Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-09-22
Filling a SiIo Properly


yB.P j., Reynolds, Ga, writes;
I have purchased a silo which
is the first one in Taylor county,
and I wish some advice in regard .
to filing it. l have field OF
corn and velvet beans from
which / wan, to fill it. VIII it be
all right to put the velvet beans
in? The corn is getting ripe but
the beans are IN?
The silo. as you doubtless know.
should BIS as nearly alright as pos
eible. Unless this is true, there will
develop a leakage Of air in from the
outside. and it causes moldy spots
to develop along the interior wall Of
the silo. The amount of moldy silaSe
will depend on the extent of the
sir-leakaGe. In any event, it will
cause considerable damage. Moldy
silage will cause indigestion and sick
ness among animals eating it. There
fore it should be eliminated from
the feed trough and disposed of in
some other manner.
On the other hand, the filling of a
silo Is not very difficult task. Corn
and velvet beans should make a
very good grade of slage. Velvet
beans contain more moisture than
corn. Therefore the harvesting of
the crop hsould not be undertaken
until the beans are nearly ripe.
When this condition pertains, cut
the corn and beans with a corn har-
vester. Bind in sheaves. Allow to
lie on the groun for several hours.
v During this time, there will be
considerable amount of bleeding from
the velvet beans. This is quite de-
sirable, as it gets rid of some of the
surplus water this crop contains.
Haul your corn and leans directly
to the silage cutter and chop the
whole mass up finely together. Drive
1T into the silo with an automatic
4 draft. One man should be kept in
the silo to see that the silage is
piled and packed tightly against the
outside wall. This is an important
matter to bear in mind, because the
more uniformly the silage is diStrib-
uted and the more tightly it is pack
ed against the wall, the better it will
keep. If you run corn and velvet
beans into the slo when they are
in too green a condition, to much
of feed and will tend to cause I'm.
due fermentation ard the production
of sour silagH. This is objectionable.
Troubles Of t'1is kind call he avoided
by proceeding in The manner indiCat'
ed. Velvet beans, when grown with
corn, often makes q tangled mass Of
vegetation which is difficult to han
die. On that account. we now use a
mixture Of kaffir corn and red-head
sorghum for our silage crop. We
plant them in alternate rows. We
obtain large yield by this plan and
grow a crop which is strongly re-
sistent to drouth conditions and
which, when properly handled,
makes a superior quality Of silage.
Putting Out an Experimental
Area of Tobacco
r. 7. T., WayCross Ga. I want
to grow tobacco next year. and
want all the information I can
get on preparing the land, max
ing the seed bed. transplanting.
curing and the type of soil best
suited to the crop.
The kind of land on which to-
bacco should be planted depends al
together on the grade OF this crop
one desires to produce. You are nat.
urally in the bright leaf tobacco belt
and so should select soil for plant
ing adapted to the production of this
crop. Naturally, the light colored,
sandy soils produce the brightest to-
hacco. You have a good deal Of this
. soil In your county. Dark soils, or
those containing high percenta &c
OF clay are to be avoided as they