Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1921-09-08
WON IN sILo CONTEST !.
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Quoted by the Farmers Mail and
Breeze. The following letter by
him was published In the Mail and
Breeze for Sept. s and will interest
home folks. 1t Is entitled And Dad
Saw Light:
Why have a silo on the farm? Be-
cause it Is one Of the best paying in
yestments that can be made on any
type of farm. Hundreds of farm
ers have questioned the value Of the
silo on the farm since its first in
PRODUCTION In the United States In
1875 but it has now proved its
worth In being the most economical
means in reducing the cost Of pro
ducing livestock.
Dad came to these conclusion IN
the fall of 1919. We had at that
time ave good milk cows and II
head Of young steers. AT that time
YOU remember that feed was very
high. We had a good field Of corn
that would make some feed, but SO
much would be wasted II fed as dry
fodder. Dad then began to investi-
gate to ascertain how to use the feed
to the best advantage. He decided
the silo would do It and 1t did.
We had to consider then the type
of silo that would stand the test FOR
the years to come. One neighbor
had built a light wooden silo with
a pit 8 or 10 feet deep. Every
spring, when empty, the overground
section blew down so he had the ex-
pense of putting 1t up In the fall.
Another man made one so light that
when 1t was filed 1t bulged out be-
tween the hoops leaving large cracks
so that much of the silage spoiled.
After comparing the different
types Of silos for some time we de-
cided the cement stave silo was best
fitted to our needs. We decided on
this tyne because 1t needed no
anchors, would not blow down and
the hoops did not have to be tight
ened.
1t was also very quickly put up
which was great advantage be-
cause the corn was ready to be put
in. We had the first cost, which
wasn't prohibitive and it is standing
today as perfect as the day it was
put up.
We put all Of the corn in the silo
that fall and in that way converted
the feed that would have been but
little better than nothing into a pal
atable and nutritious feed. by feed
ing the cattle a little high priced
alfalfa with all of the ensiage they
would clean up and letting them run
to the straw stack we wintcrcd them
through in good condition We did
MT make any money because we
bought the cattle in the fall when
they were high and the high priced
labor in harvesting the feed. In the
spring the bottom had dropped out
of the cattle prices but despite this
fact we just about broke even, which
is far better than losing a big pile
of cash which would have been the
case If we had fed the fodder and
lots of high priced hay that it would
have taken to winter them through
in the same condition that we did.
The silo also gives another big
advantage which Is often overlooked
by farmers, and that is in producing
manure. This is because all the
stalks are cut up so that the cattle
eat everything and the plant food
is broken up so that the plants are
able to assimulate ii the first year
that it is put on the land. 1t also is
a great labor saving convenience.
ANY man who has handled manure
full of cOrnStalks will acknowledge
this fact. In most cases the usual
practice is to leave the stalky ma
nure in the feed lot until the stalks
decay and in this way over one-half
the plant food is lost through leach
ing away into the ground. This is
very expensive to the farmer and to
the generations to come because we
have been robbing the soil and put
ting nothing back, which is reducing
the yields every year, making 1t
more expensive to produce the crops.
The silO Is big factor on the
dairy farm because il supplies
palatable food when the cows have
MT pastures and in this way helps
to keep up the maximum milk sup
ply. Ideal conditions for dairying
would be to have nice green pas
fures all the year around. This, Of
course is impossible and must be
supplemental from some other
source. The ideal conditions are
more nearly met by having two
silos, one to feed out during the
winter months and another which
should be smaller in diameter to
feed out in the late summer when
the pastures are dry.
Many farmers have found 1t very
profitable to put their wet or weedy
hay in the silO and 1t makes good
feed which otherwise would have
spoiled or wasted. Often it turns
wet when you have the hay down
so that it doesn't cure. II you have
silo to put 1t in you save the crop
from spelling and have a good palat-
able feed besides.
The silo provides very conven-
lent means Of storing large guam
tity Of feed in a small amount OF
space. This is great labor propo-
sition because it eliminates the
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