Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1912 — SILOS AND SILAGE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SILOS AND SILAGE

Purdue University Agricultural Extension

H. C. MILLS, DAIRY FIELD WORK. The hlsory of silage dates back into antiquity, but it was not until 1875 that It attracted much attention or that It can be said to have been introduced into modern agriculture. In 1875, . Aguste Goffart of France, announced the results of experiments in preserving green forage. , For the successful outcome of his experiments, he was awarded, by his government, the cross of the Legion of Honor. The first silage made in America was prepared by Francis Morris of Ellicott City, Maryland, in 1876, by putting corn In a trench and covering It with earth. He reported that he found It fairly well preserved and that the stock ate it well. Dr. J. M. Bailey’s “Book of Ensilage,’’ published in 1880, -brought Jbe use of silage to the notice of American farmers and from this time on, the use of silage spread rapidly. In 1882 the United States government was able to learn of 92 silos in use. Today there are few dairy sections where the use of the silo Is not very common. The advantages of silos are many. One of the most important is, that it utilizes the entire corn crop. In many sections of Indiana, the stalks, or pnethird of the corn crop, Is left standing in the field. It is supposed that when the stalks are turned under In the spring, that the fertility taken from the soil In growing the plant is again returned to the soil, but experiments have proven that this is not true, but that quite a large per cent is lost. There Is a similar loss when the corn is cured in the shock. The corn crop in the form of silage produces more milk than when fed in any other form. The cows not only consume more of it, but more fc digested. Corn silage provides a succulent food during the winter months and in times of drough., which is similar to the succutency of June grass. Com silage also lessen* the cost of the cow's ration, more roughage being consumed in this form, and leas grain re--—J; ■ -jf' 'J ' quireu• -r—— —— ——~ The use of the silo lessens the cost of harvesting the corn crop because the work can be done when the days

are long and the weather agreeable. The use of the silo makes possible the keeping of more cows on a given acreage. An acre of good silage furnishes food for two cows for one year. An acre of blue grass will barely feed a cow three months.

An economical home grown dairy ration, corn silage an important part.