Arizona republican., 1917-06-27

Under the title, The Silo in Arizo na.' M F. Bemis. secretary of the Maricopa County Farm bureau in thf June number of Hoard's Dairyman, 1 the best recognized national dairy l journal, has a most interesting article. The article in question tells the his ] tory of the silo in this valley and 1 something about the value of silage as feed. The different types of silos are described and picture of the con- crete slo built by County Supervisor Bradshaw is shown, while not the least interesting feature is a description of Ralph Murphy's trench silo.
 The article is as follows:
 1 The general impression of the first dairy farmers of Arizona was that where alfalfa grew with such luXuri- ance, and remained green the year around there was little need for silos especially as winter grain made a most | excellent pasture with no decrease in the yield of grain-in fact, the chances of a good crop are believed to be en- 1 hanced by moderate pasturing through the winter or until about the middle of February.
 With 100000 acres of alfalfa, a con- siderable portion of which has grain sown in it in the fall, and thirty to forty thousand acres of grain, there was usually plenty of green feed for the few thousand dairy cows and the range steers which feeders were fin ] ishing for the market
 With dairy cows increasing until they number 65,000 head. and more being shipped in besides the naturM increase; with range cattle men getting into the feeding game by buying or 1 leasing alfalfa farms: and with the number of sheep that are annually wintered on alfalfa pasture numbering 1 50,000 head, it may well be imagined that the amount of green feed available is not now enough to go around. The First Silos
 Four years ago two silos were built. These were the first One of these was at Tempe and one near Phoenix. The Tempe silo was the Wisconsin 1 type, and the Phoenix silo was plain l stave silo There were skeptics who prophesied that a wood silo was not I adapted to a hot climate and would 1 dry out and fall down Well, these l two first silos did not fall down. they | didn't dry up. and have given perfect satsfa ction. They have stood up quite as well as a wood silo stands up in any climate-better in fact than in some for the reason that there being fewer storms and high winds there is very much less danger of their being blown down. Practical experience has shown l that if the wood silo is well built and | properly taken care of. it is just as practical here as in the damper sec tions of the country.
 l Since the first two slos were built dozens of others have been put up. Several of these are concrete silos, one of these is on the farm of the Pa cific Creamery Co. at Tempe, where one of the first two silos in the valley was built. These people are enthusias- tic in praise of both silos. but favor the concrete believing it to be more economical in the long run This is the opinion too, of J. R. Bradshaw. one of the prominent dairymen and a Hol- stein breeder of the valley. who built a concrete silo about two years ago and will build another this season Several silos have been built of red wood slaves, and these are giving most excellent satisfaction. Redwood does not check as does pine and hence is more desirable building material for dry climate Redwood too is one of the most durable woods: as compared with concrete, it is of course much cheaper, though there are places where sand and gravel may be ob- tained very easily and lumber has to be hauled considerable distance, that the concrete may be cheaper. With the experience of the few years that silos have been in use here, it seems that for permanence and economy the well made concrete silo is to be pre- ferred, but for a durable silo that is well suited to a warm climate anC where it is necessary to economize or first cost, the redwood stave siIo i. the one to build.
 A Trench SiIo
 The advantages of the silo are now so apparent that there is a tendenc, to try some substitute for the nor, expensive concrete or redwood Nat rdrally the most popular substitute i. he pit or underground silo The p silo is less desirable in an irrieate, country than elsewhere for the req son that gophers are likely to under mlne and let the water in, flooding tn silage and spelling it. A number o pit silos have been in use now for ; year or two, and so far as I hav heard. with excellent results Ralpl Murphy living north of Phoenix ha, a trench silo. This is unlike mos underground silos in that it is no round or square but is merely a lon, ana comparatively shallow trench. Tn length is about 100 feet, width 20 feet ana the excavation IA feet deep. Tn work of excavating was done aimos entirely with teams and scrape known Tn this western country as
 'Fresno' scraper. The earth from th excavation was thrown around tn edges, forming an embankment fou feet high. At one end the slo slope with rather steep grade to the sur lace. In using the silage it is GU down from the end instead of the tor ana a team and wagon is backed dow the incline and the wagon loaded. | filling, the cut silage is cut and drop
 ped near the middle and the silae scattered with team dragging a sma1 scraper. The team serves also { pack 1t very thoroughly, the top covered with old hay, straw. or any
 thing which will shut out the air. will be readily seen that the objection able feature of this silo is the proDor
 tionately large amount of surface ey
 posed on top. With care in coverint
 the loss of silage may be reduced { small amount. and in some section
 of the country it might be much les
 than the additional cost of filling a
 ordinary above ground silo. Mir Mur
 phy has filled his slo for two season
 with very good results, and is very we
 satisfied with it.
 Value of the Sio