Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1919-06-27
Nors Cattle Can Be Fed Il win.
t9 Fssd Problem Is Solved
IL This Way
GOOD Sl0 PAYS FOR ITSELF
The sllo Uses All Of the Corn Plant,
while Common Methods % Harvest
Inc the Crop caWss a LOss OF q
Third Of Its Feed Value.
CBy L. "A. Richardson, Division OF En-
tension, University Of Tennessee,
Knoxyilla.1

AEAHiOAAe GAtHCANAtF va ACAnIEaEEa
KnOxvllle.)
In maintaining system Of live
stock farming, the question Of winter
feed presents a big problem TO many
Tennessee farmers. It Ii common in
every section Of the state to hear the
statement from farmers that, Il would
like to keep more cattle were able to
solve the winter feed problem on my
farm" 1t is true, the carrying ca
Dacity OF many farmers in summer on
pasture is much greater than the num-
Der of cattle which may be fed thru
the winter.
Hundreds of farmers in the state
are solving this very problem to their
own satisfaction. The solution in this
state, as wen as elsewhere, comes by
the addition of a silo to the farm
equipment. Silage, next to blue grass,
is the cheapest and most economical
ration the Tennessee farmer can pro.
vide. There are three factors which
control the cost Of this cheap sHccu
lent feed: the cost Of raising the crop
the tonnage per acre, and the cost Of
filling the sil0. OF course, the first
two factors of raising the crop and
harvesting have to be considered, re-
CARELESS Of the disposition Of the crop,
However, the third factor, and this
is the one which scares 50 many farm.
ers when considering the building Of
a silo, Is not so great, after all. The
cost Of storing the crop in the sil0,
as compared to harvesting and storing
the corn and fodder, varies little. Els.
Inmates have been complied on the
acre basis, under normal labor cOndi.
tons, which show that the variation
in COSY is from Hfty cents to one dol.
lar. The assembling Of the labor to do
the job all at once is the real problem,
and not 80 much the cost.
Another thing worth consideration
is the fact that the whole corn plant
il used According to the common
practice on many farms from 20 to 80
per cent Of the feeding value of the
corn plant is conserved Not only the
feeding value Of the grain itself is pre-
served, but also the stalk and foliage
Methods OF handling the slower, when
it is not put in the silo, causes great
loss. In feeding the fodder or slower,
the animal is unable to consume tho
stalk, and In addition much of the
foliage skaters and is thus wasted.
The tonnage Of forage per acre must
naturally be taken into consideration,
An acre Of corn converted into silaga
will feed two and one-half times far
Their than when fed in dry form. Most
any Tennessee land will produce from
8 to 10 tons of sIlage. Thus, not only
is there an Increased tonnage Of feed
per acre, but also the carrying ca
pacity Of an acre is one and One-halt
times greater
By experiences, every farmer knows.
that corn, when It has reached ma
turity for harvest, makes good feed
for livestock. The silo renders it pes
sIble to preserve the plant when 1t has
reached its highest form Of nutritiye
value. Silage in It's relationship to
other feeds and rOughages bears the
same position as canned vegetables to
other food on the table. Thus, the
plant remains In a form which is not
only nutritious, bSt also succulent and
thOroly palatable. Experience has
taught the farmer that animals do
best on pasture, hence, the nearer
pasture conditions can be initiated
during the winter feeding periods the
better results farmers will secure.
Frequently the question arises that
cattle wintered on silage do not make
good gains on pasture. The Virginia
and West Virginia experiment sta
lions have proven that the annual gain
of cattle wintered on silage and finish
ed on pasture is greater and more
economical than that of those winter
ed on other roughages, and finished ON
grass like grass, silage is laxative,
cooling, and succulent. Hence, the
change from silage to grass may be
made with less disturbance TO the di-
gestive systems and consequently no
loss in weight.
Another important feature to be
taken into consideration on the farm
is the space used in storing roughage.
Silage can be stored In less space than
any other form Of roughage. A cubic
foot of hay in the NOW weighs about
S pounds, contains approximately 4.3
pounds of dry matter. An average
cubic foot Of corn silsge from SO-fOOt
sllo weighs about 1913 pounds, will con-
tain 10.4 pounds Of dry matter, OF
nearly two and one-half times az
much. Dry corn fodder takes up more
space per pound than hay, Thus, the
sIlo economies in building space for