East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-07-29
S|LO IS PASTURE
| UNDER COVER SAYS
| OREGON STOCK MAN
Benefits Derived From Use of
Silage Very Often Overlook
ed by Livestock Growers.

a CORVALLIS, July 29.-Silage aside
from being an economical feed for
sheep and cattle is a good insurance
against long drawn out winter or
short hay crop in Eastern Oregon.
"Stockmen generally have rot ap-
fprecated the full worth of silo in
this connection" says H. A. Lindgren,
HeXtension livestock fieldman at o. A.
C. When hay was high in price, the
isaving resulting from the use of silage
was inducement enough. The effects
iof slage on the animal is a point that
Sdnakes it of exceptional importance to
sthe stockman.
'Silage reduces the amount of hay
srequired in the ration by one third.
Two pounds of silage is equal to a
apound of hay in feeding value, ac-
scording to most results. Some report
higher values than this. Ordinarily it
can be figured that two tons of silage
bcan be put in the silo more cheaply
than one ton of hay in the stack, de-
pending on the yield and manner han
died"
The Union. Oregon, experiment sta
tion has found in three years trials
/ that a combination of hay and silage
produced twice the daily gains at half
%he cost compared with a ration of
z hay alone.
Sheepmen find one pound of silage
added to the ration of a lanbing eve
& increases the milk flow and produces
Thereby a better lamb.
ANY stockman this last spring
would have felt like he was sitting on
top of the world, had he been fortu-
nate enough to own silo full of good
silage, during those last two or three
weeks when hay was gone and it was
too early to turn out on grass" Mr..
I Lindgren asserted.
AS an Oregon stocknan puts it "a
silo is a pasture under cover"
There used to be q worry about. a
\ crop for silage where corn could not
be grown. Other crops are nov
found to make good silage, such as
oats and peas, or sunflowers. The
sunflowers are especially adapted to
short seasons or high attitudes. They
are known to have resisted a temper
/ ature as low as 26 degrees They
yield very heavily and make an excel
lent grade of silage for wintering
stock
In Wheeler county s. II. Edwards of
Maryville has a silo and five acres of
| sunflowers this year that will yield 90
tons per acre. Last year he fed out
bunch of steers and cows on sun
flower silage and hay. They made
around pound and a half of grain a
day per head. They ate 81 pounds of
hay day and "a pounds of silage On,
hay alone it ordinarily requires 35
pounds of hay to put on one pound
of gain.
One stockdnan in Wallowa county in
192O-21, got a gain of pound and
three quarters day with sunflower
silage and hay.
There are localities where corn can
be grown which of course is the
standard silage crop. Pea and bald
barley silage is about as good as corn
for fattening, according to the Union
station results. Silage has been
great money saver.
1T really makes no difference what
make or type the silo is just so it has
circular, air tight walls. Some cost
more than others and that is the de-
termining factor. Pit silos are rated
as costing least where conditions are
right for building them. Freight
charges affect the price on silo mate
rial shipped in. The county agent or
Oregon Agricultural college will be
glad to advise on specific cases where
q silo is required.