Modern silage methods

Front matter

NODERIN

METHOD*

NINTH EDITION

Preface

This book has heen written and published for the purpose of furnishing our patrons and others with accurate and full information on the subject of silo construction and the making of silage. It has been the aim of the authors to present the subject in a clear, matter-of-fact manner, without flourish or rhetoric or flight of imagination, believing that the truth concerning the advantages of the siloing system is good enough. The testimony presented, which is purposely kept close to the experience of authorities on feeding subjects in and outside of experiment stations, will abundantly prove, we believe, that the equipment of a dairy or stock farm in almost any part of the world is no long^er complete without one or more silos on it.

The nev/ chapter on "Silage Crops for the Semi-Arid Regions and for the South" will be of widespread interest to thousands in the Great Southwest, and the chapters on "The Summer Silo," and "The Use of Silage in Beef Production," and "Concrete or Cement Silos" will be found especially timely. In all other respects the book has been revised and brought up to date.

In order that a work of this kind be accurate and reliable, and bear the scrutiny of scientific readers, the use of a number of scientific terms and phrases is rendered necessary, and in order that these may be more readily comprehended by Agriculturists, a comprehensive glossary or dictionary of such terms is included, following the last chapter, which can be referred to from time to time, or can be studied previous to reading the book.

In the compilation of certain parts of the book and in the revision of the "Feeder's Guide" we have had the valuable assistance of Prof. Woll, of Wisconsin Experiment Station, author of "A Book on Silage" and "A Handbook for Farmers and Dairymen." Free use of the former book has been made in the preparation of this volume, as well as of experiment station publications treating the subject of silage.

Hoping that this latest revision of "Modern Silage Methods" will prove helpful to our patrons, and incidentally suggest to them that the "OHIO" Silage Cutters and Blower Elevators are manufactured by us, we are. Very truly,

THE SILVER MFG. CO.

Table Of Contents

PREFACE 3

INTRODUCTORY 7-10

Chapter I

Advantages of the Silo — Preservation of a larger quantity of original food value enabled by the use of the Silo than any method known — Losses of nutritive value in dry curing — Small losses in the Siloing Process — The Silo furnishes a feed of uniform quality — Economy of making — Economy of storage — No danger of rain — No danger of late summer droughts — Food from thistles — Value in intensive farming — Other advantages. .. .11-23

CHAPTER II. Summer Silos

Necessary in supplementing summer pastures and in tiding herd over period of drouth, heat and flies — Reduces pasture acreage required — Avoids labor of soiling crop system — ^Purdue Station Experiments — Solves summer drouth problem — Permits night pasturing — Storage of surplus crops — Comments by the agricultural press — Feeding of summer silage 24-30

CHAPTER III. Silage in Beef Production

A substitute for roots for fattening cattle — Prevents "burning out" of steers — Silage fed steers topping market — Four 500-ton silos for steers only — Advantages to the beef feeder — Experiments at the Ohio and Indiana Stations — At the Kansas and Iowa Stations — Experience of one of largest beef cattle feeders in East — Prof. Soule's experiments in the South — Silage good for stockers 31-44

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 5

CHAPTER IV. Silage System and Soil Fertility

Helps maintain soil fertility — Every crop grown robs soil of fertilizing elements — Restoration has vital bearing on our crop yields — Value of barnyard manure — Every farm a manure factory with silage — Keeping fertility on the farm 45-50

CHAPTER V. How to Build a Silo

Silos — General requirements for silo structures — On the size of silo required — On the form of silos — Relations of horizontal feeding — Area and number of cows kept — Location of the silo — Different types of silo structures — Round wooden silos — The silo roof — Modifications of the Wisconsin Silo^ — Plastered round wooden Silos;— Brick-lined Silos — Stave Silos — Cheap Stave Silos — A modification of a stave Silo — Connecting round silos with the barn — Other forms of round silos — Brick and stone Silos — Silos in the barn — Underground Silos — ^Octagonal Silos — Cost and estimates for different kinds 51-123

CHAPTER VI. Concrete or Cennent Silos

"The silo of the future" where permanence is desired — Possibilities of reinforced concrete — Continuous hollow walls — Importance* of strong foundation and of reinforcing — Cost of 78 concrete silos — "Forms" used for monolithic walls — Metal-lath reinforced, silos — All-metal silos — Cement blocks; how made — To maintain cement lining — Reinforced cement blocks — Cement block silos described 124-138

CHAPTER VII. Silage crops — Indian corn — Soils best adapted to corn

culture and preparation of land — Varieties of corn for

the silo — Time of cutting corn for the silo — Methods of

planting corn — Other silage crops 139-157

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Vlir.

Silage Crops for the Arid and Semi-Arid Regions — Importance of Sorghum, Kafir and Milo for silage — Mixtures of the sorghums and other crops — Cowpeas, field peas, soy beans, alfalfa, beet leaves and tops, Russian thistle, etc. — ^Conditions in the Great Southwest — Silage crops for the Southern States 158-171

Chapter IX

Filling the Silo — Indian Corn — Siloing corn "ears and all" — The filling process — The proper distribution of cut material in the silo — Size of cutter and power required — Length of chain elevator required — ^Directions for operating "Ohio" Blower Cutters^ — Danger from carborijc-acid poisoning in silos — Covering the siloed fodder — Use of water in filling silos — Clover for summer silage^ — Freezing of silage 172-189

Chapter X

How to feed silage — Silage for milch cows — Silage in the production of certified milk — Silage for beef cattle — for Horses and Mules — for Sheep — for Swine — Silage for poultrj^ — Additional testimony as to the advantage of silage — Corn silage as compared with root crops — Corn silage as compared with hay — Corn silage compared with fodder corn 190-213

CHAPTER XL A feeder's guide — Composition of the animal body — Composition of feeding stuffs — Digestibility of foods — Relative value of feeding stuffs — Feeding standards — How to figure out rations — Grain mixtures for dairy cows — Average composition of Silage crops of different kinds, in per cent— Analysis of feeding stuffs — Ready reference tables 214-241

GLOSSARY 242-245

CONCLUSION 246

Modern Silage Methods.

Introduction

Twenty-five years ago few farmers knew what a silo was, and fewer still had ever seen a silo or fed silage to their stock. Today silos are as common as barn buildings in many farming districts in this country, and thousands of farmers would want to quit farming if they could not have silage to feed to their stock during the larger portion of the year. Twenty-five years ago it would have been necessary to begin a book describing the siloing system v/ith definitions, what is meant by silos and silage; now all farmers who read agricultural papers or attend agricultural or dairy conventions are at least familiar with these words, even if they do not have a chance to become familiar with the appearance and properties of silage. They know that a SILO is an air-tight structure used for the preservation of green, coarse fodder in a succulent condition, and that SILAGE is the feed taken out of a silo.

We shall later see which crops are adapted for silage making, but want to state here at the outset that Indian corn is pre-eminently the American crop suited to be preserved in silos, and that this crop is siloed far more than all other kinds of crops put together. When the word silage is mentioned we, therefore, instinctively think of corn silage. We shall also follow this plan in the discussions in this book; when only silage is spoken of we mean silage made from the corn plant; if made from other crops the name of the crop is always given, as clover silage, peavine silage, etc.

8 INTRODUCTION.

History of the Silo. — ^While the silo in one form or another dates back to antiquity, it was not until the latter part of the seventies that the building of silos intended for manufacture of silage began in this country. In 1882 the United States Department of Agriculture could find only ninety-one farmers in this country who used silos. During the last twenty-five years, however, silos have gradually become general in all sections of the country where dairying and stock-raising are important industries; it is likely, if a census were taken of the number of silos in this country today, that we would find between a half and three-fourths of a million of them. The silo is today considered a necessity on thousands of dairy farms, and we find most of them in the states that rank first as dairy states, viz.: New York, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, etc. The farmers that have had most experience with silage are the most enthusiastic advocates of the siloing system, and the testimony of intelligent dairymen all over the country is strongly in favor of the silo. Said a New York farmer recently in one of our main agricultural papers: "I would as soon try to farm without a barn as without a silo," and another wrote, "I wouldn't take a thousand dollars for my silo if I could not replace it." The well-known agricultural writer, Joseph E. Wing, says: "No stock feeder who grows corn can afford to ignore the silo." "Buff Jersey," an Illinois dairy farmer and writer on agricultural topics, declares his faith in silage as follows : "I am fully satisfied that silage is a better feed, and a cheaper one, than our pastures." Another writer says: "The silo to my mind presents so many advantages over the system of soiling that it is bound to eventually do away with the ''use of soiling crops." According to the Cornell Experiment Station, the "silo, especially to the dairy farmer, has become an almost necessary adjunct to the equipment of the farm."

Our first effort in writing this book will be to present facts that will back up these statements, and show the reader the many advantages of the silo over other

INTRODUCTION. 9

systems of growing and curing crops for the feeding of farm animals. We shall show that up-to-date dairy or stock farming is well nigh impossible without the aid of a silo. The silo enables us to feed live stock succulent feeds the year around, and preserves the fodder in a better condition and with less waste than any other system can. We shall see the why and wherefore ~of this in the following pages, and shall deal with the best way of making and feeding silage to farm animals. We wish to state at the outset that we do not propose to indulge in unwarranted statements or claims that will not stand the closest investigation. In the early days of the history of the silo movement it was thought necessary to make exaggerated claims, but this is no longer the case. Naked facts are sufficient to secure for the silo a permanent place among the necessary equipment of a modern dairy or stock farm. In discussing the silo we shall keep close to what has been found out at our experiment stations, and, we believe, shall be able to prove to any fair-minded reader that the silo is the greatest boon that has come to modern agriculture since the first reaper was manufactured, and that with competition and resulting low prices, it will be likely to become more of a necessity t6 our farmers in the future than it has been in the past. We aim to convince our readers that the most sensible thing they can do is to plan to build a silo at once if they do not now have one. It is unnecessary to argue with those who are already the happy possessors of a silo, for it is a general experience where a farmer has only provided for immediate wants in building his silo that he will build another as soon as he has had some experience with silage and finds out how his stock likes it, and how well they do on it.

The life of the silo should always be carefully considered in connection with its initial cost. A silo might be built for $150 which would last ten years, the cost exclusive of upkeep being $15 a year. With th^e use of better materials or construction on the same size silo its

10 INTRODUCTION.

life might be increased to twenty years at an additional outlay of perhaps $50, which it will be readily seen is much cheaper per year. Quality usually goes hand in hand with price and the farmer who can afford it should not make the mistake of building anything but the best if he wishes to economize to greatest advantage.

Modern practice has proven that no man need say "I cannot afford a silo," because any farmer who is at all handy with hammer and saw can provide a silo large enough for moderate requirements with very little actual outlay of money, and this same built-at-home silo will "earn for its owner money to build a better one and enlarge his herd. Directions for building* several kinds of such silos are given in the following pages. It must not be expected that they will last as long or will prove as economical in the long run as more substantially-built factory-made silos, still they give excellent service .until the farmer can afford to put up a structure of better quality. Experience in making and feeding silage- will be gained at much less cost by using a good silo in the beginning.

We mention this fact here to show farmers who may be considering the matter of building a silo, or who may be inclined to think that the silo is an expensive luxury^ only for rich farmers, that the cost of a silo need not debar them from the advantages of having one on their farm, and thus secure a uniform succulent feed for their stock through the whole winter. Farmers v/ho have not as yet informed themselves in regard to the value of the silo and silage on dairy or stock farms, are respectfully asked to read carefully the following statements of the advantages of the silo system over other methods of preserving green forage for winter or summer feeding.

It has been said that "Whoever makes two blades of grass grow wher-e but one grew before is a benefactor to mankind." A silo makes it possible to keep two cows where but one was kept before, and who would not gladly double his income? Does not this interest you?

Chapter I. Advantages Of The Silo

The silo enables us to preserve a larger quantity of the food materials of the original fodder for the feeding of farm animals than is possible by any other system of preservation now 'known. Pasture grass is the ideal feed for live stock, but it is not available more than a few months in the year. The same holds true with all soiling crops or tame grasses as well. When made into hay the grasses and other green crops lose some of the food material contained therein, both on account of unavoidable losses of leaves and other tender parts, and on account of fermentations which take place while the plants are drying out or being cured.

In cases of Indian corn the losses from the latter source are considerable, owing to the coarse stalks of the plant and the large numbers of air-cells in the pith of these. Under the best of conditions cured fodder corn will lose at least ten per cent, of its food value when cured in shocks; such a low loss can only be obtained when the shocks are cared for under cover, or out in the field under ideal weather conditions: In ordinary farm practice the loss in nutritive value will approach twenty-five per cent., and will even exceed this figure unless special precautions are taken in handling the fodder, and it is not left exposed to all kinds of weather in shocks in the field through the whole winter. These figures may seem surprisingly large to many farmers who have left fodder out all winter long, and find the corn inside the shock bright and green, almost as it was when put up. But appearances are deceitful; if the shocks had been weighed as they were put up, and again in the late winter, another story would be told, and it would be found that the shocks only weighed anywhere from a third to a half as much as when they were cured and ready to be put in the barn late in the fall; if chemical analysis of the corn in the shocks were made late in the fall, and when taken down, it would be found that the decrease in weight was not caused by evaporation of water from the fodder, but by waste of food materials contained therein from fermentations, or actions of enzymes, (See Glossary.)

The correctness of the figures given above has been abundantly proved by careful experiments conducted at a number of different experiment stations, notably the Wisconsin, New Jersey, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Colorado experiment stations. A summary of the main work in this line is given in Prof. Woll's Book on Silage. In the Wisconsin experiments there was an average loss of 23.8 per cent, in the dry matter (see Glossary), and 24.3 per cent, of protein, during four different years, when over 36 tons of green fodder had been put up in shocks and carefully weighed and sampled at the beginning and end of the experiment. These shocks had been left out for different lengths of time, under varying conditions of weather, and made from different kinds of corn, so as to present a variety of conditions. The Colorado experiments are perhaps the most convincing as to the losses which unavoidably take place in the curing of Indian corn in shocks. The following account is taken from Prof. Cook's report of the experiments. As the conditions described in the investigation will apply to most places on our continent where Indian corn is cured for fodder, it will be well for farmers to carefully look into the results of the experiment.

"It is believed by most farmers that, in the dry climate of Colorado, fodder corn, where cut and shocked in good shape, cures without loss of feeding value, and that the loss of weight that occurs is merely due to the drying out of the water. A test of this question was made

LOSSES IN DRY CURING.

in the fall of 1893, and the results obtained seemed to indicate that fully a third of the feeding value was lost in the curing. This result was so surprising that the figures were not published, fearing that some error had crept in, though we could not see where there was the possibility of a mistake.

"In the fall of 1894 the test was repeated on a larger scale. A lot of corn was carefully weighed and sampled. It was then divided into three portions; one was spread on the ground in a thin layer, the second part was set up in large shocks, containing about five hundred pounds of green fodder in each, while the rest was shocked in small bundles. After remaining thus for some months, until thoroughly cured, the portions were weighed, sampled and- analyzed separately. The table gives the losses that occurred in the curing.

Large Shocks.

Small Shocks.

On the Ground.

Total Weight

Dry

Matter

Total Weight

Dry

Matter

Total Weight

Dry

Matter

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

When Shocked . . .

After Curing

Loss in Weight . . .

Per Cent of Loss . .

"So far as could be told by the eye, there had been no loss. The fodder had cured in nice shape, and the stalks on the inside of the bundles retained their green color, with no sign of molding or heating. And yet the large shocks had lost 31 per cent, of their dry matter, or feeding value; the small shocks 43 per cent, and the corn spread on the ground 55 per cent.

"On breaking or cutting the stalks these losses were explained. The juice was acid, and there was a very strong acid odor, showing that an active fermentation was taking place in this seemingly dry fodder. We 'had noticed this strong odor the fall before and all through the winter. Wlien the fodder corn for the steers is put through the feed cutter that same strong smell is present.

"It can be said, then, that the dryness of the climate in Colorado does not prevent fodder corn from losing a large part of its feeding value through fermentation. Indeed, the loss from this source is fully as great as in the damp climate in New England.

"As compared with the losses by fermentation in the silo, the cured fodder shows considerably the higher loss/"

In experiments at the Wisconsin station eleven shocks cured under cover in the barn lost on an average over 8 per cent, of dry matter and toward 14 per cent, of protein. In an experiment at the Maine Station over 14 per cent, of dry matter was lost in the process of slow drying of a large sample of fodder corn under the most favorable circumstances. "It is interesting to note that this loss falls almost entirely on the nitrogen-free extract, or carbohydrates (see Glossary), more than two-thirds of it being actually accounted for by the diminished percentage of sugars."

Since such losses will occur in fodder cured under cover with all possible care, it is evident that the average losses of dry matter in field-curing fodder corn, given in the preceding, by no means can be considered exaggerated. Exposure to rain and storm, abrasion of dry leaves and thin stalks, and other factors tend to diminish the nutritive value of the fodder, aside from the losses from fermentations, so that very often only one-half of the food materials originally present in the fodder is left by the time it is fed out. The remaining portion o^ the fodder has, furthermore, a lower digestibility and a lower feeding value than the fodder corn when put up, for the reason that the fermentations occurring during the curing process destroy the most valuable and easily digestible part, i. e., the sugar and starch of the nitrogen-

THE SILOING PROCESS. 15

free extract, which are soluble, or readily rendered soluble, in the process of digestion.

2. Losses in the Siloing Process. — ^As compared with the large losses in food materials in field-curing of Indian corn there are but comparatively small losses in the silo, caused by fermentation processes or decomposition of the living plant cells as they are dying off. The losses in this case have been repeatedly determined by experiment stations, and, among others, by those mentioned in the preceding. The average losses of dry matter in the fodder corn during the Siloing period of four seasons (1887-'91) as determined by Prof. Woll at the Wisconsin Experiment Station- was about 16 per cent. The silos used in these trials, as in case of nearly all the early experiments on this point, were small and shallow, however, only 14 feet deep, were rectangular in form, and not always perfectly air-tight, a most important point in silo construction, as we shall see, and a portion of the silage therefore came out. spoilt, thus increasing the losses of food materials in the siloing process. The losses reported were, therefore, too great, and there is now an abundance of evidence at hand showing that the figures given are higher than those found in actual practice, and the necessary loss in the silo comes considerably below that found in the early experiments on this point. There are plenty of cases on record showing that ten per cent, represents the maximum loss of dry matter in modern deep, well-built silos. The losses found in siloing corn at a number of experiment stations during the last ten years have come at or below this figure. It is possible to reduce the loss still further by avoiding any spoilt silage on the surface, by beginning to feed immediately after the filling of the silo, and by feeding the silage out rather rapidly. Experiments conducted on a small scale by Prof. King in 1894 gave losses of only 2 and 3 per cent, of dry matter, on the strength of which results, amongst others, he believes that the necessary loss of dry matter in the Silo need not exceed 5 per •ent.

Summarizing our considerations concerning the relative losses of food materials in the field-curing and siloing of Indian corn, we may, therefore, say that far from being less economical than the former, the silo is more so, under favorable conditions for both systems, and that therefore a larger quantity of food materials is obtained by filling the corn crop into a silo than by any other method of preserving it known at the present time.

What has been said in the foregoing in regard to fodder corn applies equally well to other crops put into the silo. A few words will suffice in regard to two of these, clover and alfalfa. Only a few accurate siloing experiments have been conducted with clover, but enough has been done to show that the nec^'ssary losses in siloing this crop do not much, if any, exceed those of Indian corn, Lawes and Gilbert, of the Rothamsted Experiment Station, England, placed 264,318 pounds of first and second crop clover into one of these stone silos, and took out 194,470 pounds of good clover silage. Loss in weight, 24.9 per cent. This loss fell, however, largely on the water in the clover. The loss of dry matter amounted to only 5.1 per cent., very nearly the same amount of loss as that which the same experimenter found had taken place in a large rick of about forty tons of hay, after standing for two years. The loss of protein in the silo amounted to 8.2 per cent. In another silo 184,959 pounds of second-crop grass and second-crop clover were put in, and 170,941, pounds were taken out. Loss in gross weight, 7.6 per cent.; loss of dry matter, 9.7 per cent.; of crude protein, 7.8 per cent.

In a siloing experiment with clover, conducted at the Wisconsin Station, on a smaller scale, Mr. F. G, Short obtained the following results: Clover put into the silo, 12,279 pounds; silage taken out, 9;283 pounds; loss, 24.4 per cent.; loss of dry matter, 15.4 per cent.; of protein, 12.7 per cent.

There is nothing in any of these figures to argue agayist the siloing of green clover as an economical prac-

THE SILOING PROCESS. 17

tice. On the other hand, we conclude that this method of preserving the clover crop is highly valuable, and, in most cases, to be preferred to making hay of the crop.

No extended investigation has been made as to the losses sustained in the siloing of alfalfa, but there can be little doubt but that they are considerably smaller than in making alfalfa hay, if proper precautions guarding against unnecessary losses in the silo are taken. According to the testimony of Professor Headden of the Colorado Experiment Station, the minimum loss from the falling off of leaves and stems in successful alfalfa hay making amounts to from 15 to 20 per cent., and in cases where the conditions have been unfavorable, to as much as 60 and even 66 per cent, of the hay crop. Aside from the losses sustained through abrasion, rain storms, when these occur, may reduce the value of the hay one-half. The losses from either of these sources are avoided in ■preserving the crop {n the silo, and in their place a small loss through fermentation occurs, under ordinary favorable conditions, amounting to about 10 per cent, or less.

There is this further advantage to be considered when the question of relative losses in the silo and in hay-making or field-curing green forage, that hay or corn fodder, whether in shocks or in the field or stored under shelter, -gets poorer and poorer the longer it is kept, as the processes of decomposition are going on all the time; in the silo, on the other hand, the loss in food substances is not appreciably larger six months after the silo was filled than it is one month after, because the air is shut out, so that the farmer who puts up a lot of fodder corn for silage in the fall can have as much and as valuable feed for his stock in the spring, or in fact, the following summer or fall, as he would have if he proceeded to feed out all the silage at once.

"Generally speaking, 3 tons of silage are equal in feeding value to one ton of hay. On this basis a much larger amount of digestible food can be secured from an acre of silage corn than from an acre of hay. The food equivalent of 4 tons of hay per acre can easily be produced on an acre of land planted to corn." — (Plumb.)'

3. Succulence. Succulent food is Nature's food. — We all kiiow the difference between a juicy, ripe apple and the green dried fruit. In the drying of fruit as well as of green fodder water is the main component taken away; with it, however, go certain flavoring matters that do not weigh much in the chemist's balance, but are of the greatest importance in rendering the food material palatable. It is these same flavoring substances which are washed out of the hay with heavy rains, and renders such hay of inferior value, often no better than so much straw, not because it does not contain nearly as much food substances, like protein, fat, starch, sugar, etc. (see Glossary), but because of the substances that render hay palatable having been largely removed by the rain.