The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-06-11
News for the Farmer

| grass, meat IN Cne form OF worms
! and insects, and broken rocks. If
we expect to feed fowls for increas-
ed reproduction, it will be neces-
sary to prolong the sprink-like con-
dition as much as possible through
out the entire year. If we expect,
therefore, to produce the most
butter or beef at the least cost, we
should prolong throughout the en-
tire year pasturue-like condition.
More butter and beef can be pro-
duced and produced more cheaply
from feeding silage than from any
other method of feeding that does
not include silage. Records show
that the, feeding of silage to cattle
at the Indiana Experiment Station
for eight years produced a profit of
$15,24 per head against $685. per
head for those fed no silage, or
$3.50 in favor of feeding silage. The
silo provides plenty of %succulent
feed during the winter and is rel
ished by cattle. More feed can be
stored in the same place in the form
of silage than can be stored in the
form of hay and fodder. An acre
of land planted to silage crops will
produce more feed than the same
acre will produce if planted in any
other, crop. Summing up, these are
the advantages of silage: (1) 1t is
cheap, succuluent, and palatable,
(2) it is a substitute for p~asturue,
(3) can be stored in a very small
place, az it is convenient and han
dy to feed, (5) there is NJ waste in
feeding silage, (6) the largest a.
mount of feed al be produced
from an acre of land, and CD more
butter and beef can be produced
most economically from feeding sill
age than from any other method of
feeding that does not include silage.
For the man that has ten or more
head of cattle the building of a
silo would be the greatest invest
ment he could possibly make. There
are five silos in Mccormick County
and none, of the owners regret hay
ing ever built them; they will tell
you they are worth about twice what
they cost. There is one man in the
state who says he can afford. to build
a wood hoop silo, every year.
There are two types of silos in
common use-the concrete and the
wood hoop. As to which type a man
should build will depend very large
ly on certain conditions. The man
who has enough cattle to justify
building a silo and is not able to-
build concrete silo should build
a wood hoop silo. A wood hoop silo
will cost around $1.25 per ton ca
pacity, that is, a 100 ton wood hoop
silo will cost about s125, depending
on the labor and cost of materials.
These figures are based on bought
materials. By saving the tongue
and grooved flooring the silo should
not cost more than 500 or 500. For
example, it will take around 1000
feet of foring to build a 100 ton
silo, costing $40. If a mar own the
timber and has to pay only for the
saving, the silo should not cost,
perhaps, more than $75, including,
80 bags of cement costing $24. A
concrete silo will cost about $500
per ton capacity, or $500 for a 100
ton sila. If a man is keeping al
small herd of cattle and expects to-
increase it later on, it will pay to
build a wood hoop silo. When he
has SO or more head of cattle he car
then put up a concrete silo. The
wood hoop silo is a step toward the
concrete silo; it will help you build
a concrete silo. So far as the keep
ing quality of the silage is con-
cerned, a wood hoop silo is just as
good as the concrete silo. An air.
tight receptacle is all that is neces-
sary to preserve silage. There are
no doubt many farmers who have
never built silos that really needed
them and would have been a paying