Experiments with silos and silage

Abstract

It is claimed that the first silo in the United States was built in Michigan in 1875. However it is only recently that their use has become general. For a long time they were considered of value only to dairymen but within the last few years many beef cattle men are feeding silage. In the last year or two there has been an enormous increase in the number of silos. The Orange Judd Farmer recently made a careful estimate of the silos in the Central Valley States and reported that the number had doubled within the last two years. They reported the total number of silos in use in Missouri on Jan 1, 1914 as 6726, the silos built during 1913 as 2679 and the average capacity as 110 tons. Several advantages of silos are generally recognized. A large % of the food value of the corn plant is in the stalk and blades. By ensiling the whole plant the stalk and blades are saved whereas with the old custom of allowing the stalks to remain out in the shocks or standing in the field a large part of the food value was leached out. The whole plant is removed from the field as soon as it is mature, leaving the field clear for other crops. Labor can be used to the best advantage in harvesting corn for the silo as the crew can be organized to good advantage and teams and machinery used to advantage. Succulent feed is provided for seasons when it is not naturally obtainable thus supplying a very important element in the ration. The labor of feeding is lessened and made more agreeable by feeding the corn plant in the form of silage. With the increasing use of silage a number of questions have risen regarding it. For example, what is the significance of temperature? High temperatures are observed at the surface of the silage. There is a question whether this temperature prevails throughout the silage, at different depths and different distances from the wall, how the different kinds of silos and different kinds of corn affect it and what relation does it bear to the quality of the silage? There is the question of the rel