The Pulaskian., 1916-06-09
FORAGE CROPS FORARKANSAS
No. 7. siIage.
By R. H. Mason, Dairy Husbandmap
 Bureau of Animal Industry.

Bureau of Animal Industry.
 An acre of corn can be placed in the silo at cost not exceeding that oi shocking, husking, grinding and shred. ding. Crops can be put into the silo during weather that could not be util, ized in making hay or curing fodder In some localities this is an impor- tant consideration. A given amount of corn in the form of silage will pro. duce more milk than the same amount when shocked and dried. There is less waste in feeding silage than in feeding fodder. Good silage, properly fed, is all consumed Converting the corn crop into silage clears the land and leaves it ready for another crop sooner than if corn is shocked and husked.
 Almost any green crop can be suc- cessfully made into silage if sufficient care is taken to force out the air from the material On account of the diff cu1ty, however, of expelling air from plants with hollow stem, such as timothy, oats and barley, these crops are rarely put into the silo.
 In all parts of the United States use, the principal silage crop is corn One reason for this is that ordinarily corn will produce more food material to the acre than any other crop, ex- cept sorghum. Corn makes an excel lent quality cf silage. Since some dry forage should always be fed with the silage, it is better to use the legumi- nous hay in this way than to convert the crop into silage.
 In some sections it is common practice to plant the corn little thicker when raised for silage than for grain. Weeds should be kept out, or they will be cut with the corn and may impair the quality of the silage. The amount of silage that can be obtained from an acre of corn will vary from four to twenty tons or more. A 50-bushelperacre crop of corn will yield about to 12 tons of silage per acre, depending upon the amount of foliage and stalk that ac- companies the ear Southern varie- ties of corn, as a rule, carry lasger portion of the plant in the form or stalk and leaves than do the Northern grown varieties.
 Corn should be harvested for the silo at about the same time that 1t IS harvested for fodder; that is, when the grain has become glazed and the lower leaves of the stalk have turned brown.
 Silage made from immature corn IS not only less nutritious, but also more acid than that made from more ma ture corn. The corn should not be al- lowed to become thoroughly ripe ana dry, however, because stalk and foli age are rendered more difficult to d. gest, and, besides, the corn cannot be packed into the silo tightly enough to prevent "fire-fanging" without using excessive amounts of water.
 Sorghums, both saccharine and non saccharine, are readily made into si- lage. On account of their superlority to corn as drought-resisting crops they are more dependable and yield more tonnage in some sections. The Kan sas station reports that if the sor- ghums are harvested at the proper stage of maturity-that is. when the seed has become hard-they VIII make silage which is less acid anu more palatable than silage made Iron corn. Furthermore, it's experiments indicate that there is little difference in the feeding values of these sllages' It is important that the sorghums pe harvested at the proper state ol ina- turity if the best results are to De secured. A mixture of corn ana soi- ghum has proved satisfactory Ill soine localities where the rainfull was so variable as to make the corn crop un- certain.
 Silage is the best and cheapest sup stitute for grass which IS the pess known COW feed. A given acreage U, silage crops will produce more feeu than it would if used for pasture nay or other roughage. S1lage Keeps 'ne digestive organs in good conditions adds bloom and finish, and increases the milk flow. The silo can be nneu during rainy weather that would run hay or fodder. The cost of filling ene silo is not greater than that of snoch' ing and shredding. Silage IS tne cheapest and best supplement loi short pastures in summer. The loss caused by lack of feed in summer ID as great as that due to improper Ieeu, ing in winter. Silage makes use ., the whole plant, and silage of goou quality is all eaten.
 A farmer cannot afford to bulia silo if he has fewer than six or eigns cows and young cattle. and he canhU afford to be without silo ii ne nas ten or more head. It is not advlsat.s to feed silage to hogs, and 1t snc1a.s| L loo 8U8k-z