. or
knowledge and the wit to use it.-Wal-
laces Farmer.
There are some men who would be
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