The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1915-05-18
SllOS AND SIlAGf

The most common method of pre-
serving forage crops for use during
the winter is to dry them out, or cure"
them, as hay or fodder. Dry feeds,
however, are much less desirable for
some kinds of live stock, than is the
fresh green grass or forage as it
grows in the field. Everyone is fam
liar with the increased vitality and
functional activity as manifested by
flow of milk, egg production, increase
in lightweight, etc, that all kinds
of live stock take on when turned out
to pasture on green feed in the spring.
The silo is an alright structure
used for the preservation of green,
coarse, fodder in its juicy, succulent
condition If such green, juicy for lge
is piled up in heap in the open air, it
will begin to heat or ferment, and
finally rot, so as to become worthless
for feed But if packed tightly into
an air-tight silo, it first heats slightly,
because of the fermentation processes,
but these processes soon use up all the
air that was packed with the cut
material and the fermentation stops
because of lack of air After this stage
is reached the slightly fermented ma
tcrial, now known as silage, will keep
indefinitely so long as it is not opened
to the air This slightly fermented
fodder, or silage, is greatly relished by
all kinds of livestock and is practically
the equivalent of the fresh green ma
terial from which it is made in feed
ing value.
The advantages of the sio are; a.
Forage crops can be harvested in any
lind of ain dnaS
fere (2) Feed is near at hand and
does not have to be hauled when
weather is bad or fields are soft. (3)
Economy of storage space. A cubic
foot of hay in the NOW weighs five
pounds. A cubic foot of silage in a
silo 80 feet deep weighs about SO
pounds. In the cubic foot of the sill
age, there is more than twice as much
actual nutriment or food value as in
the same volume of hay "a The quail
ity of feed is uniform and no feed is
wasted. Where hay or cured fodder
is fed, much of the coarse parts of the
plant is refused. 60 Good silage
takes the place of grass or other green
feed and practically furnishes pasture
conditions throughout the year. This
results in larger milk flow. (6) For
liiS iStSl ICaSOL anu DCSduoS ~ ACHuSSS
the amount of high priced feeds re-
quired, it makes winter dairying pro-
fitable. ca Tends to early develop
ment of dairy heifers and promotes
| thrift and vigor in all cattle.
Objections urged against use of silo
are that they are expensive and re-
Quire expensive silage cutters. These
will be largely answered by later dis
cussion.
The location of the silo is very i'm
portant The silage is fed every day
throughout the winter and spring, usu-
| ally twice a day. Therefore the silo
| should be handy to the barn, yet the
| silage odors should not penetrate the
whole stable In most cases the silo
will be set three to five feet into the
ground and this calls for a well drain
ed site. In addition the silo should be
easily accessible for filling.
The size of silo will depend on the
number of animals to be fed and the
length of the feeding period. Usually
a silo is not advisable for less than
eight cows Forty pounds of silage
per COW per day is considered a good
ration, varying with different indiIid-
uals. The following table indicates
the amount of silage required to feed
from eight to forty-five cows for six
months, 40 pounds each per day: