VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, AUG. 12, 1911.
NO. 32
THE SILO AND WHY.
,,,KN  SILAGE .VXD FODDER.-THE
XEW   AND OLD WAY   OF
FEEDING.
A correspondent in Edgar county,
Illinois, writes us that he has in long
been partial to corn fodder, and
asks why the Indiana Farmer so
•trongly urges corn silage instead of
fodder.
We can give many strong reasons
why corn silage is the most economic
way to use the corn crop.
How the Corn Stalk Grow*
To get down close to plain primary
ns for this, it should be said that
the corn stalk in growing forms numerous cells which are filled with nutrition when just ripe and ready for the
silo, and are thus preserved in the silo,
and not -wasted away by overripening
and becoming woody and indigestible.
And so to put the matter plainly, corn
just ripe for the silo is in the form of
succulent digestible cellulose food,
with all its nutritive qualities, both
palatable and easily digested.
Dried Corn Fodder.
In the condition of dried fodder it is
indigestible woody cellulose, having
lost much of its nutritious qualities,
ind become less palatable and less digestible. If our correspondent will reflect for a moment he has the explanation of all this in the canned and
lineal fruits. He prefers the canned
ripe fruits to the dried, and finds them
far more palatable than dried fruit. Indeed, before he will eat the dried fruit
he must have it stewed in water, and to
some extent brought back to its palatable nutritious condition, and though
not so digestible then as canned fruit,
he can eat it, just as the cattle can eat
fodder to less purpose in fattening than
when fed corn silage. This is the whole
Philosophy in a nut shell.
Old Way Not Always Best.
riur correspondent should not prefer
• ry fodder just because it was the "old
way" of putting up corn for live stock
feed. He does not stick to the old
■Taue coach for traveling because the
fathers had it in their day, nor to the
-"an cradle in preference to the har-
veater. it is well to adavnce in preserving food for live stock when it is
found the beeter way, as well as to quit
'he mud wagon and travel by steam,
electric roads, and autos, for all do
'his readily without much persuasion.
Corn Silage Question Well Settled.
fi-t this corn silage question  is not
wly theoretically true,  but  nearly all
'he State    experiment    stations    have
nstrated  its great value over the
f,]d way by feeding it to both beef eat-
~t and dairy cows.     Tliey have shown
''■at economic value, and  the de-
lity to feed corn silage on account
■ its succulent character,  palatability
and digestible quality as live stock feed.
]S Well to feed some grain and forage
■"nS with silage, but corn silage is a
^•'tled food for live stock and as great
improvement   as   the   harvester   is
the old grain cradle, and our cor-
■ndent,   who   is a  great  corn  and
grower will find this so if he will
- silo and try it for himself.
Filling the Silo.
Prof. C. W. Pugsley of the Nebraska
experiment station, says: The cost of
filling will vary a great deal upon different farms. The cost of a ton of
ensilage depends upon the methods
employed in growing the corn and in
filling the silo. If a man is a good
farmer and raises a large crop of corn
and the cost is based on the cost of producing an acre of corn, it will be seen
that his ensilage will cost a great deal
less per ton than the ensilage produced
by his neighbor who uses a small
amount  of corn.     Last  season  I saw
of the oorn if it had been harvested
and sold, and at this rate it is one of
the cheapest and best foods in connection with alfalfa or clover hay that can
be produced in the corn belt.
AGRICULTURAL    WEALTH    OF
WTATER.
J. H. Haynes.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Volumes have been written about soil
fertility, how to have it and how to retain it.
We are told of the value of nitrogen
Holstein-Friesian Dairy Herd, Barn and Silo, on farm of Prof. Pugsley, of
Nebraska Experiment Station.
one farm where eight acres filled a
100-ton silo, while on another farm not
more than three miles distant it took
25 aces to fill a 100-ton silo. The
market value of the land was about
the same. It can thus be seen that estimates on the cost of production will
vary greatly, probably due more to the
amount of ensilage produced per acre
than to the cost of filling, although that
is no small item. The variation in estimates will not be so great if it is
figured on the basis of the bushels of
corn produced per acre, at market
value.
Professor Mumford of Iiiiiuii-.
states that corn yielding 42 bushels per
acre and worth 35c on the market will
give ensilage at $2.75 per ton. In
my own instance, last year where It
took 18 acres to fill two silos of 110
tons each, and with an estimate of the
corn at 60 bushels per acre, at 35c per
bushel, and with the labor of filling
extending over a period of four days,
and costing $110, and allowing the
stalks to be worth $1 per acre on the
market, the cost of ensilage per ton
was $2.59.
Professor Haeeker of Nebraska Station bases his estimate upon the cost
of growing the corn and states that ensilage can be grown and put in the silo
at $1.95 per ton. Mr. Richardson of
Scott County, Iowa, says that it cost
him for growing and filling $1.15 per
ton. I believe careful farmers can easily produce ensilage at $2.50 per ton,
figuring the cost on the market value
potash, phosphorus and lime, but we
never consider for a moment that all
these elements are worthless unless
combined with water to render them
effective. We wonder why our corn
did not grow through the warm
months of May and June even in fields
abounding in all the elements of fertility.
This was due to the absence of moisture in the lower stratas. The fact is
we have ditched all the water out of
our soils even out of the subsoils.
In March and AprU the subsoils were
dry and compacted and they have remained so up to now, and because of
this the corn roots and fibers had no
chance for development even with the
very favorable  conditions  otherwise.
A strange fact about the months of
May and June is that on but a very few
mornings was there any dew. Both the
air and the soil were too well drained
of moisture to create dew.
Along with the very dry subsoil
comes another fact that to make and
mature a corn crop requires a rainfall
of one foot through the months of
June, July and August.
We have not got this amount up to
now and even if we had this much it
would be insufficient to moisten the
very dry subsoil, where the tiny rootlets gather the nutriment for the plant
and grain.
We said we have ditched all the
water out of our soils and that means
we have ditched all the fertility out of
lt, too.
Ditching   has   come   to   be   a   mania
with people, A king of graft mania.
Every frog pond in this county that
used to furnish moisture for the atmosphere to absorb and scatter it over our
fields in the form of rain has been
ditched off to the streams and thence
to the Gulf of Mexico and we wonder
why it does not rain; why there are no
dews; why our corn does not grow.
We said ditching had become a
grafting mAnia.
The best paying office in the county
(capital considered) is that of the
county surveyor, and his retinue of assistants called "Ditch Viewers." (This
retinue does not change members often). What are they doing? Carrying off the agricultural wealth in our
soils and we wonder why our fields
fail to give us paying crops. We hear
of national and state movements to
still further diminish our rain supplies.
Strange anomaly—irrigate on one hand
and ditch on the other both for the
same avowed purpose.
If these continue it will not be long
until we will have a veritable Sahara
in all our Northwestern States but
minus the "sand". That the ditchers
get. We do not oppose ditching when
it can be made effective in reclaiming
land without a wholesale depletion of
moisture. But when a ditch two or
three miles long must be cut to drain
some one's frog pond of a few acres
and in doing this cut through the subsoil and drain it of its stores of wealth
we are opposed.
Better pay the owner of the pond an
annual pension and let the pond be a
reservoir for needed moisture.
If water is not wealth to the soil
and health to the plant try the growing
of a crop with all the fertilizers you
can put about it and withhold moisture and see the result.
Let us discuss differences between
the soil of its fertility and discuss that
of robbing it of needed moisture.
Let us discuss dicerences between
sensible drainage and senseless drainage and if possible learn how ditching
for profit to our soils differs from
ditching for graft money.
DISCING      STUBBLE      BEFORE
STIRRING.
Editor* Indiana Farm.r:
By discing stubble before stirring it,
one prepares the way for easy plowing,
as the hard, compact surface of the
soil thus is broken so it is easier to
penetrate and turn under.
Where the stubble is disked before
stirring, this pulverized, surface soil is
turned under and aids in promoting a
uniform distribution of moisture by
maintaing proper porosity of the soil.
This fined soil also is conducive to
maintaining or holding the moisture in
reserve and resisting droughts.
These conditions also establish the
Ideal seed-bed that will admit of the
plant-roots reaching down to the very
depth of the cultivated soil, while the
stubble, small weeds, and all other ma-,
terials turned under and mixed with
this fine soil will form a sort of fertilizing mulch in which are stored
those elements so essential to a quick,
healthy germination of the seed and a
rapid, vigorous development of the
crop, it having an abundant supply
from which to draw sustenance anew
as its roots reach farther and farther
away from the plants.
M. Coverdell.