Arizona republican., 1917-02-15
.Awzon0 St0ckmem Realize Value 0f Ensilage As Feed

The pit silo is coming into more gen. eral use in the dry farming districts of the state, particularly is this true of Cochise county. The pit silo has the advantage of being cheaper than any other form of SilO, and requires less power to cut the Silage and a smaller cutter than an above ground sllo. A very interesting bulletin on the pit silo has been published by the extension service of the Arizona College of Agri culture. The bulletin was written by MT A. L. Paschal, agricultural agent of Cochise county. MT. PaSchal has col lected the data on number of SilOS in Cochise county and gives the cost of constructing silos of different depths, and diameters, and also the cost of cementmg them.
 Another type of underground silo, on Ralph Murphy's farm is described in a recent issue of the Southwestern Stockman- Farmer, as follows
 Unlike most underground silos, this is not round or square, but is merely a long and comparatively shallow trench. The length is about 100 feet, width 20 feet and the excavation is 14 feet. The work of eXcavating was prac- tically all done with teams and Fresno Scrapers. The earth from the eXcava tion was thrown around the edges forming an embankment about four feet high. This embankment serves as a protection from water and to some extent, probably, from gophers The trench lies north and south, the north end slopes from the bottom of the trench to the surface. Necessarily a rather steep grade, but no more steep than many hills found on the roads in our hill country.
 Tn using the silage from this trench silo the team is backed down the in- cline and the silage taken from the end ] of the trench rather than the top
 Tn filling, the cut forage is dropped near the middle of the trench. and a team of mules, hitched to a scraper travel back and forth all the time the silo is being filled. The scraper drags and scatters the silage, and the mules pack it, so that by ..ie time the silC is full, which has of course taken a matter of at least week or ten days there is no further settling.
 The silage is covered with old hay straw, etc. to protect it from the ail as much as possible. --nere being in q silo of this kind an unusual amount oi surface exposed it is necessary to pro tect the top more thorough than in 6 deep silo.
 So far this silo has given most ex. cellent satisfaction. It will hold verl close to 500 tons, and cost to excavatt about S200, making the cost per toI capacity about B cents"
 The underground silo in an irrigated district should be protected in som, way to prevent watei from getting int, it. There is always the danger tha gophers will undermine and furnish l,,I,.
 irrigated district who contemplates ex cavating an underground silo shcul keep this fact well in mind, and if h is not able to guard against possibl flooding from irrigation water, shoul
 consider only the above ground silo.
 The one crop which has given tn most universal satisfaction in all part of the country is Indian corn. Ther f are many substitutes which make yer satisfactor- silage.s Kafir, milo, and tn , sweet sofghums are all good and mak : very faff silage. A mixture of corn an 2 sweet sorghum is good and will giv , 1 very nearly equal fe= ting value to tn , straight corn silage. With the improve
 Mexican June, corn. or as it is know
 the Sacaton Mexican June, there is
 reasonable certainty that the crop wi
 mature if planted from the fifteent
 to the later part of July, and it is nc
 too much to expect a yield of ten tor
 per acre in the Salt River valley wit
 good care
 From a bulletin. '"The Silo in Cal 1 fornia Agriculture" recently issued - the California experiment station, V z quote the following regarding oats al Il other grains for silage
 Green oats, volunteer grain, and otl
 CT cereal folders are occasionally silos U when grown for forage or in case the y can not be used for grain. They a '' cut when the kernels are past the mi stage and filled into the silo after ha' II ing been ran through cutter If u 1 grain has become nearly ripe, it is ne 'l essary to add considerable water to u = green fodder as it goes into the si n either through the blower or in the si l after each load. and the cut mass mu y be carefully distributed and tramp = down along the wall of the silo. Oat 5s barley or wheat silage made Tn tf 'i manner is of excellent quality and flu nishes a very palatable, nutritio feed for cattle and sheep"
 Copies of the bulletin referred - Pit Silos and How to Make Then ,e may be obtained at the chamber
 commerce, Phoenix.