The Ozark spectator., 1917-04-14
Forage Crops for Arkansas Eight Studtcs in Supplementary
 Farm Feeds.
FORAGE CROPS FORARKANSAS
No. 7. SlIa0e.
V R. H Mason, Dairy HusbandmAn'
 Bureau of Animal Industry.

An sore of corn can be placed i'll the siio at a cost not exceeding that or shocking. husking. grinding and shred ding. Crops can be put into the silo during weather that could not be utlF fred 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 siage, properly fed, is all consumed. Converting the corn crop into silage clears the land and leaves 1t ready for another crop sooner than if corn is shocked and huslred
 Almost any green crop can be sue sessfully made into silage sufhcient care is taken to force out the ST fros the material On account of the din- culty, however, of expelling air rom plants with hollow stem, such a timothy, oats and barley, these crops ase rarely put into the sifo.
 1 In all parts of the United States where the silo has come into general use. the principal Silsge crop IS corn ] One reason for this Is that ordinarily corn will produce more food matsrial 10 the acre than any other crop, ex- cept sorghum. Corn makes an excei- l lent quality of silage. Since some dry l forage should always be fed with the l silage, it Is better to use the leguml- ! nous hay in this way than to convert ] the crop into silage.
 In some sections it is common practice to plant the corn little i thicker when raised for silage than 1 for grain. Weeds should be kept out, l or they will he cut with the corn and may impair the quality Of the ] silage. The amount of silage that can ] he obtained from an acre Of corn VIII vary from four to twenty tons or i more. A 50-bushel-per-acre crop of corn will yield about to IF tons Of silage per acre, depending upon the amount of foliage and stalk that ac- | companies the ear Southern varie- ties of corn. as rule, carry larger portion of the plant in the form oi stalk and leaves than do the Northern grown varieties.
 i 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.
 snage made from immature corn is not only less nutritious, but also more acid than that made from more ma ture coYn. The corn should not be al- lowed to become thoroughly ripe and 1 dry however because stalk and foh- age arc rendered more difficult to di- xsst, and, besides, the corn cannot be packed into the silo tightly enough to prevent "hre-fanging without using excessive amounts of water.
 9crghums. both saccharine and non saceharine, are readily made into si- l lage. On account of their superiority to corn as drousht-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 i stage of maturity-that Is. when the seed has become hard-.they will make silage which is less acid and more palatable than silage made from corn. Furthermore, its experiments indicate that there is little difference in the feeding values of these silages. It is important that the sorghums be 1 harvested a1 the proper state of ma turity if the best results are to be secured. A mixture of corn and sor- ! ghum has proved satisfactory in some localities where the rainfull was so variable as to make the corn crop un- certain
 1 Silage is the best and cheapest sub stitute for grass which is the best known COW feed. A given acreage of silage crops will produce more feed than it would if used for pasture. hay ! or other roughags Silage keeps the digestive organs in good condition, adds bloom and tdinish, and increases the milk flow The silo can be filled during rainy weather that would ruin hay or fodder The cost of filling the silo is not greater than that of shock ing and stTeddins Silage is the l cheapest hnd best supplement for short past ures in summer. The loss caused by lack of feed in summer is as great as that due to improper feed ing in winter Silage makes use of ? the whole plant, and silage of good quality is all eaten.
 farmer cannot afford to build a silo if he' has fewer than six or eight cows and! young cattle. and he cannot afford tor be without a silo if he has ten or more head. It is not advisable to feed .sil1ge to hogs, and 1t should be fed C. a9recs and ID ules very spar [ ingiS faS and moidy silaSs VI 1 poison ,hese animals.