VOL. LVII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., APRIL 19, 1902.
NO. 16
THE SILO.
Scores of Thtm to bt Built Thlt Year.
Methods of Construction and the Value of Silage.
We have recently hail many inquiries
about the construction of silos, the value
of silage for feeding, etc., indicating that
many silos are to be built this year. The
farmers generally have taken hold of this
question slower than any other in our observation. The most common- and apt illustration of the value of this important
method of preserving the green succulent
food of summer's growth is that of canned
fruit and vegetables for table use. W«
need not refer to the palatable and healthful character of these, as attested by
taste and medical science, for this is well
known-. The preservation of green corn,
the universal feed product, is on the same
basis, both palatable and healthful, according to the past 20 years experience.
At first, years ago, some silage was put
in silos before proper maturity of the
corn, and it soured and was unpalatable
and unfit to feed, just as half matured
green fruit would be when canned before
it was ripe. But silage, like canned
fruit, is all right when stored at proper
maturity, not only a very palatable and
healthful food for domestic animals, but
a very economic method of saving tbe food
stuffs.
The round silo in all experience bas
come to be preferred to the square one,
because they fill better, leaving less air
spaces which the square silos are found
to have, and which occasions more liability for loss in decaying silage. Many times
the Indiana Farmer has given particulars
as to construction of silos, and the Experiment stations have issued bulletins showing these things. We are glad to announce that the Indiana Station will in
a few weeks publish a bulletin on the subject of silos, which will treat the general
subject of silos and silo construction in
accordance with the latest and best experience. For the present we have before us the last bulletin of the Wisconsin
Station, issued a few years ago. The
-ration approves the round silo for rea-
•iis already stated. It discusses stone,
brick, cement and wood construction, it
gives the cost of them. Here are some
of its estimates:
The cost of the walls of stone silos not
including cot of stone as follows: Inside diameter, 15 feet, and 25 feet deep,
$141 and 30 feet deep $170.
Cost of walls of brick silos 30 feet deep
with 15 feet inside diameter, with roof,
$200.
Cost of lathed and cement plastered
round wood silos 30 feet deep, inside
diameter of 15 feet, outside with lap siding and roofed, $213.
Cost of all wood round silos. 30 feet
deep, inside diameter 15 feet, inside construction of wood lining or waterproof
paper, $140.
Round stave silos vary in prices w*ith
the various manufacturers and kinds of
material. The approximate cost of round
stave silos, 30 feet deep and 15 feet inside diameter, with roofing, about $166.
We have mentioned the 15 feet inside
diameter of all for comparison, though
silos are built from 13 feet to 30 feet inside diameter, according to tbe desires
and requirements of feeders. Brick and
stone silos, as well as lathed wood silos,
are plastered inside with cement. It is
stated that there should be two layers of
half inch sheeting on the inside of wood
silos with a layer of three-ply Giant P.
and B. paper between, or other good paper.
Then it should be lathed inside and plastered with cement, one part of cement to
two parts of sand. The silo should have
a foundation of masonry, and the wood
foundation resting on it should be at
least one foot above the ground. The
round wood silo may be constructed with
2x4 studding, set 12 inches from center to
center. The double lining of thin boards
on these servo as a hoop to keep the silo
irom spreading. For silos 30 feet deep
the studding should be spliced by lapping
one foot and nailing together. Silos of
15 feet diameter should be lined outside
with rabbetted dropped siding nailed to
the studding, and if larger than this a
layer of half inch sheeting nailed on the
studding before tbe siding is put on. A
lath furrowing should go on the inside
wood lining to which the lath is nailed
for the better adhering of the cement plaster.
Instead of wood lining and cement plaster inside, galvanized iron No. 28 to No.
32 is commended, and in silos of 15 feet
diameter the iron is nailed to the studding, nailing close to make tight joints,
with strips of the iron put on up and
down, giving the metal a heavy coat of
asphalt paint, milking sure with it at the
joints to make it air tight. The galvanized iron for a 30 feet deep and 15 feet
diameter would cost from $50 to $60.
THE   VALVE   OP  THE   SILAGE.
A cattle feeder of large experience in
Iowa contributes to the Drovers Journal
his own observations in reply as follows
to the questions named.     He says:
"Would not the silo be a valuable help
to the farmer who winters from 40 to 00
head of cattle?' Second, 'Will not 10
acres of corn put into the silo make more
feed than the same amount put into a
shock or shredded?' Third, 'Is the silo
used extensively for feeding stock cattle
through the winter?' My answer to the
first two questions woudd be yes, and to
the third question, I would say the silo
is not used extensively by the common
farmer and stockman, but its use is becoming more thoroughly understood. The
time is not far distant when the farmer
will think just as much of filling his silo
as he does now of filling his barn with
hay. I have been using silage now for
two years, and the results have been of
the happiest kind.
'"I wintered 54 head of cattle last winter, and their principal feed was silage,
corn stalk pasture and oat straw. They
wintered in the finest condition; their
coats of hair were glossy and oily all
winter*'
"'I am now wintering 70 head of stock
cattle on silage and corn stalk pasture,
hay and oat straw. No grain, only what
is in the silage, and they are wintering
in the very best condition. I have had
good results from feeding it to my hogs
and my wife says she has good results
by feeding a little of it to her poultry.
Stock of all kinds like it; they seem to do
well when it is part of their food.
"I do not believe silage should be the
sole feed for an animal, as it is a little too
loosening. It should be fed with sonic
dry food, to counterbalance the loosening
effects. Used this way, I believe it is
one of the best and cheapest feeds that
can be had on the farm. When the food
is properly preserved in the silo it is more
palatable than when fed dry, and, being
a succulent food, it acts beneficially upon
the digestive organs, relieves the constipation caused by the use of dry food, and
it benefit! the health of the animal.
'We arc aware that the green, succulent grass of May and June produces more
growth nnd fat than at any other time of
the year, and silage is the next feed nearest like May and June grass. It is a
green, succulent food that may be had at
any time of the year. It may be had in
the summer months, when the grass is
parched with drouth, or in the cold winter
months, when the ground is frozen and
covered with snow. The silo may be
made to furnish a green, succulent feed
every day in the year, aud instances are
on record where cattle have preferred it
over green grass.
"I believe, if the corn is put in the silo
at the proper time, one will save 50 per
cent, and sometimes it will greatly exceed
that amount, over ordinary field-corn fodder. Now that is a very broad assertion,
but let us see what some of our experiment stations Ray on this waste of field-
cured fodder corn. I will first use the
experiment of the Colorado station. I
select it because we are led to believe
that the dry climate of Colorado, with its
sunny and rainless days in the fall, would
be an ideal place to cure corn fodder,
without loss of feeding value, and the loss
in weight would be due only to tlie drying out of the water.
"A test of this was made in the fall of
1893. The result showed a loss of one-
third of the feeding value in curing. This
was so surprising that the station faculty
would not publish the result, for fear that
there was some mistake. In the fall of
1894 they repeated the experiment again
on a larger cale. A lot of corn was carefully selected, weighed and was then divided
into three lots. The first lot was in
small shocks. The second lot was spread
in a thin layer on the ground. The third
lot was shocked in large shocks, and they
were left in that way until thoroughly
cured. The fodder was then weighed
find analyzed separately. So far as the
eye could see there was no loss. The
fodder had cured in fine shape, and on
the inside of the bundles it was green:
no sign of heating or molding. Yet that
in small shocks had lost 43 per cent oi
its feeding value, that spread upon the
ground 55 per cent, and that in large
shocks 31 per cent.
"If fodder cured under such favorable
circumstances loses such a great percentage of its feeding value, what must be the
loss of our field-cured corn fodder where
it is exposed to the storms, sun and wind
which tend to diminish its feeding value?
Now, what we want is a way of savin;.*
this food where the percentage of loss is
not so great.
"Now. as to feeding silage to fattening
cattle, I said before that I have had excellent results. I wish to call the reader's
attention to what some of our experiment
stations hare done in that line of feeding.
Prof. Shaw, now of the University of
Minnesota, conducted an experiment with
silage, com, roots and hay while he was
at the Canadian station. He fed two
groups of cattle. To the first group he
fed 57>j pounds of silage and 12% pounds
of corn meal daily. To the second group
he fed 43 pounds of roots, 11% pounds of
corn meal and 11 1-5 pounds of hay.
Those fed on silage pnd corn made a gain
of 22.7 per cent on- invc nent, and those
fed on roots, corn and hay made a gain of
15 1-5 per cent.
"These results show that those fed on
silage and corn made a gain of 7% per cent
more than those fed on roots, corn and
hay.      Professor Henry  fed  steers  on  a
silage experiment. He says: "At this
station we have fed silage to steers with
most excellent results. In one trial four
two and three-year-old steers were fed
corn silage alone, and made a gain of 222
pounds in 36 days, or one and one-half
pounds per day. Four steers from the
same lot were fed silage, with a mixture
of corn and bran, when it was found that
654 pounds of corn silage, with 394 pounds
of corn aud 180 pounds of bran produced
100 pounds of gaiu. Four shouts,, running with the steers, were fed only 92
pounds of corn to make a gain of 100
pounds, showing that they must bave received most of their food from the droppings. I,et the feeder place any reasonable value he may choose on the silage
in these two trials and he will see that we
have produced 100 pounds of gain at a
very small cost.'
"Professor Henry further says: "This
brings me to the point I desire to make in
favor of silage for steer feeding. As
with roots, silage makes the carcass watery and soft to the touch. Some have
considered this a disadvantage, but is it
not a desirable condition in the fattening
steer? Corn and roughage produces a
hard, dry carcass, and corn burns out the
digestive tract in the shortest possible
time. With silage and roots digestion
certainly must be more nearly normal, and
its profitable actions longer continued.
The tissues of the body nre juicy, and the
whole system must be in just that condition which permits rapid fattening. While
believing in a large use of silage in the
preliminary stages and its continuance during most of the fattening period, I would
recommend that gradually more dry food
be substituted as the period advances,
in order that the flesh may become more
solid. Used in this way, I believe silage
will become an important aid in steer
feeding.' "
Planting and Cultivating Potatoes.
Bdltora  Indiana  Parmer:
B. W., Corydon, in planting potatoes,
covers the tubers only about one inch,
"this," he says "lets the sun near them,
and they soon begin to sprout. In a
few days I harrow them again, and so
on until they are up, when I have the
patch about level and clean. By this
method the sun's rays fall near the potatoes, keeping them warm and growing,
while if covered deep the ground would
stay cold, and they would not come up so
soon." He adds: "For an early crop
I would advise level cultivation, always
cultivating as soon after the showers as
the ground will permit. But for a general purpose crop I would straw them to
the depth of 8 or 10 inches as soon as
they begin to peep through the ground.
Where large crops are planted straw cannot he had to cover the entire crop, yet I
believe it to be a good plan to plant some
both ways, then we are not so apt to
meet with a total failure. I always nse
a small shoveled cultivator, about once
a week if the weather will permit until
they nre in full bloom."
A Madison County Farmer's Experience
Editor* Indiana Farmer: ifimuce.
We thoroughly corroborate the article
written by a Rush county Farmer's Wife,
and rejoice in her courage to speak for
herself. It is the renter and not the
landlord that makes the country what it
is. The renter is the one that raises the
corn to supply the foreign demand, and
not the landlord, who sits back in his
easy chair and never goes to the farm, only to boss his tenant, and that is the only
thing that it not needed. B, \y_ xy