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SOILING 
 CROPS 
 
 AND 
 
 THE SILO 
 
 How to Cultivate and Harvest the 
 Crops; How to Build and Fill the 
 Silo ; and How to Use Silage 
 
 By.... A^ 
 
 THOMAS SHAW 
 
 Professor of Animal Husbandry at the University of Minnesota 
 
 Author of 
 
 "Public School Agriculture" "Weeds and How to Eradicate Them" 
 
 "The Study of Breeds" "Forage Crops Other Than Grasses" 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 New York 
 ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 
 
 1900 
 
62242 
 
 * OCT 17 1900 
 
 SECCM'^ COPY. 
 OnOtaO^VlSlOH, 
 
 He 
 
 Copyright 1900 
 
 by 
 
 Orange Judd Company 
 
 <?.\^ 
 
 ^ 
 
TO 
 
 THE DAIRYMEN AND FARMERS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNITED STATES 
 
 THIS WORK IS 
 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
 The author desires thankfully to acknowledge 
 the outside sources from which aid was obtained m 
 the preparation of the book. These include sundry 
 bulletins issued by certain of the agricultural experi- 
 ment stations in the United States, also the helpful 
 work, "A Book on Silage," written by Prof. F. W. 
 WoU of the University of Wisconsin. The sketches 
 were nearly all prepared by Mr. Charles P. Taylor of 
 the University of Minnesota. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 PART ONE 
 
 Chapter I. page. 
 
 Soiling Crops ----------- 3 
 
 Chapter II. 
 Indian Corn or Maize --------- 19 
 
 Chapter III. 
 Sorghum ------------34 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 The Non-Saccharine Sorghums -------- 51 
 
 Chapter V. 
 Plants of the Clover Family --------68 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Leguminous Plants Other Than Clover ----- 102 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 Plants of the Brassica Genus -------- I39 
 
 Chapter vm. 
 The Common Cereals --------- 168 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 Millets ------------- 183 
 
 Chapter X. 
 Field Roots - - - - - ^ - - - " " " "^95 
 
 vii 
 
Vllf TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 Miscellaneous Plants ---------- 205 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 Succession in Soiling Crops -------- 332 
 
 PART TWO 
 
 Chapter I. page. 
 
 The History of Siloing --------- 245 
 
 Chapter IL i 
 
 The Benefits from Siloing Crops ------- 258 
 
 Chapter III. 
 Facts Relating to Silo Construction ------- 269 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 Building the Silo ----------- 292 
 
 Chapter V. 
 Crops Suitable for the Silo -------- 322 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Filling the Silo --------.._- 336 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 Feeding Silage ----------- 350 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FIG, PAGE. 
 
 1 The Model Shepherd — Frontispiece. 
 
 2 Squaw Corn for Fodder -------- 20 
 
 3 Giant Fodder Corn for Soiling ------ 27 
 
 4 Early Amber Sorghum --------35 
 
 5 Sorghum Grown for Soiling, First Cutting - - 43 
 
 6 Red Kafir Corn ---------- 53 
 
 7 Yellow Milo Maize -------- 55 
 
 8 Brown Dhoura - ---------57 
 
 9 Jerusalem Corn --------- 59 
 
 10 Alfalfa, Single Plant --------- 87 
 
 11 Alfalfa, Grown for Soiling ------ 99 
 
 12 The Mummy Field Pea -------- 103 
 
 13 Vetches and Oats for Soiling — Second Cutting - - 115 
 
 14 Sheep Pasturing on Soy Beans ------ 120 
 
 15 Soy Beans for Soiling ------- 127 
 
 16 Sheep Pasturing on Cowpeas ------ 130 
 
 17 Cowpeas Grown for Soiling ------ 137 
 
 18 A Dwarf Essex Rape Plant ------- 141 
 
 19 Dwarf Essex Rape for Soiling ------ 151 
 
 20 Cabbage for Soiling - - - - - - - - -156 
 
 21 Oats and Wheat for Soiling or Fodder - - - - 169 
 
 22 Oats and Peas for Soiling ------- 178 
 
 23 Oats First Pastured, Then Grown for Soiling - - 180 
 
 24 German Millet for Soiling ------- 184 
 
 25 Hungarian Millet for Soiling ------ 186 
 
 26 Sand Vetch ----------- 219 
 
 27 Jerusalem Artichokes -------- 227 
 
 28 Sunflowers ----------- 229 
 
 29 Sheep Barn with Round Silo ------ 294 
 
 30 Section of Stave Silo -------- 296 
 
 31 Splice of Stave with Iron Tongue ----- 303 
 
 32 Lugs for Hoops ---------- 304 
 
 33 Door of Stave Silo ---------306 
 
 34 Sketch Showing Stave Silo with Shute, Ladder and 
 
 Hand Cart ----------- 307 
 
 35 Sketch Showing Stave Silo with Roof and Lugs Prop- 
 
 erly Distributed --------- 309 
 
 36 Section of Wall of Rectangular Silo ----- 310 
 
 37 Elephant Fodder Corn -------- 324 
 
 38 Sorghum for Silage --------- 326 
 
 ix 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 This book is one of a series on agriculture 
 which the author hopes to be spared to complete. It 
 is designed more especially to meet the needs of 
 dairymen when providing green food for their stock, 
 summer and winter, but it is also intended to be 
 similarly helpful to all farmers who keep domestic 
 animals on the arable farm, and it is hoped that the 
 student also at the agricultural college may be able to 
 glean from its pages what will be helpful to him 
 when prosecuting his investigations. Excellent 
 information on the subject of soiling and also on that 
 of the silo has been furnished by various authors, 
 but in a form more or less fragmentary, irregular 
 and incomplete. It has been the aim of the author 
 in the present work to cover these subjects with at 
 least a measurable degree of completeness and 
 system. 
 
 In writing a series of books on agriculture, it is 
 not easy to avoid some repetition. In fact, it is 
 practically impossible to do so. For example, when 
 one book treats of forage crops other than grasses 
 and is followed by a second on soiling crops and the 
 silo, as in the present instance, it will be found that 
 many of the crops grown for these respective uses 
 are the same. They are grown on the same kinds of 
 soils, and the methods of growing them are similar. 
 
 xi 
 
Xll ' AUTHOR S PREFACE. 
 
 If each treatise is to be complete in itself, the 
 methods of growing these respective crops must be 
 given in both, and this necessitates some repetition. 
 It has been, and will be, the constant aim of the 
 author, however, to avoid such repetition to the 
 greatest possible extent. By combining two or more 
 separate treatises in one, repetition could be almost 
 entirely avoided, but the purchaser would then have 
 to pay for matter in which he might not be interested 
 in order to obtain that which was of special interest 
 to him. Of the two plans, the author believes that 
 he has chosen that which will be more advantageous 
 to the general public. 
 
 University Experiment Farm, 
 
 St. Anthony Park, Minn., igoo. 
 
PART ONE 
 
 SOILING CROPS 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 SOILING CROPS. 
 
 Soiling crops are those which are sown from 
 time to time to furnish food for domestic animals, 
 and which are to be harvested while yet immature 
 and fed to them in the pasture, the paddock, the feed 
 lot or the stall. Corn cut and thus fed to animals at 
 any stage prior to maturity furnishes an illustration 
 of a soiling food. A soiling food is, therefore, 
 another name for a green food. It is not necessary 
 that it shall be fed as soon as harvested, but it is 
 necessary that it shall be fed in the green form. Corn 
 preserved in the silo is essentially a soiling food, 
 inasmuch as it is cut when immature and in that con- 
 dition is fed to live stock, though it may not be fed 
 for months after it has been cut, as for instance, 
 when it has been preserved in the silo, hence the 
 propriety of combining the subject of soiling crops 
 and the silo in this treatise. 
 
 Soiling crops differ from forage crops in that 
 the former are harvested and then carried to the 
 animals which consume them, whereas live stock 
 gather the latter for themselves; and soiling differ 
 from fodder crops in their being cut and fed green, 
 whereas fodder crops are frequently harvested when 
 mature or approaching maturity and are always 
 fed to animals in the cured form. People 
 who are disposed to follow rigidly the teachings 
 
 3 
 
4 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 of the dictionaries will probably take some 
 exception to these definitions, but the time has 
 certainly come when more precision must be given 
 to at least some of the definitions in agriculture, to 
 prevent confusion of ideas. For instance, the defini- 
 tion of forage crops given in our best authorities 
 would make these include soiling crops also. Such 
 a definition is at variance with common usage, and 
 surely the popular idea when consistent and legiti- 
 mate is of higher authority even than that of the 
 recognized standards. 
 
 Adaptation in Soiling Crops. — The growing of 
 soiling crops is chiefly adapted to an mtensive 
 cultivation. It may be better associated with the 
 tillage of small rather than of large farms and is 
 better adapted to localities where the population is 
 crowded and markets are near, as, for instance, in 
 the neighborhood of large cities. It was to be 
 expected therefore that the growing of soiling foods 
 would first receive attention in the east, and so it did. 
 But the day is coming, and is near, when in one or the 
 other of its forms it will be most extensively carried 
 on also in the west, and more especially in those 
 sections in which dairying prevails. 
 
 Soiling is, of course, only necessary on farms 
 on which live stock are kept more or less numerously. 
 And even on these it may not be much needed when 
 pastures are plentiful and succulent during the 
 greater part of the grazing season. It is more needed 
 in dry than in moist climates, on poor than on rich 
 lands, and where milk is sought rather than beef. 
 
 Partial and Complete Soiling. — Partial soiling 
 means supplementing the pastures with green food 
 
SOILING CROPS. 5 
 
 for a part of the season, as occasion may require. 
 Such food may be given once a day or oftener, 
 according to the needs of the animals. The chief 
 object sought in partial soiling is to keep domestic 
 animals abundantly supplied with palatable and 
 nutritious food, when the food from the pastures is 
 inadequate. And where milk production is involved 
 it aims to furnish succulent food after the grass pas- 
 tures have lost much of their succulence, even though 
 they should still be abundant. Partial soiling is best 
 adapted to a system of cultivation that is intermediate 
 between the extensive and intensive systems ; that is 
 to say, to a system that meets the needs of the average 
 arable farm. In all countries with summer climates 
 deficient in moisture it is an essential appendage and 
 material help to dairying. In no other way can the 
 dairyman keep up a maximum milk flow at so small 
 an outlay. 
 
 Complete soiling has reference to that system 
 by which domestic animals are sustained on food fed 
 to them in the stall, the feed lot, or the paddock dur- 
 ing all the year. It does not imply that all the food 
 so fed shall be given to the animals in the green form, 
 but that green food will usually form a considerable 
 portion, if not, indeed, the greater part, of the ration. 
 Complete soiling is adapted to an intensive system 
 of cultivation ; that is to say, where cultivable lands 
 are scarce and dear, and from which it is necessary 
 to obtain a maximum yield while they are being 
 tilled. Its general adoption in this country where 
 land is so plentiful, and in which it is relatively so 
 cheap, is probably remote rather than near, notwith- 
 standing that it has been practiced in some sections 
 
6 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 of the thickly populated countries of western Europe 
 for many years. 
 
 Benefits from Grozmng Soiling Crops. — The 
 following are the more important benefits from 
 growing soiling crops : i, Food supplies are increased 
 in a marked degree ; 2, in various ways the waste 
 in feeding is lessened; 3, animals are sustained in 
 better form than where soiling is not practiced; 4, 
 injury to the land through poaching is prevented ; 5, 
 a salutary influence is exercised on weed eradication ; 
 6, a saving in land is effected ; 7, a saving in fertility 
 is effected ; 8, a saving is also effected in the item of 
 fencing; 9, animal production is greatly increased; 
 and, 10, the cost of keeping the family cow is 
 lessened. 
 
 Increase in Food Supplies. — Soiling enables the 
 farmer to grow more food than he could by any 
 other system. Usually the growth of plants is hin- 
 dered in proportion to the extent to which the plants 
 are pastured down while yet immature. And crops 
 that are pastured are further injured by the tramping 
 of the animals that feed upon them. They are injured 
 directly by the bruising which they receive from the 
 hoofs of the animals which feed upon them, and 
 indirectly by the impaction of the land from pastur- 
 ing it when not dry enough. These facts are simply 
 mentioned without taking space to give the reasons. 
 And since soiling crops are usually cut a little short 
 of miaturity it is more practicable to grow two crops 
 from the same land, where soiling is practiced, than 
 where it is not. 
 
 The relative increase in food production where 
 soiling is practiced as compared with pasturage can 
 
SOILING CROPS. 7 
 
 not of course be stated otherwise than in the most 
 approximate manner. It will vary greatly with such 
 conditions as soil and season. But it will not be 
 extravagant to say that when animals are soiled all 
 the year in the one instance, and when they are pas- 
 tured during the seasan of pasturage, and are then 
 wintered on food grown on other land in the other 
 instance, a given area will sustain at least twice the 
 number of animals through the year by the former 
 system than it will by the latter. 
 
 Less Waste in Feeding. — When crops are fed 
 under the soiling system there is less waste than when 
 pastured or fed in the matured form. This saving 
 is effected, first, in the absence of injury through 
 treading as compared with pasture crops ; second, in 
 the absence of loss in harvesting as compared with 
 matured crops ; and, third, in the more complete con- 
 sumption of the food. The injury to pasture crops 
 through treading has already been referred to. 
 
 Soiling crops when judiciously managed are 
 seldom so injured by the weather as to be rendered 
 unfit for food. Fodder crops when matured are fre- 
 quently damaged by rain when being cured. When 
 thus damaged they lose in palatability, in nutrition, 
 and also through mold induced by storing when not 
 yet fully cured. 
 
 The more complete consumption of food fed in 
 the green form as compared with food fed when ripe, 
 arises chiefly from the greater palatability of the 
 former. The fodder portion of plants, that is to 
 say, the stems and leaves, is always better relished by 
 animals when fed before they are fully matured. For 
 instance, feed rye to cattle when it has not yet reached 
 
8 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the earing stage, and it will be eaten with avidity. 
 Feed it when fully out in head and it will be eaten 
 indifferently. Feed it when ripe and little else than 
 the heads will be eaten. Feed the straw after the grain 
 has been threshed, and it will be consumed by the 
 animals only when impelled by hunger. Chemists 
 tell us that fodder plants contain all the food ele- 
 ments that they will possess at the time the ripening 
 process begins, that is to say, by the time they have 
 reached that stage when the stalk begins to assume 
 a yellow tinge at the ground. They should be fed, 
 therefore, as soiling food before they pass this stage, 
 for as soon as they get beyond it there is loss in 
 palatability. And there is loss in digestibility as the 
 ripening stage is neared, that is to say, the propor- 
 tion of the indigestible woody fiber is increased. 
 
 On the other hand, when plants are cut when 
 considerably short of maturity, there is loss from 
 want of sufficient development. Theoretically, the 
 most food will be got from plants when they are cut 
 as soiling food a little short of maturity. In prac- 
 tice, however, this is impossible, as it would too much 
 curtail the length of the period for feeding each crop. 
 But with crops that grow again and again, as with 
 alfalfa, for instance, there is no loss probably in cut- 
 ting them as soon as they have made sufficient 
 growth to justify the expenditure of the labor 
 involved. 
 
 Sustains Animals in Better Form. — By the aid 
 of soiling food domestic animals can be maintained 
 va better form than without it. With such aid they 
 can be maintained in a more even condition, the ani- 
 mal energy can be more perfectly conserved, and the 
 
SOILING CROPS, 9 
 
 succulence of the foods usually exercises a whole- 
 some influence on the health of the stock. 
 
 In the absence of soiling foods it is hardly pos- 
 sible for the farmer to keep his animals through all 
 the year in what may be termed a well balanced con- 
 dition. When he depefids wholly on pastures during 
 the summer season these may fail. When they do 
 his animals suffer proportionately. On the other 
 hand, if the pastures are superabundant there is 
 waste. When pastures lose their succulence, the 
 milk flow from milk-giving animals is proportion- 
 ately reduced, and no after feeding will wholly 
 restore it, howsoever suitable it may be. As the 
 character of the season cannot be foreseen, farmers 
 are wise who make provision for a possible shortage 
 in pasture by sowing more or less of one or more 
 crops to provide soiling food. If the best possible 
 returns are to be obtained from animals, they 
 must be well supplied with food every day in the 
 year. When animals are fed in whole or in part 
 on soiling foods, they may frequently be kept 
 nearer at hand than when not so fed, hence 
 their needs can be more easily met. When 
 the days are hot they may be more easily 
 housed. In the time of flies they may be more easily 
 protected from the same by keeping them in cool, 
 darkened sheds or stables during the heat of the day. 
 In hot weather they can be left out in paddocks over 
 night, and in cold weather they can be housed. Such 
 attentions have a marked influence in maintaining 
 an equilibrium of condition. 
 
 The use of soiling foods conserves animal energy 
 by lessening that waste which arises from undue 
 
lO SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 exertion on the part of animals when gathering their 
 food. When the dairy cow has to travel far when 
 seeking food in the pastures, she does so at the 
 expense of food required to sustain the prolonged 
 exertion. And when food is thus used to sustain 
 energy it is very evident that it cannot be used to 
 make milk. Likewise, wdien growing cattle have to 
 travel beyond a certain limit in order to get supplies 
 for the day, they do so at the expense of flesh. And 
 the same is true of the horse, the sheep and the pig. 
 Live stock should, of course, be given sufficient exer- 
 cise to keep them healthy and to give them proper 
 stamina. Beyond this, exercise means waste of food, 
 and this waste can be prevented by growing a suffi- 
 ciency of soiling foods. 
 
 Soiling foods, judiciously fed, tend to keep the 
 animal system in proper tone, hence thus far they 
 exert a favorable influence on the health of live stock 
 to which they are fed. In the absence of those foods 
 it is difficult, if not impossible, to keep the system in 
 the best of tone during certain periods of the year. 
 Where soiling foods are not grown there can be no 
 assurance of succulence in the pastures beyond the 
 early summer months. Pastures will not sustain an 
 undiminished milk flow in cows, even when consid- 
 erably short of the yellow leaf stage. When dry 
 and crisp they are a less valuable food than well cured 
 hay, notwithstanding that the food may be abundant. 
 On such pastures swine will soon lose flesh unless 
 the pastures are supplemented with other food. By 
 growing succulent foods in due succession and in 
 adequate sufficiency they may be made available for 
 live stock in one form or the other during a large 
 
SOILING CROPS, 1 1 
 
 part of the year, if not, indeed, through the whole 
 year ; hence the beneficial influence which they exert 
 on the health of the animals may be made continually 
 operative. But there are other senses in which the 
 soiling system may become prejudicial to the health 
 of the animals. These are discussed on Page i8. 
 
 Injury Through Poaching. — When the soiling 
 system is practiced, lands are not injured by poach- 
 ing, that is, by the treading of the animals when the 
 hoofs sink below the surface of the land. On all 
 soils poaching is to some extent harmful, and on clays 
 it is quite harjnful, since impaction follows on the 
 return of dry weather to the very great injury to the 
 growth of the grasses. As no person can control 
 the weather, the farmer who is dependent on pastures 
 only to provide food for his live stock in the season 
 of growth must needs allow them to feed upon the 
 pastures betimes when they will injure them by 
 treading; and it may be added that close grazing in 
 very dry weather may seriously injure pastures. 
 Particularly is this true of pastures in some parts of 
 the dry west. The farmer without soiling food may 
 be powerless to prevent such a result. 
 
 Influence on Weed Eradication. — The soiling 
 system may be made to render material aid in eradi- 
 cating Aveeds. This arises, first, from the thickness 
 with which the food may be grown; second, from 
 the season at which much of it may be sown ; and, 
 third, from the immature period at which it is reaped. 
 
 Soiling food ma}^ be sown more thickly rela- 
 tively than if the same plant or plants were sown to 
 produce a matured crop of seeds. Such sowing 
 secures more of fineness in the food, and in 
 
12 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 consequence more of palatability. The food thus 
 grown crowds weeds because of its thickness, and 
 also hinders their development because of the density 
 of the shade. 
 
 Soiling food may be sown at different seasons 
 because of the difference in the habits of the plants 
 thus grown. Several varieties may be sown late. 
 When these varieties are thus sown, ample time is 
 given to sprout and in turn to destroy myriads of 
 weed seeds that may be in the upper section of the 
 tillable soil. In fact, where such cultivation is what 
 it ought to be, the ground will be comparatively clean 
 before the crop is grown or planted. 
 
 As soiling foods are cut while yet immature, the 
 weeds wdiich grow in them have not the same chance 
 to mature as though the crop had been allowed to 
 stand until fully ripe. Notably is this true of soil- 
 ing crops that are sown reasonably early. And when 
 these are removed early in the season, another soil- 
 ing crop, or a catch crop of some kind may be made 
 to follow the first one. This second crop will also 
 be helpful to the cleaning of the land. 
 
 Saving in Land. — Growing soiling foods effects 
 a great saving in land, as it enables the grower to 
 raise much more food from a given area. The sav- 
 ing thus effected is greater relatively in the west and 
 south than in the east and north. This arises from 
 the greater relative adaptability of the east and north 
 to the growing of grass pastures, and from the 
 greater relative adaptability of the west and south 
 to the growing of soiling foods. The extent of the 
 saving will vary with the conditions. But it would 
 not be extravagant to say that ordinarily where 
 
SOILING CROPS. 13 
 
 three acres of grass are required to keep a milch cow 
 in good form for six months, it would be possible 
 to grow enough soiling food to keep the same cow 
 all the year. In some sections of the prairie in the 
 far west, where cultivated grasses have not been 
 grown with marked success, the difference would be 
 even greater. In instances, not a few, it has been 
 found possible to grow ample supplies of food on one 
 acre by the soiling system to feed a cow all year. 
 As the population becomes more dense, and as popu- 
 lous cities multiply, the saving in land effected by 
 soiling in either of its forms will increase in impor- 
 tance, and more in the neighborhood of large cities 
 than elsewhere. 
 
 Saving in Fences. — Growing soiling foods les- 
 sens the necessity for building fences on farms on 
 which live stock are kept. A marked saving is thus 
 effected in labor and money, the extent of the saving 
 being proportional to the number of animals kept, 
 to the cost of labor and materials for fencing. Unless 
 where the materials for fencing are very cheap, it is 
 a costly affair, both to build and to maintain fences. 
 It is seldom that any kind of fence, strong enough 
 to secure cattle, can be built for less than twenty-five 
 to fifty cents per rod, when labor and material are 
 included, and in some instances the outlay would be 
 much greater. This outlay, or much of it, must 
 needs be repeated at least every other decade, to say 
 nothing of the sums paid out from time to time in 
 repairs. There is also the further objection that on 
 the strip of land on which the fence stands, weeds 
 are much prone to grow, unless considerable hand 
 labor is expended in keeping them down. 
 
14 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 On the other hand, we must not assume that the 
 soiHng system will entirely obviate the necessity for 
 fences. Theoretically, where complete soiling is 
 carried on no fencing would be required other than 
 that used in enclosing the yards and paddocks in 
 which the animals are to be exercised, or in 
 which they are to be kept over night in w^arm 
 weather. But this idea must not be pressed too far, 
 for where sufficient stamina in live stock are to be 
 maintained, animals must have exercise beyond what 
 they will voluntarily take in small paddocks. 
 
 Saz'ing in Fertility. — The soiling system effects 
 a great saving in fertility, since it enables the farmer 
 to make more and better manure than can be obtained 
 from live stock kept on the pasturing system, and 
 less of Avhat is thus made is w^asted. More manure 
 is made, first, because the animals are at all times on 
 full feed, whereas on pasture they are frequently on 
 short supplies, and, second, because by the soiling 
 system a greater number of animals can be sustained 
 on a given area. The manure made is likely to be 
 more valuable, since along with soiling food greater 
 quantities of meal, rich in the elements of plant 
 growth, are usually fed. And there is less waste in 
 the manure made if properly saved, since its value is 
 not then impaired by insects and other adverse influ- 
 ences, as it is when dropped in the field. In many 
 instances the soiling system will enable the farmer 
 to more than double the value of the manurial prod- 
 uct made, as it enables him to more than double the 
 supplies of food grown. 
 
 Increase in Animal Production. — Such a system 
 cannot fail to increase animal production. The 
 
SOILING CROPS. 15 
 
 extent of this increase Avill be in proportion to its 
 completeness. If it increases the food products 100 
 per cent, it will also increase the milk or meat pro- 
 duction more than 100 per cent, since the animals 
 maintained will be increased proportionately. They 
 will also be maintained on foods at all times ample 
 in quantity and of correct adaptation. These influ- 
 ences will tend to a further increase of production. 
 The greater outlay involved, however, in securing 
 this added increase should never be lost sight of. 
 
 Sustaining the Family Cow. — In villages, in 
 suburbs of towns and cities, quite a number of the 
 inhabitants keep cows. To such people the cow is 
 a source of untold blessing, because of the utility of 
 the product which she gives. Oftentimes those peo- 
 ple are unable to secure adequate pastures. This 
 difficulty may easily be overcome when the owner of 
 a cow possesses a small piece of land. He can then 
 supplement the pastures by growing soiling foods, 
 and with great advantage to both cow and land. 
 Where but one cow is kept, a small area will suffice 
 to supply her needs. 
 
 Some Objections to the Soiling System. — To 
 the soiling system there are some objections. Chief 
 among these are the following: i, It involves 
 increased outlay for labor; 2, it requires more con- 
 stant attention on the part of the attendants ; 3, it is 
 not always easy to adjust the food supplies to the 
 needs of the animals, and, 4, it may, in some instances, 
 tend to impair the stamina of live stock. 
 
 Increased Outlay for Labor. — The soiling sys- 
 tem cannot be adopted in either of its forms without 
 a considerable increase in the labor of those who care 
 
l6 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 for the live stock so fed. Even in the partial form, 
 increase in labor is considerable. In the complete 
 form, it is much greater; and of course increase in 
 labor involves a corresponding increase in outlay. 
 The increase in labor arises, first, from the necessity 
 for cutting the food daily, or at intervals of not more 
 than two or three da3^s ; second, from the necessity 
 for handling and conveying it to the animals in the 
 green form; third, from the necessity for feeding 
 and otherwise caring for the animals from day to 
 day in the pasture, paddock, shed or stall ; fourth, in 
 caring for the yards or paddocks and in handling 
 the manure. From the sum of this labor, however, 
 in making the comparison, there should be deducted 
 the less amount of the labor necessary in providing 
 fencing. Notwithstanding, the extra labor involved, 
 and the increased expenditure resulting therefrom, 
 is the one great standing hindrance in the way of the 
 more general adoption of the system of complete 
 soiling by the farmers of this country. Nor is the 
 adoption of complete soiling likely to become general 
 until farm labor becomes cheaper and until land 
 becomes scarcer and dearer. But beyond all ques- 
 tion, in the opinion of the writer, the day is not very 
 far distant when complete soiling will be practiced 
 by a considerable number of the farmers in every 
 state of the Union. 
 
 Partial soiling does not involve nearly so much 
 labor as complete soiling, hence it is practiced by a 
 greater number of farmers. Dairymen, especially, 
 cannot well get along without it. The necessity for 
 thus growing and feeding food to supplement the 
 pastures increases with the dryness of the climate. So 
 
SOILING CROPS. ,17 
 
 essential is it to the highest success in raising and 
 properly maintaining farm stock that it must even- 
 tually be practiced by all or nearly all farmers who 
 do not follow the system of complete soiling. 
 
 Tax on Attendants. — Where complete soiling 
 is carried on, th-e care of the animals must be con- 
 tinuous throughout the season. Every day thereof 
 brings its round of duties, and they cannot be neg- 
 lected except at the expense of the live stock. Food 
 must be secured for the animals with unfailing regu- 
 larity, it must be fed to them every day, and usually 
 two or three times a day. To the average farm 
 laborer this work savors so much of the treadmill 
 order that it is distasteful. He looks upon it in the 
 light of a yoke which he does not care to take upon 
 himself. Hence, until those better days come when 
 such labor will be looked upon through a proper lens, 
 for it has its compensations, the adoption of the 
 soiling system in either form will be relatively slow. 
 
 Adjusting Food Supplies. — Complete soiling 
 calls for the exercise of much thought in securing 
 food supplies and in adjusting them to the needs of 
 the animals. There must needs be succession in 
 foods to keep up a constant supply. No one food is 
 at its best for soiling uses for many weeks in succes- 
 sion. There must also be variety in the foods thus 
 grown in succession. This is essential to the well- 
 being of the animals to w^hich the foods are fed. It is 
 further rendered imperative by the different periods 
 of the year when various plants grow and mature 
 sufficiently for being fed at their best. A supply 
 of these foods must always be on hand through 
 sunshine and storm. In some instances, however, 
 
l8 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 showers fall frequently and for days in succession, 
 so that it may not be easy to secure food supplies 
 unless when soaked with rain; and it may be also 
 more or less soiled with earth. To properly adjust 
 these matters in the face of varying seasons is no 
 easy task. It cannot be done without the exercise 
 of much forethought. 
 
 Impaired Stamina in the Stock. — While, as has 
 been shown, the soiling system tends to promote 
 good health in live stock, it may easily be so con- 
 ducted as to ultimately injure stamina in the animals 
 subjected to its conditions. Up to a certain limit, 
 utility in live stock is improved through artificial 
 conditions. Beyond this limit, stamina are weak- 
 ened. AVhere the border line runs between the most 
 approved conditions of environment and conditions 
 that lead to deterioration, is not always easily deter- 
 mined. Unnecessary exertion on the part of animals 
 when getting this food lessens production. Insuffi- 
 cient exertion lessens stamina. Under the complete 
 soiling system the individual must guard against 
 undue confinement of the animals, or their natural 
 vigor will wane. All history and experience pomt 
 to increased mortality among animals and also 
 among men in proportion as they are aggregated 
 under conditions of much restraint. The dangers 
 of undue restraint, however, do not apply to animals 
 subjected only to the conditions which partial soiling 
 imposes. And with complete soiling, it is probable 
 that they may, in a great measure, be avoided by 
 giving due attention to the conditions which are 
 necessary to the maintenance of improved vigor in 
 domestic animals. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 
 
 It would probably be correct to say that Indian 
 corn (Zea Mays) furnishes more food for live stock 
 than any other plant now grown in the United 
 States, and that it will continue to do so through all 
 the years that are yet to come. Taking everything 
 into consideration it will probably produce more food 
 per acre for domestic animals than any other plant, 
 and there are but few foods which can be fed in a 
 greater variety of ways. In furnishing soiling food 
 on unirrigated land, it is in some respects without a 
 rival on the American continent. So great is its 
 value for this use that in the near future very few 
 sections will be found in all the United States in 
 which it will not be grown on a large majority of the 
 farms by those who keep live stock. 
 
 Green corn is pre-eminently a food for dairy 
 cows when in milk, owing in part to the close relation 
 between succulence in food and free milk production. 
 But it may also be fed with much advantage to other 
 classes of cattle when pastures are scant, and also to 
 horses of all ages, although to horses at work it 
 should not be given in large quantities, lest a too lax 
 condition of the bowels be induced. It furnishes 
 excellent green food for sheep, when of fine growth. 
 It also furnishes food for swine that is much relished 
 by them, especially when the corn is of the sweet 
 
 19 
 

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 -jiMmBSKi 
 
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 a. :§ 
 
INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 21 
 
 varieties. They will virtually consume the entire 
 product when it is fed to them prior to the maturing 
 of the crop. 
 
 Corn grown as soiling food will yield from 
 ten to thirty tons per acre, according as the land is 
 poor or rich and the season is dry or moist. A good 
 average crop may be placed at fifteen to twenty tons 
 per acre. 
 
 Distribution. — Corn can be grown as soiling 
 food in nearly all the tillable portions of the United 
 States, since, with a mean temperature of about 60 
 degrees, it will become sufficiently advanced for being 
 cut as soiling food in from fifty to seventy days from 
 the time of planting. But where it can be allowed 
 to grow for a longer period, the crop is relatively 
 more valuable. Nearly all the tillable portions of 
 the United States have marked adaptation for grow- 
 ing corn to be fed in the green form. The sections 
 least well adapted to its growth are those probably 
 which border on the Pacific ocean, between Alaska 
 and California, because of the low mean tempera- 
 tures that prevail there. In nearly all the tillable 
 areas of Canada, also, corn can be grown in the 
 finest form for summer feeding and in sections too 
 far north to mature the grain. 
 
 Soil. — Corn is specially adapted to warm, deep 
 loam soils rich in humus, and that lie upon subsoils 
 of what may be termed porous clay. It is a most 
 voracious feeder on decaying organic matter, hence 
 when it is to be grown, care should be taken to keep 
 the soil well supplied wnth such food. But it may be 
 grown with more or less success on almost any kind 
 of land not too low in available plant food, not too 
 
22 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 strongly impregnated with alkali, and not overmoist 
 or over dry. It may be made to flourish on the stiff est 
 clays when they are sufficiently pulverized, and on 
 the poorest sands when they have been sufficiently 
 enriched. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — As a fodder or grain 
 crop, that is, as a crop for being fed in the cured 
 form, corn should be grown whenever practica1:)le 
 as a cleaning crop. More commonly it should be 
 planted after one or more grain crops have been 
 taken from the land, and it should be followed by a 
 grain crop in which grass seeds have been sown. 
 Frequently it should be sown on an overturned grass 
 or clover sod. But when sown to provide soiling 
 food it can with much advantage be grown as a 
 "catch" crop, that is to say, as a crop preceded or 
 followed by another crop grown on the land the same 
 season, and in some instances both preceded and 
 followed by another crop. Where the seasons are 
 sufficiently long it may thus be grown w4th peculiar 
 fitness after a crop of winter rye is pastured, plowed 
 under green, or reaped when mature ; after clover is 
 pastured, buried or reaped ; after grain crops are pas- 
 tured off", and in some instances after grain crops 
 are harvested; after a crop of early sown rape is 
 grazed down, and after certain other soiling crops 
 have been removed from the land, as, for instance, 
 peas and oats. 
 
 It may also be grown after any kind of a fall 
 or spring sown crop that has failed from any cause. 
 But in areas in which the seasons are quite short, it 
 may not be possible to grow another crop on the land 
 the same season. The crops that may with much 
 
INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 2^ 
 
 propriety be sown after soiling corn include winter 
 wheat, winter rye, winter oats, the winter vetch, the 
 sand vetch, rape and crimson clover. Corn may 
 thus frequently be sown as soiling food without 
 interfering with the growth of the crop that would 
 ordinarily be taken from the land. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — When preparing the soil, 
 the aim should be to secure a seed bed moist, clean 
 and fine. When winter rye is plowed under, it 
 should not be later than the earing stage, and in 
 regions deficient in moisture earlier than that, lest 
 through its bulkiness it should cause the land to lie 
 too loosely upon itself and so lose too much of its 
 moisture, or through its woodiness it should fail to 
 decay soon enough to feed the corn crop. If the 
 buried rye is rolled and harrowed soon after it has 
 been buried, the moisture in the soil will be better 
 conserved and the more quickly will the rye decay. 
 These remarks' will apply equally to the burial of 
 fresh farmyard manure with much litter in it. But 
 in time of wet weather, it would not be necessary 
 thus to roll and harrow the land so soon after it 
 had been plowed. As the preparation of the soil for 
 this crop cannot usually begin long before the plant- 
 ing of the crop, special pains should be taken to 
 pulverize the soil and to make it firm, that the germi- 
 nation of the young plants may begin at once after 
 planting, and that the subsequent growth may be 
 rapid. 
 
 It should always be the aim in growing a soiling 
 crop of corn to produce a large quantity. It is usu- 
 ally fed in the immature form, hence quality in the 
 food cannot be so much influenced by close or wide 
 
24 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 planting as it is when the corn crop is allowed to 
 mature. Land, therefore, not sufficiently fertile to 
 produce a maximum crop should be fertilized accord- 
 ing to its needs. Where it can be obtained, farm- 
 yard manure is one of the cheapest and most effective 
 of fertilizers. It may be applied most freely in 
 climates not deficient, or not much deficient, in mois- 
 ture. It feeds the corn crop better when it has been 
 reduced, or fermented, more or less, before it is 
 applied. On lands lacking in moisture the applica- 
 tion of large quantities of farmyard manure in the 
 unreduced form should be avoided, unless it can be 
 applied some considerable time before the planting 
 of the corn, otherwise its bulkiness and slowness of 
 decay may harm the crop more than it will help it. 
 
 Commercial fertilizers may also be applied in 
 addition to farmyard manure where the supply of 
 the latter is limited, or alone in its absence. The 
 composition of these fertilizers and the quantity to 
 apply will depend upon the needs of the land. But 
 more commonly complete fertilizers will be prefer- 
 able, that is to say, fertilizers which contain a certain 
 per cent, of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 
 
 Sowing. — Corn for soiling uses may be sown 
 broadcast by hand and covered with the harrow; 
 with the grain drill, all the tubes or with only part 
 of them in use ; or it may be strewn by hand in shal- 
 low furrows made by the plow. Which of these 
 methods ought to be adopted will depend chiefly 
 upon such conditions as the conveniences at hand 
 for planting the crop and upon the area to be grown. 
 
 Much has been written against the plan of sow- 
 ing the corn broadcast by hand, also against the plan 
 
INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 2$ 
 
 of sowing it with the grain drill when all the tubes 
 are in use. Yet it may be true that a large majority 
 of the farmers who grow corn for soiling persist in 
 growing it thus. And there is probably some reason 
 for such persistence. It is very convenient to sow 
 corn in this way. The stalks, because of their fineness, 
 are more palatable than when of stronger growth, 
 and on good soil much bulk of food is obtained. The 
 objections to this method of planting the crop are : 
 The lack of growth in the corn in severely dry 
 weather, the encouragement given to the growth of 
 weeds, the larger amount of seed required for plant- 
 ing, and the less nutritious character of the food. 
 There is some force in all these objections. Notwith- 
 standing, in the judgment of the author they do not 
 prove conclusively that on well prepared soils corn 
 for soiling should not sometimes be grown thus. 
 But it should not be so grown on land that is 
 frequently lacking in moisture, on land that is low in 
 fertility or on land on which weed seeds lying on or 
 near the surface have not been well sprouted and 
 destroyed before the planting of the corn. 
 
 When corn for soiling is planted with the grain 
 drill, some of the tubes only being in use, there is 
 much latitude in the precise methods practiced 
 Sometimes every second tube is used. When planted 
 thus, the crop will make more growth on soils only 
 moderately supplied with plant food, and it will also 
 make a better growth in dry weather. When thus 
 planted, of course, the rows are too near to admit of 
 horse cultivation. Such cultivation may be given 
 with the rows even nearer to each other than thirty 
 inches, but when less distant than thirty inches it 
 
26 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 cannot be done with so much freedom or ease. The 
 larger the variety of the corn, the more distant 
 should be the rows, to avoid too much shading from 
 the sunlight ; hence there may be instances when corn 
 grown for soiling should be planted more than thirty 
 inches distant. 
 
 Sometimes such corn is planted with the drill 
 in what may be termed double rows, that is to say, 
 in rows not more than from six to nine inches apart. 
 But the distance between the pairs of double rows 
 should be at least thirty inches. In planting corn 
 thus, with some grain drills at least, it may be neces- 
 sary to duplicate the amount of driving that would 
 be sufficient to plant the corn in single rows. Other 
 drills, however, may be made to plant at least two 
 double rows at one and the same time. This is done 
 by leaving open the avenues that lead to the tubei 
 which do the planting and closmg all the others. 
 Corn planted thus will produce a greater bulk than 
 if planted in single row^s, yet this method of planting 
 admits practicall}^ the same kind of cultivation that 
 would be suitable for corn grown in single rows. 
 
 When the corn is sown by hand, shallow fur- 
 rows are made with the plow, the seed is strewn 
 thickly in these, according to the desires of the 
 grower, and it may be covered by hand or by draw- 
 ing a heavy harrow crosswise over the ground. The 
 object sought in planting the corn thus is to secure a 
 thick stand of plants that may, also, be cultivated, 
 when a drill with which to sow the plants is not 
 obtainable. But this method of planting corn for 
 soiling should not be attempted when a large area 
 is to be planted. 
 
(27) 
 
 Fig. 3. Giant Fodder Corn for Soiling 
 
 Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 
 
28 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 The variety, or varieties, of corn to sow or plant 
 will depend on conditions such as relate to climate 
 and soil. In northerly latitudes it may be wise to 
 plant only the quick growing flint varieties. In 
 more southerly latitudes, it may be necessary to grow 
 only the slow growing dent varieties. When the 
 corn is to be allowed to pass the earing stage, before 
 being fed, it may be proper to choose some of the 
 varieties of sweet corn for planting. But since soil- 
 ing corn is usually fed before the corn on the ear is 
 of any considerable food value, it is well to select 
 varieties with a leafy tendency of grow^th, since these 
 varieties will be more relished by the animals to 
 w^hich the crop is fed. 
 
 The quantity of seed required will vary with 
 the size of the seed kernels, or, in other words, with 
 the variety of the corn, and with the method adopted 
 in sowing the seed. Probably no method of sowing 
 calls for the use of more than three bushels of seed 
 per acre, or less than one bushel per acre. There 
 would seem to be no advantage derived from grow- 
 ing corn for soiling purposes w^itli the plants less dis- 
 tant than from three to four inches in the line of the 
 row, whatsoever the kind of cultivation adopted, and 
 there may often be good reasons for growing the 
 plants much further apart. 
 
 The time for planting corn for soiling will 
 largely depend upon such conditions as climate, soil, 
 and the prospective needs of the animals to which 
 the crop is to be fed. Although in southern lati- 
 tudes, this crop may be sown for soiling uses far on 
 into midsummer, it should never be planted in the 
 spring before the soil has become sufficiently warmed 
 
INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 29 
 
 to germinate the seed quickly. Slowness of germi- 
 nation is more or less injurious to the crop, and 
 prolonged slowness of germination may be even 
 fatal to it. It is probably safe to conclude that the 
 season is sufficiently advanced for corn planting 
 to begin when apple blossoms are unfolding 
 their beautiful tints. It may be desirable to 
 have the season for feeding green corn as long as 
 possible. This may be brought about in one of two 
 ways : First, several varieties, which call for varying 
 periods in which to grow, may be planted at the same 
 time ; second, but one variety may be sown at inter- 
 vals not closer to each other than two or three weeks. 
 The second of these methods is preferable, since the 
 one variety selected may be the most suitable to grow 
 in that particular locality. When corn is grown as 
 soiling food for pigs, the aim should be to secure 
 m_uch grain rather than abundant growth of stem 
 and leaves. It should therefore be planted in hills 
 or rows, as corn is usually grown, to provide ears. 
 From eight to twelve quarts of seed will suffice to 
 plant an acre, and, as previously intimated, the sweet 
 varieties are to be given the preference. 
 
 Cultivation. — The harrow and the cultivator 
 are the instruments chiefly used in cultivating corn 
 for soiling. Owing to the short period required by 
 corn to grow, it is seldom necessary to use the hand 
 hoe, when a sufficient use has been made of the har- 
 row. The corn ground should be harrowed a few 
 days subsequently to the planting of the seed. It may 
 be necessary to harrow twice before the plants appear 
 when the germination is tardy, but once is usually 
 sufficient. The crop should be harrowed at intervals 
 
30 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 of only a few days, especiall}^ when the weather 
 is dry, even though the land is not foul with weed? 
 that it may the more perfectly retain its moisture. 
 The harrowing should cease when the plants are sev- 
 eral inches high. For reasons that will be manifest, 
 the harrow should be light, should have a broad 
 sweep, and when in use the teeth should usually be 
 set to slant backward. It should also be driven 
 across rather than along the drills, that fewer plants 
 may be covered by the harrow. When the crop must 
 be planted on foul land, more seed should be used 
 than w\^uld otherwise be necessary, to allow for the 
 freer use of the harrow, and consequently for the 
 loss of a larger percentage of the plants. 
 
 When the cultivator can be used, its use ought 
 to begin soon after the harrowing has ceased, and it 
 should continue at intervals until the feeding of the 
 crop has virtually begun. These intervals should 
 usually be not more distant than, say, seven to ten 
 days. The cultivation should be shallow, that the 
 corn roots may not be broken, and that the moisture 
 may be better conserved than it would be by deep 
 cultivation. It should come close up to the line of 
 the rows, that weed growth may be checked to the 
 greatest possible extent. 
 
 Feeding. — The feeding of the corn may begin 
 as soon as it is fully in tassel, or even sooner but for 
 the loss in maximum development that would ensue, 
 and this feeding may be continued until the crop is 
 matured. But when fed to swine it may be well to 
 defer the feeding until the corn in the ear is nearly 
 ready for table use. The residue of the green 
 corn, if the crop is not all consumed, may be cut at 
 
INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 3I 
 
 the stage of early maturity, cured in the shock and 
 fed with much advantage to hve stock subsequently 
 through the entire fall and winter. The farmer who 
 has a sufficient area of corn grown and properly har- 
 vested on the plan above outlined may sustain his 
 horses, cattle and sheep in excellent form, howsoever 
 dry the autumn may be, or howsoever scarce the 
 pasture. But it is very important that the crop shall 
 be harvested at the stage of early maturity, that is 
 to say, when a little under-ripe, and that it be nicely 
 cured. Vastly increased attention is likely to be 
 given to this feature of corn production in the near 
 future, more particularly in the northwestern states, 
 so much characterized by bright autumn sunshine. 
 
 When only a small quantity of soiling food is 
 to be fed daily, it may be cut with a scythe and carted 
 to the animals, or thrown to them over the fence 
 Avhich may separate the corn crop from an adjoining 
 pasture. It may be well in some instances to so plan 
 for feeding the corn when choosing the land on 
 which it is to be grown, that is to say, it may be well 
 to sow a strip of corn not too wide beside the pasture 
 and along its entire length. The saving in horse 
 labor that would thus be effected when feeding the 
 crop would be material, but to the plan there is the 
 objection that corn or other green crop fed thus 
 leads to the dropping of an undue proportion of the 
 manure in that part of the pasture on which the 
 green food has been fed. When green corn is cut 
 for pigs, the corn hook will probably be the best 
 implement to use. 
 
 When fed on a large scale, the crop must needs 
 be cut with the mower, according to the needs of the 
 
32 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 live stock. Or, as much may be cut at one time as 
 will suffice for two or three days' feeding, especially 
 when the crop is well advanced in growth, as then it 
 does not quickly wait overmuch, as it would at an 
 earlier period. A moderate amount of wilting 
 rather adds to the relish of the food, and it also les- 
 sens the danger from abundant feeding when the 
 green corn is first given to the animals. 
 
 The portion fed once or twice a day, as the case 
 may be, will have to be drawn as frequently by horse 
 labor, except when it is fed in racks in a yard, or in 
 the stable mangers. In such instances enough may 
 be drawn at one time to suffice for two or even for 
 three days. But too much wilting must be guarded 
 against, else it will lessen the palatability of the corn. 
 Some form of truck with a platform not far from 
 the ground should be used in carting all kinds of 
 green food, in order to lessen muscular expenditure 
 in handling food with so much water in it. 
 
 Where the facilities are suitable, there is no way 
 by which corn thus carted can be fed to live stock 
 with a less expenditure of labor than by feeding it 
 in a pasture. It is then thrown from the dray or 
 wagon and is consumed without any further labor 
 in handling the residue, or in carting the drop- 
 pings. But of course there is oftentimes con- 
 siderable loss in the manure. When corn or other 
 green food is thus fed, it should be dumped off in 
 small bunches not too near one another, so the 
 animals may consume it without being molested by 
 one another ; and it should be strewn on a different 
 portion of the pasture every time it is fed, to insure 
 greater cleanliness in the feeding, also to secure a 
 
INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 33 
 
 more even distribution of the droppings. The whole 
 pasture may be gone over in this way. The plan 
 of manuring a field thus is certainly very cheap and 
 efficacious. The loss in fertility is not great if the 
 pasture is to be plowed the same autumn. If it can 
 be arranged to have the food thus spread on the 
 ground in the absence of the live stock, they will not 
 tread on it so much when turned in to feed upon it. 
 The ideal plan, when it can be carried out, is to have 
 two pastures and to spread the food in each alter- 
 nately when the live stock are in the other pasture. 
 
 When the green corn is fed to horses or cattle 
 in manger or racks, for manifest reasons, it is well 
 to have it placed in these when the animals are 
 absent, unless when they are tied in stalls. It may 
 be most conveniently fed to sheep or swine in the 
 pastures, but there may be occasions when it will be 
 found advantageous to feed it in paddocks, feed lots 
 or sheds. The feeding of sweet corn to swine may 
 be continued after the crop has matured, but there 
 Avill be loss in feeding the stalks unless the ears only 
 are fed to the swine. The stalks may of course De 
 cured and fed to horses or cattle. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SORGHUM. 
 
 Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare var. saccharatum) 
 has not been very extensively grown as a food for 
 live stock on any part of the continent, but for sev- 
 eral years past its great value for such a use has been 
 known to a limited number of farmers in various 
 centers, and in many instances it has been fed by 
 those farmers with very satisfactory results. It is 
 probably true that in Kansas more sorghum has been 
 grow^n to provide food for live stock than in any 
 other state in the Union, but in some of the states 
 which border upon Kansas, and in others farther 
 south, more or less sorghum has been grown for 
 stock within the past few years. The idea has gone 
 abroad, and rightly, too, that sorghum is more deli- 
 cate and slower in growth than corn. But the gen- 
 erally accepted view based on this idea, viz., that to 
 grow sorghum and to keep it clean involves great 
 labor is only partially correct. When sown on 
 ground well prepared and clean on and near the 
 surface, it requires no more labor subsequent to the 
 sowing of the seed to grow sorghum than to grow 
 corn. But it is frequently necessary to expend more 
 labor in cleaning and mellowing the seed bed for this 
 crop than in preparing the same for corn. If sown 
 on land foul with weed seeds within the surface 
 strata of the soil, the weeds will start in advance 
 
 34 
 
(35) 
 
 Fig. 4. Early Amber 5orghum 
 
 Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 
 
36 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 of the sorghum and will greatly hinder its growth 
 unless much labor is expended in fighting them. 
 
 Sorghum stools much when it is growing, 
 hence the growth is finer in character than the 
 growth of corn. This of course adds to its palata- 
 bility as a food for stock. But its greatest value 
 as a soiling food lies, first, in its power to pro- 
 duce more than one cutting per year when 
 grown under favorable conditions of soil and 
 climate; second, in its ability to grow in climates 
 with a limited rainfall. The plants grow slowly 
 for a time, and the development of root growth is 
 limited ; later they take a firm, hold upon the soil, and 
 if the weather is warm they rush forward with much 
 quickness and vigor. 
 
 Sorghum furnishes excellent soiling food for 
 horses, cattle, sheep and swine. Like nearly all 
 green foods it must be fed with some caution to 
 horses when working. It is becoming more com- 
 mon to pasture sheep and swine upon sorghum than 
 to feed it to them as a soiling food, owing to the 
 marked adaptability of this plant in providing pas- 
 ture for these animals. But when fed as soiling 
 food to sheep and swine it is much relished, more 
 especially when of tender and succulent growth. 
 Its highest use as a soiling food, however, is in pro- 
 viding supplies for milch cows. They are fond of 
 sorghum and it is good for milk production, and a 
 given area furnishes relatively a large quantity of 
 food. 
 
 This plant has been known to produce thirty 
 tons of green food per acre, but the average is under 
 rather than over fifteen tons. In many instances the 
 
SORGHUM. 37 
 
 yield v/oiild be even under ten tons per acre. Whether 
 the largest yield will be obtained from one or two 
 cuttings per acre will be largely dependent on the 
 character of the season, but with sufficient rainfall 
 larger yields will be obtained from two cuttings, and 
 the sorghum from the second cutting is of increased 
 fineness because of the more abundant stooling of 
 the plants caused by the first cutting. 
 
 Distribution. — Sorghum can be grown for soil- 
 ing food in all the tillable portions of the United 
 States that will produce Indian corn. This means 
 that it can be grown successfully in every state in the 
 Union. It can also be grown in Canada over simi- 
 lar areas, but in those sections of Canada that mark 
 the northerly limit of corn production, it cannot be 
 grown as successfully as corn, because of insuffi- 
 ciently high temperatures in the growing season. 
 
 As this plant is possessed of greater power to 
 withstand drouth than corn, it has a higher adapta- 
 tion for much of the area lying west of the tier of 
 states which border on the Mississippi river and east 
 of the Rocky Mountains. The extent to which sor- 
 ghum will yet be grown for 'pasture, soiling food 
 and fodder within the area named, can only be sur- 
 mised. The conditions for its abundant growth in 
 much of the said area are not at all unfavorable. 
 The tillable areas on the continent which are least 
 adapted to the growth of sorghum are those which 
 border on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and north 
 from Portland in Maine on the one hand and from 
 San Francisco on the other. 
 
 Soil. — The soils that possess highest adaptation 
 for com also possess highest adaptation for sorghum. 
 
38 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 The latter will grow best, therefore, on loam 
 soils which are well supplied with humus, and which 
 rest on a subsoil of readily permeable clay. All, or 
 nearly all, prairie soils are well suited to the growth 
 of sorghum. But the most suitable soils for this 
 plant have more of the sand element in them than 
 those which possess highest adaptation for growing 
 corn. Sorghum may also be grown with success in 
 sandy soils underlaid with sand or gravel and so 
 lacking in moisture that corn could not be success- 
 fully grown upon them. On the other hand, in the 
 dry belt there are vast stretches of just such land 
 which are so lacking in moisture that sorghum even 
 cannot be grown on them in the absence of irrigation. 
 On certain other soils, as, for instance, clays of more 
 or less fineness of texture, corn may be grown to bet- 
 ter advantage than sorghum. The former will suc- 
 ceed measurably well on clays so stiff as to be quite 
 unsuited to the growth of sorghum. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — When sorghum for 
 soiling is the only crop grown on the land during 
 the season of growth, it may be placed anywhere in 
 the rotation, but preferably between two grain crops, 
 as then it can be grown as a cleaning crop. Its effi- 
 cacy for such a use will depend much upon whether 
 it is or is not cultivated while growing. In either 
 case, when the land is properly handled weed growth 
 will be diminished. Sorghum may also be grown 
 as a catch crop, but not to the same extent as corn, 
 since some varieties of corn may be grown in a 
 shorter period than any of the varieties of sorghum. 
 When thus grown, however, it may frequently be 
 made to follow such crops as winter rye, whether 
 
SORGHUM. 39 
 
 pastured, used for green food, plowed under, or har- 
 vested. Sometimes it comes after clover is plowed 
 under or made into hay ; or early sown rape that has 
 been eaten down. It may also be made to follow 
 certain early garden crops, and crops intended for 
 producing hay or grain, but which, through lack of 
 promise, have been pastured off. The chief objec- 
 tion to growing sorghum as a catch crop arises from 
 the want of sufficient time, between the plowing of 
 the land and the sowing of the seed, to give ample 
 opportunity for sprouting the weed seeds that lie on 
 or near the surface of the soil. Since corn may be 
 harrowed to a much greater extent than sorghum 
 without injury to the plants, it has higher adaptation 
 than sorghum for being grown as a catch crop; on 
 the other hand, sorghum will grow under conditions 
 so dry as to bring distress upon the corn crop. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — Land in the best condition 
 for being planted with sorghum is clean on and near 
 the surface, is possessed of a fine tilth and is firm and 
 moist. When sorghum is the only crop that is to 
 be grown on the land for the season, it is usually 
 not difficult to so cultivate the soil that it will be in 
 the condition above described when the crop is to be 
 sown. Usually it is preferable to plow the land in 
 the autumn. There will then be time to sprout the 
 weed seeds on and near the surface, and in turn to 
 destroy them before the seed is planted. This can 
 be accomplished by the occasional use of the harrow, 
 and in some instances it may be necessary also to 
 use some form of cultivation. The precise nature 
 of the implement to be used will be measurably 
 dependent upon the character of the soil. While the 
 
40 SOILING CROPS AND TPIE SILO. 
 
 surface soil is thus being stirred, its power to hold 
 moisture is also being increased. And even though 
 it be necessary to defer sowing the seed for a time, 
 in order to secure the requisites necessary to insure 
 a good seed bed, it is better to adopt such a course 
 than to sow the seed on ill-prepared land. 
 
 As previously intimated, there is usually not 
 time to prepare the land thus, when sorghum is 
 grown as a catch crop, but some things can be done 
 that will tend to enhance the growth of the crop 
 when it is planted. As soon as the land is plowed 
 it should be rolled and harrowed to prevent the 
 escape of moisture. But if there is already sufficient 
 moisture in the land, it is not necessary to use the 
 roller; and if the sowing of the seed can be deferred 
 for a time, without too much hazard, something can 
 be accomplished by way of cleaning the land on or 
 near the surface. But more commonly it is necessary 
 to sow the seed as soon as the ground can be made 
 ready for it. 
 
 While sorghum grows fairly well on land of 
 but medium fertility, since the roots gather much 
 food in the subsoil, the yields are usually propor- 
 tionate to the fertility in the land. Farmyard 
 manure, when it can be obtained, is one of the best 
 and cheapest fertilizers for sorghum. Commonly it 
 would be applied before the land is plowed, whether 
 used in the fresh or in the reduced form. In the 
 fresh form it may, with much propriety, be buried in 
 the autumn, thus giving it ample time to measurably 
 decay before the crop begins to feed upon it. But 
 on leachy soils and in climates with much rainfall, 
 the aim should be to apply the manure only a short 
 
SORGHUM. 41 
 
 time before the crop is to be planted, lest its more 
 valuable ingredients should filter into the drainage 
 water and pass away before they can be appropriated 
 by the plants of the crop which is to follow. It is 
 not a good plan to top-dress the seed bed which is 
 to receive sorghum seed with any kind of farmyard 
 manure, because of the prevalence of weed seeds in 
 the same. But it may in some instances serve an 
 excellent purpose, to top-dress sandy soils with 
 farmyard manure in the autumn, and then to bury 
 the manure that has been so applied in the early 
 spring. The surface soil will thus be so far enriched 
 as to promote a rapid growth. 
 
 Commercial fertilizers may be applied alone, or 
 in conjunction with farmyard manure. Complete 
 fertilizers are more commonly used, but the exact 
 nature of the product to be applied will depend upon 
 the extent to which the soil is wanting in the various 
 leading elements of fertility. The aim should be to 
 apply these fertilizers so that they will stimulate vig- 
 orous growth in the plants when they are young. 
 since, if they have thus been made strong while yet 
 young, their power to extract plant food from the 
 soil at a later period of development will be greatly 
 enhanced. The fertilizer should therefore be sowri 
 when practicable at the same time the seed is sown, 
 and in near proximity to the same, but not too close 
 to it when the fertilizer is possessed of any ingre- 
 dients of a caustic nature. 
 
 For several years the question of fertilizers for 
 sorghum is not likely to give much concern to the 
 growers of the same in the upper basin of the Mis- 
 sissippi river. It is very different, however, with the 
 
42 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 farmers living on the more hungry soils of the lower 
 Atlantic and Gulf states. 
 
 Sozving. — One of the following methods of 
 sowing sorghum is usually adopted : First, it is sown 
 broadcast by hand and covered with the harrow; 
 second, by the grain drill, all the tubes or only every 
 alternate tube being used ; third, by hand in shallow 
 furrows marked out by the plow ; or, fourth, by the 
 grain drill in single or double rows with a space oi 
 thirty to forty-two inches between them. The first 
 m.ethod is usually practiced by those who have no 
 grain drill, since it is convenient to sow the seed thus. 
 The chief objections to sowing sorghum by this plan 
 are, first, the seed is imperfectly covered and at vary- 
 ing depths, hence it grows up more or less unevenly ; 
 second, some of the seed in dry weather fails to 
 germinate ; third, when sown thus it cannot be culti- 
 vated, which, under very dry conditions, may lead 
 to failure in the crop. The second method buries 
 the seed at a uniform depth, hence the germination 
 of the seed may be expected to be more uniform, but 
 the objections from smothering through the presence 
 of weeds and through injury from dry weather are 
 much the same as when the seed is sown by hand, 
 though less in degree. 
 
 The use of only every other drill tube when sow- 
 ing the seed insures a more bulky growth of the crop, 
 but at the expense of the fine character of the growth. 
 The third method is only resorted to when a small 
 quantity is to be sown in the absence of a grain drill, 
 and when at the same time it is desirable to cultivate 
 the young crop. The fourth method is followed 
 when a large area is to be grown, and when it is 
 
bo 
 
 o 
 be !" 
 
44 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 desirable to cultivate the crop. In sowing the seed 
 almost any make of drill may be used. In sowing 
 double ro^\s two adjoining tubes are active, while 
 the tubes that occupy the space between the double 
 rows are inactive, that is to say, not in use. The 
 space between the rows that form the double row is 
 thus from six to eight or nine inches wide, according 
 to the make or pattern of the drill, and the distance 
 between the double row^s wall be determined by the 
 nature of the soil, the variety of the sorghum to be 
 grown and the character of growth expected from 
 it. The richer the soil, the more distant the rows 
 from one another ; the larger the variety of the sor- 
 ghum the coarser will be the character of the growth 
 produced. The chief objects sought in planting the 
 double in preference to the single row are : To secure 
 an increased yield in weight of fodder, and to secure 
 a crop fine in character. One objection to the sys- 
 tem is found in the shelter that is thus provided for 
 weeds between the tw^o lines of the double row. 
 
 Prominent among the varieties of sorghum that 
 are more commonly grown are the Early Amber, 
 sometimes called the Minnesota Amber, the Early 
 Orange, Folger's Early and Link's Hybrid. The 
 first nam.ed has marked adaptation for northern lati- 
 tudes. The second and third are much grown in 
 the states of the middle west, and the fourth is one 
 among several varieties grown in the south. 
 
 The quantity of seed to be sown will depend 
 upon climatic conditions and upon the mode of plant- 
 ing. It is manifest the system of sowing broadcast 
 will call for much more seed than the system of 
 planting sorghum in single or double rows. When 
 
SORGHUM. 45 
 
 the seed is broadcasted by hand or when it is sown 
 with the grain drill, — all the tubes in use, — one 
 bushel of seed per acre will usually be sufficient, 
 although some growers advocate sowing as much as 
 two bushels per acre. Where the moisture is likely 
 to prove inadequate to the needs of the growing 
 crop, results more satisfactory will be obtained by 
 reducing the quantity of the seed to be sown. When 
 grown in single rows with a wide space between 
 them, a few quarts of seed will suffice per acre, but 
 in growing this crop for soiling uses it will, usually, 
 be found advantageous to sow not less than a peck 
 of seed per acre, whatsoever the method of growing 
 the crop that may be adopted. 
 
 The time for sowing the seed will, of course, 
 vary with such conditions as relate to climate and 
 rotation. It is a mistake to plant before warm and 
 settled weather has set in. When sown too early 
 the germination of the seed will be imperfect, the 
 early growth will be sickly in character, and the 
 weeds will push on ahead of the sorghum, so when 
 the crop starts to grow no conditions, howsoever 
 favorable, can make it a success. A crop grown 
 under similar conditions, except that it is not sown 
 until the weather is sufficiently warm, will prove 
 much more satisfactory than the former. The best 
 rule to follow, perhaps, is that which defers sowing 
 the sorghum seed until the corn crop has been 
 planted. 
 
 Of course sorghum may be sown for soiling at 
 any subsequent time, so long as there is time enough 
 to secure sufficient growth to pay for the young crop. 
 It must, of course, be harvested before the autumn 
 
46 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 frosts arrive. While green and succulent it is easily 
 injured by frost. 
 
 Cultivation. — Harrowing sorghum is the only 
 mode of cultivation that may be resorted to when 
 it is sown on the broadcast plan, either by hand or 
 with the grain drill. It cannot be harrowed nearly 
 so much as corn, owing to the much greater delicacy 
 of the young plants, and when planted with the 
 grain drill the harrow ma}^ be more effectively used 
 than when the seed has been broadcasted, for then 
 the plants do not uproot so easily. Sorghum sown 
 with the grain drill may, usually, be harrowed with 
 benefit to the crop just when the first blades are 
 pushing through the soil. The harrow used should 
 be light, of a broad sweep and the teeth of the same 
 should be slanted backward to the greatest possible 
 extent when the work is being done. No little dif- 
 ference of opinion prevails as to the degree of the 
 benefit arising from harrowing the crop after it has 
 got well through the soil. It is at least question- 
 able if sorghum should be harrowed after the plants 
 appear until they get up several inches above the 
 surface. Before that period of advancement they 
 are easily uprooted and also easily buried in the 
 process of harrowing. The quick growth of sor- 
 ghum will certainly be promoted by harrowing, but 
 the crop should not be harrowed to the extent of 
 making the plants too few to produce a maximum 
 of forage. Where it is intended to use the harrow 
 freely on the young plants, enough additional seed 
 should be sown to allow for the expected loss. 
 
 In sections deficient in moisture, it is more nec- 
 essary to use the harrow freely than in those opposite 
 
SORGHUM. 47 
 
 in character. When the crop is threatened with 
 serious injury from the presence of young weeds, it 
 ought to be harrowed. More sorghum will be 
 secured, and that of a superior quality, from a piece 
 of land in which the plants have been thinned over- 
 much by harrowing than from a similar piece of 
 equal area in which the weeds have obtained the 
 ascendency over the sorghum. 
 
 When practicable, the cultivation of sorghum 
 sown in rows sufficiently distant should be early 
 l)egun, it should be frequent, and may be continued 
 almost up to the time of the last cutting of the crop 
 for the season, and it ought to be shallow rather than 
 deep. After the first cutting of the crop, tlie benefit 
 from prompt subsequent cultivation will be 
 abundantly apparant. Some hand hoeing may be 
 given betimes with profit in the line of the row, but 
 when the land has been well prepared such work is 
 seldom necessary. 
 
 Feeding. — There is no cast-iron rule as to when 
 the cutting of the crop should begin. It should not 
 be delayed, however, until the seed heads are formed 
 when a second cutting is intended. If the sorghum 
 is cut after that period the yield from the second 
 growth will be much reduced. When cut too early 
 the yield from the first cutting is unduly small. 
 Usually the cutting of the first growth does 
 not begin until the crop is from two to three 
 feet high, but it may begin earlier if necessary, and 
 the cutting of the second growth may begin as soon 
 as the seed heads appear, or even earlier. Since, 
 under normal conditions, the crop is cut and fed 
 from day to day according to the needs of the live 
 
48 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 stock, the second growth will frequently be ready to 
 cut by the time the first growth is all consumed, 
 providing the consumption of the first growth has 
 covered a period sufficiently long. This period w ill 
 vary, but it should not be less than three to four 
 weeks. Sorghum, therefore, from a single sowing, 
 may be made to provide soiling food in the green 
 form for live stock from six to eight weeks. But 
 during periods of severe drouth, the second cutting- 
 may not materialize, or it may, at least, be disap- 
 pointing in its growth. When but one cutting is 
 made the harvesting may begin as soon as the seed 
 heads are fully formed, and may be continued until 
 the crop is fully matured. But when the sorghum 
 is to be fed to sheep or swine in the green form, they 
 will consume it with greater relish when cut at an 
 early stage of growth. The food is then fine in 
 character, juicy, tender and contains but little fiber. 
 When thus fed one or two more cuttings can be 
 obtained in one season because of the earlier stage 
 of development at which the sorghum is cut. But it 
 is more common to pasture sheep and swine on 
 young sorghum than to feed it to them as soil- 
 ing food. 
 
 When but a small quantity is wanted per day, 
 the scythe is commonly used in cutting the sorghum. 
 When grown along and beside a pasture fence, 
 of necessity the scythe must be used in cutting 
 the food for convenience in feeding the same. 
 When a large amount is required the mower must 
 be used. As the plants do not shrivel readily, 
 enough may be mown at one time to last for two or 
 three days, more especially when the green food is 
 
SORGHUM. 49 
 
 to be fed to the cattle and horses. As in feeding 
 corn, it may be fed within a pasture, in racks, feed 
 lots, or mangers in the stables. 
 
 Some care is necessary, especially when the 
 feeding begins to limit the amount fed, or to feed it 
 in a somewhat wilted condition, lest it should cause 
 hoven or bloat. Inattention at this point may lead 
 to serious loss, but green sorghum is less liable to 
 produce hoven than clover or alfalfa. The amount 
 that may be given daily need not be limited except 
 by the needs of the live stock, unless for a few days 
 at the first. However, more satisfactory results will 
 follow when some other food less succulent is given. 
 Sorghum may also be fed to live stock with great 
 advantage in the matured form, on what may be 
 termed the soiling plan of feeding. When thus fed 
 it is common to cut the crop with the binder or 
 mower, but more commonly with the latter. The 
 sorghum is then allowed to lie on the ground for sev- 
 eral days before being gathered together, especially 
 when it is not well matured, or when the weather is 
 damp. It does not take injury from rain as corn 
 would when thus exposed. The outside of the stem 
 is hard, hence the rain does not penetrate it. But 
 some injury is done through the soil that adheres to 
 it. It is true, nevertheless, that sorghum exposed 
 thus and lying on the ground for a period of two or 
 three weeks in rainy weather has been eaten subse- 
 quently and with a relish by live stock. It is drawn 
 into windrows, by using a strong rake, and is then 
 put into large "cocks" or heaps by hand. 
 
 When the c'rop is very heavy, it may be bunched 
 v/ithout first having been raked. In such cocks 
 
 4 
 
50 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 sorghum will not ferment or mold as corn does, 
 hence as much as 500 pounds, or more than that, 
 may be put in one heap without any danger of loss 
 from heating. From these the sorghum may be 
 drawn and fed to live stock in the pastures, in the 
 sheds or stables, as desired. This food is greatly 
 relished by the animals at that season of the year, 
 and since it is fed with but little handling it is con- 
 sidered an economical food. Feeding from such a 
 source may be continued until the closing in of the 
 winter. When sorghum is to be fed thus, it is com- 
 monly grown like grain, that it may be fine enough 
 to be handled with the fork without difficulty. No 
 other kind of food that can be grown comes in more 
 opportunely for feeding at that season than sorghum. 
 In the states of the middle west and in those of the 
 south, where winter delays its coming, this method 
 of feeding sorghum is peculiarly advantageous. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 
 
 The chief of the non-saccharine sorghums are 
 Kaffir corn, Milo maize, dhourra and Jerusalem 
 corn. Teosinte, properly speaking, is not a sorghum, 
 but it will be included in the discussion of the non- 
 saccharine sorghums because of the similarity in the 
 methods of cultivation and in the uses for which it 
 is grown. Of these plants, Kaffir corn is the best 
 known and the most extensively cultivated, but it 
 would be premature to reach the conclusion that 
 because of this it is the most valuable. It has been 
 cultivated apparently in the United States for a 
 longer period than the other non-saccharine sor- 
 ghums. Milo maize in some of its varieties is likely 
 to make a strong competitor to Kaffir corn. 
 
 These plants are all of comparatively recent 
 introduction into the United States. At least no 
 one of them has been extensively grown in the same 
 until within a comparatively recent period. They 
 are but little known, therefore, to any considerable 
 number of the agriculturists of the country. It will 
 be in order, therefore, to give a short description of 
 each and also to make some reference to the distinc- 
 tive peculiarities of growth. 
 
 Kaffir corn (Sorghum vulgare) is a sturdy 
 growing plant. The stem is thick at the base, taper- 
 ing toward the top and usually grows to the hight of 
 
 51 
 
52 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 about five to six feet. Since it does not grow so 
 tall as many of the varieties of corn, nor so tall as 
 sorghum, or Milo maize, it is more easily handled 
 than these in the sheaf when fully grown. The 
 leaves are long and large and fairly numerous, but 
 not markedly abundant. It throws up a single spike 
 which bears a head in which the seeds are closely 
 packed. The head is fully six inches long and three 
 inches broad and stands erect, or nearly so. Large 
 yields of seed are obtained, and when ground its 
 feeding value for the various classes of farm stock 
 is nearly equal to that of corn. The plants are but 
 little liable to break down with the wind. They 
 have extraordinary power to grow under dry condi- 
 tions and to retain succulence in the leaves and stems 
 even after the seed has matured. The leading 
 varieties of Kaffir corn are the red and the white. 
 The red matures earlier than the white, but the latter 
 would seem to produce more seed. The red variety 
 is better adapted than the white to states north from 
 w^here the mast suitable conditions exist for growing 
 Kaffir corn. 
 
 Milo maize (Sorghum viilgare or Andropogon 
 sorghum, var. ) is a vigorous growing plant. In the 
 tests made at the Minnesota university experiment 
 station in 1897-98, the plants attained an average 
 hight of about eight feet. The leaves are large, and 
 from the center of the stalk upward they are quite 
 numerous. Each stalk when matured is surmounted 
 by a large head which bears seed profusely. This 
 head has an average length of about six inches and 
 an average diameter of about four inches. When 
 the head first appears it is erect, but when matured 
 
54 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 it hangs downward. It is somewhat more open 
 than the seed head which is produced in Kaffir corn. 
 
 There are two leading varieties of Milo maize, 
 named respectively the yellow and the white. The 
 former is the earlier of the two. In 1897 some of 
 the seed of the yellow variety matured at the Minne- 
 sota university experiment station, but not all of it. 
 In 1898, one plat of the same variety was pastured 
 with sheep. About the same results were obtained 
 as from pasturing early amber sorghum. Another 
 plat was grown in rows three feet distant from one 
 another and harvested like corn. It was found that 
 the numerous leaves around the top of the plants 
 added to the difficulty in shocking and in preserving 
 the fodder from injury by rain. When fed to cattle 
 and sheep they ate it with more relish than they mani- 
 fested for an}^ of the other non-saccharine sorghums. 
 
 Dhourra (Andropogon sorghum^ Brot. ) is of at 
 least four varieties, the brown, the black, the red and 
 the white. Of these, the brown is more commonly 
 grown. It is so named, doubtless, from the color 
 of the seeds when ripe. It grows less rapidly than 
 Milo maize. At the Minnesota university experi- 
 ment station in 1897, the plants grew from six to 
 eight feet in hight. The large and long leaves are 
 not numerous. The seed heads are thick and heavy 
 and oval shaped. They hang on a stem, which, 
 though erect at first, assumes a shape resembling the 
 neck of a goose as the maturing process goes on. It 
 is a rather slow grower and matures seed about the 
 same time as Kaffir corn. 
 
 Jerusalem corn (Andropogon sorghum, Brot.) 
 bears some resemblance to dhourra in appearance 
 
(SS) 
 
 Pig. 7. Yellow Jlilo Haize 
 
 Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 
 
56 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 and also in its habits of growth. It is even 
 Stronger in the stem than dhourra and has still less 
 of forage. The seed heads are large, and like those 
 of dhourra, hang on hook-shaped stems. At the 
 Minnesota university experiment station in 1897 
 the plants grev/ to the hight of about five feet. Like 
 those of dhourra they grew more slowly than Milo 
 maize or Early Amber sorghum. Jerusalem corn 
 should be grown rather for the seed than for the 
 fodder. It is not probable that either dhourra or 
 Jerusalem corn will be extensively grown for soiling 
 food where Milo maize and sorghum can be grown. 
 Teosinte (Reana hixurians) is distinguished 
 from the non-saccharine sorghums in the less erect 
 character of the growth, in the extent to which the 
 plants sucker, in the greater fineness and abundance 
 of the long and slender leaves, and in the manner 
 in which the seed is produced. The seed grows on 
 small ears and the ears grow numerously around 
 every top joint of the seed stem. They are enclosed 
 in a husk. There is probably no fodder plant that 
 tillers so much as teosinte. As many as sixty 
 suckers have been produced by a single plant. In 
 the experiments conducted at the Minnesota univer- 
 sity experiment station in 1898, it was found that 
 when planted in rows three feet apart and thinned 
 to fifteen inches in the row, each plant produced from 
 five to twenty-five stalks. Those thinned to from 
 two to three inches in the row produced from two to 
 twelve stalks. The latter were also much more 
 upright in their ^sffowth. Seed heads were not even 
 formed on any of the plants. Teosinte would make 
 an excellent pasture and soiling plant for the south 
 

 M 
 
 1 
 
 ■'J 
 
 ■• 
 
 •^ 
 
 ^1 
 
 fi 
 
 1' 
 
 ^i 
 
 ^" 
 
 ■J 
 
 (57) 
 
 Fig. 8. Brown Dhourra 
 
 Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 
 
58 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 but for the low palatability which it possesses. It 
 is thought a greater weight of food can be obtained 
 from this plant than from any of the sorghums or 
 millets that have been tried in the United States. 
 
 These plants can all be made to furnish pasture, 
 soiling food, hay and fodder for winter feeding, and 
 when the season is long enough to mature seed, they 
 can all be made to furnish large yields of grain. It 
 is yet premature to say much about the precise rela- 
 tive adaptation of these plants for feeding uses. It 
 would probably be correct, however, to state that 
 Milo maize and teosinte are the most promising 
 pasture and soiling plants, that Kaffir corn is the 
 most promising fodder plant, especially for dry 
 areas, and that dhourra and Jerusalem corn are the 
 largest producers of seed. The seeds of all the non- 
 saccharine sorghums are excellent for all kinds of 
 farm animals, but imless when given to fowls they 
 ought to be ground before being fed. 
 
 The yields of fodder will of course vary greatly 
 with the variations in soils and in the length of the 
 seasons. The}^ will run from a few to many tons. 
 The largest yields of soiling food are obtained from 
 teosinte and Milo maize. 
 
 Distribution. — The non-saccharine sorghums 
 are without exception less hardy than the common 
 varieties of corn. Nor are they so hardy as sor- 
 ghum is, at least in some of its varieties. It follows 
 therefore, that these plants are not likely to succeed 
 far northward. Only in the Mississippi basin and 
 in the Rocky mountain valleys, with their hot mid- 
 summer temperatures, are they likel}^ to succeed in 
 the near future north of the fortieth parallel of north 
 
i^ 
 
 o 
 
6o SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 latitude, that is to say, north of the parallel which 
 runs through Springfield, 111. ; and even in the Mis- 
 sissippi basin they can be grown with greater 
 success south of that line rather than north of 
 the same. In the trials made with the non- 
 saccharine sorghums at the Minnesota university 
 experiment farm, all the varieties tested pro- 
 duced an abundant growth of green food, as will 
 be evident from what has previously been said in 
 regard to them, but only in a few instances did any 
 of the varieties mature seed. These plants are also 
 more tender than corn and sorghum in the early 
 stages of their growth, and with the exception of 
 Milo maize they would seem to be less palatable than 
 corn and sorghum. In view of these facts, it is only 
 in localities not well adapted to the growth of corn 
 and sorghum that the non-saccharine sorghums are 
 likely to supersede them. It is not probable, there- 
 fore, that they will supersede corn and sorghum 
 north from the fortieth parallel of latitude, at least 
 not in the near future. Of course it is impossible 
 to say how much further to the north the line of suc- 
 cessful growth may be pushed when these plants 
 become better acclimatized. 
 
 The greater power which the non-saccharine 
 sorghums have to grow under conditions too dry for 
 the successful growth of corn, furnishes a sufficient 
 reason for growing them under such conditions. A 
 second reason is found in the greater yields of grain 
 which they furnish in many localities in the south. 
 A third reason arises from the power which they 
 have to grow again when cut. This property, in 
 conjunction with the abundance of the food which 
 
THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 6l 
 
 they produce, gives them a high place as soiUng 
 foods or even as pasture plants where they can be 
 successfully grown. 
 
 The highest adaptation for the non-saccharine 
 sorghums is found at present west from the Missis- 
 sippi river and south from Nebraska, with Kansas, 
 Arkansas and Oklahoma as its center. But both 
 east and west from these states they can be grown 
 profitably over considerable areas. Teosinte has 
 higher adaptation to the states which mark the south- 
 ern boundary of the Republic, but it may be grown 
 successfully as soiling food in the states immediately 
 north of these. 
 
 Soil. — All the non-saccharine sorghums would 
 seem to have greater power than corn to gather plant 
 food in a dry soil. They are therefore relatively 
 better adapted than corn to a sandy soil. But it 
 would not be correct to say that they have greater 
 power to grow in a sandy soil than in a sandy loam, 
 nor in a dry climate than in one possessed of con- 
 siderable moisture. They would seem also to have 
 greater power than corn to gather food in soils low 
 in humus, and yet where humus is present in consid- 
 erable quantities they grow more vigorously than 
 where it is present only in meager supply. All these 
 plants gather much of their food in the subsoil, 
 hence the nature of the subsoil has an influence on 
 their growth not very much less than the surface 
 soil. Subsoils, therefore, that contain a layer of 
 hardpan which is near the surface are quite unsuited 
 to the growth of these plants. 
 
 The most suitable soils are those sandy in tex- 
 ture, possessed of a considerable supply of humus 
 
62 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 and underlaid with clay that is open in character 
 rather than retentive. But some of the non-saccha- 
 rine sorghums will produce fairly good crops when 
 both the soil and subsoil are sandy. Notably is this 
 true of Kaffir corn. The sandy soils of the Rocky 
 mountain valleys have high adaptation for the non- 
 saccharine sorghums, and the same is true of 
 much of the land in the southern and south- 
 western states. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — The non-saccharine 
 sorghums consume considerable quantities of nitro- 
 gen while making their growth, hence the aim should 
 be to grow them after nitrogen-gathering crops. 
 Since they will grow better on soils possessed of a 
 fair quantity of humus, the effort should be made to 
 grow them as far as can be done where green 
 manures have been buried, and within a reasonably 
 recent period. They can therefore with much pro- 
 priety be made to come after crimson clover, the 
 cowpea, the soy bean, the common vetch, the sand 
 vetch and the velvet bean, even though these crops 
 should be harvested. They should also be grown 
 after such crops as winter rye or rape plowed under, 
 and on overturned sod when the conditions may 
 admit of so doing. But they may of course be given 
 almost any place in the rotation when a due regard 
 is had to the fertility of the soil. 
 
 Cultivation is also iisually given to these crops 
 during the growing period, hence they may be 
 classed as cleaning crops. This means that they 
 ought to be followed by grain crops where these can 
 be successfully grown, and grass seeds should be 
 sown on the grain crops. But in some sections 
 
THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 03 
 
 where these crops can be successfully grown, the 
 conditions are too dry to admit of the successful 
 growth of the grasses that are ordinarily cultivated. 
 In such locations some winter crop could be made 
 to follow these crops, since the ground is in excellent 
 condition to receive it, and this could be done 
 with but little additional preparation of the land by 
 way of tillage. These crops include winter rye, the 
 vrinter vetch, the sand vetch, crimson clover, and in 
 some localities, alfalfa. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — The preparation of the 
 land for these crops is much the same as for corn. 
 The aim should be to secure a free, firm and moist 
 seed bed in sections low in the amount of the rainfall. 
 I'his can best be secured by plowing the land as long 
 as possible previous to the planting of the seed, and 
 by harrowing the surface of the land thus plowed at 
 intervals of more or less duration. This method of 
 managing land will also be very helpful in removing 
 weeds from the uppermost section of the soil. These 
 crops are planted later than corn and even later than 
 sorghum, hence the season is more prolonged during 
 which such treatment can be given to the land. 
 Sometimes in areas much deficient in moisture the 
 plan termed ''listing" is adopted in growing some 
 of these crops, as in growing corn. When this 
 method of planting is followed, the soil is not first 
 plowed. Furrows are turned both ways from the 
 line where the seed is to be planted. The work is 
 done by using a double-mold-board plow, which 
 also loosens the soil for some distance below the line 
 of the furrow. In the soil thus loosened the 
 seed is planted. The object sought is to enable 
 
64 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the plants to gather moisture under circumstances 
 more favorable than would result from ordinary 
 cultivation. 
 
 When rainfall is usually abundant, the aim 
 should be to secure friability rather than impac- 
 tion in the surface soil, hence it would have to 
 be more deeply stirred during the preparatory 
 cleaning process. But when these crops come 
 after a winter crop pastured off or plowed under, 
 there is not much time for thus attempting to 
 clean the land. 
 
 The fertilizers suitable for non-saccharine sor- 
 ghums are practically the same as those suitable for 
 sorghum. When, however, farmyard manure is 
 applied under very dry climatic conditions, it must 
 not be applied in large quantities lest the too rapid 
 escape of moisture near the surface of the soil should 
 be promoted. 
 
 Solving the Seed. — The method adopted in 
 sowing the seed of these crops w^ll vary somewhat 
 with the kind of crop, with the percentage of mois- 
 ture present in the soil, Avith the percentage in the 
 same that may be expected in the growing season, 
 and with the precise object sought in growing the 
 different varieties. The more branching, for 
 instance, the habit of growth in the plants, the more 
 distant from one another do they require to be 
 grown. The less the degree of moisture the more 
 distant also should they be from one another. If 
 fineness of leaf and stem are sought, the plants may. 
 under some conditions be sown broadcast or 
 with the grain drill on w^hat may be termed the 
 broadcast plan. But when a more vigorous and 
 
THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 65 
 
 luxurious growth is sought, then the seed should be 
 planted in rows and cultivated. The latter sys- 
 tem will be more commonly adopted where moisture 
 is deficient. 
 
 When sown on the broadcast plan, the aim 
 should be to plant with the ordinary grain drill all 
 the tubes being in use, or only every alternate tube. 
 as may be desired. When sow^n in rows far enough 
 apart to admit of cultivation being given, the same 
 implement may be used, but of course various other 
 seed planters may also be used. The rows should be 
 from thirty to, say, forty-two inches distant, accord- 
 ing to circumstances, except in the case of teosinte, 
 v/hich should, at least when grown for certain uses, 
 have a greater distance between the rows. But the 
 most suitable distance for placing the rows when 
 growing these crops can only be determined with 
 precision in each locality by actual experience in 
 growing them. 
 
 The time for planting will depend on the 
 location and the character of the weather. It would 
 be a mistake, however, to plant the seeds before the 
 weather had become steadily warm. The plants are 
 less able when young to endure cold than corn in 
 nearly all its varieties, and than sorghum in its 
 leading varieties. At the Minnesota university 
 experiment station low temperatures prevailed dur- 
 ing two or three weeks subsequent to the planting of 
 these crops in 1897. Corn in some of its varieties 
 made a fairly good start notwithstanding, and the 
 Early Amber variety of sorghum maintained its hold 
 upon the soil. The non-saccharine sorghums with- 
 out exception only partially germinated, although 
 
 5 
 
66 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the conditions were precisely the same. It was 
 necessary to plant the non-saccharine sorghums a 
 second time. 
 
 The amount of seed required will vary with the 
 climatic and soil conditions and with the character 
 of the produce sought. The more favorable the 
 attendant conditions, the greater should be the 
 amount of seed sown when growth fine in character 
 is sought, and since the plants of some of these sor- 
 ghums produce more stalks and foliage than others, 
 it is not necessary with the former to plant so much 
 seed. Notably is this true of teosinte, and in a less 
 degree of Milo maize. When planted in rows where 
 cultivation is to be given other than harrowing, a 
 few pounds of seed will suffice for an acre. But 
 when these crops are sown broadcast, from about 
 one-half bushel to one and one-half bushels of seed 
 per acre are used. 
 
 Cultivation. — When the non-saccharine sor- 
 ghums are planted with any kind of drill or planter, 
 they may be harrowed without hazard to the plants 
 just as they begin to push up through the ground, 
 providing the harrow is light, and that when in use 
 a backward slant is given to the teeth. Later, on 
 certain soils, as those quite loose in character, such 
 as the humus soils of the prairie, seme form of 
 weeder may be used in many instances, more espe- 
 cially when the plants are in rows distant from one 
 another. When thus planted, further cultivation 
 should be given with more or less frequency. It 
 should be sufficient to destro}^ weeds and to retain 
 moisture in the soil to the greatest extent practicable. 
 Where moisture is usually more or less wanting, the 
 
THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 6/ 
 
 crops should in all instances be so planted that they 
 may be cultivated. 
 
 Feeding. — The non-saccharine sorghums and 
 also teosinte can be cut for soiling food from one to 
 several times in one season. More particularly is 
 this true of Milo maize and teosinte. The same 
 mode of ciitting, carting and feeding may be adopted 
 as in handling sorghum (see Page 47). The cut- 
 ting may begin at any time after sufficient growth 
 has been made to justify the same, and the residue 
 of the crop not wanted for green food may be allowed 
 to mature. When sufficiently matured, it can be 
 harvested and fed in winter. The ration is improved 
 by feeding these crops in conjunction with one of 
 the legumes, as, for instance, alfalfa, vetches, cow- 
 peas or soy beans. In many instances it would be 
 possible to feed them thus, since one or more of the 
 legumes named can be successfully grown under 
 conditions suitable for the successful growth of the 
 non-saccharine sorghums. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 
 
 Many kinds of clover are now being grown in 
 this country. Some of tliese are indigenous, but 
 those possessed of highest economic value have been 
 introduced from Europe. While each kind has 
 a mission of usefulness in some section or sections 
 of the continent, only a few are suitable in 
 any marked degree for being grown as soiling food. 
 The chief of these are the common or medium red, 
 the mammoth, alsike, crimson and alfalfa. As the 
 niethods of growing the first four varieties are in 
 many respects very similar, they will be considered 
 together. Alfalfa will be discussed by itself, since 
 it differs considerably from the other clovers men- 
 tioned in habits of growth, and for this reason 
 requires different management. 
 
 MEDIUM, MAMMOTH, ALSIKE AND CRIMSON CLOVER. 
 
 Medium red clover (TrifoUum pratense) is 
 biennial and perennial in its habit of growth, accord- 
 ing to the climatic and other conditions under which 
 it is grown. It differs from the other three kinds 
 in the continuity of its grow^th throughout all or 
 nearly all of the growing season. Because of this 
 peculiarity it usuallv produces two cuttings of soiling 
 
 68 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 69 
 
 food or hay in one season, whereas, the others only 
 produce one. 
 
 Mammoth clover (Trifolium medium) is also 
 biennial and perennial in its habit of growth. It 
 differs from the other clovers in the stronger char- 
 acter of the top and root growth which characterizes 
 it. The- food which it produces is in consequence 
 coarser in character, unless when the plants are 
 grown very thickly. It is better adapted than the 
 medium variety to soils that are medium or less than 
 tljat in fertility. The bloom on both the medium 
 and mammoth varieties is a beautiful red. To the 
 casual observer the only differences apparent in the 
 varieties while they are growing are the larger leaf, 
 stem and head of the mammoth variety. 
 
 Alsike clover (Trifolium hyhridum) is a peren- 
 nial plant. The period of its duration is dependent 
 on such conditions as pertain to climate, soil and 
 treatment. All of the clovers under discussion will 
 live longer than they otherwise would if prevented 
 from producing seed. This kind differs from all 
 the others in the greater fineness of the growth and 
 in the beautiful blending of white and red tints in 
 the bloom. 
 
 Crimson or Scarlet clover (Trifolium incarna- 
 tum) is an annual plant, that is to say, it completes 
 the cycle of its existence within twelve months from 
 the date of sowing the seed, although more com- 
 monly it is sown one year and reaped the next. It 
 differs from the other clovers in the shape of the 
 heads, which are oblong and cone-shaped, in the 
 rich scarlet color of the bloom, and in the more 
 hairy character of the stems, a property which 
 
70 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 detracts from its feeding value when grown for 
 hay.. 
 
 While clover of all the species named furnishes 
 an excellent soiling food, it is not so commonly 
 grown for such a use, for the reason, first, that the 
 yield per acre is much less than that of many other 
 foods grown for soiling; second, that ordinarily it 
 is so easily cured for hay, and, third, that it is so 
 easily handled when cured. The crimson clover is 
 ready to be cut for soiling food before the spring 
 months have gone, or some weeks before the medium, 
 which in turn is ready in from two to three week? 
 in advance of the mammoth and alsike. The value 
 of the crimson clover as a soiling food is thus some- 
 what lessened by the necessity for thus cutting and 
 feeding it when pasture is plentiful and succulent. 
 
 Clover furnishes excellent soiling food for 
 horses, cattle, sheep and swine, but when fed to sheep 
 and swine it should be cut at a stage somewhat earlier 
 than when fed to horses and cows, to secure more 
 fineness in the growth. When fed to cattle and 
 sheep it should be somewhat restricted in quantity 
 at first, or else wilted before it is fed, as the unre- 
 strained feeding of fresh cut clover will sometimes 
 cause bloating, which if not speedily relieved may 
 result fatally. 
 
 The yield of soiling food from all these kinds 
 of clover varies, of course, with the conditions under 
 which they are grown. It will be approximately 
 correct to place the average yield of the first cutting 
 of medium clover for soiling uses at six tons per 
 acre, and of the second cutting the same season at 
 four tons. But these yields can be increased at 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 7I 
 
 least 50 per cent by judicious cultivation. The 
 yield from each of the other varieties is somewhat 
 greater than that obtained from the first cutting 
 of the medium clover, but it is likewise some- 
 what less than that obtained from the two cut- 
 tings of the latter. 
 
 Distribution. — The clover zone in the United 
 States and Canada covers the entire portion of the 
 arable land. But there are stretches of country, 
 nevertheless, in which clover of any of the species 
 heretofore introduced has not been grown with any 
 marked success. One of these stretches lies east of 
 the Rocky mountains in what is usually spoken of 
 as the semi-arid belt. In this area it perishes from 
 want of moisture. Another stretch lies to the north 
 of Minnesota and North Dakota, where the low 
 winter temperatures forbid the successful growth of 
 clover. In some limited areas of these stretches, 
 some kinds of clover can be grown, but it cannot be 
 said of the same that they have high adaptation for 
 growing clover, nor can any of the clovers now 
 under discussion be grown with marked success in 
 the southern states, unless it be the crimson. The 
 summer heat is not favorable to its development. 
 
 The distribution of the medium, mammoth and 
 alsike species of clover is about the same, but the 
 alsike can be grown somewhat farther north than the 
 medium or the mammoth. Above the 50th parallel 
 these clovers are not a success, nor are they a marked 
 success below the 38th parallel, unless in very limited 
 areas. In much of the country between these 
 parallels they can be grown with more or less suc- 
 cess, save in the semi-arid country beside the Rocky 
 
y2 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 mountains and east of them, and in the cold country 
 lying north and south from the eastern half of the 
 St. Lawrence river. The highest adaptation for 
 these clovers is found south of the 50th parallel and 
 beside the Pacific, including also the Rocky mountain 
 valleys when supplied with moisture. Next in 
 adaptation comes what was originally the forest 
 country, including certain prairie lands, which, 
 although not originally covered with timber, will 
 produce it readily. This belt lies between the upper 
 Mississippi and the New England states. The New 
 England states and the Maritime provinces of 
 Canada will grow clover, but not with that 
 luxuriance which characterizes its growth in the 
 other areas named. The greatest clover-growing 
 states on the continent include Michigan, Wisconsin, 
 eastern Minnesota, Iowa, northern Missouri, 
 Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and parts of Montana and 
 Washington. It also grows with superlative 
 luxuriance in southern Ontario. 
 
 Crimson clover thrives best in a climate some- 
 what warmer than is suitable for the other kinds. 
 The highest adaptation for this plant is probably 
 foimd in the Atlantic and Gulf states, southward 
 from New York city. It is not usually grown with 
 much success north of the latitude of Columbus, O., 
 that is to say, north of the 40th parallel. But for a 
 short distance north of that line it may be grown in 
 good form along the Atlantic coast and for a much 
 greater distance north of the same latitude along the 
 Pacific coast. Unless well protected, crimson clover 
 cannot withstand low temperatures. When the 
 medium, mammoth and alsike clover grow at their 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 73 
 
 best, crimson clover can seldom, or never, be grown 
 with equal success. 
 
 'Soils. — All the species of clover under discus- 
 sion will grow better in soils having in them a very 
 decided clay element. When sufficiently supplied 
 with moisture, these clovers will even grow 
 vigorously in clays of the stiffest texture. They 
 grow better in clay loams than in sandy loams, but in 
 fertile sands, such as abound in many of the Rocky 
 mountain valleys, they will make a wonderful 
 growth when plentifully supplied with water. The 
 volcanic origin of many of these soils, however, may 
 account for their wonderful adaptation to the 
 production of clover. The humus soils of the prairie 
 will produce clover abundantly when there is in them 
 enough clay to make them measurably dense, but 
 when this element is so far lacking as to allow them 
 to lift with the winds, they do not possess highest, 
 adaptation for clover. In fact, it cannot be success- 
 fully grown upon these, unless in exceptional 
 instances, until the land becomes impacted by 
 cultivation more or less prolonged. Soil adaptation 
 in the medium red and mammoth red clovers is about 
 the same. Ordinarily they grow in what may be 
 termed deep, moist, friable clays, underlaid with a 
 subsoil of clay of medium density. They grow least 
 well on soils impregnated with alkali and on infertile 
 sands, more especially w^hen these are ill supplied 
 with moisture. 
 
 Those soils usually spoken of as swamp lands 
 have special adaptation for the growth of alsike 
 clover when they rest on a clay subsoil, and when 
 the water table has been sufficiently lowered in them 
 
74 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 by some form of drainage. But alsike clover will also 
 grow well in some of those lands which have highest 
 adaptation for the medium, red and mammoth sorts, 
 more especially those of them that are strongly 
 spiced with clay. The ordinary upland prairie does 
 not seem well suited to the production of alsike 
 clover, more especially when this soil is lacking in 
 moisture. While crimson clover will flourish on 
 soils well adapted to the growth of the other red 
 clovers, it would seem to have more adaptation for 
 sandy soils than these. Much of the soil in the chief 
 centers for growing crimson clover is sandy in tex- 
 ture. This greater adaptation arises probably in 
 part from the great power the plants have to gather 
 food, and in part from the moist character of the 
 climate in crimson clover centers during those por- 
 tions of the year in which the crop is produced. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — As clover is a soil reno- 
 vator, the aim should be, flrst, to grow it on land in 
 which it is specially desirable to increase the supply 
 of nitrogen; second, on land where it is to be fol- 
 lowed by a crop that requires an abundant supply 
 of nitrogen in the soil to enable it to produce abun- 
 dantly. It should also be sown on land that is at 
 least measurably clean, as an abundant growth of 
 weeds in the crop will not only lessen the yield, but 
 will impair its feeding value in proportion as they 
 are present. There is special fitness, therefore, in 
 laying down to clover, land that has produced a crop 
 to which clean cultivation was given, as, for instance, 
 a crop of corn, potatoes or field roots. And the 
 reasons are equally good for following the clover 
 crop with wheat, oats or barley, corn or potatoes. 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 75 
 
 In some sections it is common to grow medium 
 red clover, corn or potatoes and small grain in a three 
 years' rotation. When the conditions are suitable 
 the plan is an admirable one. But few methods of 
 crop production will compare with it in the easy 
 maintenance of soil fertility and in the profits that 
 grow out of the system. The other leading kinds 
 of clover, however, are not so well adapted as the 
 medium for such a rotation. The mammoth does 
 not produce a second growth, for being plowed under, 
 as does the common red. The alsike is perennial in 
 its habit of growth, and the crimson is better adapted 
 to another form of rotation, as will be shown below. 
 
 The medium and mammoth clovers may, never- 
 theless, be made to fit into any kind of a rotation. 
 The aim should be to grow them at short rather than 
 at long intervals in the rotation, and for several 
 reasons. First, as previously intimated, they have 
 great power to enrich the land by depositing in it 
 nitrogen drawn from the air; second, they have 
 much power to gather supplies of phosphoric acid 
 and potash in the subsoil, much of which is deposited 
 again in the cultivable strata; third, they improve 
 the mechanical condition of the land by the abun- 
 dance of the vegetable deposit contained in the roots, 
 and, fourth, the humus thus supplied greatly 
 increases the power of the land to hold moisture, 
 whether it comes from above or below. There is 
 probably no other plant grown that is capable of 
 exercising so beneficent an influence on farming. 
 
 The place for crimson clover is, properly speak- 
 ing, that of a catch crop. It is usually grown as the 
 antecedent of or the consequent to some other crop 
 
76 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 grown the same season. And this is true of it 
 whether it is grown for pasture, for soiHng food, for 
 hay or for green manure. It may with much pro- 
 priety be preceded by such quick-growing early sum- 
 mer crops as vegetables and certain of the early 
 maturing cereals, and followed by such crops as pota- 
 toes, corn or any of the sorghums, and on soils low 
 in fertility by cowpeas or soy beans. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for 
 clover seed in any of its varieties, the aim should be 
 to secure a seed bed fine, firm, deep, moist and clean. 
 It should be fine that the clover seeds may be more 
 perfectly hidden from the light, and that the tender, 
 tiny rootlets may easily ramify the soil in search of 
 food. It should be firm to prevent evaporation, too 
 rapid from the surface. It should be deep to allow^ 
 the tap roots to go down readily. But in light sands, 
 or spongy loam soils of the prairie, shallow^ cultiva- 
 tion would be preferable unless done a good while 
 previously to the sowing of the seed because of the 
 difficulty of sufficiently firming such soils. It should 
 be moist to promote quick germination and rapid 
 grow^th. It should be clean to secure an abundant 
 growth in the clover and to produce a good quality 
 of food. 
 
 The first of these conditions may be more 
 readily secured when the soil is plowed in the 
 autumn, and such plowing is also favorable to secur- 
 ing all the conditions named. Deep plowing can be 
 done much more advantageously in the fall than in 
 the spring, where fall plowing is in order. But in 
 climates with much rainfall in winter, autumn plow- 
 ing may be less judicious than spring plowing. 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. ^J 
 
 especially where the soil contains much clay. The 
 winter rains cause it to "run together" in a way that 
 increases the labor of subsequent cultivation, and 
 that further imperils the abundant and vigorous 
 growth of the plants. Some soils are so friable that 
 they call for but little pulverization; other soils, as 
 clays, are oftentimes cloddy on the surface. It is 
 especially important that these shall be made fine by 
 the repeated use of the roller and harrow. Firmness 
 in the seed bed may be secured by plowing the land a 
 considerable time previous to the sowing of the seed, 
 or by using the roller freely on it. Autumn plowed 
 lands always furnish a seed bed more firm than those 
 that are spring plowed, a fact of much significance 
 in cultivating the soils of the northwestern prairies. 
 When firming some classes of these soils, by running 
 a heavy roller over them, it may be necessary to 
 follow the roller with a light harrow to prevent them 
 being more or less carried away by the wind. Deep 
 cultivation is secured, of course, by simply plowing 
 more deeply, and in some instances by subsoiling. 
 
 In some sections of the prairie the growth of 
 clover is greatly promoted by plowing so deeply that 
 some of the firmer subsoil shall be brought to the 
 surface. But with nearly all classes of soils, if much 
 of the subsoil were brought to the surface at one 
 time the influence on plant growth at the first would 
 be harmful, because of the unameliorated condition 
 of such subsoils. The management that secures a 
 fine tilth and a firm seed bed will also tend to increase 
 the moisture in the land. When the clover seed is 
 sown early in the spring, a clean seed bed can only 
 be secured by cultivation given the previous season. 
 
y^ SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 but when sowing the seed is deferred until late in 
 the spring or until summer, the seed bed may be 
 made clean near the surface by the frequent use of 
 the harrow^ between the opening of spring and the 
 sowing of the seed. 
 
 When growing clover for soiling, it is very 
 important that heavy yields shall be obtained, since 
 a heavy crop is so much easier to gather than a light 
 one. The former ma}^ easily be lifted, and with 
 sufficient cleanness, without using a rake; whereas, 
 the latter would require to be raked, thus adding very 
 much to the labor of gathering the crop, and to the 
 area of land required to grow it. One great advan- 
 tage from growing soiling crops, viz., that of 
 intensive production, would thus be defeated. It 
 is always expedient, therefore, to make land quite 
 rich that is to grow clover for soiling, when it is not 
 so already, by the addition of fertilizers. Of these, 
 farmyard manure is certainly one of the best; and 
 when applied it will of course feed the nurse crop as 
 well as the clover. The kind or kinds of commercial 
 fertilizer or fertilizers that may be employed with 
 most advantage wdll depend upon the needs of the 
 land. Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash are 
 most frequently needed, but in quantities that vary 
 according to conditions, and in many instances 
 lime acts very beneficially. On some soils the 
 growing of the clover is greatly stimulated by sow- 
 ing on the young plants when the period of growth 
 is beginning or has already begun, an application of 
 gypsum, usually not less than too pounds per acre 
 and not more than 300 pounds. In other instances, 
 marked benefit results from sowing wood ashes. 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 79 
 
 leached or unleached, on the crop previous to the 
 season of active growth. The appHcation of leached 
 ashes should be about four times as heavy as that of 
 unleached ashes, that is to say, it may run from about 
 200 bushels per acre upward. 
 
 Sozving the Seed. — Clover seed may be sown by 
 handj by using- a hand seed sower, or by the grain 
 drill with, and, in some instances, without an attach- 
 ment for sowing grass seeds. Which of these 
 methods should be adopted will depend on various 
 conditions, such as relate to soils and soil properties 
 and to the machinery that is available. When the 
 seed is sown by hand, the aim should be to sow with 
 two hands rather than with one, and to distribute the 
 seeds quite evenly. The seed can be carried in a 
 seed box or sack suspended at a suitable hight against 
 the breast of the sow^er and kept in place by the use 
 of shoulder straps. Much care should be taken to 
 choose a still time for hand sowing the seed, as, for 
 instance, the early morning, and also a condition of 
 soil that hinders its undue adherence to the feet 
 of the sower. 
 
 That form of hand seeder which is wheeled on 
 the land on a hand barrow frame distributes the seed 
 more evenly than would be possible in sowing by the 
 method just described, and it can be sown when the 
 winds are blowing at a rate that would forbid scat- 
 tering the seed by hand at such a time. When the 
 seed can be sown with the grain drill, the saving in 
 labor is very considerable and the work is also done 
 in excellent form. When it is desired to bury the 
 seed deeply, as on spongy prairie soils, it may be 
 thus planted by mixing the clover seed along with 
 
8o SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the grain. When a less covering- is sought, as in 
 sowing under average conditions, the seed is allowed 
 to fall in front of the drill tubes, and when a still 
 lighter covering is desired, as when the seed falls 
 on heavy soils, it is covered by using a roller on the 
 land after the seed has thus been dropped upon its 
 surface. And in yet other instances, as when the 
 soil is quite heavy and ample moisture is assured, 
 the seed thus deposited is frequently allowed to lie 
 unburied. But when a light covering can be secured 
 for clover seed, the germination of the seed is more 
 certain and the ability of the young plants to with- 
 stand dry weather is increased. 
 
 The quantity of seed required will vary with 
 the variety sown, with the richness of the soil, and 
 with the proportion of seed of other grass plants that 
 may be sown along with the clover. When clover 
 is sown alone, from ten to fifteen pounds per acre 
 of the crimson clover are usually sown, but some- 
 times a less quantity, from ten to twelve pounds 
 of the medium red and mammoth species and from 
 four to six pounds of the alsike. The difference in 
 relative quantities sown arises chiefly from the dif- 
 ference in the relative size of the seeds and the 
 difference in the capacity of the plants for stooling. 
 The richer the soil also the less the quantity of the 
 seed required, and the amount of clover that ought 
 to be sown will of course be reduced as grass seeds 
 are added to the seed sown. 
 
 Since clover, when it grows vigorously, is liable 
 to lie down when sown alone, it is considered advan- 
 tageous to sow along with it the seed of some grass, 
 that the grass plants thus produced may sustain the 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 8 1 
 
 clover. Timothy is more commonly grown thus 
 than any other grass, because of its very general 
 adaptation, but in some localities tall oat grass may 
 better serve the end sought, since it is about as early 
 as clover in its habit of growth. As timothy matures 
 about the same time as the alsike and mammoth 
 clovers, it is more suitable for being sown along 
 with these than with the medium sort. But it 
 should not be sown with the expectation that it will 
 furnish a support to crimson clover, because of the 
 much more rapid grow^th of the clover. For every 
 pound of the seed that is added to the mixture sown, 
 the clover seed should be reduced in the same propor- 
 tion, and sometimes the reduction in the clover 
 should be greater relatively. But it is seldom neces- 
 sary to have the timothy seed form more than one- 
 third of the quantity of seed sown. 
 
 The period for sowing clover may be made to 
 cover all the spring months, and in some instances 
 the early summer months, but the medium, mammoth 
 and alsike clovers are more commonly sown in early 
 spring. They should seldom be sown in autumn, 
 as the young plants cannot endure the cold of the 
 winter following. But to this there may be some 
 exceptions. In some instances the seed is sown 
 while the old snow yet lingers, but when thus sown 
 some of the seed is liable to be carried away with 
 the vanishing snows, when the melting of the latter 
 is hastened by warm rains. At other times it is 
 sown when the ground is honeycombed by spring 
 frosts. The seed is thus covered by the action of 
 frost and sun. In other instances it is sown on a 
 light fall of snow, usually spoken of as ''sugar 
 6 
 
82 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 snow." When the latter melts it frequently carries 
 much of the seed down into the soil. Clover seed 
 is seldom if ever sown thus early, except with a nurse 
 crop of winter wheat or rye. Usually it would be a 
 safer way to defer sowing the seed until the surface 
 of the soil has so dried that when the seed is sown 
 it may be covered with the harrow. The harrow- 
 ing if properly done is beneficial to the nurse crop as 
 well as the clover seed. But in some instances the 
 harrow cannot be used, as in clay soils, which remain 
 unduly moist in the spring. 
 
 When clover seed is sown with a nurse crop of 
 spring grain, as, for instance, barley, wheat or oats, 
 it should be covered more or less deeply; the later 
 the period of sowing the more imperative is it that 
 the seed should be so covered. Where moisture is 
 usually sufficiently plentiful, the plan of sowing 
 clover seed with a nurse crop is commendable. But 
 all nurse crops are not equally favorable to the 
 growth of the clover. Those which are most favor- 
 able include barley and winter rye ; those which are 
 least favorable include such crops as oats and millet. 
 But when clover is sown with a nurse crop and the 
 weather turns dry, if the nurse crop can be pastured 
 off, or cut at some stage previous to that of maturity, 
 the hazard to the young clover plants will be so far 
 lessened, as they are then deprived to a smaller 
 extent of the strengthening influences of sunlight 
 and moisture. On the soils of the prairie, so light 
 that they are springy to the tread, a good stand of 
 clover may frequently be obtained by sowing it with 
 a crop that is to be pastured, as, for instance, a crop 
 of mixed cereals or rape. The treading of the live 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 83 
 
 stock Avould seem to react beneficially to the young 
 clover plants by impacting the soil near the surface 
 and thus lessening the loss of moisture through sur- 
 face evaporation. Sheep are considered more suit- 
 able for such pasturing than cattle or swine. 
 
 But there may be instances when a stand of 
 clover can best be secured by sowing it alone, as when 
 the normal supply of moisture is low. When thus 
 sown, the soil should be made as clean as possible 
 before sowing the seed. It may not be possible thus 
 to clean the land when the seed is sown early, but 
 it may be cleaned, at least measurably well, by sur- 
 face cultivation, when the seed is deposited late in 
 the season. When sown on weed infested land, the 
 weeds should be kept down with the mowing 
 machine. 
 
 Crimson clover is not usually sown earlier than 
 July, and it is not considered wise to sow it later 
 than September, unless in the mildest portions of the 
 south. Near the northern limit of production it is 
 thought more or less hazardous to sow later than 
 August. If the plants enter the winter in a weak 
 condition, the danger is imminent that they will 
 perish before spring. When preparing the land, it 
 is sometimes thought preferable to seek fine surface 
 cultivation without plowing the land, rather than the 
 deep cultivation which plowing secures. In some 
 instances, as on clean land, from which early vege- 
 tables have been harvested, the seed may be at once 
 sown and covered with the harrow. In other 
 instances it is sown in the standing corn and cov- 
 ered lightly with the last cultivation given to the 
 corn crop. There may be instances when it would 
 
84 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 be proper to sow it amid grain stubbles and to cover 
 it with the harrow. It is manifest that the methods 
 of sowing this crop are various. To so great an 
 extent is this true that it would not be prudent to try- 
 to give directions that would precisely meet the needs 
 of each locality. 
 
 Cultivation. — Clover does not require any culti- 
 vation in the sense in which drilled corn and sorghum 
 call for the same. But it is important that it shall 
 not be grazed too closely the first season, lest its 
 power to withstand winter weather shall be unduly 
 weakened. In a large majority of instances it 
 should not be pastured or mowed the first year w^hen 
 it has been sown with a nurse crop. But in some 
 seasons it may grow so rank that by its own weight 
 it would smother underneath the snow, unless pas- 
 tured more or less. In some localities quite favor- 
 able to the growth of clover, it will produce seed the 
 first year unless means are taken to prevent it from 
 doing so. To allow the plants to produce seed the 
 first year will materially tend to weaken their growth 
 the second year. To prevent such a result, such 
 clover should be cut by the mow^er set high and when 
 it is coming into bloom. The plants cut off should 
 be allowed to lie where they fell. They will act as 
 a mulch to protect the crop. But when clover is 
 sown early and not along with a nurse crop, there 
 may be instances, not a few, when it would be advis- 
 able to cut it for hay or green food. 
 
 Feeding. — The harvesting of green clover for 
 soiling in all its varieties may begin as soon as the 
 first heads appear, but more food will be secured if 
 the cutting: is deferred until the crimson tint on the 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 85 
 
 heads is pronounced. The cutting and feeding of 
 the crop as green food may be continued as long as 
 the plants are eaten with a relish by live stock. When 
 ready for being made into hay, it is common not to 
 feed it longer as green food. This stage will be 
 reached by the time that the crop is in complete 
 bloom.- It is manifest, therefore, that the period for 
 using clover as soiling food is a short one, not longer 
 usually than from two to three weeks, and if a plat 
 or field of alsike, or mammoth clover has also been 
 sown in addition to the medium red clover, it will 
 prolong the feeding for about an equal period. The 
 tw^o crops, therefore, will provide green food for five 
 or six weeks in succession. The medium red clover 
 will also furnish a secortd cutting of soiling food 
 which will be available in about six or seven weeks 
 subsequent to the first cutting, when grown under 
 normal conditions. The period of cutting will vary 
 from about June ist to July ist north of the 
 40th parallel. 
 
 The green food is cut daily or every other day, 
 as may be desired, by using the scythe or field mower, 
 and is fed in pastures, paddocks or from feed racks 
 in the yards, as may be thought most advisable. In 
 large quantities it is of course drawn on a truck or 
 wagon. When cut with the mower it should not lie 
 many hours in very bright weather without being 
 "bunched," as it will soon lose so much moisture that 
 its succulence will be too much lessened. A little 
 wilting tends to obviate the danger from bloating in 
 the animals to which it is fed. This danger with 
 cattle and sheep is always imminent in some degree 
 when green clover is fed in a very succulent condi- 
 
50 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 tion and unstinted in quality, when the animals are 
 hungry. And the danger is further increased by 
 dampness caused by rain or dew. 
 
 ALFALFA. 
 
 Alfalfa (Medicago satwa), sometimes called 
 lucern, has a higher adaptation for soiling than any 
 other plant of the clover family. This arises, first, 
 from the rapid and prolonged character of its 
 growth'; second, from its long-lived character; and, 
 third, from the excellent quality of the food which 
 it produces. Alfalfa is ready for being cut as green 
 food at least two weeks earlier than medium red 
 clover, and in some insljances it will yield a cutting 
 every month thereafter during the season. There 
 are some favored sections in the United States in 
 which, by judicious managment, alfalfa may be cut 
 and fed as green food every month in the year. The 
 duration of alfalfa meadows will depend in a great 
 measure on the conditions of soil and subsoil, more 
 especially the latter, while it will sometimes fail 
 within a few years from the date of sowing; in other 
 instances, it will continue to grow and thrive indefi- 
 nitely. Alfalfa meadows are now in existence which 
 have been mowed every year for more than forty 
 years. But of course the average duration does not 
 cover nearly so long a period. The excellent quality 
 of the food arises in part from its nitrogenous char- 
 acter and in part from its palatability. 
 
 In view of the pre-eminent suitability of this 
 plant for soiling purposes, it seems strange that this 
 fact has not been more generally recognized by 
 
(87) 
 
 Fig. 10. Alfalfa, Single Plant 
 
 Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 
 
88 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 farmers. Under favorable conditions it would be 
 easy to obtain abundant supplies of green food from 
 alfalfa from spring until fall at a less cost than it can 
 be obtained from any other source. 
 
 Green alfalfa is not only relished by horses, 
 cattle, sheep and swine of all ages, but it is specially 
 adapted to their needs. When fed freely to young 
 animals it promotes a large and vigorous growth. 
 Along with suitable grain adjuncts, it will fatten 
 animals quickly and will give them a fine finish. 
 Lambs can be raised upon this food alone, in addi- 
 tion to the milk furnished by their dams. And with 
 but a limited addition of more carbonaceous food, 
 swine may be raised upon it until ready for the block. 
 Of course during the fattening period, grain must 
 be the chief reliance. But to no class of stockmen 
 is green alfalfa of more benefit than to dairymen. It 
 is excellent for milk production, and the long season 
 during which it is accessible further accentuates its 
 value. Of course, in the green form, it should be 
 fed with some restriction to horses at work, but for 
 all other classes of horses it makes excellent food. 
 It is also helpful when fed to fowls. Other things 
 being equal, meat and milk cannot be produced any- 
 where more cheaply than in areas possessed of high 
 adaptation for growing alfalfa. 
 
 The yields of green food furnished per acre for 
 the season vary with the number and strength of the 
 cuttings to be obtained. There are localities in 
 which alfalfa will grow, and yet the yields obtained 
 are not equal to those which would be obtained from 
 an equal area of red clover. In these it should not 
 be grown. The number of cuttings obtained per 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 89 
 
 season in the green form varies from one to seven or 
 eight, but the average may be stated as four, and 
 the yield per cutting may be put at four to six tons 
 per acre. In areas not a few, therefore, from sixteen 
 to twenty-four tons of green alfalfa may be obtained 
 per acre from season to season, and with no other 
 labor after the crop has been established than that 
 of opening the sluices which let in the irrigating 
 waters. Nor are those alfalfa lands likely to become 
 exhausted soon, because of the extent of the subsoil 
 from which they draw food supplies. 
 
 Distribution. — But few plants are of wider dis- 
 tribution than alfalfa. While it is not able to endure 
 temperatures so low as some of the real clovers, it 
 will thrive in latitudes too warm and dry to produce 
 these kinds in good form. The growth of alfalfa 
 would seem to be more hedged in by conditions that 
 relate to soil and subsoil than by those which relate 
 to climate. Because of these limitations, alfalfa will 
 yield abundantly in certain areas within a state, and 
 in other areas in close proximity to them it cannot 
 be grown at all. It can probably be successfully 
 grown in portions of each state in the Union. So 
 wide is its distribution that it is successfully grown 
 in some portions of Quebec, Ontario and British 
 Columbia in Canada. 
 
 But the distinctive alfalfa belt of the United 
 States lies west of the Mississippi and south of the 
 ^lissouri. It embraces nearly every Rocky moun- 
 tain valley from Canada to Mexico. It includes 
 areas possessed of subterranean waters, not too dis- 
 tant from the surface, as well as those which it may 
 be necessary to irrigate at certain seasons; also 
 
90 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 certain tillable upland, soils in several states which 
 cannot be subjected to irrigation. The variety known 
 as the Turkestan, recently introduced by the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture at Washington, is proving so 
 hardy, that it is now thought it can be successfully 
 grown in areas that are too dry and too cold for the 
 successful growth of the kinds heretofore grown. 
 
 While alfalfa will produce well in some rainy 
 climates, it has higher adaptation for those that are 
 dry, up to a certain limit. Drenching rains which 
 literally saturate the ground with water are harmful 
 to it rather than helpful. And in climates where 
 the period of growth is long, this crop is propor- 
 tionately more helpful than in those where it is short. 
 It is not a little surprising that a soiling crop so 
 useful should not have been grown to a greater 
 extent in the past in the lower Atlantic and Gulf 
 states, since the conditions in certain areas of these 
 are quite favorable. With the greater need that is 
 now being felt for a supply of such foods, the produc- 
 tion of alfalfa will doubtless greatly increase in the 
 near future. 
 
 Soil. — The soil and subsoil more than anything 
 else are potent factors in determining where alfalfa 
 may and may not be grown. And of these the sub- 
 soil is the more important. The reasons will be at 
 once apparent when it is remembered that alfalfa 
 roots grow deeply and that the major portion of the 
 food obtained from the earth by the plants comes 
 from the subsoil rather than from the soil. The soil 
 conditions most favorable to the growth of alfalfa are 
 found in loam soils, inclining to sand or gravel, and 
 spiced with a goodh^ increment of clay. But alfalfa 
 
PLANTS OB' THE CLOVER FAMILY. 9 1 
 
 will frequently flourish in clay soils with no slight 
 degree of adhesion in them, providing the subsoil 
 condition's are suitable. The vegetable soils of the 
 western prairies are not usually well adapted to the 
 growth of alfalfa. The volcanic soils of the Rocky 
 mountain region furnish ideal conditions when suffi- 
 ciently" supplied with moisture. 
 
 In a subsoil in which alfalfa roots are to grow 
 vigorously, the most important requisite is that it 
 should be easily penetrable. Ideal conditions are 
 sometimes found for starting an alfalfa crop success- 
 fully, and yet the plants soon fail because of the 
 impenetrable character of the subsoil. The second 
 great requisite in the subsoil is, it should be deep. 
 The necessary depth w^ill vary, but it should not be 
 less than several feet to provide ample feeding 
 ground for the roots; and a third requisite is that 
 the subsoil should be moist. But at all seasons of 
 the year it should be free from stagnant water to the 
 depth of several feet from the surface. These con- 
 ditions are best obtained in certain of the almost 
 rainless river valleys of the west. If the soils and 
 subsoils are sandy or gravelly, and underneath them 
 are sheets of water at varying depths, the plants are 
 supplied with moisture from this water through the 
 process of capillary attraction. With similar con- 
 ditions of soil and subsoil, except that the ground 
 water is absent, the alfalfa plants would perish unless 
 irrigated. This explains why alfalfa cannot be 
 grown in wide areas of the semi-arid country west 
 of the Mississippi, where the soil and subsoil requi- 
 sites are all that could be desired, but for the absence 
 of the ground waters. 
 
92 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 In the absence of irrigation and also of marked 
 humidity in the chmate, what may be termed mild 
 clay subsoils furnish the best subsoil conditions for 
 growing alfalfa. In these it gathers suitable food. 
 These subsoils, oftentimes, possess a sufficiency of 
 moisture through all the season to sustain good crops. 
 Of course, in dry seasons the subsoil moisture riiay 
 become so reduced as to materially interfere with 
 abundant production. But in climates of average 
 humidity, they are satisfactory for growing this crop. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — Properly speaking, 
 alfalfa can scarcely be said to be a rotation plant, 
 owing to the long period through which it continues 
 to grow. That is one of the objections urged against 
 growing it. But in certain areas favorable to its 
 development, it may be grown for a term of years 
 more or less limited, and then followed by certain 
 other crops for an intervening term of years. As it 
 is one of those plants which gather nitrogen from 
 the air, it is so far a soil renovator. Alfalfa should, 
 therefore, precede some crop which requires m.uch 
 nitrogen to perfect its growth, as, for instance, corn 
 or wheat. Deep-rooted plants may follow alfalfa 
 with much propriety, since they can find ample food 
 in the subsoils even, in which alfalfa roots are mold- 
 ering, as, for instance, field roots, or rape. And the 
 crop that precedes alfalfa should, if possible, be a 
 cleaning one. 
 
 The task of plowing a soil filled brimful of 
 alfalfa roots of strong growth is by no means an 
 easy one. But it ma}^ be facilitated by using a plow 
 with a share somewhat serrated in its cutting edge. 
 When the plow is drawn, these serrations will cut 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 93 
 
 the roots and so make it possible to turn a straight 
 furrow. 
 
 Ereparing the Land. — The preparation of the 
 soil that will be the most suitable for alfalfa will 
 depend upon conditions such as relate to variations 
 in soil and to the season for sowing the seed. Speak- 
 ing' in a general way, the seed bed should be deep, 
 moist, clean and of fine tilth. But with upland soils 
 subjected to very dry conditions, stirring the soil to 
 but a little depth, when preparing a seed bed, would 
 be preferable. The firming of the seed bed is pecu- 
 liarly applicable to the upland soils of the south- 
 western states, but it will oftentimes be necessary to 
 run a light harrow over the ground, after it has been 
 firmed with a heavy roller, to prevent the wind from 
 lifting the soil and in some instances to prevent the 
 too rapid evaporation of soil moisture. When the 
 seed is sown in the early spring, it is not possible at 
 all times to secure a clean seed bed for the alfalfa, 
 unless it is made to follow a well cultivated crop of 
 the previous season. There may also be instances 
 in which the labor would be wisely expended in sum- 
 mer fallowing the land the previous year. When it 
 is thus fallowed it is important that green crops be 
 sown upon it at the same time and plowed under, 
 that the soil may thus become abundantly supplied 
 with vegetable matter. Such crops as autumn sown 
 rye followed by a quick growing legume are well 
 adapted to such an end. 
 
 When the seed is sown late, there is then time 
 to clean the surface soil through the successive 
 harrowings that may be given. Because of the 
 probable duration of the crop when established, and 
 
94 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 because of the recognized tendency in weeds and in 
 some other grasses to increase and thus crowd out 
 the alfalfa, it is very important that the crop be 
 sown upon a clean seed bed. 
 
 When alfalfa is sown with a nurse crop, the 
 ])reparation of the soil that is best suited to the nurse 
 crop is likely also to prove suitable to the alfalfa. 
 But in soils with much adhesion, it may be necessary 
 to further pulverize them before they are in the best 
 condition to receive the seed. 
 
 In some instances, it will be better to plow the 
 land in the autumn; in other instances, as where 
 rainy winter climates prevail, plowing ought to be 
 deferred until spring. Sometimes, as in soils that 
 adhere overmuch, deep plowing is preferable and 
 subsoiling may even be very advantageous ; at other 
 times, as in tilling soils of the opposite extreme, 
 shallow plowing would be preferable. Usually after 
 crops that have been cultivated, it is only necessary 
 to. finely pulverize the surface soil when preparing 
 it for a seed bed. 
 
 In laying down a piece of land to alfalfa, it is 
 very important that at least the surface soil should 
 have in it much available fertility as w^ell as that it 
 should be in fine condition as to tilth, while it is 
 probably true that no plant grown as food for live 
 stock has greater power to gather the elements of 
 support from the soil, the subsoil and the air than 
 alfalfa, it is also true that in the early stages of 
 growth alfalfa readily succumbs to vicissitudes from 
 various sources, as excessive wet or drouth, heat or 
 cold, overshading, or even undershading. . The 
 behavior of the plant in after years depends in no 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 95 
 
 little degree upon the nature of the start of the first 
 season. If the plants are weak when they enter the 
 winter, they are likely to perish before spring, and 
 if the stand is thin at the first, it is likely to become 
 more so, though in some rich soils it may be 
 improved by adding more seed. 
 
 Experience has taught that with this crop also 
 farmyard manure is an excellent stimulant to growth. 
 Gn the whole, when this fertilizer is used in the fresh 
 form, it should be applied with the previous crop 
 that it may readily give up to the young plants the 
 unused content of fertility, and that many of the 
 weed seeds in it may be given time to sprout before 
 sowing the seed. When preparing the land for 
 alfalfa it would be a mistake to top-dress the land 
 with farmyard manure, even though much reduced 
 by fermentation, as it will still contain weed seeds 
 that will prove troublesome. 
 
 The artificial fertilizers that ought to be applied 
 must be determined by the needs of the land. They 
 include nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash and lime. 
 The need for applying these is not so great west of 
 the eastern Mississippi watershed as east from that 
 line. The gray ash soils of the farther west are 
 usually abundantly supplied with the requisite food 
 elements. These fertilizers may better be applied 
 before the seed is sown, except the nitrogen, which, 
 in some forms at least, is more helpful when sown on 
 the young plants. Gypsum will benefit young alfalfa 
 plants quite as much as it benefits young red clover. 
 And it may be stated here, that unreduced farmyard 
 manure applied to alkali lands is so far an excellent 
 corrective of their alkalinity. 
 
96 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Sozving the Seed. — The seed may be sown by 
 hand, with the hand sower, or with the grain drill. 
 Since alfalfa is a somewhat larger seed than red 
 clover it may be covered rather more deeply, 
 particularly on western soils. On some of these it 
 may be sown as wheat, that is to say, by using the 
 ordinary drill tubes used in sowing grain. 
 
 On true alfalfa soils, the seed is seldom sown 
 with a nurse crop, but in moist climates this method 
 of obtaining a stand is quite feasible, and in some 
 instances commendable. It is generally deemed 
 preferable to sow the seed without a nurse crop, that 
 the plants may have the full benefit of all the season 
 to enable them to take possession of the soil to the 
 fullest extent possible. Any of the small grains 
 usually sown in the spring will answer for the nurse 
 crop, but of these barley is the best. And there are 
 instances in which winter wheat and winter rye may 
 form the nurse crop. It may frequently be unwise 
 to allow the nurse crop to mature, but the degree 
 of the advancement which it should be allowed to 
 make will depend upon conditions. If a nurse crop 
 is grown it should never be at the expense of the 
 alfalfa crop. And in a large majority of instances 
 it will be wiser to dispense with the nurse crop 
 altogether. 
 
 Opinions differ much as to the quantity of seed 
 that should be sown. Amounts named as suitable 
 vary from twelve to thirty pounds per acre. Usually 
 from fifteen to twenty pounds will be found suffi- 
 cient, the last named quantity being rather more in 
 favor on true alfalfa soils. Twelve pounds per acre 
 may suffice in climates possessed of moist seasons. 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 9/ 
 
 If the plants are sown too thinly they make coarse 
 hay. Of the two extremes, excessive seed sowing 
 is the least harmful since the tendency is constant for 
 the plants to become thinner. 
 
 The seed is usually sown about as early in the 
 spring as the ground is ready to till. But it may be 
 possible to sow the plants so early in the season in 
 certain climates that the newly sprouted plants will 
 succumb to a severe spring frost. But when they 
 do, of course, the seed can again be sown. With 
 alfalfa as with many other plants, better results will 
 probably be obtained by sowing late enough to 
 insure continuous growth. In mild latitudes it may 
 be possible to sow when the late fall rains come, but 
 the hazard to the young plants in the winter follow- 
 ing is to be reckoned with. 
 
 Cultivation. — Ordinarily no cultivation is given 
 to alfalfa. But in some parts of the continent of 
 Europe where labor is cheap, it is planted in rows, 
 and hand hoed, to give the plants opportunity to 
 develop favorably, but in this country such hand 
 labor would be too costly. It is important that the 
 roots be strong and vigorous ' when they enter the 
 first winter, as that is usually the greatest period of 
 hazard to the young plants. When grown on upland 
 it is not common to use the crop for food the first 
 season. But it may be necessary and highly advan- 
 tageous to run the field mower over it once or oftener 
 to prevent the ripening of the weeds that are pretty 
 certain to grow in it. Close cutting would seem to 
 be more beneficial to the young plants than cutting 
 less closely, owing probably to the better adjustment 
 of the relations as to moisture present in the soil and 
 7 
 
98 ■ SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the needs of the young plants. All the plants that 
 fall before the mower are allowed to remain where 
 they fall. When the crop is grov/n under irrigation, 
 it is common to utilize one cutting the first year and 
 sometimes two. But the young crops should not be 
 pastured the first year, and on the upland it should 
 not be pastured at all unless at certain seasons of the 
 year. Pasturing in the winter in cold climates is 
 particularly injurious, but in sections where the crop 
 grows at its best, it may be pastured even in the 
 winter, though as previously intimated, frequent and 
 prolonged pasturing is thought to ultimately injure 
 the stand of the plants, even under the most favor- 
 able conditions. 
 
 Feeding. — Alfalfa is ready for being harvested 
 as soiling food as soon as the blossom buds are 
 formed. It may be cut even earlier than that, more 
 especially when fed to sheep and swine. The feed- 
 ing should begin as soon as the food is ready, as in 
 suitable weather it rushes very quickly to maturity. 
 But the residue not needed as soiling food may with 
 much propriety be made into hay. With sufficient 
 moisture present, the crop at once begins to grow 
 again, and in from four to six weeks after the cutting 
 of the preceding growth the next crop is ready. 
 Where irrigation is practiced, it is customary to flood 
 the land as soon as the crop has been removed. 
 
 As the alfalfa soon gets woody after it has 
 reached the stage of full bloom, the residue not 
 wanted for soiling food ought to be cut for hay even 
 before it is in full bloom, else the quality of the hay 
 will be reduced. It is apparent, therefore, that the 
 feeding period from each crop or cutting is not a 
 
•»l»"i 
 
lOO SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 long one, not longer usually than three weeks. If, 
 however, two plats or fields have been grown by 
 cutting one at an early stage of growth, and then 
 cutting the other, and again the first and likewise the 
 second in continuity of alternation to the end of the 
 season, the supply of alfalfa for soiling may under 
 favorable conditions be made to cover the entire sea- 
 son after the first growth is ready for being cut, 
 which is usually in May or June, according to the 
 locality. The same result can be accomplished with 
 but one field by taking care to cut first one portion 
 and then another, that the part .first cut may grow 
 up again while the other part is furnishing soiling 
 food. But in the absence of irrigation, it may not 
 be possible to feed this food without interruption. 
 
 The scythe, or the mowing machine is used in 
 cutting the crop, but usually the latter. When cut 
 it m.ay be drawn and fed the same as clover, that is 
 to say, by strewing it on the pasture, by putting it 
 into feed racks in a yard or paddock, or by feeding 
 it in mangers. It should be wilted more or less 
 w^hen fed to cattle and sheep, as it is sometimes liable 
 to produce bloating when fed without stint in the 
 green form. Enough may be cut at one time to last 
 for a limited number of days, providing it is not 
 allowed to lie broadcast in the swath where it fell 
 beneath the mower. 
 
 Although horses and swine are oftentimes pas- 
 tured on alfalfa, some growers favor feeding it to 
 them as soiling food unless where the conditions for 
 growth are exceedingly favorable. The treading 
 and close eating of horses are pretty certain to mate- 
 rially shorten the duration of a stand of alfalfa 
 
PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. IQI 
 
 When pigs are pastured on alfalfa without intermis- 
 sion, it is not easy to regulate the pasturing so that 
 the food will be kept tender and appetizing. But 
 horses and pigs are pastured to a very considerable 
 extent on alfalfa. Sheep are not very much pastured 
 on alfalfa because of the danger from bloating. 
 When fed as soiling food to sheep and swine, it 
 ought to be cut while younger and more tender than 
 would be necessary when it is fed to horses and 
 cattle. 
 
 The long period during which alfalfa may be 
 fed makes it easily possible to feed it in conjunction 
 with other soiling foods less nitrogenous in char- 
 acter, as, for instance, corn and sorghum. The 
 alfalfa may be fed one end of the day and 
 green food at the opposite end of the same. The 
 variety thus secured is advantageous. Alfalfa, even 
 in the green form, may be advantageously used in 
 fattening animals along with some carbonaceous 
 food, as corn, barley or rye, but its highest use is 
 found in growing animals and in producing milk. 
 The owners of extensive alfalfa meadows would 
 seem to be in a position to raise horses, cattle, sheep, 
 swine and to produce dairy products more cheaply 
 than these can be produced by any other system of 
 arable farming. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 LEGUMINOUS PLANTS OTHER THAN CLOVER. 
 
 The legumes are a numerous family, and yet 
 the species that have special adaptation to soiling 
 uses are not many. In addition to plants of the 
 clover group, the chief of these are the field pea, the 
 common vetch, the cowpea and the soy bean. The 
 cowpea and the soy bean are in a sense the comple- 
 ments of the field pea and the common vetch, when 
 considered from the standpoint of distribution. 
 These will be considered separately. 
 
 THE FIELD PEA. 
 
 Outside the clover family, the field pea (Pisiim 
 sativum) is probably the most valuable legume 
 that is now grown on this continent. The esti- 
 mate thus put upon it is based on the high 
 nitrogen content which it contains, upon the 
 high relative palatability which it possesses and 
 upon the various combinations in which it may 
 be grown. Peas in combination with oats is 
 a favorite soiling food with dairymen, wherever 
 these can be successfully grown together. As a food 
 plant its value is probably greater when grown alone, 
 but owing to the taailing habit of growth which 
 characterizes the pea, it has been found necessary to 
 sow it along with some other plant when used in 
 
 1 02 
 
es 
 
 •* o 
 
 & 
 E 
 
 3 ' 
 £ 
 
I04 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 soiling, that the crop may be harvested with greater 
 ease, and that the vahie of the pea vines as stock food 
 may not be impaired by their lying on the ground. 
 
 Whether fed as a soiling food or in the cured 
 form, peas are much relished by all kinds of domestic 
 animals. In the green form, peas are specially suited 
 to the needs of animals giving milk. In the cured 
 form they are specifically a food for sheep, and the 
 ripened grain is unsurpassed as a food for swine. 
 The yield of the mixed crop in the green form Is 
 seldom less than ten tons per acre, and probably 
 seldom more than twenty tons. 
 
 Distribution. — The common field pea may be 
 grown in excellent form above the forty-fifth parallel 
 of north latitude and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
 except in some limited areas in the dry belt east of 
 the Rocky mountains. As a mixed crop for soiling, 
 and even in the unmixed form, it may also be grown 
 many miles south of the line named, at least in certain 
 areas. But below the forty-second parallel, the 
 fruitage of the plants becomes more or less uncertain 
 because of the high temperatures that prevail when 
 the pea is in bloom. On high elevations the crop 
 is not thus affected, hence in such situations peas 
 will produce abundantly far southward. It is found 
 at its best in temperatures that are equable, and in 
 climates moist in character. 
 
 Soil. — Loam soils strongly impregnated with 
 clay are eminently adapted to growing peas. They 
 may also be grown with much success on stiff clays. 
 The returns from sandy loams will be favorably 
 influenced or otherwise, according as these soils con- 
 tain much or little clay. And the same is true of 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. IO5 
 
 the humus soils of the prairie. The volcanic soils of 
 the Rocky mountain valleys and the alluvial soils in 
 many of the river bottoms in Montana, Washington 
 and Oregon have special adaptation for the produc- 
 tion of peas. Light, hungry sands are ill adapted to 
 pea culture. While the vines will grow immensely 
 in slough and marsh lands which rest on clay not 
 far distant from the surface, they do not fruit well 
 in these places, since the energies of the plant are so 
 much directed to the growth of vines. W^hile it is 
 not necessary that soils should be very rich in order 
 to grow peas, they must be supplied with a fair 
 amount of potash and phosphoric acid and enough 
 nitrogen to give the crop a good start. The rest 
 they will gather from the air. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — When peas are grown 
 alone, the aim should be to have them precede a crop 
 that requires much nitrogen to perfect its growth; 
 for instance, a crop of wheat, since, as already inti- 
 mated, peas are nitrogen gatherers. When grown 
 in combination, almost any place in the rotation may 
 be assigned to this crop. As it is commonly sown 
 early in the season to provide green food, and is also 
 harvested at a correspondingly early period, it may 
 frequently be followed by a crop of rape or fall tur- 
 nips, and it may with much propriety be followed 
 by a crop of winter rye. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — This crop is more com- 
 monly grown as soiling food along with oats, 
 although it may also be grown in conjunction with 
 other kinds of grain. Wheat is not considered as 
 good as oats for being grown in combination with 
 peas, for the reason, first, that it matures less slowly 
 
I06 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 than peas, and, second, that when fed-as soihng food, 
 wheat is not rehshed by the stock quite so highly as 
 oats. Nor is barley, since it ripens ahead of peas, 
 and the beards are objectionable after they have 
 reached a certain stage of ripening. Peas and oats 
 mature more nearly at the same period, and as oats 
 stool more than peas and wheat, or peas and barley, 
 they produce a food less coarse in character. 
 But whatsoever the combination fixed upon, the 
 preparation of the land is virtually the same, nor 
 does it usually differ from the preparation that has 
 been found best suited to the growing of small 
 grains. Usually the ground on wdiich the crop is to 
 be sown early should be plowed in the fall. A deep 
 seed bed is preferable, since peas require a deep 
 covering. 
 
 As previously intimated, the fertilizers most 
 needed for this crop are potash and phosphoric acid. 
 But in some instances, nitrogen has to be applied to 
 start the crop vigorously. Farmyard manure is very 
 suitable Avhen it can be obtained ; and on many soils 
 land plaster will very much stimulate the growth of 
 the peas when applied to the crop after the plants 
 have grown some distance above the surface of the 
 ground. It would be possible to enrich the ground 
 too much to obtain the best results from this crop. 
 When rankness in the growth is excessive, the green 
 mass often falls down before the bloom or head 
 appears, and when it does, its palatability is mate- 
 rially lessened and the difficulty in harvesting is 
 increased. 
 
 Sozving. — Various methods of sowing the seed 
 have been adopted, and of necessity to meet the needs 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. IO7 
 
 of conditions not the same. Where the rainfall is 
 normal and the soil is strongly impregnated with 
 clay, the seed of the peas and oat may be mixed and 
 deposited together by the grain drill. In such soils 
 three inches would seem to be a sufficient covering. 
 But in the black loams of the prairie, and especially 
 in the absence of a plentiful supply of moisture, it 
 would seem to be necessary to plant the peas more 
 deeply. This necessity probably has given rise to the 
 practice somewhat common in prairie areas of first 
 sowing the peas on unplowed land and then burying 
 them four inches, and even more than that, in the 
 process of plowing the ground. The oats are then 
 sown in some instances as soon as practicable, and 
 in other instances several days later than the first 
 sowing, and they are buried less deeply. The second 
 method is usually preferable. When sod lands 
 have been plowed in the autumn, or in the early 
 spring, and when the furrow slices have been made 
 narrow rather than wide, and laid at an angle of 
 about forty-five degrees, the seed may be broadcasted 
 by hand and simply harrowed in. It will fall 
 between the crests of the furrow slices, and the har- 
 row, when used properly, levels these and conse- 
 quently buries the seed sufficiently. But peas should 
 never be sown thus on level surfaces, as the shallow 
 covering given to them by the harrow will be washed 
 off in a considerable degree by the first shower 
 that falls. 
 
 The varieties of peas best adapted to soiling 
 uses cannot be named, since different conditions call 
 for different varieties. Usually those kinds that are 
 fine rather than coarse in stem are to be preferred. 
 
I08 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 On soils with high adaptation for peas, the medium 
 varieties are to be preferred and on soils opposite in 
 character the larger varieties. 
 
 Nor can the proportion of seed to be sown in 
 the mixture be definitely stated. On clay loams, 
 peas and oats are frecjuently sown in ec[ual quantities 
 by measure, and with satisfactory results. On other 
 soils peas should greatly preponderate in the mix- 
 ture, and yet again the same is true of oats. From 
 two to three bushels of the mixture are sown per 
 acre, and in some instances even a larger quantity. 
 The best method of sowing this crop and the propor- 
 tions of seed that ought to be sown can only be deter- 
 mined for each locality by actual test. 
 
 It will usually be found that the best yields will 
 be obtained by sowing peas and oats early rather 
 than late, but to prolong the feeding period it is 
 necessary sometimes to sow at successive intervals. 
 The results will of course be influenced by the char- 
 acter of the season. 
 
 Some few varieties of peas would probably 
 prove very suitable in providing soiling food, at 
 least under certain conditions when sown alone. 
 The crown pea and the grass pea are of this class. 
 Their straw is more upright and branching than 
 other varieties, and in consequence is less liable to 
 lodge. These two varieties are at least worthy of 
 being given a trial. 
 
 Cnlfk'afiou. — When peas have been grown alone 
 or in conjunction with some other kind of grain, 
 and for the purpose of providing soiling food, har- 
 rowing the crop once or twice is the only form of 
 cultivation that can be given to it. A light harrow 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. IO9 
 
 should be used. The more weedy the soil and the 
 more rapidly the moisture escapes from it by surface 
 evaporation, the greater will be the benefit from 
 using the harrow. Harrowing has been found 
 particularly helpful to this crop ^^'hen grown on 
 certain of the soils of the prairie. If the harrow is 
 used but once, it should be so used before the peas 
 have reached the surface. When the peas have been 
 sown and then covered with the plow, and the oats or 
 other factor of the mixed crop is sown later, the grain 
 thus sown may be very conveniently covered with 
 the harrow while the first harrowing is being given 
 to the pea crop. A second harrowing is seldom given, 
 but when it is it should be deferred until the plants 
 have become well rooted, and much care must be 
 exercised in doing the work, or the harrow will bury 
 too much of the grain. 
 
 Feeding. — Peas grown alone may be fed as 
 soiling food to swine from the appearance of the first 
 bloom, but the highest feeding value is not obtained 
 from the crop until a considerably later period. 
 When fed in combination with oats or other grain 
 to cows in milk, the feeding may begin when the peas 
 are in full bloom or when the oats or other grain 
 comes into head. The season of feeding may be 
 continued until the crop is nearly ripe. 
 
 The scythe or the mower should be used in cut- 
 ting the crop, according as the quantity to be fed is 
 little or much. And the method of feeding to be 
 adopted is practically the same as in medium red 
 clover. 
 
 The crop is easily handled, more so than such 
 soiling crops as corn or cowpeas, since it can be so 
 
no SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 convenient 'y lifted with a fork of suitable construc- 
 tion. Also it is one of the safest soiling- foods to 
 feed, since it never produces bloating when judi- 
 ciously fed. When the crop cannot be all used in 
 the g-reen form, the portion that remains should be 
 cut and cured for winter feeding before the grain in 
 the pod or the ear has passed the dough stage. The 
 crop may be mowed and cared for after the manner 
 of hay, or when it stands up sufficiently well it may 
 be cut with the binder. When harvested with the 
 binder, the sheaves should be made small and should 
 not be very tightly bound. When the crop is very 
 badly lodged, the pea harvester may be used to better 
 advantage than any other implement in cutting them. 
 The crop may be fed in a pasture, in a paddock, in 
 racks in the shed or in mangers in the stable. 
 
 THE COMMON VETCH. 
 
 Several species of vetches have been grown in 
 this country, but only one of these, viz., the common 
 vetch (Vicia sativa) would seem to have special 
 adaptation for being grown as soiling food. The 
 sand vetch {Vicia viUosa) has been given a consider- 
 able measure of praise during recent years for its 
 ability to furnish green food for stock, but in the 
 judgment of the author its highest use will be found 
 when it is grown as a pasture plant rather than as a 
 soiling food. The common vetch is frequently 
 alluded to as though it embraced two varieties, viz., 
 the w^inter and spring sorts, but these were originally 
 probably one and the same kind grown at different 
 seasons of the year. 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. Ill 
 
 This plant has not yet been given the high place 
 in our agriculture which it deserves. As a food 
 plant it possesses excellent qualities, is less susceptible 
 to injury from frost than the pea and is even more 
 palatable and nutritious. It can be grown in various 
 combinations, and is capable of making a second 
 growth in some localities, though not in all, if cut 
 while immature. And wdien the conditions are 
 favorable it can be grown with much success as a 
 pasture plant, as a soiling food, or as hay for winter 
 feeding. The relatively high price of the seed has, 
 probably more than anything else, hindered the 
 growing of this crop for soiling food. This should 
 not be so, as in states favorable to the growth of the 
 vetch, abundant yields of seed may be obtained. 
 
 The common vetch furnishes excellent food for 
 all kinds of live stock kept upon the farm. When 
 fed freely to cows in milk, the yield is increased. It 
 has a peculiar adaptation for stimulating growth in 
 lambs that are being given a forcing diet, and 
 no kind of soiling food is more highly relished by 
 swine. 
 
 The product will of course vary m.uch, but 
 w^hen grown alone the common vetch will run from 
 about ten to fifteen tons per acre. When grown in 
 combination with other plants, the return will be 
 influenced by the nature of the combination. 
 
 Distribution. — The common vetch can be grown 
 with greater or less success in every state in the 
 Union and in every province of Canada. It makes 
 the most complete growth, however, in cool and 
 humid climates. The provinces of Canada from 
 Lake Huron eastward, and the north Atlantic states 
 
112 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 are well adapted to the growth of this plant. But 
 the highest adaptation, viewed from the standpoint 
 of climate, is found in western Washington and in 
 Oregon. The growth that is produced in some sec- 
 tions of the states is simply extraordinary. The 
 summer climate of the central and southern states is 
 too hot for the successful growth of vetches at that 
 season of the year. But in several of these states, if 
 not indeed all of them, the vetch may be grown with 
 greater or less success when sown in the fall and fed 
 in the spring. The dry climate of the semi-arid belt 
 west of the Mississippi river is not well adapted to 
 the growth of vetches. 
 
 Soil. — The soil conditions favorable to the 
 growth of the common vetch are much the same as 
 those favorable to the growth of the common pea. 
 Vetches luxuriate in clay loams and can be grown 
 with a fair measure of success even on stiff clays. 
 Infertile sandy lands are not favorable to the growth 
 of the common vetch, but the sand vetch has much 
 power to grow on these lands. The black humus soils 
 of the prairie, where the clay content is low or 
 entirely wanting, will not produce the best crops of 
 this plant. The gray soils of the Rocky mountain 
 valleys which produce rank peas will also produce 
 rank vetches, and with or without irrigation 
 according to conditions. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — Since vetches are soil 
 renovators, they may be grown w4th advantage 
 before a crop that requires much nitrogen to perfect 
 its growth, as, for instance, wheat; and because of 
 their ability to grow even on soils not very abun- 
 dantly supplied with plant food. Vetches may be 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. II3 
 
 grown almost anywhere in the rotation. They will 
 make a good growth on overturned sod, but such 
 land is usually wanted for the production of crops 
 less able to appropriate plant food under adverse con- 
 ditions. When sown in the autumn the winter vetch 
 can with much propriety be sown after a grain crop, 
 and there is ample time between the harvesting of the 
 grain crop and the sowing of the vetches to prepare 
 the seed bed in fine form. The vetches thus sown 
 will be reaped early enough to admit of growing- 
 some other crop that same season on the land that 
 produced the vetches. Such a system of rotation is 
 most helpful in cleaning land. When sown early in 
 the spring the crop is also consumed early enough to 
 admit of following it with some kind of catch crop 
 that same season. Winter wheat and winter rye fit 
 nicely into the rotation after spring sown vetches. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — Since vetches are sown 
 sometimes in the spring and sometimes in the 
 autumn, the precise methods of preparing the soil 
 will vary considerably. On fall plowed land the 
 only further preparation necessary is to stir the sur- 
 face soil deeply enough to furnish a good seed bed. 
 On spring plowed land the aim should be to secure a 
 firm seed bed on the spongy humus soils of the 
 prairie, and to secure a fine pulverization on clay 
 soil that is cloddy. On land plowed in the summer 
 in order to receive seed in the autumn, the aim should 
 be to retain moisture in the land to the greatest ex- 
 tent possible, by the use of the roller and harrow on 
 it after it has been plowed. 
 
 Fertilizers, especially those rich in nitrogen, are 
 less needed by the vetch plant than by plants unabl(.^. 
 8 
 
114 SOILING CROPS AXD THE SILO. 
 
 to gather the same from the air. But lands fre- 
 quently exist in which the supply of this element in 
 the soil is so low that the vetch plants sown on them 
 are unable to make a vigorous start unless some 
 fertilizer is applied previous to the sowing of the 
 vetches. If commercial fertilizers are added, pot- 
 ash and phosphoric acid are especially fitted to meet 
 the needs of the plants. 
 
 Sozciiig. — The method of sowing depends to 
 some extent on the nature of the combinations of 
 seeds sewn. But the aim should be to sow the seed 
 with the grain drill, since, owing to the globular 
 form of the seed. — like I'cas — it is easily uncovered 
 by rain when it lies near the surface of the soil. But 
 it is not necessary to bury the seed so deeply as the 
 pea is usually buried. From two to three inches 
 would seem to be deep enough in any soil. 
 
 Vetches may be sown in various combinations 
 to produce soiling food. The following include 
 some of the more important combinations when 
 sown in the spring: — i, vetches and wheat, oats or 
 barley: 2, vetches, wheat and peas: 3, vetches, oats 
 and peas. In figure 13 the vetches do not show 
 though present in quantities equal to the oats. And 
 the following are some of the more important com- 
 binations when the crop is sown in the autumn : — 
 I. vetches and winter rye or winter wheat : 2, vetche- 
 and winter oats or winter barley: 3, vetches and 
 crimson clover. But there may also be some in- 
 stances where it is preferable to sow the crop without 
 admixture, as when two cuttings are sought from 
 one sowing to provide very tender food for lambs 
 or swine. ' 
 
Il6 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 The proportions of seed in the combination that 
 will prove most satisfactory can only be ascertained 
 by actual test in each locality. But the aim should 
 be to make the vetches, to the greatest extent pos- 
 sible, the dominant factor in the mixture, consistent, 
 however, with the retention of upright growth 
 in the crop. The other factor or factors of 
 the combination are intended rather to support the 
 vetches than to furnish food. When vetches are 
 sown with crimson clover, the seed of the latter 
 should be used sparingly lest it crowd the vetches. 
 
 The quantity of seed that ought to be sown will 
 vary with conditions such as relate to fertility, 
 moisture and the varieties of plants used in the 
 combination. But it will seldom, if ever, be advan- 
 tageous to sow less than one bushel of vetch seed per 
 acre, except when peas are used in the combination, 
 and sometim.es even more than the amount of the 
 vetch seed named should be sown. When the 
 vetches are sown alone, from one to one and one-half 
 bushels of seed are used. 
 
 The best time for sowing the seed is largely 
 dependent on the use that is to be made of the crop, 
 and on the character of the climate. Vetches sow^n 
 in the spring should as a rule be put into the ground 
 quite early, but in moist climates it is admissible to 
 sow them later and at intervals if necessary. When 
 sown in the autumn the}^ should be given time to 
 get well rooted before the more trying weather of 
 winter arrives. 
 
 Ciilfk'ation. — Harrowing is the only form of 
 cultivation that ran be given to this crop, and when 
 all the conditions are favorable to growth, it is not 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. II7 
 
 necessary even to use the harrow. But there may be 
 instances in which decided benefit will result from 
 running the harrow over the crop when it is ready to 
 push through the surface soil, and possibly also at a 
 later period. But since the vetch is a somewhat 
 tiny plant when it first begins to grow, much care 
 must be taken in harrowing the crop, or the plants 
 will be buried. 
 
 Feeding. — In climates that are moist, the feed- 
 ing of the vetch crop may begin at a comparatively 
 early period, since it will make a good second growth, 
 but in those opposite in character the wisdom of 
 such a course would be more than questionable. 
 Vetches cut before they come into bloom are highly 
 relished by swine. More commonly, however, the 
 cutting should not begin until the blossoms have ap- 
 peared, and it may be continued until the crop has 
 reached an early stage of maturity. In the later 
 stages of its growth, it furnishes very rich food, and 
 even in earlier stages it furnishes valuable food. 
 The crop may be cut with the scythe or mower, and 
 may be fed in the same manner as peas. It is 
 more easily handled than various other grain crops 
 since it is sufficiently adhesive to admit of being 
 lifted easily, ancj yet it is not so adhesive as to make 
 it difficult to lift a separate forkful. When fed only 
 to swine where a limited number is kept, or to sheep 
 that are being fitted for the show, it is customary, 
 and the practice is a good one, to sow the vetches 
 somewhere contiguous to the farm buildings for 
 convenience in feeding. 
 
 When it so happens that more of the crop is on 
 hand than can be used in the green form, the surplus 
 
Il8 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 should be cut at an early stage of maturity and cured 
 for winter feeding. When thus fed it makes in 
 itself almost a perfectly balanced ration for some 
 kinds of feeding. It is particularly excellent for 
 cows in milk and for sheep. When thus fed, the 
 crop may be conveniently harvested with the 
 pea harvester which Avill do the work of cutting 
 almost as quickly as though it were a hay crop. 
 But when the crop is well supported by some 
 other grain growing along with it, the binder 
 may be made to harvest the same with manifest 
 advantage. 
 
 THE SOY BEAN. 
 
 The soy bean (Glycine hispida) has only been 
 tested in this country during recent years. Its 
 growth has been confined to comparatively limited 
 areas, hence but a relatively small number of the 
 agriculturists of the country have any knowledge of 
 the plant, based upon practical experience. The fol- 
 lowing facts, however, have been fairly w^ell estab- 
 lished in regard to the soy bean : 
 
 I. It is not adapted to a climate in which the 
 temperature is low in summer, or in which the season 
 of growth is short. 2. It is able to gather the food 
 of sustenance in relatively poor land, although it will 
 of course give better returns from rich land. 3. It 
 can withstand drouth and excessive wetness in the 
 soil better than many other plants grown as food for 
 live stock. 4. The flowers are not much liable to 
 injury at the critical period, owing to peculiarities 
 of structural development, hence they are more 
 sure of fruiting than those of many other food plants 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I I9 
 
 and they also possess the power of self-pollina- 
 tion. 5. It has much power to draw nitrogen 
 from the air and to deposit the same in the soil for 
 the benefit of succeeding crops. 6. It is one of the 
 richest of foods grown for live stock. 7. It may be 
 grown as pasture, as soiling food, as hay or as green 
 manure; it may also be grown for the grain which 
 it produces. 
 
 The soy bean, very often designated the soja 
 bean, is an annual plant. When all the conditions 
 are favorable it will grow to the hight of four feet 
 or more, but the average hight of the plants is from 
 two to three feet. It is branching in its habit of 
 growth, the stems are somewhat coarse and the 
 leaves are large and fairly numerous. The pods are 
 short and broad, and each pod contains from two to 
 five seeds which vary much in color according to the 
 variety. The yield of the beans varies of course 
 with the natifre of the soil, the season and the method 
 of cultivation adopted. Crops have been grown 
 which produced as high as forty bushels per 
 acre, but the average crop is probably less than half 
 that amount. 
 
 The soy bean makes an excellent food for cattle 
 and swine, probably also for horses and sheep, 
 although experience in feeding it to horses and sheep 
 is as yet somewhat limited. The green food and the 
 hay are excellent for cowi in milk ; the same is true 
 of the seeds when ground and fed with some less 
 concentrated food. Soy bean meal should probably 
 be always thus fed. Except the peanut, there is 
 perhaps no other vegetable product grown in this 
 country which contains such high percentages of 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 121 
 
 protein and fat in a form so highly digestible. It 
 is considered superior in nutritive qualities to oil 
 meal, and in some tests that have been made 
 it has compared well with cottonseed meal. But 
 the fact must not be overlooked that the hand- 
 ling of the crop, when grown, is more exacting 
 and laborious than the handling of some other 
 soiling crops. 
 
 The yield of the green crop per acre varies much 
 with the conditions, but usually there is no difficulty 
 in growing ten to twelve tons per acre on average 
 land. But the value of this plant in producing food 
 for live stock is measured less by the yield than by 
 the richness of the food. 
 
 Distribution. — Since the soy bean is a child of 
 the sun, it cannot be grown successfully in far north- 
 ern latitudes. The highest adaptation for this plant 
 will, in nearly all instances, be found south of the 
 fortieth parallel of north latitude, that is to say, 
 south of the latitude of Columbus, O., and Spring- 
 field, 111. The varieties heretofore introduced have 
 not been grown with any marked success north of 
 the line which marks the southern boundary of Min- 
 nesota, or, in other words, north of the forty-third 
 parallel. This means that in the meantime it has no 
 important mission as a food crop for any of the 
 provinces of Canada or for any of the states that 
 border on Canada. But some of the varieties at 
 present grown may become so acclimatized that the 
 limit of successful growth may be pushed consider- 
 ably further northward. The necessity for this, 
 however, would not seem to be so vital as further 
 south, because of the ease with which other green 
 
122 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 foods may be grown in the northern states that are 
 more easily managed than the soy bean. 
 
 In the intervening area between the parallels 
 named the early maturing varieties only can be suc- 
 cessfully grown, and of course with highest success 
 toward its southerly limit; and in that part of the 
 prescribed area which lies in the Mississippi basin 
 the crops will be superior to those grown in other 
 portions of the same, and chiefly for the reason that 
 the summer temperatures in the said basin are rela- 
 tively high. While the soy bean will grow well in 
 the hot summer temperatures of the Rocky moun- 
 tain valleys under irrigation it is not so much needed 
 in them because of the luxuriance with which other 
 legumes may be grown that are more easily handled. 
 The climate of the Pacific slope west of the 
 Cascade mountains is ill adapted to the growth of 
 the scy bean. 
 
 Soil. — The soy bean will thrive at least meas- 
 urably well on almost any kind of soil, providing this 
 soil has in it a liberal supply of potash, phos- 
 phoric acid and lime. It will, however, thrive 
 best on soils which may be termed medium in 
 texture. Nearly all classes of soils found on the 
 open prairie have high adaptation for the growth 
 of this plant, and the same is true of all soils 
 that will produce good crops of Indian corn. It may 
 be successfully grown on land too low in fertility to 
 produce clover or cowpeas. Instances are recorded 
 in which plants have been grown in disintegrated 
 trap rock and in coal ashes, and yet some of the light 
 soils of the southern states may be so deficient in 
 phosphoric acid and potash, and even nitrogen, as to 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 23 
 
 make it worth while to apply those ingredients before 
 planting the crop. Nor should it be planted on soils 
 in which hardpan comes near the surface, since in 
 such instances the roots which naturally feed deeply 
 could not easily penetrate the soil. Swamp lands 
 well drained, produce an abundant growth, especially 
 of stems and leaves, hence these are specially adapted 
 to growing soy beans for soiling food. 
 
 Even peat soils, under certain conditions, may 
 be made to produce paying crops, and owing to the 
 excellent drouth-resisting properties of the plant, it 
 may be grown on soils too deficient in moisture for 
 the successful growth of the towpea. . But it is not 
 wise to grow it on soils already rich in nitrogen. To 
 do so would be a waste of that very important ele- 
 ment of fertility. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — Since the soy bean must 
 be grown m warm weather, where it is to be grown 
 at all, its place in the rotation is all the more easily 
 defined. Since the soy bean may be grown with 
 highest success when given cultivation, it should gen- 
 erally be .grown as a cleaning crop; since it is a 
 legume and has much power to increase the nitrogen 
 content in the soil, it should precede gram crops; 
 and since it can make progress amid heat and during 
 dry weather it may frequently be grown as a catch 
 crop. It will, therefore, naturally follow such crops 
 as have been grown in southern latitudes to provide 
 autumn, winter and early spring pasture, as winter 
 rye, winter oats and winter barley; and this plant 
 may be made to follow grain crops that have been 
 harvested at maturity, as, for instance, rye, winter 
 wheat or winter oats ; and it may even, be made to 
 
124 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 follow Spring grain that has been matured, providing 
 there is yet moisture enough in the soil to bring about 
 successful germination in the seed. The ground 
 does not as a rule of necessity require to be plowed 
 when preparing it for the grain crop that is next to 
 be sown, since the bean crop generally leaves it in 
 a loose condition. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — Since the soy bean is fre- 
 quently grown as a catch crop, the seed bed for it 
 must in such instances be prepared with dispatch. 
 This calls for a free use of the harrow and roller 
 after the land has been plowed. But it may not be 
 necessary in all instances to plow the land when pre- 
 paring it for soy beans. The surface should be made 
 smooth and fine for the reception of the seed. When 
 the soy bean crop is the only plant to be sown on the 
 ground for the season, a fine opportunity is furnished 
 for freeing the land in a single season from the pres- 
 ence of many kinds of noxious weeds. This may 
 be done in part by plowing the land for the soy bean 
 crop in the autumn or in the early spring and then 
 running the harrow over the same as often as the 
 weeds begin to grow until the beans are planted. 
 The subsequent cultivation given to the crop will tend 
 to complete the cleaning process so well begun 
 before the planting of the same. It is not usual to 
 apply any fertilizer when growing this crop, but as 
 previously intimated, it may be necessary in some 
 instances to apply potash, phosphoric acid, or lime, if 
 not indeed all three of these ingredients. 
 
 Sowing. — When designed for soiling uses, the 
 soy bean should be planted in rows and usually with 
 the corn planter, the bean planter or the grain drill. 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I25 
 
 The distance between the rows will vary according 
 to the strength of the soil, the variety of the bean 
 and the date of planting. The extremes of distance 
 may be placed at about twenty- four and forty inches 
 and the mean distance at thirty inches. When 
 grown for seed, the distance should be more than 
 when the crop is grown to provide green food or hay. 
 The variety planted will depend on such conditions 
 as soil, climate and the uses for which the crop is 
 grown. As a rule, what are known as the dwarf 
 varieties are preferred for grain production in the 
 north and the medium varieties are preferred in the 
 south. Of the former the Early Dwarf is a favorite 
 and of the latter the Medium Early Green. The last 
 named variety has proved satisfactory when grown 
 as soiling food as far north as Amherst, Mass. The 
 Medium Early Black is also in favor in many locali- 
 ties. It is almost impossible, however, to give the 
 names of varieties with precision at the present time, 
 as the same variety is frequently spoken of under 
 different names. The large varieties are adapted 
 only to situations in which a long period of growth 
 can be given to them. The medium varieties will 
 frequently mature under normal conditions in from 
 ninety to one hundred days, but oftentimes they 
 require a longer season in which to complete their 
 growth. When growing this crop, much attention 
 should be given to the variety chosen. Many of the 
 failures in attempting to introduce the crop have 
 resulted from the planting of varieties not suited to 
 the conditions of the locality. 
 
 Considerably more seed is used in growing the 
 :rop when it is to be fed in the green form than in 
 
126 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 growing- it for the grain. From a1)out sixteen to 
 twenty-four quarts will suffice for the latter purpose, 
 while not less than thirty-two quarts are usually 
 sown to provide green food. Some growlers favor 
 thick planting to encourage an upright and tall rather 
 than a branching growth, because of the greater 
 ease with w4iich plants of the former type can be 
 harvested. 
 
 The soy bean should never be planted until the 
 arrival of warm settled weather, and the planting 
 may proceed as long as there is a reasonable hope 
 of sufficiently maturing the crop before the autumn 
 frosts arrive. In Kansas, for instance, crops planted 
 on wheat stubble in July have been matured. 
 
 Cultivation. — Wherever the soil does not lift 
 with the wind, the roller should both precede and 
 follow the planting of so}^ beans, unless where mois- 
 ture is abundantly present. The cultivation given 
 should of course be generous and prompt, since the 
 beans grow so quickly that this work cannot be very 
 long continued. In some instances it is possible to 
 use a harrow on the land between the time of plant- 
 ing the seed and the appearing of the young plants 
 above the surface. The instances are also frequent 
 in which the harrow may be driven over the ground 
 with much advantage to the plants after they have 
 got four or five inches above the surface of the 
 ground, but it should be driven along rather than 
 across the rows to prevent the horses from treading 
 down the plants. But when the harrow is so used, 
 the teeth should be set wdth a backward slant. 
 
 Feeding. — When the crop is grown for the seed 
 it may be cut to much advantage with a self rake 
 
I a 
 
128 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 reaper. But when grown for soiling or for hay it 
 is more commonly cut with the mower. When fed 
 green, the cutting may begin as soon as the period 
 of early bloom, and it may continue until the crop 
 is sufficiently matured for making hay. When cut 
 for hay, the seeds should be about half grown in the 
 pods. If the cutting be deferred to a later period, 
 many of the leaves will drop off and the stems will 
 become woody. Any excess in the crop of green 
 food should be cut for hay rather than allowed 
 to ripen. 
 
 Since the yield of seed from crops thus grown 
 will not be abundant, the crop should not be allowed 
 to wilt overmuch when it is fed green, lest there 
 should be some loss from the leaves dropping off. 
 The method of feeding is much the same as that 
 followed in feeding peas. When soy beans are fed 
 to swine, the season of feeding may be continued 
 until the crop is matured. But it is more common 
 to allow the swine to gather the seeds for themselves 
 when the crop has reached an advanced stage of 
 maturity. 
 
 THE COWPEA. 
 
 The cowpea (Dolichos Chinensis) has been 
 grown for many years in the south, hence it has long 
 since been carried past what may be termed the 
 experimental stage of growth. It is fast coming to 
 be regarded as an indispensable factor in any system 
 of cultivation that can be adopted in the southern 
 states and which is likely to prove eminently suc- 
 cessful. Its great value to the farmers of the south 
 arises from, i, its ability to grow on poor soils; 2, 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 29 
 
 its power to grow under adverse conditions; 3, its 
 great value as a pasture and a fodder plant for live 
 stock ; 4, the magnificent service which it renders to 
 the soil when plowed under as a green manure. 
 There are but few places in the entire south where 
 the land is tillable in which this plant may not be 
 grown with more or less success. The proper use 
 of the cowpea and of its complement, the soy bean, 
 to the greatest extent possible, would revolutionize 
 the agriculture of large areas in the south, where the 
 soil is sandy and lacking in fertility. 
 
 The cowpea furnishes excellent pasture for cat- 
 tle, sheep and swine, but when pastured by cattle 
 the waste of vines is greater than when fed as soiling 
 food. It also furnishes good hay, when properly 
 cured for horses, cattle and sheep. But it is not as 
 easily handled as the common field pea in the north, 
 nor is it so easily cured. The grain is also excellent 
 for milk production and for growing swine. Its 
 use for these purposes in the form of meal has not 
 become general, owing first, to the considerable 
 labor involved in handling the crop, because of the 
 long and intertwining nature of the growth in many 
 of the varieties grown, and, second, because of 
 the incomplete machinery for harvesting the crop 
 in the best manner possible. There would seem 
 to be no valid reason why the pea harvester 
 should not be generally used in harvesting the 
 cowpea. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to give figures that would 
 
 represent the average yields of the crop per acre in 
 
 the green form, owing to the many varieties that are 
 
 grown and to the great difference in the habits of 
 
 9 
 

OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I3I 
 
 growth in these. With the large varieties it is some- 
 times possible to grow twenty tons per acre, but the 
 average will be much less than that amount. 
 
 Distribution. — The northerly limit of successful 
 growth in the cowpea would seem to be the southerly 
 limit of successful growth in the comxmon field pea. 
 The line which forms this border-land of high devel- 
 opment will run irregularly across the continent, but 
 it is not far distant from the fortieth parallel. The 
 cowpea has been grown in the northern areas of 
 Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and even 
 in Connecticut, but in these localities the aim is rather 
 to grow it as a soil renovator and to a less extent as 
 a soiling food than as a grain crop. In the southern 
 half of the states namedj Connecticut excepted, it is 
 grown by many farmers, but the most favorable 
 conditions for completest development in the large 
 varieties is found further to the southward, as far 
 south probably as the latitude of St. Louis in Mis- 
 souri, that is to say, south of the thirty-eighth parallel 
 
 In the warm valleys of the Rocky mountains 
 the cowpea will doubtless grow vigorously under 
 irrigation, but it is not likely to come into general 
 favor in these areas, because of the presence of alfalfa 
 in so great abundance, and yet in the more southerly 
 of these valleys, it may come to be grown' extensively 
 to provide a grain eminently suited to the finishing 
 of pork reared upon alfalfa. When thus grown, 
 s^vine could be made to harvest the crop where it 
 grew. But in these valleys it is not at all probable 
 that the cowpea will soon be produced as a soiling 
 food. In Canada and m the states bordering on 
 that country, any variety of the cowpea that has been 
 
132 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 introduced has not been ^rown with highest success, 
 and the same is true of the western slope of Oregon. 
 But recent experiments conducted by the author at 
 the Minnesota experiment station have been decid- 
 edly encouraging. They were made with such 
 varieties as the Early Black and the Red Ripper. 
 
 Soils. — Soils that are suitable for growing soy 
 beans are also suitable in nearly all instances for 
 growing cowpeas. (see Page 122). Loam soils 
 and more especially clay loams, will produce the 
 largest crops. Fairly good crops may be grown 
 on soils too low in fertility to produce good crops 
 of grain. 
 
 Flace in the Rotation. — As with other legumes, 
 the aim should be to grow the cowpea so that it will 
 prove a renovating crop to the soil. It should, 
 therefore, come as a rule between two grain crops. 
 But it may also be grown as a catch crop, where 
 a crop previously grow^n has failed; or it may be 
 grown as an intermediate crop after a crop has been 
 harvested and before another autumn or winter crop 
 has been sown. The cowpea can be grown with 
 much satisfaction on land from which early vege- 
 tables have been removed and also after a crop of 
 such fruits as strawberries. It is also grown on 
 soils that have become too unproductive for success- 
 ful cropping with grain. When thus grown it is 
 usually plowed under to renovate the soil, but even 
 though the crop be used for soiling purposes or for 
 hay, or even though it be matured for its grain 
 product it will still leave the land in a much better 
 condition as to fertility than before the crop was 
 grown on it. 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 33 
 
 Although cowpeas will grow luxuriantly on 
 overturned sod lands, it will usually be a mistake to 
 grow them on these, as the vegetable matter which 
 they contain may be turned to excellent account in 
 growing grain crops. But it may be wise in some 
 instances to grow cowpeas after crimson clover, in 
 the hope of further enriching the land for the next 
 crop. The cowpea is also frequently sown among 
 the cotton and corn plants while they are yet imma- 
 ture. In latitudes far south, one crop of cowpeas 
 may be grown for soiling uses if cut early and 
 a second crop from the same plants for being 
 plowed under. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for 
 the cowpea the aim should be to secure a fine and a 
 moist seed bed. The roller and harrow, if judiciously 
 used, may be made greatly helpful in securing both, 
 and more especially after the arrival of the dry sea- 
 son. When sown after garden crops, it may not be 
 necessary to plow the land, but simply to disk and 
 harrow^ it. 
 
 It is seldom necessary to apply nitrogen to the 
 soil in which this crop is grown, but in some instances 
 it is necessary. Since the cowpea takes considerable 
 quantities of potash and phosphoric acid out of the 
 soil and since it does not restore these when the 
 crop is removed from the soil on which it grew, 
 except in so far as it brings them up from the sub- 
 soil, the fertilizers applied should contain these ele- 
 ments in liberal degree. It will be in order, there- 
 fore, to apply such fertilizers as ground bone, bone 
 ash, fish guano and superphosphate when fertilizers 
 are needed. Farmyard manure will usually give 
 
134 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 excellent results, but it can seldom be spared for the 
 crop of cowpeas. 
 
 Solving. — Cowpeas are commonly sown with 
 the grain drill. If sown broadcast and covered with 
 the harrow, and rain should fall soon after the crop 
 has been sown, many of the peas will lie upon the 
 surface and will fail to sprout. When sown for 
 pasture, all the drill tubes are used in sowing the 
 seed, but when the land is measurably clean and the 
 other conditions are favorable, it may be advanta- 
 geous to sow only with alternate tubes. The same 
 mode of sowing is sometimes adopted when the crop 
 is sown for soiling uses or for the production of hay 
 or grain. But when ground is to be cleaned, or when 
 moisture is not abundant, the crop ought to be drilled 
 in rows far enough apart to admit of cultivation. 
 With the large varieties these rows may in some 
 instances be made as distant from one another as 
 thirty inches, and even thus far distant, the vines 
 will in time completely cover the ground. But the 
 distance between the rows must be measurably deter- 
 mined by the variety of the peas and convenience in 
 cultivating them. 
 
 In growing this crop for soiling food, it will 
 oftentimes prove advantageous to sow the seed of 
 some other forage plant along with them, as, for 
 instance, millet, sorghum, or Kaffir corn. These 
 plants help to sustain the peas and consequently to 
 improve the quality of the vines and to increase the 
 quantity of the grain. Kaffir corn is very suitable 
 for being grown thus, owing to the stiff growth of 
 stem which it sends upward and to its power to 
 grow in dry weather. About ten pounds of seed 
 
OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 35 
 
 will usually be sufficient to mix with one bushel 
 of the peas. 
 
 The quantity of peas that should be sown will 
 depend chiefly on the objects sought in sowing. But 
 more seed will be required of the large varieties and 
 by soils low in fertility. From one to one and one- 
 half bushels are usually sown when the crop is to be 
 pastured or plowed under. In a majority of 
 instances, one bushel of seed per acre will suffice to 
 grow soiling food or hay. When cultivation is to 
 be given between the rows, the quantity of seed 
 required will be proportionately reduced. 
 
 When the crop is to be plowed under, the large 
 and late maturing varieties ought usually to be sown 
 in the southern but not in the northern states. The 
 Wonderful, sometimes called Unknown, is one of 
 the best of these. But when soiling food, hay or 
 grain is sought, the kinds known as ''bunch" varie- 
 ties — that is to say, branched and bush-like rather 
 than vine-like — should usually be sown. ' They are 
 more productive of grain than the former and are 
 more easily harvested. The best of these, especially 
 for northerly latitudes, are the Whippoorwill, the 
 Early Black, the Red Ripper and the Black Eye. 
 The Clay variety is in favor farther south. But 
 there is yet some confusion in the various names 
 applied to the cowpea. 
 
 If cowpeas are sown before the weather and 
 soil are warm, the seed will rot in the ground, or 
 the plants will start so feebly that they will not grow 
 subsequently into a vigorous crop. After the corn 
 has been planted it will be sufficiently early to plant 
 cowpeas. In latitudes far south they can be sown 
 
136 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 even months later, but not in the north. The bunch 
 varieties will often mature in ninety to one hundred 
 and twenty days from the time of planting. 
 
 Cultivation. — W^hether cowpeas are sown broad- 
 cast by hand, by the grain drill with all the tubes in 
 use or in rows far enough apart to admit of subse- 
 quent cultivation, the harrow may in many instances 
 be used with advantage before the plants push up 
 through the surface of the soil. A light harrow may 
 also be used when the plants are four or five inches 
 above the surface, and more especially wdien the 
 peas are planted in rows so that subsequent cultiva- 
 tion can be given to them, as then the horses may 
 be driven along the rows when drawing the harrow 
 so as not' to tread down the peas. 
 
 When subsequent cultivation is given between 
 the rows, it must be done with promptness, as the 
 peas, owing to the vine-like character of their growth 
 will soon lie along upon the land and so preclude 
 further culti^-ation. When strong weeds of a nox- 
 ious character infest the line of the rows they ought 
 to be removed if they are likely to mature their seeds 
 before the peas are harvested. Due attention should 
 be given to this particular, whatsover the kind of 
 crop that is being grown. 
 
 Feeding. — The feeding of cowpeas may begin 
 as soon as the first bloom appears. When cut thus 
 early the crop will grow up again, though not under 
 all conditions, and may be cut a second time if the 
 growth will justify using it thus. A second advan- 
 tage from early cutting is found in the greater ease 
 with which the green food mav be handled when it 
 is being fed, since the intertwining of the vines is 
 
•2 ^ 
 
 o c 
 
138 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 not SO pronounced as at a later period. It should be 
 remembered that at the period of early bloom the 
 plants have not nearly reached that stage when they 
 possess a maximum of nutrition. The feeding may 
 be continued until the crop is nearly mature. Any 
 residue not wanted for green food may be cut and 
 cured for hay. When the major portion of the pods 
 contain peas more than half grown, the crop is ready 
 for being cut for hay. It may also be harvested for 
 the grain as soon as one-half, or more than that, of 
 the pods are fully ripe. The ripening of the pods, 
 as with the common field pea, is more or less uneven. 
 
 The cutting on a large scale is commonly done 
 with a field mower. But when the crop is not in 
 any way supported by another crop sown along with 
 it, the mower very frequently leaves more or less 
 of the peas uncut. The pea harvester will do the 
 Avork of cutting much more cleanly and economically. 
 Because of the difficulty of handling the crop when 
 feeding it green, there is a disposition on the part of 
 many to allow the stock to do the harvesting. The 
 waste resulting is not all loss, since the soil is 
 enriched more or less when the waste is buried 
 with the plow. 
 
 As in feeding other green foods, this crop may 
 be fed on a pasture, in a paddock, in sheds or stables, 
 in fact, wherever it is most convenient. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 
 
 But two plants of this genus have heretofore 
 been grown to any very considerable extent on this 
 continent to provide soiling food or pasture for live 
 stock. These are rape and cabbage. It is possible, 
 nevertheless, that other plants of the same genus may 
 yet be introduced that will prove quite helpful in pro- 
 viding green food for the same. Some of these, as 
 kale for instance, have been thus utilized in Europe, 
 and there would seem to be no good reasons why 
 they should not be so used in some areas of this coun- 
 try, but until more is known as to their behavior 
 under American conditions, they could only be dis- 
 cussed in a speculative way. Rape and cabbage, 
 therefore, will only be considered in this chapter. 
 
 RAPE. 
 
 There are several varieties of rape {Br as sic a 
 napus,) but only one of these, viz., the Dwarf Essex, 
 has been found possessed of sufficient value to give it 
 the place of distinct precedence among all the varie- 
 ties tried under American conditions. All varieties 
 of rape are annual, that is to say, they complete the 
 mission of life within twelve months from the date 
 of sowing. But there may be instances, as when 
 certain varieties are sown earb^ one season, where 
 
 139 
 
I40 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 they will not mature their seeds until a later period 
 the following season. The varieties which are 
 chiefly grown for seed only, and which are used 
 principally in making oil, usually mature the seed 
 within sixty to one hundred and twenty days 
 from the date of sowing, but those which 
 are grown rather for pasture or for soil- 
 ing uses, will not mature seed the same season 
 they are sown. The former are possessed of but 
 little value as food plants. 
 
 The Dwarf Essex rape bears a close resemblance 
 to the rutal^aga in the first weeks of its growth. So 
 close is the resemblance at this time that it probably 
 would puzzle an expert to tell the two plants apart. 
 As time goes on, however, the growth of the rape 
 is more upright, and it becomes more stalky and tall. 
 Ordinarily it grows to the hight of eighteen to 
 twenty- four inches, but it may be so stimulated by 
 fertilizers as to make it reach nearly twice that 
 hight. The root is strong, the branches of the same 
 being numerous and some of them go a considerable 
 distance downward as well as laterally in search of 
 food. 
 
 Dwarf Essex rape furnishes most excellent 
 soiling food for horses, cattle, sheep and swine. Its 
 feeding ^^alue has been stated by high authority to be 
 fully twice that of clover, although chemical analysis 
 does not give to it so high a value. As soon as ani- 
 mals become accustomed to it, they grow^ exceedingly 
 fond of it. Its power to produce milk when fed to 
 milk-giving animals is very high, and its power to 
 produce fat is, in a sense, remarkable. When it is fed 
 to cows in milk, some caution must be exercised as to 
 
ChO 
 
 Fi2 18. Dwarf Essex Rape Plant 
 
 Minnesota University Expenment .arm. 
 
142 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the manner in which it is fed, or the milk will be 
 tainted more or less. Many dairymen, who send their 
 milk regularly to a cheese factory, feed it to their 
 cows once or twice a day after the cows have been 
 milked. These dairymen state that no complaint has 
 been made as to the quality of the milk. But some 
 dairy authorities claim it should not be fed to cows 
 giving milk at all, as the danger of taint is imminent. 
 The truth will probably be found, in this as in so 
 many other instances, to occupy middle ground. If 
 the rape is fed just after the cows have been milked 
 and in moderation, while the milk flow will be well 
 sustained, there will probably be no perceptible taint 
 in the milk. But if fed in excess, while the milk 
 flow will be further increased, the milk will carry in 
 it more or less of the odor of the green rape. 
 
 The yield of the mature crop is proportionate 
 to the favorable nature of the climatic conditions, 
 the richness of the land, and the nature and extent of 
 the cultivation given to the plants. Ten tons an acre 
 is a very moderate yield. Twenty tons an acre are 
 frequently obtained, and there are instances in whicli 
 the yield has been increased to thirty tons per acre. 
 When the exceedingly rich character of the food is 
 kept in mind and when this fact is coupled with the 
 large yields that can be obtained, the conclusion is 
 legitimate, viz., that but few crops can be grown that 
 will yield a greater food value per acre. 
 
 Distribution. — It is questionable if there is any 
 state in the Union or any province in Canada in 
 some part of which this food cannot be successfully 
 grown at some season of the year. It may Vv^itli no 
 little propriety be termed a cool weather plant, hence 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 1 43 
 
 the best yields are obtained north of the fortieth 
 parallel of north latitude. All the states of the Union 
 bordering on Canada, and likewise all the provinces 
 of Canada bordering on the United States, have high 
 adaptation, though not equally high, for the growth 
 of rape. In the states further south it ought to 
 be grown in the early part of the season, before the 
 weather becomes dry and hot, or in the autumn after 
 rain has begun to fall. In mild winter latitudes 
 this plant should be made to provide soiling food 
 through all or nearly all the winter. 
 
 Rape also grows in fine form in the higher Rocky 
 mountain valleys when it is irrigated, and sometimes 
 in the absence of irrigaton, but the great abundance 
 of the alfalfa crops in these makes the growth of 
 rape less essential than it would otherwise be. The 
 highest adaptation for this plant will probably be 
 found on the Pacific coast from southern Oregon to 
 Alaska. The humidity of the climate there and the 
 mild character of the season makes it possible to 
 grow enormous crops of rape. 
 
 Soil. — Rape will grow freely in any soil that 
 will produce a good crop of turnips, that is to say, 
 it will make a vigorous growth in deep, moist loam 
 soils, with a considerable mixture of sand in them. 
 It will also grow with even greater vigor in some 
 classes of soils not well adapted to rutabagas, as for 
 instance, the black humus soils found in sloughs, 
 and the muck soils of marshes, that have been 
 drained. It would probably be correct to say that in 
 these, rape finds its highest adaptation. It grows 
 luxuriantly in nearly all the varieties of soil found in 
 the prairies of the west, also in the sandy soils of the 
 
144 SOILING CROPS AND T]IE SILO. 
 
 Rocky mountain valleys when supplied with mois- 
 ture. It does not usually make a good growth in 
 unyielding clays, and light infertile sands have still 
 less adaptation to the growth of rape than stiff clays. 
 It is almost useless to sow rape on a poor soil. On 
 the other hand, the yield of the crop is likely to be 
 proportionate to the richness of the land when the 
 other conditions that relate to growth are favorable. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — The place given to rape 
 in the rotation will in no small degree be dependent 
 on the object for which it is grown. When grown 
 to provide pasture one can scarcely imagine a rota- 
 tion in which it may not with propriety be given a 
 place. It is probably without a rival in its adapta- 
 tion for being sown as a catch crop. But it is rather 
 as a soiling crop than as a pasture crop that its place, 
 in the rotation, is now to be considered. Whenever 
 the crop is cultivated it ought to be made a cleaning 
 crop, and, therefore, may be sown with no little 
 propriety on land that is foul. In all, or nearly all, 
 such instances it ought to be followed by a grain 
 crop on which grass seeds also are sown. But when 
 sown broadcast, and on many of the rich soils of the 
 west, it may be thus grown with perfect propriety. 
 It should only be sown on land that is measurably 
 clean. This crop will grow nicely on overturned 
 sod, old or new, timothy, clover, blue grass, or indeed 
 any other kind of grass, since it is a ravenous feeder 
 on decaying vegetable matter in the soil. 
 
 Rape may be made the sole crop grown on the 
 land for the season, or even for soiling purposes it 
 may be made to follow some other crop, as rye 
 pastured or barley harvested, or clover from which 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. I45 
 
 one cutting has been removed. When sown thus 
 late, in very many instances cultivation should be 
 given to the plants to stimulate growth. When 
 sown after any of these crops, the results will largely 
 depend on the character of the weather that follows. 
 There may be seasons when the attempt to grow rape 
 in this way will not be successful. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the land for 
 rape the aim should be to secure a fine, firm and 
 moist seed bed, with as much cleanness as can be 
 attained under the circumstances. When rape is the 
 sole crop grown on the land for the season, usually 
 the above conditions can be attained, unless the crop 
 is sown very early in the season. More commonly 
 they can best be attained by plowing the land in the 
 autumn. 
 
 The exceptions are climates with rainy winters. 
 It being more common to sow rape to provide soiling 
 food for late summer and autumn rather than for 
 early summer feeding, a sufficient interval tran- 
 spires between the opening of spring and the sowing 
 of the crop to sprout many of the weed seeds lying 
 near the. surf ace of the soil, and in time to destroy 
 them by the occasional use of the harrow. But when 
 the crop is broadcasted early in the season, as ig 
 often done, the aim should be to sow it on clean 
 land. When rape follows another crop harvested 
 the same season, the interval for preparing the land 
 is too short to give opportunity to clean the same. 
 Within a few hours of the plowing of the land it 
 should be impacted with the roller, or with the roller 
 and harrow, to keep in the moisture. This should 
 never be omitted, unless when the soil is abundantly 
 10 
 
146 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 moist. And when the rape crop is planted in drills 
 on such land with enough distance between them to 
 admit cultivation, the said cultivation, when given, is 
 further very helpful to the retention of moisture, as 
 well as to the more vigorous growth of the plants. 
 It is, also, peculiarly helpful in such a season in 
 cleaning the land. Rape should not be sown in sum- 
 mer weather on cloddy land as the seed will not 
 germinate under such conditions. 
 
 When rape is grown for soiling food, the aim 
 should be to secure all the growth possible. Hence 
 it should be sown on land naturally rich, or made so 
 by applying fertilizers. Rape has special adaptation 
 for being grown on lands enriched with heavy appli- 
 cations of farmyard manure. In fact, the luxuriance 
 in the growth of the plants is usually proportional to 
 the degree, to w^hich the soil has been enriched. This 
 plant would almost seem capable of growing in a 
 manure heap. And because of its great power to 
 appropriate food, manure applied in the fresh form 
 would seem to answer the end sought about as well 
 as when it is applied in the reduced form. But to this 
 there are some exceptions. Manure, fresh and con- 
 taining much litter, should not be applied in great 
 bulk, except in rainy climates, lest it hinder to so 
 great an extent the impaction of the soil as to allow 
 the too rapid escape of moisture. Slough and 
 swamp soils are oftentimes so rich that an application 
 of a fertilizer on these would be thrown aAvay. 
 
 Commercial fertilizers are of course helpful to 
 this plant when farmyard manure cannot be obtained, 
 and also when it can be obtained, but not in 
 sufficient quantities. A light application of farmyard 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. I47 
 
 manure in conjunction with a light apphcation 
 'of artificial fertilizers is probably superior to a heavy 
 application of either alone. On lands which require 
 such treatment superphosphate is oftentimes drilled 
 in with the seed, but not in too close proximity to it. 
 Nitrogenous fertilizers, on which rape feeds rav- 
 enously, are usually applied on or near the surface, 
 and just at the time of sowing the seed or later. 
 But in moist weather only should nitrogenous ferti- 
 lizers be applied on the surface. 
 
 Solving. — Rape seed is sown by one of two 
 methods, that is to say, it is broadcasted, or sown in 
 rows far enough apart to admit cultivation between 
 them. The second method is preferable when land 
 is possessed of only moderate fertility, when it is 
 foul with weeds, and when the period of growth is 
 short. The cultivation stimulates growth some- 
 times in a remarkable degree, and cleans the land. 
 The first m.ethod will answer very well, however, 
 when the land is reasonably clean and rich, and more 
 especially in moist climates. Where the seed is 
 sown in rows, these are placed variously from 
 twenty to thirty-six inches apart, according as there 
 is present a prospect of 'an average or more than an 
 average crop. The stronger the growth the wider 
 apart do the plants require to be. 
 
 In some instances the drills are raised. In 
 other instances they are made on the level. 
 When raised they are commonly made witli 
 a double mold board plow with a marker on it, 
 to mark the line of the next plow furrow. The 
 raised drills render cultivation somewhat easier, 
 more especially when the plants are young. But 
 
148 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 where moisture is less than normal, the 
 germination of the seed will be much more certain if 
 sown on the level. The seed is usually sown in 
 raised drills by the ordinary turnip drill, drawn by 
 one horse. Two rows are thus sown at once. But 
 the hand drill can be used in the absence of a horse 
 drill. When sown on the level the land may be 
 marked out and the seed sown with the hand drill, or 
 it may be deposited with certain of the grain drills, 
 when driven by a driver sufficiently skilled to make 
 rows straight and evenly distant; varying widths 
 between the rows and crooked rows greatly lessen 
 the effectiveness of the subsequent cultivation. The 
 most perfect machine for doing this work has prob- 
 ably not yet been invented. The seed should be 
 buried from less than one inch to two or even more 
 in depth, according to the character of the soil and 
 climate. When sow^n broadcast the seed may be 
 scattered by hand, or sown with a hand grass seed 
 sower. In either instance it is covered with the 
 harrow, whether the seed is sown in drills or by 
 hand, unless when the ground is quite moist, it 
 should be rolled before and also immediately after 
 sowing the seed, to hinder evaporation near the 
 surface. Rolling the land thus in dry weather is 
 greatly important, but there may be instances when 
 a light harrow should follow the last rolling given 
 the land. 
 
 The quantity of seed to be sown will depend 
 upon varying conditions, usually from one to two 
 pounds per acre will suffice when the crop is grown 
 in drills. When broadcasted the quantity will vary 
 from three to five pounds per acre. The first men- 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. I49 
 
 tioned quantity will suffice when the soil is rich and 
 clean, but when these conditions are not present the 
 last named quantity may be preferable, to admit of 
 harrowing the crop to some extent after the plants 
 have made a good start. 
 
 The time at which this crop may be sown varies 
 exceedingly. In all climates it may be sown as early 
 in the spring as grain crops, and in moist climates 
 it may be sown as late as the end of summer. The 
 crop usually requires from eight to ten weeks to 
 complete its growth, sometimes however, a shorter 
 period will suffice and again a longer period is 
 necessary. Keeping in mind this thought one can 
 decide when the crop should be sown. The early 
 sown crops may be turned to excellent account in 
 providing pasture or soiling food for swine, when 
 clover does not grow readily. In mild climates it 
 may be sown in the autumn. To provide soiling 
 food when most needed, the seed is usually sown in 
 May or June. But by varying the dates of sowing, 
 this one plant may be made to furnish soiling food 
 almost without interruption from the close of spring 
 to the end of autumn. In the dry, hot summer 
 months it is sometimes impossible to get a stand of 
 plants. But even though the seed should lie in the 
 ground without germinating for weeks, it will start 
 tip vigorously as soon as moisture reaches it. 
 
 Cultivation. — When the crop is broadcasted the 
 only cultivation possible is to harrow it after the 
 plants have obtained a fine hold on the soil. The 
 harrowing should be done with much care. It will 
 destroy some of the plants, but when the seed has 
 been sown thickly enough, this will be no real 
 
150 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 detriment to the crop. A light harrow should be 
 used, and the harrowing must not be deferred until 
 the young weeds get a firm hold upon the soil. 
 
 When the crop is sown in rows, the cultivation 
 should begin as soon as the young plants can be dis- 
 tinctly traced along the line of the row. It should 
 be shallow and as frequent as once a w^eek or once 
 in two weeks, until the tops of the plants have so 
 reached out as to preclude further cultivation. The 
 harrow may also be used with advantage in some 
 instances on a rape crop sown in drills and on the 
 level. When so used it should be drawn across the 
 rows and prior to the cultivation ordinarily given. 
 The effect will be to take out myriads of weeds along 
 the line of the row that would otherwise be undis- 
 turbed. The plants will be somewhat thinned, but 
 this should not result in the injury of the crop. It 
 is not usual to hand hoe rape, not even along the line 
 of the row or to thin it, but if so treated the plants 
 will grow all the stronger. Whether the labor 
 would give an adequate return will depend upon 
 conditions. When the cleaning of the land is one of 
 the chief objects sought in growing rape some hand 
 hoeing should be found profitable. 
 
 Feeding. — The cutting and feeding of rape 
 plants may be commenced as soon as they have made 
 sufficient growth to justify such a course. More 
 especially is this true of rape that is to be fed to 
 swine in the absence of other green food. It may 
 be cut and fed thus when not more than one foot 
 high. If not cut too near the ground, it will grow 
 up a second and even a third time. If mowed 
 closely, however, the growth will be much weakened. 
 
^^^fcj^'f^^ 'f^Ms^, 
 
152 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 More commonly, however, rape is virtually allowed 
 to reach its growth before the feeding is begun, and 
 it is questionable if more or even as much food can 
 be obtained by cutting this crop once or twice when 
 immature, as when it is allowed to practically mature 
 before the feeding begins. By maturity is meant, 
 in the present instance, a stage when further growtli 
 ceases. This point once reached, there will likely 
 be greater or less loss in hot weather before the crop 
 can be fed, as the lower leaves, especially, will be- 
 come yellow and crisp, and in some instances, the 
 plants w^ill be attacked by the white aphis. When 
 indications of such attack are present, the crop should 
 be fed with all haste, otherwise it may soon become 
 valueless. 
 
 To avoid such risk, in hot weather it may be 
 well to commence feeding the plants before they 
 have completed their maturity. But in cool moist 
 weather a large majority of the plants will so retain 
 their greenness, that the feeding of the crop may be 
 made to cover two months, at least without much loss 
 in food value. It may be well to mention here, that 
 any unused residue of the crop in the late autumn 
 may be cut before severe frosts arrive, thrown into 
 heaps and fed from these, even after the snow has 
 fallen to a considerable depth. But where the cold 
 of winter is usually intense, this could not be done 
 with profit. The plants like those of sorghum are 
 slow indeed to spoil when thus handled. 
 
 The crop may be cut with scythe or mower 
 according to the amount wanted, and if put into 
 heaps soon after it is cut, m the field, the feed yard or 
 the sheds, it will retain its palatability for several 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. I53 
 
 days. If the crop is cut with the mower, better work 
 can usually be done when it has been sown broadcast, 
 as then none of the stems lie so near the ground 
 as to escape being cut. When the drills have been 
 raised it is not easy to cut the crop with the mower. 
 
 Rape may be fed as other green food, that is 
 to say, on a pasture, or in a paddock, feed yard, shed 
 or sty. But care should be taken not to feed too 
 large a quantity at first; not to feed when wet, 
 and not to feed to hungry animals all they will take, 
 lest bloating should be produced, which, if not 
 speedily relieved, will almost certainly lead to the 
 death of the animal. There is some danger also 
 that scouring will be produced when green rape is 
 fed in large quantities. The scouring is not nearly 
 so likely to manifest itself when the stock is also 
 being pastured on grass more or less dry, or where 
 there is being fed at the same time a considerable 
 quantity of hay. And it is not a little surprising 
 how much dry food, stock will consume when being 
 freely fed on green rape. Nature seems to furnish 
 a craving for food that aids in correcting the ten- 
 dency to an unduly lax condition of the bowels which 
 may have been induced by feeding rape. And this 
 will be found true also when other kinds of green 
 food are being fed. So certainly does this craving 
 manifest itself that it is questionable if it would not 
 pay at all times to feed some dry food when animals 
 are being fed an abundance of juicy green food. 
 
 It may not be generally known that this plant 
 can be fed green with much profit to young colts 
 more especially after they have been weaned. It is 
 equally good for calves under like conditions. If 
 
154 ■ SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 given an abundance of green rape calves or colts will 
 grow very quickly and will also improve in flesh. It 
 makes a grand food for sheep being fitted for 
 the fairs, for weaned lambs that are wanted in good 
 form for early selling, and for lambs that must needs 
 be confined to avoid infection from parasites on cer- 
 tain pastures. When fed as soiling food, the feeding 
 can be so regulated that the element from bloating 
 will be completely eliminated. Rape is also possessed 
 of peculiar value when fed as soiling food to swine. 
 When so fed a large saving is effected in grain food, 
 development is more continuous, and the vigor of the 
 animals is better sustained. 
 
 The rape plant is oftener pastured than cut and 
 fed as soiling food, frequently it will be more advan- 
 tageous to use it in the latter form. There is really 
 no limit to the extent to which this plant may be 
 used other than that which is fixed by the desires of 
 the owner. 
 
 CABBAGE. 
 
 Cabbage (Brassica olcracea) is probably seldom 
 grown for the express purpose of providing suste- 
 nance for live stock. In nearly all instances crops of 
 this plant are grown to provide food for the human 
 family. Yet in certain areas it may be grown with 
 much advantage to furnish soiling food for various 
 classes of live stock. Because of the great power 
 which the mature plants have to withstand frost, 
 the}^ will furnish green food at a season of the year 
 when it can seldom be obtained from any other 
 source outside of the silo. By exercising some care 
 and forethought in storing cabbage, as described 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 1 55 
 
 under the head of feeding, it may be used as green 
 food for several weeks after the ground has frozen. 
 
 But even though the crop has been grown chiefly 
 as human food, w^hen the areas thus planted are 
 large, the residue of the crop after the heads have 
 been taken, is possessed of a value for feeding uses 
 that will far more than repay the labor of feeding 
 it to live stock. This residue, though it varies 
 greatly in relative value, is frequently worth fully 
 fifty per cent of the whole value of the crop, when 
 used as food for live stock. In growing cabbage, 
 therefore, the recommendation to ''gather up the 
 fragments that nothing be lost" is peculiarly fitting. 
 
 Because of the considerable labor involved in 
 growing cabbage the crop is adapted to intensive 
 rather than to extensive conditions. The farmer 
 having a small farm located near a town or city, and 
 having on that farm few animals, can usually grow 
 this crop to better advantage than the man whose 
 conditions are the opposite. 
 
 Cabbage furnish excellent food for horses, 
 cattle, sheep and swine. It has a nutritive ratio of 
 I 15.2 and, therefore, is in itself almost a perfectly 
 balanced food for milch cows. It is not only relished 
 highly by the various classes of animals mentioned, 
 but when fed to those giving milk, as to cows, ewes 
 and brood sows, it has much power to produce an 
 abundant flow of milk. The heads when chopped 
 fine furnish a peculiarly grateful and appetizing food 
 for young lambs. The yields obtained per acre are 
 in some instances simply enormous. Crops of forty 
 to fifty tons have been grown, but these figures are 
 much above the average. 
 
.5 o 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 1 57 
 
 Distribution. — This crop is wide in its distri- 
 bution. There is probably no state in our repubhc 
 and no province in Canada in which it may not be 
 grown, and with considerable success. While it has 
 highest adaptation for cool and moist climates, it 
 will, nevertheless, grow better relatively in warm 
 climates than rape. But in these the enemies of the 
 plant, such as the aphis and the cabbage worm, are 
 much more troublesome than in northern latitudes 
 where the mean summer temperature is lower. This 
 crop may be grown in best form in the states of the 
 Union which border upon Canada and in the 
 provinces of Canada which border upon the 
 United States. But excellent crops can be grown 
 under certain conditions in states much further 
 south. In fact, there are but few states in the 
 Union which, in some of their more elevated valleys, 
 do not furnish just the right conditions for grow- 
 ing cabbage. 
 
 Where the crop can be successfully grown as 
 human food, it may also be successfully grown as 
 food for live stock, for the requisite conditions to 
 produce either crop are essentially the same. But it 
 should be carefully observed, that because a cabbage 
 crop has given a financial profit when grown for the 
 human family, it does not follow it will also give a 
 financial profit when grown as food for live stock. 
 Such an assumption would not, of necessity, be cor- 
 rect, since it involves the consideration of relative 
 values of cabbage in the market and of meat and 
 milk produced by the cabbage when fed. 
 
 Soil. — Cabbage like all plants of the Brassica 
 genus luxuriate in a fertile soil, and more especially 
 
158 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 in one abundantly supplied with humus. The 
 alluvial soils of narrow valleys and river bottoms 
 furnish for them a most congenial home. The same 
 is true of the deep rich black loams of the virgin 
 prairie and of slough lands. They also revel in the 
 muck soils of swamps that have been drained. They 
 can be grown on rich loams in fine form, and good 
 crops can even be obtained from clays of no little 
 density, but not without much labor. Fair crops 
 can also be grown on all lands well adapted to the 
 production of Indian corn, but more fertility, 
 relatively, is required to grow a good crop of 
 cabbage than will suffice to grow a good crop 
 of corn. The lands with least adaptation for 
 cabbage are those which are light, leachy and 
 low in fertility. Good cabbage soils are usually 
 if not always underlaid with clay, not too near 
 and yet not too distant from the surface. Good 
 crops may be grown on upland soils naturally 
 dry in character, but only by the aid of abun- 
 dant fertilizing. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — The cabbage crop like 
 all other crops that are given much cultivation should 
 be made a cleaning crop. It should invariably be 
 followed by a crop of grain of the non-leguminous 
 order, unless there are good reasons for doing other- 
 wise. The grain crop should have grass seeds sown 
 along with it to produce hay or pasture. But owing 
 to the peculiar power which cabbage, in common 
 with all plants of this family, have to feed upon 
 decaying vegetable matter, there is a peculiar fitness 
 in growing a crop of cabbage on overturned sod. 
 Any kind of sod will suffice, but of course, the more 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 1 59 
 
 dense the better adapted it is for the purpose. Goo<J 
 clover sod has much adaptation for the production 
 of good crops of cabbage. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — When cabbage is grown 
 specially for soiling food, late crops are much pre- 
 ferred to those that mature early. What will now 
 be said on the preparation of the soil will have more 
 especial reference to the growing of late crops. In 
 preparing the land for this crop the soil should as a 
 rule be deeply broken. To this there may be some 
 exceptions, as for instance, when sod land is over- 
 turned but a short time before the crop is planted on 
 it, and more especially, when the soil has in it a 
 strong admixture of clay. The ideal treatment 
 under such conditions is to plow the sod only 
 moderately deep and to follow the ordinary plow 
 with a subsoil plow. The crop of clover or grass 
 should be allowed to make as much growth as 
 possible before it is turned under. As soon as the 
 land is plowed, the roler should follow the plow as 
 closely as possible. The green mass thus turned 
 under will begin to decay quickly and the young 
 cabbage plants will find in it most congenial food and 
 drink. Good crops of cabbage may be grown after 
 crimson clover has been cut, or even after the 
 medium red has been harvested. The chief difficulty 
 to be met in sowing crops this late is that of sprout- 
 ing the seed, since the weather at that season is 
 usually dry. In other instances cabbage may be 
 grown with profit when green rye has been buried 
 that had been sown the previous autumn. But the 
 rye should be buried while yet quite succulent, or it 
 will not decay with sufficient quickness. There may 
 
l6o SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 also be occasions when the ground should be plowed 
 in the fall, as for instance, when the land is very foul. 
 It may then be at least partially cleaned in the spring 
 before the seed is sown. And when old sod lands are 
 covered with a dense turf, it may be a good practice 
 to plow them in the fall, to give the roots more time 
 to decay before the planting of the crop. When 
 such lands have been plowed, the surface soil should 
 be cut up deeply and finely by some implement 
 adapted to such work. The roots of the young 
 plants can then push their way through the soil much 
 more readily and the decay of the sod will be 
 much hastened. 
 
 It is not easy to make the land too rich for cab- 
 bage by the application of fertilizers, but it would be 
 easy to so apply fertilizers that there would be waste 
 of the same. For instance, if farmyard manure, 
 commercial fertilizers, or both were applied in excess 
 of the needs of the crop on a leachy soil and in an 
 area possessed of a rainy climate, much of the excess 
 of fertility unused by the crop would be washed out 
 of the soil before the planting of the next crop. That 
 the plants may be abundantly supplied with food, 
 and that such waste may be avoided, the practice has 
 become common w^hen growing cabbage to apply 
 much of the fertilizer along and near the line of the 
 row where the plants are to be grown. But where 
 fertility has thus to be distributed with so much care, 
 it is at least questionable if cabbage can be profitably 
 grown as a food for live stock. On many of the 
 prairies of the west, especially in the slough lands of 
 the same, enormous crops can be grown without the 
 application of any kind of fertilizer. 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. l6l 
 
 Farmyard manure is an excellent fertilizer for 
 cabbage, but unless applied some time before the 
 planting of the crop it should be somewhat reduced 
 before being used. Many eastern growers compost 
 farmyard manure with night soil and muck, or cer- 
 tain forms of fish waste, and when sufficiently near 
 the sea they add kelp. Purely commercial fertilizers 
 will not give returns so satisfactory, in the entire 
 absence of farmyard manures, as when the latter is 
 present. When both are applied the manure is com- 
 monly plowed in and the commercial fertilizer placed 
 in and near the line of the row which is to receive the 
 seed. These fertilisers are thus made specially help- 
 ful to the plants while they are young and the barn- 
 yard manure is more helpful at a later period. Such 
 fertilizers as guano, superphosphate with much 
 nitrogen in it and hen manure are excellent for such 
 a use, and so are wood ashes. Cabbage feeds freely 
 upon the three essential elements in complete fer- 
 tilizers, but most freely on potash. 
 
 In any case, if the soil is not rich where a crop 
 of cabbage is to be grown, it should be made so, since 
 an ample supply of fertility not only fortifies the 
 crop against such vicissitudes as unduly dry weather, 
 for instance, but it is also necessary in order to pro- 
 duce a profitable crop. 
 
 Sozvmg. — It is, at least, questionable if it will 
 pay to grow cabbage for green food only, in locali- 
 ties where they cannot be easily and surely grown 
 by the method of sowing the seed in rows rather 
 than by that of transplanting. Of course it is dif- 
 ferent when the crop is grown mainly for the mar- 
 ket, the residue only being fed to live stock. 
 II 
 
l62 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 In some localities plants grow so readily and so 
 surely, that the crop may be grown by sowing the 
 seed where the plants are To remain. It may be thus 
 grown in many instances as surely and easily as a 
 crop of turnips or rutabagas. The western and 
 northwestern states have special adaptation for the 
 growing of cabbage crops by this method. In other 
 localities their insect enemies are so numerous that 
 it is almost necessary to start the plants where they 
 can be given protection, and then after they have 
 made a good start to transplant them into the field. 
 
 The seed may be sown by first marking off the 
 ground, then using a hand drill which deposits the 
 seed in the line of the marks that have been made; 
 som.e grain drills may be used to sow the seed with- 
 out the seed beng mixed with anything. With 
 other patterns of drills it is necessary to mix the seed 
 with some such bulky substance as salt. The rows 
 should not be closer to one another than thirty inches, 
 nor more distant than thirty-six inches. The seed 
 should be buried to a depth varying from less than 
 one inch to more than two inches, according to the 
 nature of the soil. A roller should also in nearly all 
 instances be run over the soil before and after sow- 
 ing the seed. 
 
 The late varieties are to be preferred, and among 
 these the larger sorts ; as for instance, the Drumhead 
 and Savoy. The early varieties do not grow suffi- 
 ciently large. They are also lacking in an 
 abundance of leaf growth, nor do they keep so well 
 as the large and late varieties do. The best variety 
 for each particular location, however, can only be 
 ascertained by actual test. 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 1 63 
 
 From one to two pounds of seed per acre will 
 be sufficient. The first mentioned quantity should 
 be ample under average conditions, but it may be 
 necessary sometimes to sow fully twice that amount. 
 
 The time for sowing the seed will depend con- 
 siderably upon the place which is given the crop in 
 the rotation. The young plants are somewhat 
 tender for a time, hence hard frosts in the spring- 
 will destroy them. But they will withstand slight 
 frosts without harm. Tlie seed should not be sown, 
 therefore, much sooner than the regular season of 
 corn planting. There m.ay be instances Avhere the 
 crop sown thus early will mature too soon to best 
 serve the end for which it was grown. When plants 
 reach a maximum growth in hot weather, many of 
 the outer leaves wither and are lost as food. Sow- 
 ing should not be done at a period so late as to 
 hinder the crops from making good heads, since the 
 food value lies more in the head than in any other 
 part of the plant. But this crop may, with more 
 propriety than some others, be sown somewhat late, 
 owing to the great power which it has to continue to 
 grow in the late autumn 
 
 Should the small black beetle (Epifrix spec.) 
 attack the plants when young, they ought to be 
 dusted promptly, and while the dew is yet on, with 
 air-slaked lime and wood ashes. And should the 
 plants suffer later from the attacks of the cabbage 
 worm (Pieris rapae, Linn. ) they ought to be sprayed 
 once or twice with kerosene emulsion or paris green. 
 Paris green would be the more effective application 
 of the two and there will not be any real danger in 
 using it thus when the cabbage are not to be fed for 
 
l54 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 some weeks subsequently. These remedies will prove 
 effective unless under extremely adverse conditions. 
 
 Cultivation. — The relation, between abundant 
 3aelds, and the nature and extent of the cultivation 
 that is given to the cabbage crop, is both close anJ. 
 intimate. As soon as the young plants distinctly 
 mark the line of the row the cultivation should begin. 
 And when weeds are superabundant, if the land is 
 stirred by the hand hoe close up to the plants and 
 for a short distance on both sides of them, the labor 
 thus expended will be amply rewarded in the more 
 vigorous growth of the plants, and in the greater 
 ease with which they can be thinned. The culti- 
 vation should be frequent and should be continued 
 as long as it can be done without breaking off any 
 considerable number of the lateral leaves of the 
 plants. 
 
 The thinning of the plants should ordinarily 
 begin while they are not yet more than three or four 
 inches high. If left unthinned for a much longer 
 period they become more or less spindling and do not 
 produce so large a head. But when the cutworms 
 are numerous it may be well to defer thinning to a 
 later period than would be advisable in the absence 
 of such an enemy. The thinning is almost entirely 
 done by the use of the hoe. The individual using 
 it strikes forward and pushes backward as in thin- 
 ning turnips; the plants not wanted fall before the 
 hoe. The distance to which they should be thinned 
 will depend upon the variety, upon the time during 
 which the crop may continue to grow, and upon the 
 nature of the soil and season. The distance will 
 vary, say, from eighteen inches to thirty inches. 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 1 65 
 
 The average may be stated as twenty-four inches. 
 When thinning the plants, the skilled workman will 
 detect at a glance a single plant growing about the 
 right distance from the one last left to grow. He 
 can then without hesitation cut out all the interven- 
 ing plants. Though this single plant should vary 
 one, two, or even three inches from the exact distance 
 fixed upon, it would be better to leave this plane 
 than to leave one of a cluster in the exact spot, but 
 from which the plants around it must needs be pulled 
 out by hand. And if a blank should occur it can 
 easily be filled during the thinning process. 
 
 The workman strikes his hoe downward into 
 the soil and lifts out the earth above it. He then 
 strikes it down beneath a single plant which other- 
 wise would be cut out and lifting it up on his hoe 
 with the adherent earth sets it down into the hole 
 previously made. Young plants may thus be re- 
 moved at almost any hour of the day, and without 
 much wanting of the leaves. 
 
 Feeding. — When the crop is sold in the market, 
 the feeding of the unused portion should begin at 
 once, the leaves being gathered with a fork and 
 conveyed directly to the stock, or stored in a flat pile 
 for subsequent feeding, not more than a foot in 
 depth. If allowed to lie on the ground underneath 
 a hot sun, they would soon wither and entirely lose 
 their feeding value. 
 
 But when the crop is to be fed in its entirety, 
 the plants may first be cut off at the surface of the 
 ground or underneath it by the use of a sharp hoe 
 or spade. A strong spud would probably do the 
 work more effectively than either the hoe or the 
 
l66 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Spade, and with more ease to the operator. The 
 plants are then carted to the feeding place, whether 
 it be in a pasture, paddock, yard, shed or stable. 
 
 All classes of live stock will devour the plants, 
 leaving only the woody stalks, unless in the case of 
 young lambs. For these they should be minced. 
 When fed to cow^s giving milk, care should be taken 
 lest too many be fed, and the cabbage should be 
 given just after each milking. When thus fed to 
 milch cows a considerable proportion of the whole 
 ration may consist of cabbage without imparting 
 to the milk any disagreeable taint. Every care 
 should be taken to avoid feeding cabbage leaves 
 wdiich are partly decayed to cows giving milk, or 
 most unpleasant odors will arise in the milk. 
 
 The feeding of the crop may begin as soon as 
 it is mature or a little previous to maturity. The 
 feeding may continue without interruption until the 
 crop is entirely consumed. If winter threatens to 
 close in before the crop has been all fed, it should at 
 once be carted to some place convenient for feeding, 
 and also sheltered from the cold wands, as by the 
 side of a straw stack, and there piled up if need be 
 several feet deep and then covered with straw. The 
 1 ceding from this pile may go on without interrup- 
 tion until the crop is consumed. The duration of 
 such feeding, however, is largely affected by climate. 
 In latitudes w^here the wnnters are mild, cabbage may 
 be stored for future feeding by stacking them in the 
 form of a ridge roof on the surface of the ground, 
 or from some distance below^ it, and may be covered 
 with one or two feet of straw, rough litter, or marsh 
 hay, according as one or the other of these may be 
 
PLANTS OF THE BRASSICA GENUS. 1 67 
 
 convenient. To economize space it will be well to 
 break off the outer leaves before the plants are thus 
 stacked with the heads downward. If cabbage freeze 
 when thus stored, no serious harm will follow. While 
 thus frozen, cabbage should never be fed to any kind 
 of live stock, not even swine. And it should be 
 remembered that alternate freezing and thawing are 
 greatly injurious to this plant. 
 
 Cabbage may be kept even more surely and 
 probably more simply in some climates, by lifting 
 them with the potato fork and standing them in a 
 double or treble line, with the root upward and with 
 all or nearly all the leaves retained. The cabbages 
 are brought to a ridge by adding a third row when 
 there are but two rows on the ground, or by adding 
 two rows and then another when there are three 
 rows on the foundation. They are then covered as 
 described above. And sometimes a plow furrow 
 may be turned toward tlie cabbage on either side 
 with manifest advantage. 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THE COMMON CEREALS. 
 
 The chief of the common cereals grown in this 
 country, are wheat, oats, barley and rye. They are 
 produced as winter, or spring varieties according to 
 the circumstances under which they are grown. 
 All of these may be grown singly for soiling food, 
 or they may be grown in various combinations. 
 Peas and vetches may also be included in some of 
 these combinations, and when they can be so in- 
 cluded, much is added to the value of the food; as 
 shown in Chapter VI. The least valuable of these 
 crops for soiling uses are rye and barley. Rye 
 turns woody so soon after the ear has formed, that 
 it becomes unpalatable; and the feeding value of 
 barley is lessened soon after it somes out in head, 
 because of the presence of the beards found in 
 nearly all varieties of this cereal. For feeding pur- 
 poses these mixtures are usually valuable in propor-- 
 tion to the peas or vetches Avhich they contain. This 
 arises from the more nitrogenous character of the 
 latter, their greater palatability, and the large yields 
 of the fodder which they produce in pea and vetch 
 soils. 
 
 The combinations in which these crops may be 
 grown are various. There may be instances in 
 which several of them may be grown together, but 
 usually only two or three varieties are thus grown. 
 
 1 68 
 
£ I 
 
 be 2 
 
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 ^ 
 
I/O SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Three of these combinations stand higher in favor 
 than the others. I, A combination of peas and oats ; 
 2, a combination of vetches and oats ; and 3, a com- 
 bination of wheat and oats. The last named 
 combination is frequently grown where peas or 
 vetches cannot be reUed upon to furnish soiHng 
 food. 
 
 Several advantages arise from growing these 
 plants in combination, i. Usually there is a greater 
 production of food from, a given area. 2, They 
 can be grown more thickly, hence the straw is finer 
 and is better relished by stock. 3, They furnish 
 a better balanced food than when grown alone. 
 
 The green food produced by these mixed crops 
 can be fed to all classes of live stock, but it has 
 relatively higher adaptation for dairy cattle, be- 
 cause of the free milk giving that results from feed- 
 ing it. i\Iixed crops may be fed to sheep and swine, 
 but only when in a quite succulent stage of growth, 
 or when it is almost entirely composed of peas or 
 vetches. AMieat, oats, barley and rye become so 
 woody when well advanced in growth, that sheep and 
 SAvine do not relish them. It" is more common to 
 pasture both on these mixtures than to feed them 
 in the form of soiling food. 
 
 The yields will of course vary with the con- 
 ditions. The miinimum crop that it would be profit- 
 able to grow may be fixed at, say, six tons per acre. 
 A good crop should run from ten to twelve tons per 
 acre. But it is sometimes possible to double these 
 amounts. 
 
 Distrihufion. — Wheat, oats, barley and rye 
 possess a wide distribution. The distribution of 
 
THE COMMON CEREALS. I7I 
 
 peas and vetches has already been considered in 
 Chapter VI. All these grains unless it be peas, can 
 be grown in both the winter and spring varieties. 
 The four first named can be grown in some portion, 
 or portions of every state in the Union and of every 
 province of Canada. South of the fortieth parallel 
 they do not generally grow so freely as north of that 
 line, hence they are not so valuable for producing 
 green food as some other crop or crops better adapted 
 to soils that are frequently low in plant food, or 
 lacking in moisture. 
 
 Wheat is usually considered too valuable to be 
 used as soiling food, -and yet there are some localities, 
 where it can be more cheaply grown for such a use 
 than almost any other kind of food. These localities 
 include much of the land in the northerly portions of 
 the semi-arid belt east of the Rocky mountains, the 
 Palouse and Walla W^alla areas of Washington, and 
 limited areas in northwestern Oregon. In all these 
 areas wheat is grown as hay, and where it furnishes 
 a highly prized food for hay it will also furnish a 
 very suitable soiling food. There are Other areas 
 so perfectly adapted to the growth of immense crops 
 of oats that this plant can be made to furnish green 
 food more cheaply than any other. Such are certain 
 river valleys west of the Cascade mountains. Barley, 
 although it grows very rapidly, is commonly too 
 low in production to make it a profitable soiling 
 crop, but it will produce green food under a greater 
 variety of conditions than any of the other cereals 
 tinder consideration. In addition to its being low 
 in palatability there is the objection that it is com- 
 monly in season for feeding when grass is plentiful. 
 
172 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Soil. — Wheat, oats, barley and rye may be 
 successfully g-rown on a wide range of soils. Each 
 kind, nevertheless, has its favorite soil. Wheat 
 luxuriates in deep, moist, pliable loam soils, well 
 spiced with clay and well stored with vegetable 
 matter. The loose lying soils of nearly all the west- 
 ern prairies have high adaptation for wheat pro- 
 duction. Soils ill adapted to the growing of wheat 
 include those that are sandy and poorly supplied 
 with nitrogen, those that are shallow, with hardpan 
 coming near the surface, and those that contain an 
 excess of water at any time during the growth of 
 the plants. Oats also grow most luxuriantly on 
 soils that are best suited to the growth of wheat. 
 But since the oat plant is a more gross feeder than 
 the wheat plant, it will produce a better growth 
 relativel}^ than wheat on soil ill conditioned, me- 
 chanically and imperfectly supplied with plant food. 
 Barley will grow better relatively on soils rich in 
 humus and in readily available fertility. Black 
 loam soils, with enough sand to keep them in a good 
 mechanical condition, have high adaptation for 
 barley, and since this grain feeds near the surface 
 rather than far down, much depth of subsoil is less 
 essential to the growth of barley than to the growth 
 of wheat and oats. The soils with least adaptation 
 for barley include those deficient in humus and which 
 contain an excess of clay. Since the crop grows 
 rapidty, if it is to be a success, the young plants 
 must be able to send their rootlets quickly and in all 
 directions between the soil particles. 
 
 Rye is beyond all comparison the most vigor- 
 ous feeder of the four cereals under discussion. It 
 
THE COMMON CE^REALS. 1 73 
 
 will Stand more abuse than wheat, oats or barley; 
 that is to say, it will grow better than any of these 
 when sown on soil not well prepared, poorly sup- 
 plied with plant food, and under adverse climatic 
 conditions. Rye will grow well on all soils pos- 
 sessed of high adaptation for wheat, oats or 
 barley. It will also give a fairly good return on 
 soils too light and poor to produce good crops 
 of those cereals. 
 
 When these plants are grown in combination 
 the aim should be to grow them on soils generously 
 supplied with plant food. The value of a soiling 
 food is usually largely proportionate to the abun- 
 dance of the yield, hence the mistake of sowing imder 
 conditions that do not give promise of an abundant 
 yield. One variety will find its favorite food in 
 such a soil and will appropriate the same. A second 
 variety will do likewise, and so with a third and 
 fourth. Since these appropriations draw in differ- 
 ent degrees on the same food elements, each is 
 enabled to get its share and thus to contribute to a 
 large aggregate yield. In growing these crops as 
 green food, it should be remembered that since the 
 object is to get a large amotmt of green food with- 
 out regard to grain production, the best soiling 
 crops will be obtained on lands too rich for the high- 
 est grain production. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — These crops may be 
 given almost any place in the rotation, since they are 
 cut before weeds can ripen in their midst. A foul 
 condition of the land at the time of sowing, though 
 objectionable, is not so seriously objectionable as in 
 growing sorrte other crops. These crops may be 
 
174 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. • 
 
 grown in a sense as catch crops ; that is to say, after 
 early pasture crops, as winter rye. Or they may be 
 sown early and be followed by some other crops ; as 
 for instance, rape, winter wheat or winter rye, and 
 in certain areas by winter vetches or crimson clover. 
 When these crops precede a winter crop, there is 
 usually ample time to prepare the land well before 
 the winter crop is sown. They may also be followed 
 by the bare fallow. And in some instances they 
 may be sown late in the season to provide green food 
 late in the fall. These crops are essentially clean- 
 ing crops, and they thus help to clean the land with- 
 out special effort on the part of the grower to reach 
 such a result. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — The preparation of the 
 land for these- crops is simple, as it is for all crops 
 that fit in almost anywhere in the rotation. Usually 
 the deeper, the finer, the more moist, the richer and 
 cleaner the seed bed, the more satisfactory will be 
 the results when the crop has been sown. And as 
 a rule these conditions can be more perfectly secured 
 when considerable time elapses between the plowing 
 of the land and the sowing of the seed. But there 
 are soils in which deep plowing but a short time 
 before sowing the seed would be harmful rather than 
 helpful to the crop. Such are light sands and 
 heavy clays. When these crops are to be sown after 
 another crop previously harvested the same season, 
 moisture in the soil will be conserved to a much 
 greater extent by using the roller and harrow freely 
 as soon as possible after the land has been plowed. 
 
 On lands of average fertility these grain crops 
 may of course be grown quite sucessfully without 
 
THE COMMON CEREALS. 1/5 
 
 further enriching the land. But it may be profitable 
 to add fertilizers when the facilities are at hand, to 
 stimulate abundant production. Farmyard manures 
 are excellent when applied in a form suitable to the 
 needs of the land. Where much rainfall is expected 
 the manure may be applied in the fresh form, but 
 when moisture will probably be deficient, it should 
 be applied in the reduced form. 
 
 The commercial fertilizers most commonly used 
 are those which are designated complete fertilizers, 
 but the nitrogen content m them should usually be 
 high to meet the need of these crops. And when 
 moisture is present in a sufficient degree, these crops 
 may be further stimulated by sowing on them nitro- 
 gen in some form, after the plants have made a good 
 start. It is not usual, however, to go to much ex- 
 pense in specially enriching the land for this class of 
 green crops, because of the short duration of the 
 period of growth. 
 
 Solving. — The seed may be broadcasted when 
 the facilities for drilling it are not at hand, but in 
 nearly all instances it will be found preferable to 
 sow the seed with the drill. The drill buries 
 it more uniformly as to depth and covers it more 
 perfectly. Ordinarily when these grains are sown 
 as mixtures, it is labor saving and more satis- 
 factory in various ways to mix them before they 
 are sown. 
 
 The most suitable kinds to sow will be those 
 which past experience has shown to be the most 
 vigorous growers. These will vary with variations 
 in climate and soil. No one variety of any kind of 
 grain can be found that will grow equally well in all 
 
lyO SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 parts even of a single state. In choosing varieties 
 preference should be given to those which stool 
 much, and produce growth of a fine character, pro- 
 viding they are not too weak in the straw to prove 
 satisfactory. 
 
 When these grains are sown singly, the quantity 
 of seed that may best be used can be given only 
 approximately. The same is true of them when sown 
 in combination. In some soils the plants stool much 
 more than in others and grow with much more vigor. 
 The quantity of seed therefore, that will best serve 
 the end sought will have to be ascertained by actual 
 test. It will seldom be found profitable to sow less 
 than two or more than three bushels per acre. The 
 latter quantity or a close approximate to it will 
 usually prove more satisfactory than a less quantity 
 of seed. But when vetches form a chief factor in 
 the crop, a less quantity of seed may suffice, because 
 of the small relative size of the vetch seed. 
 
 When wheat and oats are sown together, it is 
 customary to sow^ about equal quantities of each. 
 This will give a preponderance of the oat element 
 in the crop, because of the greater stooling power of 
 the latter, and this is so far satisfactory since green 
 oats are considered more palatable than green wheat. 
 When peas and oats are sown together, the most 
 suitable quantity of the seed of each will be de- 
 termined chiefly by conditions which relate to the 
 soil adaptation, as previously intimated. Because 
 of the nitrogenous character of the peas and because 
 of their high palatability, the aim should be to have 
 the peas form the preponderating element in the 
 food. The same is also true of vetches. It may be 
 
THE COMMON CEREALS. 1/7 
 
 necessary, therefore, to sow the peas or vetches as 
 three to one or two to one by measure, as compared 
 with the oats in the mixture. On the other hand 
 certain soils may be so much better adapted to grow- 
 ing peas or vetches than oats, that in order to secure 
 the necessary support for the former, more than half 
 of the seed by measure must needs consist of oats. 
 When peas and vetches are both sow^n along with 
 oats, the proportions that ought to be sown of each 
 in the mixture should be determined by conditions 
 that relate to soil and climate, and to the character 
 of the food sought. 
 
 Usually the common cereals are sown to pro- 
 vide soiling food as early as possible in the season, 
 though of course they are frequently sown later ; in 
 certain instances as late as midsummer. To prolong 
 the season of feeding, it is common to sow a portion 
 only of the seed at iirst, and the remainder two or 
 three weeks later, or it is sown at two intervening 
 intervals rather than one. The chief objection to 
 the plan is found in the decreased production of 
 the later sowings, but to this there are some ex- 
 ceptions. 
 
 Another plan sows a quick maturing variety as 
 barley, and at the same time a mixture that grows 
 more slowly, as peas and oats. The period of feed- 
 ing may thus be made to cover from, say five to 
 eight weeks, and if the quantity sown should be in 
 excess of the needs of the stock, it can be turned to 
 excellent account by harvesting it for winter fodder 
 when the grain, or much of it, is in the milk stage. 
 Barley is probably the most suitable of all the com- 
 mon cereals to provide green food in the autumn; 
 
 12 
 
THE C0MMON CEREALS. 1/9 
 
 and in moist climates only, can it be sown for such 
 a purpose, as for instance, in New England. 
 
 Cultivation. — Ordinarily no cultivation is given 
 to these crops after they liave been sown. But there 
 may be instances when the harrow can be used on 
 them to advantage, more especially when peas and 
 oats have been sown together and buried with the 
 grain drill at an even depth. If harrowed with 
 more or less thoroughness just as the first young 
 plants begin to appear, the growth of weeds will be 
 checked and the moisture in the ground will be better 
 conserved. Before the weeds can make a good start 
 again the plants get so far ahead of them as to 
 materially hinder their growth. But if the ground 
 is unduly moist, the harrow cannot of course be used 
 thus. A light harrow should be used, generally, 
 having teeth slanted backward. 
 
 There may also be instances when it would be 
 more profitable to plant the crop in rows sufficiently 
 distant to give them more or less horse cultivation. 
 Such a method of growing these plants would be 
 especially helpful where moisture is not present in 
 sufficient quantities to produce a maximum growth. 
 Crops thus cultivated would no doubt produce much 
 more abundantly* in a dry region, but the system 
 belongs rather to the future than to the present. 
 The machinery for bestowing such cultivation has 
 not yet been perfected. 
 
 Feeding. — With regard to the best method of 
 feeding these crops, much that has been said under 
 the head of feeding in the chapter on corn will be 
 equally applicable to them. The cutting of rye as a 
 soiling food should begin as soon as the first growth 
 
THE COMMON CEREALS. . l8l 
 
 will justify such a course, and it should not be fed for 
 any considerable time after it has reached the earing 
 stage, unless it is to be run through a cutting box and 
 fed with other food, as ''chaffed" hay. When thus 
 prepared, and meal is added to the mixture, it would 
 then be possible to feed green rye until the grain 
 began to form in the ear, and possibly for a longer 
 period. If fed alone after it has fully come out in 
 head, animals do not relish it sufficiently to make it a 
 desirable soiling food. Barley also should be fed at 
 a stage before the beards begin to stiffen. 
 
 When food is grown in mixtures the grains 
 composing these will not always be possessed of 
 equal advancement, careful discrimination is neces- 
 sary on the part of the grower as to when the cutting 
 should begin. Usually when peas, or vetches in the 
 mixture have produced some blossoms and when 
 the heads of other kinds of grain are ready to leave 
 the leafy envelope which surrounds them, the cutting 
 of the crop may begin. At the stage indicated as 
 suitable to begin cutting these crops, they have not 
 reached that stage when they contain the highest 
 food value, but to leave them longer before begin- 
 ning to harvest them would, too much, curtail the 
 duration of the period in which they could be fed 
 with profit in the green form. 
 
 Like other green crops they are cut with the 
 scythe or mower, and drawn in the usual way. 
 When these crops grow A^ery rankly they are 
 occasionally thrown down with storms which in- 
 creases the labor of cutting them. In some instances 
 the mower can only be driven on two sides of the 
 plot or field, if the crop is to be cleanly gathered. 
 
l82 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 The food when cut may be hfted with sufficient 
 cleanness when a fork is used, with several tines in it, 
 that is to say, a fork made somewhat after the plan 
 of a barley fork. The green food may be fed 
 without any wilting, but a moderate amount of wilt- 
 ing is in no way injurious to it. 
 
 When there is a surplus of green food it may of 
 course be allowed to reach a stage of early ripening, 
 and may then be harvested for winter use. In 
 harvesting the same the mower or the binder may be 
 used according to the attendant circumstances, but 
 if the binder is used the sheaves should be made 
 small rather than large, tied loosely rather than 
 tightly, and cured in oblong rather than in round 
 shocks. \Mieat and oats grown together ought to 
 be cut for winter food at a stage somewhat earlier 
 than peas and oats to insure enough palatability in 
 the straw\ When the stems of the plants turn 
 yellow for a short distance above the ground, the 
 crop is ready for harvesting. Peas and oats thus 
 harvested make a splendid fodder for winter feed- 
 ing. It is easily cured and handled, and is at once 
 highly palatable and nutritious. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MILLETS. 
 
 Millet is one of the most important and valuable 
 soiling crops grown in this country. Its great 
 value as soiling food arises, ist, from the palatable 
 and nutritious character of the food which it pro- 
 duces; 2nd, from the shortness of the period re- 
 quired to grow it; 3rd, from the large amount 
 of food that can be grown upon rich land ; 4th, from 
 the wide distribution of the crop; and 5th, from 
 the many and various places which may be assigned 
 to it in the rotation, consequently when it becomes 
 better know^n, it w^ill be used as soiling food to a 
 much greater extent than it is at the present time. 
 
 Millet is of many species and varieties, not a 
 few of w^hich have been but little tested in this 
 country, and consequently they are not as yet well 
 understood. The classification of the millets is still 
 regarded as incomplete by the Department of 
 Agrostology at Washington, but for the present 
 the said Department has grouped them as the fox- 
 tail, the barnyard, the broom corn and the pearl 
 groups. To the foxtail millets belong such sorts as 
 the Common, the German, the Hungarian and the 
 Golden wonder varieties. These are relatively small 
 and fine in their habit of growth. German millet 
 is characterized by an abundant leaf growth. Hun- 
 garian millet produces heads of a dark shade, hence 
 
 183 
 
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 ^. r^^^BalB^BB^^iS^^MBHBl^B^^^^^^^^^^^B 
 
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MILLETS. 185 
 
 it may easily be distinguished from other foxtail 
 millets after the earing stage. Golden wonder 
 millet is a great seed producer but it is probably 
 less valuable as a soiling food than the other varieties 
 of the foxtail class. 
 
 The barn yard millets include the varieties de- 
 rived from the common barn yard grass (Panicum 
 crus-galli) . The African millets are also included 
 in this class. They are characterized by an abundant 
 growth, but are somewhat coarse in character 
 The broom corn millets are rather grown for the 
 grain they praduce than to provide soiling food, but 
 they also may be m^ade to furnish soiling food. 
 The pearl millets are but little grown as yet in this 
 country. Some of the varieties produce an abun- 
 dant growth, but they are not considered so palatable 
 as cultivated millets of the foxtail class. They have 
 not been much introduced as yet into American 
 agriculture, hence little can be said as to their adapta- 
 tion and value. But one variety of this group will 
 be considered in Chapter XIII, when discussing 
 plants whose value in providing soiling food has not 
 been fully demonstrated. 
 
 Distribution. — Few plants grown* as food for 
 live stock on this continent are of wider distribu- 
 tion than millet. Since it can be sufficiently ad- 
 vanced in growth for being cut as soiling food in 
 from fifty to ninety days from the date of sowing, 
 there are but few localities in the United States in 
 which it may not be grown with entire success. 
 And since it is in a pre-eminent degree a plant of 
 the sun, the climatic conditions least favorable to its 
 growth in our country will probably be found in 
 
MILLETS. 187 
 
 Oregon and Washington, between the mountains 
 and the sea. In all the other portions of the United 
 States the season of high summer temperatures is 
 sufficiently prolonged to force millet crops quickly 
 into maturity, unless it be upon the mountain up- 
 lands. The climate of all the central and southern 
 states is markedly favorable to the growth of millet. 
 
 The highest adaptation of soil and climate 
 together are probably found in the Mississippi basin, 
 from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. Millet 
 is an indispensable adjunct to the hay crops grown 
 within this basin, and it is an indispensable factor in 
 growing soiling foods for stock. The less favorable 
 the conditions for the successful growth of hay 
 crops the more indispensable does the millet crop 
 seem to be. The climatic conditions in what are 
 usually spoken of as the southern states are equalh^ 
 favorable, but not so of the soil conditions, hence 
 the growth of millet is not so common in these as it 
 would otherwise be. The crop has not been grown 
 to nearly the same extent in New England and the 
 adjacent states as in the Mississippi valley, because 
 of the stiffer soils, and in many instances because 
 of the more hungry soils of the former. The millet 
 crop can also be grown with a fair measure of suc- 
 cess in nearly all of the cultivated parts of Canada. 
 The lowest adaptation is found in British Columbia 
 and in the Maritime Provinces beside the Atlantic, 
 and the highest adaptation in the prairie provinces 
 eastward from the Rocky mountains to Lake 
 Superior. 
 
 Soil. — Millet in all its forms requires a rich 
 soil and a soil easily penetrated by the roots of the 
 
1 88 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 plant in order to grow it in the best form. Soils 
 abounding in vegetable matter and naturally warmi 
 and friable, and which furnish plant food abundantly 
 in a readily available form, are best adapted to the 
 growth of millet. Such soils abound in much of 
 the prairie region which extends from the Gulf of 
 Mexico far northward, although in seasons that are 
 moist, good crops of millet may be grown even on 
 stiff clays. But these soils are not well suited, as a 
 rule, to the growth of millet. In nearly all instances 
 too much labor has to be bestowed upon such soils 
 to prepare a seed bed sufficiently fine and moist. 
 They are not sufficiently penetrable to the roots of 
 the millet, and the plant food in them is not suffi- 
 ciently available. Light zmd hungry sandy soils are 
 ill adapted to the growth of this crop, and the same 
 is true of soils unduly moist and cold. But immense 
 crops can be grown on the muck soils of drained 
 sloughs and marshes. Millet can be grown nicely 
 under irrigation in the warm mountain valleys of the 
 west. But in these it is not specially needed because of 
 the abundant product of alfalfa obtained from them. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — Millet in nearly all its 
 varieties may be given almost any place in the rota- 
 tion. It may be the sole crop for the season, or it 
 may be grown as a catch crop. It is more com- 
 monly grown as a catch crop, since in many sections 
 the season is amply long to grow a crop of millet 
 after another crop has been removed and before an 
 autumn crop has been planted on the same land. 
 
 Millet is seldom made the sole crop grown upon 
 the land, except in instances where the husbandman 
 has been unable to sow other crops in season, because 
 
MILLETS. 189 
 
 of excessive wetness in the soil, or because of some 
 other reason. But when it is thus grown it may in a 
 sense be made a cleaning crop, even though sown 
 broadcast, since there is more or less time for sprout- 
 ing the weed seeds near the surface of the ground 
 before the millet is sown, and when the seed is 
 sown in rows and cultivated it may always be made 
 a cleaning crop. 
 
 Millet may be sown with much propriety after 
 such winter crops as rye, the winter vetch, the winter 
 oat, or crimson clover when these have been pastured 
 or cut for green food. Under favorable conditions 
 it may be sown after the first cutting of medium 
 red clover or even after grain crops that have 
 matured early, and it fits in nicely after newly sown 
 meadow crops in which the ''stand" of grass has 
 been a partial failure, and which in consequence has 
 been grazed down. With equal fitness it may come 
 after spring sown grain which from any cause may 
 have failed. Fall wheat is sometimes sown after 
 millet, but the plan of sowing it thus is not a good 
 one, since millet, like flax, preys heavily upon the 
 fertility of the soil. It has also been noticed that it 
 leaves the soil much depleted of its moisture. It 
 may with much greater propriety be followed by 
 winter rye, which has greater power than winter 
 wheat to gather food in the soil, and with equal pro- 
 priety it may be followed by a leguminous crop, as 
 the common winter vetch or the sand vetch. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — Since millet is grown so 
 variously in the rotation, only directions that are 
 general rather than specific can be given relating to 
 the preparation of the land for the seed. It should 
 
igO SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 ])e the aim of the grower to prepare a seed bed clean, 
 moist, fine and smooth. The clean seed bed can only 
 be reached by the frequent use of the harrow for some 
 time previous to the sowing of the seed. But when 
 millet is grown as a catch crop the season for prepar- 
 ing the seed bed is usually too short to admit of thus 
 cleaning the land. The means used to secure a clean 
 seed bed will also tend to conserve moisture in ths 
 same, and the judicious use of the roller will also 
 tend to secure the same end. 
 
 In cloddy soils, a fine seed bed can only be 
 secured by the judicious use of some form of clod 
 crusher or harrow and roller. In a dry time it would 
 be labor lost to sow millet in cloddy soil. A level 
 seed bed is secured by careful plowing and by supple- 
 menting such plowing with drawing some form of 
 leveler over the soil. When any considerable period 
 elapses between the plowing of the land and the sow- 
 ing of the seed, the land may be fitted as desired, but 
 it more often happens that the seed must be sown so 
 soon after the plowing of the land that it hinders the 
 fitting of the same in the very best form. 
 
 It is not usual to apply fertilizers directly in 
 sow^ing a millet crop, more especially in the north 
 and west. In the north, fertilizers are applied to 
 crops that are considered more important. In the 
 west they are not much needed. But on ordinary 
 soils the yield from this crop will be greatly increased 
 by the judicious use of fertilizers. When they are 
 used it should be in the readily available form, owing 
 to the shortness of the season in which millet makes 
 its growth. If farmyard manure is applied it ought 
 to be in the reduced form and incorporated as much 
 
MILLETS. ^ 191 
 
 as possible witn e surface soil, since millet gathers 
 its food near the surface rather than far down in 
 the soil. When commercial fertilizers are used, they 
 should usually contain a relatively high content of 
 nitrogen, and there are instances in which what are 
 termed nitrogenous fertilizers are needed. 
 
 Sozving. — Millet is more commonly sown broad- 
 cast and by hand. But it may be sown by certain 
 kinds of grain drills in common use. The following 
 objections apply to hand sowing : i. The seed is not 
 buried so evenly, hence the germination is less per- 
 fect than when the seed is sown with the drill ; 2, a 
 considerable proportion of the plants start so near 
 the surface that the loss of plants is greater if the 
 harrow is used subsequently ; 3, the plants have also 
 less power to w^ithstand drouth. 
 
 Whether all the drill tubes should be used in 
 sowing millet or only a part of them depends to a 
 considerable extent on the kind of the millet. The 
 small sorts are usually sovs-n with all the tubes in use, 
 but the larger ones are frequently sown in rows far 
 enough apart to admit of easy cultivation. These 
 rows are in some instances made thirty-six inches 
 apart, but more frequently the distance is not more 
 than thirty inches. The small millets, as the Com- 
 mon, the German, the Hungarian, the Golden Won- 
 der and the Broom Corn, are more commonly sown 
 when the crop is not to be cultivated. But the larger 
 kinds, as the Japanese, should be preferred when 
 subsequent cultivation is to be given. The smaller 
 sorts furnish the more palatable food, but the larger 
 ones produce the better yields, and the crops that are 
 cultivated cau withstand dry conditions much better 
 
192 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 than those that are not so cultivated. The kinds 
 best suited to the needs of any locahty can only be 
 determined by positive test. 
 
 When millet seed is sown broadcast by hand, 
 not fewer than sixteen quarts of seed are sown per 
 acre, nor more than thirty-two quarts. From twenty 
 to twent3^-four quarts may be called average quan- 
 tities. Thick sowing results in a finer growth 
 in the plants, but it is only to be practiced when 
 enough moisture may be looked for to supply the 
 needs of the crop. When the seed is sown in rows 
 far enough apart to admit of cultivating the crop, a 
 few pounds of seed will suffice per acre. 
 
 It is useless to sow millet before the ground and 
 weather are both warm. When the weather is raw 
 and cold for some time after sowing the millet, the 
 germination is pretty certain to be imperfect, and the 
 subsequent growth unsatisfactory. It is usually 
 better not to begin to sow millet until the corn plant- 
 ing has been finished. 
 
 Cultivation. — Millet that is sown broadcast can- 
 not even be harrowed with a light harrow after the 
 seeds have sprouted, without destroying a consider- 
 able proportion of the plants. But when sown with 
 the drill, the plants will not be thus disturbed if the 
 harrow is drawn over the ground with the teeth at a 
 considerable angle, before the plants have reached the 
 surface of the same. And the crop may even be 
 harrowed at a later period if the work is done with 
 sufficient care. But on many soils some form of 
 weeder will do the work more satisfactorily when 
 the seed has been broadcasted. When millet seed 
 is not dear, if more seed were sown than would be 
 
MILLETS. 193 
 
 deemed sufficient, then the crop can be harrowed 
 with benefit to the same after the plants have become 
 well rooted. Notwithstanding the destruction of 
 plants, there will still be enough left, and they will 
 grow much more vigorously than if the crop were 
 not harrowed. 
 
 Cultivation should begin on the crops sown with 
 that object in view soon after the harrowing has been 
 completed. It ought to be frequent and thorough, 
 and shallow rather than deep. It will not be neces- 
 sary to give the crop any hand hoeing unless it is 
 infested with some form of perennial weed which 
 it is desirable to exterminate, as usually it will be 
 ready for being cut before annuals growing in it will 
 have matured their seed. 
 
 Feeding. — The cutting of millet as a green food 
 may begin as soon as any considerable number of 
 the heads have appeared and it may be continued 
 until the crop is ready for being made into hay. Any 
 portion of the same not wanted as green food should 
 be thus disposed of unless it is wanted to produce 
 seed. Millet is sufficiently advanced for being made 
 into hay when all the heads are fully out. As it 
 usually heads out unevenly, the tiny heads appear 
 considerably later than the large ones. Or it may be 
 cut when the heads present a slightly golden tint on 
 looking over the field. If the crop is cut earlier 
 than the stage mentioned, it is lacking in "body," 
 that is to say, weight and full nutrition. If cut at 
 1 later period the stems become woody and the seeds 
 shatter more or less while the crop is being cured 
 and stored. The scythe or the mower are to be used 
 in cutting millet as green food. It is drawn and fed 
 
 13 
 
194 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 as Other green food, in the pasture, paddock, yard, 
 feed rack or stable mangers. It is better not to 
 ahow the crop to wilt overmuch before being fed. 
 But wilting millet of a growth rank and coarse in 
 character will add to its palatability. There is vir- 
 tually no danger from feeding it green. 
 
 If two kinds of millet which mature at different 
 periods are sown separately and at the same time, the 
 period of feeding will be prolonged. The same end 
 may be attained by sowing the same sort with an 
 interval of three to four weeks between the periods 
 of sowing the seed. The period for feeding green 
 millet may thus without difficulty be made to em- 
 brace from six to eight weeks except where the sea- 
 son of growth is very short. When the season of 
 growth is long, the period of feeding may be pro- 
 longed accordingly. But care should be taken to 
 harvest millet before the autumn frosts arrive, as it 
 is easily injured by frost. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 FIELD ROOTS. 
 
 More commonly field roots are grown to pro- 
 vide winter food for live stock, but in some instances 
 they are also grown to provide soiling food. The 
 chief of these are rutabagas, turnips, mangels, sugar 
 beets and carrots. Parsnips are too deeply rooted 
 to admit of their being profitably grown as soiling 
 food, and the same is somewhat true of sugar beets 
 and carrots. The growing of these crops involves 
 much more labor than the growing of a crop of 
 rutabagas, turnips or mangels. And since rutabagas 
 require a period considerably longer to mature than 
 turnips, the latter are preferred for summer feeding. 
 Turnips and mangels are therefore more highly 
 adapted to providing green food than any of the other 
 field roots that have been named. No one of these 
 crops has been grown to any considerable extent in 
 the United States for green food, nor has any one 
 of them been grown for any purpose to anything like 
 the extent to which its feeding value would justify. 
 Ontario, Can., is beyond all comparison the greatest 
 root-producing district in North America. 
 
 The labor involved in growing and feeding 
 these crops will probably form an effective barrier 
 against their general introduction as soiling food, 
 and yet there may be instances when it would be the 
 part of wisdom to grow them. While for all kinds 
 
 195 
 
196 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 of live stock kept upon the farm, roots furnish excel- 
 lent food, they are more commonly fed in the green 
 form to swine, though sometimes also to cows and 
 calves, also to sheep that are fitted for being shorn. 
 They are eminently suited to the needs of young 
 animals, such as calves and lambs, whether fed in 
 winter or summer. Since these crops can oftentimes 
 be grown as a catch crop, and since they furnish a 
 large amount of food per acre, an adequate return 
 may frequently be obtained for the considerable 
 amount of labor involved in growing them, espe- 
 cially when the holdings are small and when green 
 food is to be provided for a limited number 
 of animals. 
 
 As the tops and roots are both fed as green food, 
 large yields are often obtained per acre, in some 
 instances as much as tw^enty-five tons, but the aver- 
 age crop is considerably less than that amount, the 
 yield depending largely on the variety grown. 
 
 Distribution. — The rutabaga, sometimes called 
 the Swedish turnip, is best adapted to cool and moist 
 climates. On this continent, the best crops can be 
 grown north rather than south of the forty-third 
 parallel of latitude, that is to say, north of the south- 
 ern boundary of Minnesota. 
 
 The turnip (Brassica rapa), sometimes called 
 the fall turnip, since it is fed in the fall rather than 
 in the winter and spring, can be grown in nearly all 
 the states of the Union, in several of its varieties, but 
 it, too, is best adapted to moist and not exces- 
 sively hot climates. In the southern part of the 
 United Stales, turnips can be grown in best form 
 on the uplands, unless when grown chiefly in 
 
FIELD ROOTS. 197 
 
 the autumn after the hottest weather for the 
 season has gone. 
 
 The mangel (Beta vulgaris) will endure more 
 heat than the rutabaga, or turnip, hence it has a wider 
 distribution than those crops, but the mangel also 
 may be grown more satisfactorily where the summer 
 temperatures are not excessive, hence the best mangel 
 crops may be looked for north of the fortieth parallel. 
 
 The sugar beet may be grown in good form in 
 what may be termed "wine climates," that is to say, 
 in climates well adapted to the production of the 
 grape. But, like mangels, sugar beets may be grown 
 much further north than grapes, except when vines 
 of the latter are specially protected in winter. 
 
 The carrot (Daucus car of a) also grows best 
 where the summer weather is moist and temperate, 
 but, like mangels, carrots can be grown in season in 
 some part or parts of every state in the Union. The 
 highest adaptation for field roots in North America 
 is found in Oregon, Washington, the New England 
 states, British Columbia, Ontario and the Maritime 
 Provinces of Canada. 
 
 Soil. — All kinds of field roots can be grown in 
 good form on deep, moist, loam soils, and possessed 
 of that degree of admixture of clay and sand which 
 keeps them in a friable condition. But the exact soil 
 conditions best adapted to the growth of each are 
 not exactly the same. Clay soils, for instance, may 
 be made to produce good crops of mangels, but not 
 of turnips, and the proportion of sand in the soil 
 that would aid in furnishing high adaptation to the 
 growth of carrots would be excessive for the best 
 results in growing mangels. Heavy clays are not 
 
198 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 well adapted to the growth of any kind of field roots 
 for soiling uses, since the labor in preparing them for 
 the seed is usually over-much, and the plants grow 
 slowly in them. On the other hand, infertile sands 
 do not produce enough growth. Black loam soils, 
 such as abound on the prairie, have high adaptation, 
 but they are apt to be much infested with weeds. 
 Slough and swamp soils will produce large quanti- 
 ties of such food after they have been drained, but 
 in them the growth of top is relatively greater than 
 in other soils. Peat soils, until reduced, are usually 
 not good root-producing soils. But the gray sands 
 of the Rocky mountain valleys will produce field 
 roots abundantly when supplied with water. 
 
 Place in the Rotation. — Field roots should 
 always be grown as a cleaning crop, whether grown 
 for the roots only or for the roots and tops ; in other 
 words, whether they are grown for winter feeding 
 or for summer and autumn feeding. But when 
 grown for the last named use, they cannot, for vari- 
 ous reasons, be made so complete a cleaning crop for 
 the land, unless they are the only crop grown on 
 the same during that season. The natural place for 
 field roots, therefore, is after grain crops and on 
 soils that need renovation, not only in the sense of 
 being cleaned, but also in that of being fertilized. 
 
 These crops take much fertility out of the land 
 and therefore cannot be successfully grown on 
 depleted soils, unless these soils have first been 
 enriched. But it is a very propitious time to enrich 
 lands when root crops are to be grown upon them, 
 since, owing to the cleaning given to the soil, the 
 crops which follow are enabled to feed upon the 
 
FIELD ROOTS. 1 99 
 
 unused increment in the manure rather than weeds. 
 Grain crops naturally follow root crops, and where 
 clovers and grasses grow well, these are usually- 
 sown at the same time as the grain, singly or in 
 various combinations. But field roots, more espe- 
 cially turnips, may frequently be grown as a catch 
 crop. For instance, a good crop of turnips may 
 frequently be produced after the removal of the first 
 cutting of the clover. The clover roots furnish very 
 suitable food for the turnips. 
 
 Preparing the Soil. — If the roots are to be 
 grown for winter feeding, the soil may be plowed in 
 the fall or spring, according to the climatic condi- 
 tions and the kind of the crop. When the winters 
 are open and accompanied by considerable rainfall, 
 spring plowing will be the best. But where the 
 ground remains frozen from autumn until spring, 
 autumn plowing will be the best. The condition of 
 heavy soils may in some instances be improved by 
 plowing both in the autumn and in the spring. 
 
 The aim should be to secure a clean, fine and 
 moist condition of the land, as the seeds will not 
 germinate in cloddy surfaces with but scant mois- 
 ture. The more free from weed seeds the soil can 
 be made before sowing the seed, the less will be the 
 labor of tending the crop while it is growing. There 
 is no time for sprouting weed seeds after spring 
 opens in growing a crop of carrots, since they must 
 be planted early. Nor is there time for the same 
 when any of these plants are grown as a catch crop. 
 But in growing mangels and sugar beets as the sole 
 crop for the season, there is time for at least a partial 
 sprouting of the weeds. There is more time for 
 
200 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 this in growing rutabagas because of the late plant- 
 ing season, and still more time in growing turnips, 
 since the turnips are planted later than the rutabagas. 
 
 Farmyard manure is excellent for such crops. 
 Where the land is plowed in the fall, the manure 
 should be applied before the plowing is done, except 
 when the soils are leachy. The manure should then 
 be spread on the surface after the land is plowed. 
 It may also be spread on the land in autumn or win- 
 ter when it is to be plowed in the spring. When 
 thus applied in the fresh form in the autumn it 
 becomes incorporated in the soil by the cultivation 
 given to the land before sowing the seed. But unre- 
 duced manure should not be thus applied in climates 
 over-dry. Complete commercial fertilizers are the 
 best for the production of field roots. They require 
 a liberal feeding of phosphates, hence finely ground 
 bones have been found specially helpful in the pro- 
 duction of field roots. 
 
 Sowing. — In localities with ample moisture it is 
 considered preferable to sow the seed of all kinds 
 of field roots in raised drills when grow^n as food for 
 live stock. But where m.oisture is not abundant in 
 the growing season, it is deemed preferable to sow 
 the seed in unraised rows, as the needed moisture 
 escapes more readily from the former. But when 
 sown in raised drills the cultivation given may begin 
 somewhat earlier and the hand hoeing is more easily 
 done. The raised drills can be more quickly made 
 by using a double mold-board plow and a marker. 
 The distance between them will vary with the kind of 
 roots grown and with other conditions, but usually 
 it is not less than twenty, or more than thirty inches. 
 
FIELD ROOTS. 20I 
 
 The seed is commonly sown in the raised drills 
 with a machine which deposits the seed in two rows 
 at a time. This machine is drawn by one horse and 
 is furnished with two rollers, each of which fits 
 down over one raised drill and impacts it in advance 
 of the drill spouts, and also with a light roller which 
 runs behind. In some instances it will prove advan- 
 tageous to run a heavy land roller over the drills 
 before and after sowing the seed. When the weather is 
 dry, the more closely the seed drill is made to follow 
 the drill plow the surer will the germination be. 
 When sown in rows on the level, the ground may 
 first be marked out by some kind of marker and 
 sown with a hand drill when the area is not large. 
 But when the area is extensive, the seed should be 
 sown by seed drills adapted to such work. Some 
 kinds of grain drills will sow seeds thus small. With 
 other drills it is necessar}^ to mix the seed with some 
 more bulky substance, as salt or road dust, before 
 using it. But whatever the mode of sowing adopted, 
 the straighter and more uniform the rows the more 
 easily and perfectly can the cultivation be done. 
 
 The variety that should be sown will vary with 
 localities and can only be determined by actual test. 
 The most popular variety of turnips at the present 
 time, especially in the northern and northwestern 
 states, is the Purple Top Strap Leaf. The favorite 
 variety of mangels in the same is the Mammoth 
 Long Red. As rutabagas, sugar beets and carrots 
 are seldom grown as soiling food, it is scarcely neces- 
 sary to add more on the subject of varieties. But 
 in passing, it may be mentioned that much soiling 
 food per acre may be obtained from some of the half 
 
202 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 long varieties of carrots and without great labor 
 when they can be sown on clean land. Such carrots 
 are easily lifted. 
 
 The same amounts of seed may be sown 
 whether the roots are used for soiling food or for 
 winter feeding. These amounts will vary with the 
 variety, the soil, the condition of the same and with 
 the climate and weather at the time of sowing. But 
 the following may be named as approximately rep- 
 resenting the maximum and minimum quantities of 
 seed to be grown per acre of the different species of 
 field roots that are being considered when grown as 
 food for domestic animals : Rutabagas and turnips, 
 two to four pounds; mangels and sugar beets, four 
 to six pounds ; carrots, two to four pounds. 
 
 The time for sowing the seed will vary accord- 
 ing to the varieties and other conditions. Carrots 
 should be sown as a rule early in the season, mangels 
 and sugar beets a little later. Rutabagas are usually 
 sown two or three weeks later than the normal 
 season of corn planting, and turnips still later than 
 rutabagas. The last named crop will frequently 
 attain a maximum of growth in ninety days. Car- 
 rots, on the other hand, require much of the growing 
 season to complete their growth, and in many cli- 
 mates all of it. 
 
 Cultivation. — As soon as the plants have 
 become far enough advanced to distinctly mark the 
 line of the row, the cultivation should begin. Horse 
 cultivation is usually given first. It should, of 
 course, be shallow and should come as close to the 
 line of the row as possible without giving disturb- 
 ance to the plants. The remaining weeds should 
 
FIELD ROOTS. 2O3 
 
 then be cut out on both sides of the row with tHe 
 hand hoe and without waiting to thin the plants. 
 If the hand hoeing thus given is carefully done, it 
 may not be necessary to bestow upon the crop any 
 more hand labor until it is ready for being fed. If 
 the plants are thinned as when they are grown for 
 winter feeding, the proper distance at which to thin 
 them will vary with circumstances. The following 
 may be given as the maximum distance at which 
 the plants of the various species may be thinned: 
 rutabagas and turnips, twelve inches; mangels, 
 twelve inches ; sugar beets, nine inches ; and carrots, 
 eight inches. The average distance to leave between 
 the plants is about two-thirds of the distance named 
 as the maximum. It is seldom necessary, how- 
 ever, to thin the plants when they are grown 
 as soiling food. 
 
 The horse cultivation given should be frequent 
 and should continue until the leaves of the plants 
 come together or nearly together between the rows. 
 
 Feeding. — The feeding of field roots is a very 
 simple but somewhat tedious process. They are 
 pulled up by hand and laid in piles, or thrown directly 
 into a hand barrow, or some form of wagon or truck 
 drawn by horses. Field roots should only be thrown 
 in piles for future drawing when it is not convenient 
 at the time to have the means of conveyance at hand, 
 or when there may be opportunity to lift the plants 
 a few days in advance of the feeding. This may be 
 done in late autumn without serious injury to the 
 plants, but not when the weather is warm. The 
 roots are of course handled with forks after they 
 have been lifted. 
 
204 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 They may be fed in a pasture or paddock with 
 much advantage when the surface is well sodded and 
 the ground is in consequence clean. They may also 
 be fed in the cattle manger or pig trough, but when 
 so fed some watchfulness is necessary in cleaning out 
 the loose earth from both manger and trough, that 
 drops off the plants. 
 
 The feeding of the crop may begin at any time 
 after the roots have made a growth somewhat ad- 
 vanced. If the feeding begins too early, there will 
 be a loss of nutriment from want of advancement in 
 the growth of the crop. If such food is fed in excess 
 and more especially at the first, it will induce scouring 
 in the animals so fed. It should only be given to 
 cows in milk after the milk has been withdrawn to 
 avoid taint in the milk. 
 
 These crops can probably be fed with more 
 relative advantage to such animals as calves, sheep 
 and lambs and swine, than to matured cattle. The 
 former consume so much less per animal than the 
 latter that it is more practicable to feed roots to them. 
 As a food factor in feeding growing swine and brood 
 sows, they are peculiarly helpful, more especially 
 when the root portion, that is to say, the edible part of 
 the root, has made large development. But in no 
 case should such food be made the sole factor in 
 feeding any kind of live stock. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 
 
 The plants discussed in the previous chapters 
 can all be made to furnish soiling- food in some sec- 
 tions of the United States with more or less profit. 
 In addition to these are other plants, possessed of 
 more or less adaptability in providing such food, but 
 their exact value for this use has not been determined. 
 The number of these is not very large at the present 
 time, but it will doubtless be increased as the years 
 move on. These plants will now be briefly discussed. 
 The following includes those which have been con- 
 sidered as possessed of sufficient promise to merit a 
 place in the discussion ; viz. : White or Dutch clover, 
 sweet clover, Japan clover, sainfoin, trefoil, the horse 
 bean, the velvet bean, kale, the sand vetch, the flat 
 pea, white mustard, the lupine, spurry, the artichoke, 
 prickly comfrey and sunflower. Some of these 
 plants will doubtless be found possessed of no little 
 value in providing soiling food when they come 
 to be better understood. Something will also be 
 said of sacaline, the plant whose merits have been so 
 overdrawn by some seedsmen and others interested 
 in selling it. 
 
 White Clover. — White clover (Trifolium 
 repens), sometimes called Dutch clover is so well 
 known that it is not necessary to give any detailed 
 description of it. It is native to both Europe and 
 
 205 
 
206 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 America. It is already distributed more or less 
 OA'er nearly all the cultivated portions of the northern 
 and central states, and in many sections of the south- 
 ern states it has also been successfully introduced. 
 It would seem to have the highest adaptation for clay 
 loam soils which were formerly covered with forests 
 of hard w^ood trees, or of hard and soft woods grow- 
 ing together. When these were cleared away it 
 seemed to come in, as it were, spontaneously, but 
 never to the extent of becoming a hindrance to culti-^ 
 vation. The ordinar}^ black loam soils of the prairie 
 are not so well adapted to its growth, although it 
 may be grown on these with more or less of success. 
 The soils of the Rocky mountain valleys would seem 
 to have supreme adaptation for growing this plant 
 when supplied with sufficient moisture, and the same 
 is true of the arable lands west of the Cascade moun- 
 tains. 
 
 White clover is probably the hardiest of all the 
 species of clover, hence it can be grown far to the 
 north. As is generally known white clover is com- 
 monly grown for pasture and usually in conjunction 
 with blue grass. Where it has been grown in rota- 
 tions that do not cover many seasons, it does not 
 ordinarily require to be sown again when laying 
 dow^n pastures, as in these the plants will soon appear 
 and sometimes to the extent of forming one of the 
 chief food elements. The plants not only produce 
 others from seed, but also by means of runners which 
 at intervals send down roots into the soil and form 
 fresh plants. But when it is to be grown as a factor 
 of a hay crop it ought to be sown along with the 
 other seeds that are designed to furnish the hay, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 207 
 
 otherwise it is not likely to furnish any considerable 
 proportion of the same the first season. 
 
 Because of the relative lack of bulk in the crop, 
 it is seldom sown by itself for the express purpose of 
 providing soiling food, nor is it often sown in con- 
 junction with other *clovers or grasses for such a 
 purpose. Nevertheless there may be instances when 
 it would be eminently wise to sow it in conjunction 
 with common red, or alsike clover, when it is to be 
 cut for soiling food. It adds to the fineness of the 
 food and also to its bulk. It matures a little later 
 than medium red clover, hence there is probably some 
 advantage from sowing it with the alsike. But it 
 should never be sown to provide soiling food, except 
 under conditions of marked adaptation for growing 
 it successfully. When thus sown not more than one 
 or two pounds of seed are required per acre, as the 
 seeds are quite small relatively. The quantity of the 
 seed of the other kind soAvn should also be reduced 
 by about twice the quantity of the white clover added 
 to the other seed sown. 
 
 Sweet Clover. — Sweet clover (Melilotus alba) 
 sometimes called Bokhara clover, is branching in its 
 habit of growth, and it is of wide distribution. No 
 plant of the clover family will grow over so wide an 
 area and under conditions so unpromising. The 
 heat of summer and the cold of winter would seem 
 to be alike unable to kill it. While it can be grown 
 on the stiffest clays, it will also grow and thrive on 
 sandy soils so light that the winds will carry them, 
 and so lacking in plant food as to be quite bare of 
 grass during all the year. It will also flourish in 
 regions so dry as to forbid the successful growth of 
 
208 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 other clovers in the absence of irrigation. And more- 
 over, it is a plant that not only fills the soil w^ith a 
 mass of strong roots v^hich penetrate the same in 
 various directions and v^hich go down deeply into the 
 subsoil to gather food, but it has also much power 
 to gather nitrogen from the air and to deposit the 
 same in the subsoil. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great powders of growth 
 with wdiich sweet clover is endowed, it has been but 
 little cultivated as yet to provide food for domestic 
 animals. The odor of this plant is highly fragrant, 
 but the stalks and buds possess a bitterness of taste 
 which seems, to a considerable extent at least, to 
 detract from its palatability. The stems also become 
 wood}" at a comparatively early stage of development. 
 
 Heretofore sweet clover has been chiefly grown 
 in America to provide food for bees, but in some 
 instances it has been sown to hinder the washing 
 down of the earth from embankments, which wall in 
 the cuttings made in buildmg railroads. More com- 
 monly it is found growing in vagrant fashion along 
 the roadsides and in waste places, where it is main- 
 tained through self seeding. Because of this vagrant 
 habit of growth, sweet clover has been proscribed as 
 a weed pest by the laws of several states. 
 
 It would seem too bad to allow a plant possessed 
 of so many redeeming qualities to be forever treated 
 as a fugitive. The author cannot but feel hopeful 
 that some time in the future when the seed becomes 
 more plentiful and consequently cheaper, sweet clover 
 will be sown on wide areas in the semi-arid belt 
 along with small grain such as wheat, oats and 
 barley, to help to sustain fertility and to increase the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 2O9 
 
 content of moisture in the soil by means 
 of the increase in humus which it brings 
 to the soil. This can be done by sow- 
 ing the sweet clover at the same time that the 
 grain is sown in the spring and by plowing the crop 
 under the following spring after it has made a vigor- 
 ous growth and in time to plant corn or sorghum. 
 
 Whether sweet clover can be made to furnish 
 green food for live stock in the summer season is 
 problematical. No class of domestic animals is fond 
 of it, but taste in animals, as in individuals, is largely 
 the outcome of habit. May it not be possible, there- 
 fore, so to develop in these a relish for this plant 
 which would justify growing it to feed to them as 
 soiling, food ? In sections where the other clovers 
 will grow, it would probably be a waste of time to 
 try experiments of such a character, but in other 
 localities it may be eminently proper to conduct them. 
 This plant is sometimes made into hay which is con- 
 sumed on the farm. Why then should it be looked 
 upon as a waste of time under all conditions to 
 experiment in feeding sweet clover as a soiling food ? 
 
 Japan Clover. — Japan clover {Lespedeza 
 striata) has been grown in some of the southern 
 states for several years. Little or nothing has been 
 published regarding its behavior in the northern 
 states. But in such of the latter as produce the 
 leading sorts of clover in good form, it is pretty 
 certain that it would not be profitable to grow so 
 diminutive a plant as Japan clover, even though it 
 should be able to withstand the rigors of the winter 
 climate. That it can withstand those rigors is not 
 probable, since notwithstanding the number of years 
 14. 
 
2IO SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 during which it has been grown in the southern states 
 no one apparently is growing it in the northern 
 states. 
 
 Japan clover is a low growing plant which 
 seldom exceeds the hight of sixteen inches. It is an 
 annual, but when not grazed down too closely or cut 
 too early it has much power to reseed itself. Since 
 it grows readily on hard surfaces, this property may 
 be turned to good account. It is considerably 
 branched and has a blue flower. It may be grown 
 on dry soils, but will of course make a more vigorous 
 growth on good loam soils. On the former it only 
 attains the hight of a few inches, and is used as pas- 
 ture. On the more productive soils it is grown for 
 hay. From twelve to fifteen pounds of seed are sown 
 per acre. 
 
 Where Japan clover furnishes sufficient bulk to 
 justify growing it for hay, it may also be grown as 
 soiling food. It will not of course produce nearly so 
 much food per acre as the sorghums, either saccharine 
 or non-saccharine, but it may be grown on soils 
 where these would not produce abundantly without 
 being fertilized. And it may also be grown with 
 much less outlay for labor. 
 
 Sainfoin. — Sainfoin (Onohrychis sativa) is a 
 plant that grows rapidly and vigorously under suit- 
 able conditions. It is sometimes called Aspersette or 
 Esparsette. It is a legume of the clover family, 
 and is much branched and spreading in its habit 
 of growth. The flowers are of a beautiful crimson 
 tint and it seeds profusely under favorable con- 
 ditions. In some parts of Europe, notably in the 
 south of England and in France, it has long been 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 211 
 
 grown to provide pasture for sheep and green food 
 for horses and cattle. It has special adaptation for 
 dry calcareous soils. 
 
 Sainfoin bears no little resemblance to alfalfa 
 in its habit of growth. Like alfalfa it will pro- 
 vide two or more cuttings of soiling food or 
 of hay in a single season, and when established 
 will retain its hold upon the soil for a number of 
 years, though not for so long a period as alfalfa. 
 The same care is also required in making it into 
 hay, or many of the leaves will be lost while it is 
 thus being cured. Because of its early and quick 
 growth it is ready for being cut earlier than red 
 clover. It is thought to be adapted to conditions 
 more dry than would be suited to growing alfalfa 
 in the absence of irrigation. It is rather adapted to 
 mild than to cold climates. 
 
 But little can be gleaned from the reports of the 
 agricultural experiment stations with reference to 
 the growth of sainfoin. It would almost seem as 
 though it had entirely escaped the attention of experi- 
 menters in this country, and yet there is likely to be 
 a place for it in our agriculture as a pasture and also 
 as a soiling crop. It is claimed that when pasturing 
 it there is no danger from hoven or bloat as when 
 pasturing alfalfa, or red clover. 
 
 Sainfoin has been grown with much success in 
 the neighborhood of Deer Lodge, Mont., and it is 
 not improbable that it can be grown with equal 
 success in nearly all the Rocky mountain valleys 
 northward from Montana and also between the 
 coast range and the Pacific. The seed is frequently 
 sown while yet in the sac, and when thus sown from 
 
212 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 four to five bushels of seed are used per acre. Much 
 care is necessary in saving the seed, as it shatters 
 out easily and it also heats readily when stored. 
 The loss in germinating power in the seed when 
 it is thus managed is responsible for many failures 
 in growing this crop. 
 
 Trefoil. — Trefoil (Medicago htpulina) some- 
 times called yellow clover is of several varieties. 
 There are but few places in America in which it 
 has come markedly into favor. Like white clover 
 {Trifoliuin rcpens)it is of wide distribution, but 
 the localities are still very numerous in this country 
 in which trefoil has not been tried. It has much 
 affinity for limestone soils when once introduced 
 into these. So persistent is it oftentim.es in its 
 habit of growth that it is in a sense troublesome 
 where growing crops are to be cultivated. 
 
 Trefoil is recumbent in its habit of growth, and 
 in many localities it is a diminutive plant, but in 
 congenial soils it attains a considerable size. It is 
 more commonly grown along with various other 
 plants in pastures that are intended to be permanent 
 in character. Its ability to maintain itself in these 
 helps to increase its value as a pasture plant. Be- 
 cause of want of bulk in the growth produced, tre- 
 foil is not likely to become popular as a hay plant or 
 as a soiling food. But doubtless there are areas 
 in the United States and in Canada where it would 
 pay to sow more or less of the seed of trefoil along 
 with other clover seed that is sown to furnish soil- 
 ing food. When thus grown it would add to the 
 bulk and to the fineness of the growth in the crop. 
 It may yet be sown on the western slopes of Oregon 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 21,3 
 
 and Washington between the mountains and the 
 sea. 
 
 The Horse Bean.— Th^ horse bean (Vicia faba) 
 is doubtless so named from the extent to which it can 
 be used in feeding horses in countries where its 
 growth has been found profitable. It is sometimes 
 called the Scotch bean, from the extent to which it 
 is grown in that country even almost to the ex- 
 clusion of all other sorts of the bean family. The 
 damp and temperate clim.ate of Great Britain and 
 especially of Scotland has peculiar adaptation for 
 the growth of the horse bean. It is a hardy and 
 vigorous grower. The plants sometimes attain a 
 higfht of four feet and CAxn a greater hight. The 
 pods are numerous and contain from three to five 
 beans of a large size. The average yield per acre 
 in Scotland is not far from thirty bushels. 
 
 The Scotch bean has been found to furnish an 
 excellent food for horses and other domestic animals. 
 It is best adapted to strong loam soils of good drain- 
 age. It is usual to grow the beans in rows twenty- 
 four to thirty-six inches distant from one another, 
 and to cultivate the crop as other beans are culti- 
 vated. The aim is to have the beans about two inches 
 apart in the row. To grow them thus would require 
 from two to three bushels of seed to the acre. 
 
 The horse bean has not been much tried under 
 American conditions. It has been grown to a con- 
 siderable extent however by dairymen in the vicinity 
 of Montreal, Can. In the more dry climate of 
 western Ontario, however, the crop has not proved 
 a success. The author has not been able to secure 
 a good growth of straw^ or of leaves in western 
 
214 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Ontario or in Minnesota, but has seen plants growing 
 vigorously in the Puget Sound country in Washing- 
 ton. Wherever the summer temperatures run high, 
 the horse bean will not succeed. In this fact we 
 have the explanation of the greater success which 
 attends its growth in Scotland than in the south of 
 England or in Ireland. 
 
 In North America the climatic conditions best 
 adapted to the growth of this plant will probably 
 be found in the New England states, in the Mari- 
 time provinces of Canada, and in the country bor- 
 dering on the Pacific north from Portland, Ore., 
 and west of the most northerly range of the Rocky 
 mountains. In those areas this plant should cer- 
 tainly be tried as a soiling crop. In growing it 
 some large variety of peas sown along with the 
 beans would probably add to the bulk of the fodder 
 without lessening the quality of the same. 
 
 The Velvet Bean. — The velvet bean (Mucuna 
 utilis) is a vine-like plant which has been grown for 
 several years past in some sections of the Gulf 
 states as a trellis shade. During recent years it has 
 come to be regarded with more or less favor as a 
 food for live stock, as a mulch for orchards, and 
 as a means of fertilizing and otherwise improving 
 them where the land can be tilled. While it is not 
 considered suitable for providing pasture, it is 
 favorably spoken of as a soiling food, and the hay is 
 said to be superior to that made from cowpeas, since 
 it is less coarse in character. The seeds are very 
 rich in protein, and both vines and grain are said 
 to be much relished by live stock. It has been given 
 very high praise as a source of fertility, owing to 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 215 
 
 the great power which it is said to possess of draw- 
 ing nitrogen from the air. 
 
 When grown as a food crop the velvet bean 
 sends out runners in every direction as watermelons 
 do, and the vines thus thrown out are frequently 
 ten to twenty feet long. They eventually cover the 
 ground with a rank mass of vegetation fifteen to 
 twenty inches deep. The seeds should not be planted 
 nearer to fruit trees of a dwarfish habit of growth 
 than five or six feet, lest trouble should arise from 
 the vines climbing up into the trees and extending 
 around the branches. It begins to fruit not far from 
 the root of the plant, and pods appear in clusters at 
 intervals all along the length of the vine. These 
 pods are brown and velvety in character, hence 
 probably the name, velvet bean. It has been affirmed 
 that the yield of seed on average soils is from twenty 
 to thirty bushels per acre. 
 
 Because of the dense shade which the velvet 
 bean produces, it has been found valuable in smoth- 
 ering various kinds of noxious weeds and grasses, 
 particularly Bermuda grass (Cynodon Dactyl on) 
 and nut grass (Cy penis rotundus). The dense cov- 
 ering which it furnishes to the ground retards in a 
 marked degree the escape of moisture. In dry 
 weather therefore the service thus rendered is in- 
 valuable to orchards. 
 
 The velvet bean is commonly planted in rows. 
 Five feet has been named as a suitable distance 
 between them. From three to five beans are planted 
 in hills at short intervals along the line of the row. 
 The seed should be planted early in the season but 
 not until the weather has become warm. The 
 
2l6 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 cultivation given is the same as for other beans until 
 the runners extend so far that it cannot be longer 
 continued. 
 
 It has been claimed that the velvet bean can 
 be successfully grown when all the conditions are 
 quite favorable to the growth of Indian corn, but 
 this claim is probably extravagant since even in 
 Louisiana the plants do not always mature all the 
 seed produced. It is questionable if the velvet bean 
 in its present form can be made to render substantial 
 benefits to agriculture as far north as the fortieth 
 parallel of latitude. That it will be greatly helpful 
 to the farmers of the Gult states is more tlian prob- 
 able, but rather as a soil cleaner and a soil renovator 
 than in producing soiling food. Owing to the 
 vine-like habit of growth which it possesses it 
 is likely to prove somewhat difficult to harvest. 
 It will not be easy to cut the vines cleanly, 
 and it will be more difficult still to handle them 
 when cut. 
 
 Kale. — Kale (Brassica oleracea) is of the same 
 species of plants as cabbage. In fact, kale may be 
 said to mean any variety of headless cabbage with 
 curled or crinkled leaves. And yet, paradoxical as 
 it may seem, there is a variety of kale grown in Great 
 Britain popularly spoken of as the "thousand-headed 
 kale." It is so called from the many miniature heads 
 which it produces on its numerous branches. It is 
 much prized by flockmasters as a food for lambs. 
 Some varieties of kale are very attractive in color 
 and also in the crinkled character of the leaves. In 
 the United States kale has been chiefly grown here- 
 tofore in gardens for its leaves which are boiled as 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 217 
 
 potherbs. Thousands of acres are grown annually 
 but chiefly for culinary uses. 
 
 The author has not been able to obtain any in- 
 formation with reference to growing it for pasture 
 from an American source other than what has been 
 furnished by the Minnesota University Experiment 
 station. The experiments there conducted have 
 sustained the view that kale has much of adaptation 
 for our conditions, but not more probably than 
 Dwarf Essex rape. When sown early in the season 
 at the aforementioned station, the plants reached a 
 maximum of growth by early midsummer, and when 
 not fed soon after reaching that stage of develop- 
 ment, not a few of the leaves shrank and withered, 
 but not to the same extent as dwarf essex rape leaves 
 grown under similar conditions. When sown later, 
 the plants retained their greenness and freshness imtil 
 the closing in of winter. The growth was on the 
 w^hole not quite so rapid as the growth of rape, but 
 the pasture furnished was equally relished with rape 
 pastvire. 
 
 There is but little doubt that kale can be grown 
 with more or less success in the climate of the 
 United States wherever rape can be grown in good 
 form. It would also seem to be equally probable 
 that it will furnish soiling food that may be fed in 
 the same way as rape. So far as tried in this country, 
 kale does not seem to have any advantage over rape 
 as a food plant, that would justify discarding the 
 latter and growing the former in its stead. 
 
 The Sand Vetch. — The sand vetch {Vicia vil- 
 losa) is being tested by several of the experiment sta- 
 tions, more especially by those in the southern states. 
 
2l8 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 It has also been tested in a limited way by individual 
 farmers. Some who have tested this plant speak en- 
 couragingly of its value as a hay crop. In the judg- 
 ment of the Author its highest use as a food plant 
 for stock will be found in the pasture which it 
 furnishes, and this opinion is based on the results ob- 
 tained from growing it in various w^ays at the 
 Minnesota University Experiment station. 
 
 It is an annual but should be sown in the autumn 
 rather than the spring in climates where it will sur- 
 vive the winter, but when sown in the spring a good 
 growth is frequently made. The plants grow but 
 slowly for a time, but when once firmly rooted run- 
 ners are thrown out in ail directions and the ground 
 is covered with a dense mass of vegetation. But 
 the runners become so intertwined that it is almost 
 impossible to cut them or to pull them apart when 
 cut. Because of this the sand vetch is not likely to 
 become popular as soiling food when sown alone. 
 But if sown as a mixed crop, as with oats or some 
 other kind of grain, the grain acts in a considerable 
 degree as a support to the tendrils of vetch. When 
 thus grown, the mixed crop may be cut without much 
 difficulty and used as soiling food or as hay. 
 
 When sown in the spring and thus used the 
 plants make much aftergrowth which may be pas- 
 tured until the advent of winter by sheep or cattle. 
 When sown alone not less than four pecks of seed 
 should be used, but when sown with another crop the 
 amount of the vetch seed to use should be decreased 
 proportionately as the seed of the other crop is used. 
 The relatively dear price of the seed in the past has 
 hindered the extensive growth of this plant. 
 
220 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 The sand vetch will probably survive the winter 
 except in situations much exposed north of the forty- 
 third parallel, and in certain areas it will probably 
 live one or two degrees further to the north. It has 
 always perished in the winter in th^ trials made at 
 the Minnesota University Experiment farm, but on 
 the Pacific coast it ought to succeed as far north as 
 Alaska. East of the Rocky mountains it is not likely 
 to prove of much value to the agriculture of Canada. 
 
 As the name implies, the sand vetch has much 
 power to grow on sandy soils, and soils low in fer- 
 tility. Its highest use will probably be found in 
 enriching such lands since it is a legume. Its next 
 highest value will probably be found in the pasture 
 which it furnishes, more especially in southern lati- 
 tudes. But it will also be grown more or less for 
 soiling food and for hay and more especially in con- 
 junction with some other crop. 
 
 The Flat Pea. — The flat pea (Lathyrus sylves- 
 tris), although tried more or less fully by not a few 
 of the agricultural experiment stations in the United 
 States, has not come into much favor. Some of the 
 experimenters pronounce against it and others 
 speak discouragingly with reference to it. No one 
 who has tried this plant in America is enthusiastic 
 over it. In no instances have more than two good 
 cuttings been reported per year. 
 
 The flat pea is a perennial. It is partly upright 
 and partly vine-like in its habit of growth. The 
 stems intertwine considerably but not so much as 
 do those of the sand vetch (Vicia villosa). The 
 plants bear no little resemblance to those of the grass 
 pea, but are considerablv larger and coarser. Thev 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 221 
 
 are slow in becoming established, but in soils adapted 
 to their growth they will live for many years, 
 although American experience has not yet determined 
 how many, unless in states where the winters are too 
 cold for growing it successfully. Though it stands 
 the winters of southern Ontario it cannot be de- 
 pended upon to endure those of northern Minnesota. 
 
 The seed is more commonly sown in rows from 
 thirty to thirt3^-six inches apart, and in sowing the 
 same the aim is to have the plants only a few inches 
 apart in the row. The seed germinates slowly. 
 When this fact is linked with the slow growth the 
 plants make the first season, the necessity for clean 
 cultivation during that period of the development 
 will be apparent. The plants gradually extend so 
 as to occupy all the ground. In some areas they 
 produce seed but shyly, more especially where the 
 rainfall is abundant and the growth of the crop is 
 vigorous. 
 
 That the flat pea will ever be extensively grown 
 as a producer of soiling food in the northern states 
 and in the middle states east of the Mississippi river 
 is at least problematical, and for the following 
 reasons: — i. The plants do not usually produce 
 a full crop until the third year from the time of 
 planting, and the seed is likely to be dear for several 
 years to come; 2, other crops can be grown 
 more easily, that are quite as productive of forage, 
 that are more easily handled and that are more 
 highly relished by live stock; 3, the lack of 
 palatability which experimenters complain of will 
 tell against the introduction of the plant, but this 
 may be overcome in part at least by persistent 
 
222 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 feeding for a period more or less prolonged; 4, 
 the plants are not easily harvested owing to the in- 
 tertwining habit of growth in the tendrils. Never- 
 theless it would not be prudent to claim that there 
 is no place for the flat pea in our agriculture. It 
 may yet be grown to provide soiling food or pasture 
 in the south and also in the far west. The sands of 
 the semi-arid country may yet be made to produce 
 this crop where, in the absence of irrigation, they 
 will not produce much else. It is at least worthy of 
 further trial in the volcanic soils of the western 
 mountain plateaus. 
 
 White Mustard. — White mustard (Sinapis 
 alba) is grown more or less as a food for live stock 
 in many of the countries of Europe. Heretofore 
 it has been grown chiefly in gardens, only, in 
 America. But in this country, as in Europe, it may 
 doubtless be turned to good account in furnishing 
 food for live stock. But when so fed it should be 
 as a part of a ration rather than as the whole. When 
 thus fed in proper combinations, it acts as a corrector 
 of digestion. When fed with rape, for instance, it 
 lessens the danger from bloating. When grown 
 as a green food therefore it should be along with 
 some such crop as rape, and the two plants can be 
 cut and fed together. But there is a higher value 
 from growing white mustard along with rape which 
 is to be pastured off. When thus grown the tops of 
 the mustard plants being taller than those of the 
 rape are likely to be eaten first, so that the danger of 
 bloating is thereby lessened. Mustard is not suffi- 
 ciently nutritious to rely upon it as the sole food 
 fed for any prolonged period. Since it is a quick 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 223 
 
 growing plant, it will in time come more or less into 
 favor as a crop to grow for plowing under, but not 
 until the price of seed falls lower than it has been in 
 the past. 
 
 White mustard may be sown any time after 
 the danger of spring frost is past. And the crop 
 should be fed or plowed under before the frosts of 
 autumn blight it. Since it grows rapidly it may be 
 grown as a catch crop and in various ways. A few 
 pounds of seed will suffice to sow an acre when the 
 mustard is the sole occupant of the land, and when 
 sown along with another crop as rape, or kale, the 
 proportion of the mustard seed should not be more 
 than one- fourth or one-fifth of the whole. Although 
 mustard will grow vigorously on almost any kind of 
 soil possessed of a fair amount of plant food, and 
 although it will make considerable growth, even on 
 soils low in fertility, it has a peculiar affinity for 
 loam soils abounding in lime. It grows so rapidly 
 that under some conditions it will be in full bloom 
 in six weeks from the date of sowing. It should 
 be fed rather before than at the blossoming stage, 
 since the stalks quickly become woody. It is prob- 
 able that mustard fed in large quantities to cows in 
 milk would impart something of a pungent taste to 
 the milk. When plowed under the plants should 
 not be allowed to get beyond the blooming stage.' 
 
 There is no danger as with black or brown 
 mustard that the seeds will remain in the soil and 
 thus make trouble. White mustard may be dis- 
 tinguished from the black or brown by the rough 
 hairs which cover the stems of the white kind, and 
 by the -peculiar shape of the pods which terminate 
 
224 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 in a broad two edged shaped beak. The seeds are 
 larger than those of black mustard and are white 
 externally. 
 
 The Lupine. — The lupine is of many species 
 and is native to both the old and new worlds. Some 
 of the sorts are domesticated, others of them still 
 grow wild. The white lupine (Lupimis alhus) is 
 probably the most valuable among the cultivated 
 species. It is an annual. The lupine derives its 
 name from lupus, a wolf, and because of its vora- 
 cious qualities. The long tap roots of the white 
 lupine go down deeply into the soil and there they 
 gather plant food, much of which is deposited in 
 the surface soil. It also produces a very consider- 
 able quantity of vegetable matter the decay of which 
 adds fertility to the soil. 
 
 The cultivation of the white lupine in Portu- 
 gal has been the means of restoring vast tracts of 
 worn out soils. It has also been much grown in 
 Germany to increase the producing power of 
 sandy tracts low in fertility. In Italy, Sicily and 
 other Mediterranean countries it is extensively cul- 
 tivated for forage, as green manure and also for 
 the seeds. 
 
 The attempts made by the author to grow the 
 lupine at the Minnesota University Experiment 
 station have, not been successful. The plants 
 made but little growth, and yet it is almost certain 
 that there are extensive areas in the United 
 States in which the growth of the lupine would 
 be eminently successful and helpful to the cause 
 of agriculture. These can only be determined by 
 experiment. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 225 
 
 Spurry. — Spurry (Spergula arvensis) is a 
 quick growing plant which may be raised success- 
 fully on lands too light and hungry to produce good 
 crops of clover even where the climatic conditions 
 are suitable. It has special adaptation for the light 
 soils of Great Britain and in Denmark, Holland, 
 Belgium and some parts of Germany and Russia it 
 is extensively grown as pasture for cattle and sheep. 
 It is also grown as soiling food, as fodder and as 
 green manure. 
 
 Spurry is a little plant with innumerable 
 branches and foliage very fine in character. It 
 seldom growls to a greater hight than twenty inches, 
 and the average hight is considerably less. The 
 plants have some resemblance to those of flax and 
 the same is true of the seeds. The blossoms are 
 white and are very tiny. The stems interlace some- 
 what so that one is apt to trip in walking through 
 a field of spurry in an advanced stage of growth. It 
 is frequently ready for being pastured or cut as soil- 
 ing food in from six to eight weeks from the date of 
 sowing the seed. 
 
 The attempts made at the Minnesota Uni- 
 versity experiment farm to grow spurry have not 
 met with much success. Those made on the light 
 sandy soils at Grayling, Mich., have been more 
 successful. The highest success in growing the 
 plant in the United States will probably be attained 
 on light sandy soils and under climatic conditions 
 which furnish ample moisture. Whether it will 
 ever be grown at all extensively in this country, in 
 providing soiling food, cannot now be predicted with 
 certaint}^ But it is highly probable that it will be 
 
226 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 made to render more effective service by growing 
 it as a pasture or as a green manure. 
 
 The Artichoke. — The Jerusalem artichoke 
 (Helianthus tuberosus) has been mentioned as pos- 
 sessed of some value in providing soiling food and 
 forage, but the stalks are too large and woody to 
 meet the requirements of a good soiling or forage 
 crop. Cattle will doubtless consume the outer por- 
 tions of the stems and branches and may in time 
 become fond of them, but they are unable to con- 
 sume the coarse woody stems. And there is the fur- 
 ther objection that the stalks are difficult to handle. 
 
 This plant however may be turned to excellent 
 account in providing forage for swine or winter 
 food for other classes of live stock. When con- 
 sumed by swine they feed upon the tubers where 
 they grew. The artichokes are thus eaten in the 
 autumn and winter and even in the spring where 
 the climate does not forbid the same. The plants 
 will render higher service in- thus providing food in 
 areas favored with mild climates, but they may be 
 successfully grown in some part or parts of every 
 state in the Union and of every province in Canada. 
 There are several varieties. The Brazilian is the 
 most commonly grown but the French Improved 
 will give larger yields when grown on congenial 
 soil. 
 
 Prickly Comfrey. — Prickly comfrey (Symp- 
 hytum officinale) has been grown successfully as a 
 soiling food in Great Britain and other countries of 
 Europe for many 3^ears. Some experiments have 
 been made in growing it in the United States, but 
 the reports from these are conflicting. These 
 
< 
 
 1 
 
228 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 reports agree first in regard to the productiveness of 
 the plants, and second in regard to the abihty of the 
 same to grow on hght lands not possessed of high 
 fertility. They also agree in speaking of the little 
 relish which live stock manifest for prickly comfrey 
 when it is first fed to them. But they do not agree 
 as to its value for soiling uses. When fed to live 
 stock at the Ontario agricultural college farm, the 
 live stock did not manifest any fondness for it. 
 Some other experiment stations have reported simi- 
 larly. It may be that domestic animals may be edu- 
 cated to eat it, so that ultimately they will manifest 
 a fondness for it. Were it otherwise there would 
 seem to b^ no good reasons for growing it to the 
 considerable extent to which it is grown in several 
 of the countries of Europe. 
 
 Prickly comfrey is a large leaved plant which 
 grows to the hight of three or four feet. The 
 leaves are long and narrow, and mucilaginous in 
 character. The leaves only are eaten. Enormous 
 crops can be grown. This plant is propagated by 
 means of the roots and in about the same manner as 
 rhubarb, that is to say, pie plant. The roots are 
 fleshy, something like dock roots, and they go down 
 to a considerable distance into the soil. 
 
 This plant is not likely to be grown as a soiling 
 food, at least to any great extent, on the arable soils 
 of the northern and central states, where other and 
 better soiling plants are or may be grown so numer- 
 ously. It may be different however in the southern 
 states where cultivated grasses of the better yielding 
 varieties grow but shyly. A plant that has rendered 
 service in providing soiling food even in England 
 
230 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 where soiling foods grow in such variety, is at least 
 well worthy of a fair trial in all those sections of 
 the United States which are possessed of fair adapta- 
 tion for producing it. 
 
 The Sunflower. — The sunflower (Helianthus 
 annuus) though not suitable for soiling food be- 
 cause of the woody character of the stems is some- 
 times grown to be made into silage. Like the 
 artichoke it is so well known that it will not be neces- 
 sary to describe it. The stems are so woody that 
 they are even considered unsuitable for being made 
 into silage, hence the heads only are used for that 
 purpose. Because of this and for the further reason 
 that the work of harvesting is tedious, as now prac- 
 tised, it is questionable if sunflowers will ever be 
 generally grown as a soiling crop. The difficulties 
 in the way of gathering the seed expeditiously will 
 deter many from even attempting to grow this plant 
 for any purpose notwithstanding the relatively large 
 yield of valuable food that a good crop produces. 
 The Russian is the favorite variety grown at present 
 in the United States. 
 
 The sunflower is of wide distribution and may 
 be grown in a great variety of soils. The humus 
 soils of the prairie are well suited to its needs. It 
 has much power to grow under dry conditions. 
 
 Sacaline. — Sacaline {Polygonum Sachalinense) 
 is a plant that is said to have originated in the island 
 of Saghalin in the Pacific and not far from the 
 coast of Asia. It resembles a shrub rather than 
 a forage plant m the form of its growth. By. the 
 time the autumn arrives the stems that have not 
 been cut during the season are but little less woody. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 23 I 
 
 Fresh shoots are sent up every year however, to take 
 the place of the old ones. The most extravagant 
 statements have been made by certain American 
 seedsmen regarding the great value of this plant for 
 forage. They represented it as possessed of special 
 adaptation for semi-arid climates, as being capable 
 of producing several cuttings of foliage every year, 
 aggregating enormous yields, and as being able thus 
 to produce for an indefinite period. 
 
 Sacaline has been tested hov^ever by nearly all 
 the experiment stations in this country and they are 
 almost a unit in the verdict that it has no important 
 mission to fill on this continent. It does not grow 
 nearly so rapidly as was represented, and the stems 
 become so woody at an early period of their growth 
 that they cannot be eaten by live stock. In no trial 
 made by the Author at the Minnesota Experiment 
 station did the animals show an}^ fondness for even 
 the leaves of this plant. It is propagated chiefly by 
 root cuttings. It is recommended to plant these 
 in rows far enough apart to admit of cultivating the 
 plants. But the agricultural value of sacaline would 
 seem to be so low that to describe further the 
 methods of growing it would be only a waste of 
 space. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SUCCESSION IN SOILING CROPS. 
 
 It will be the aim in this chapter to designate 
 the various crops that may be grown as soiling food 
 in one season and also the succession in which thej 
 may be grown. The task is not easy because of the 
 great difference in the climatic and soil conditions in 
 the various states of the Union and in the provinces 
 of Canada. The only way in which such a designa- 
 tion of soiling crops can be made that will be even 
 approximately correct, is to divide these states and 
 provinces into groups, and then to name the suc- 
 cession in the soiling crops that can be most profit- 
 ably grown in each. This division or grouping of 
 states and provinces, will of necessity have to be 
 based upon similarity in the soil and climatic con- 
 ditions peculiar to each. When those states and 
 provinces have been thus grouped, the succession 
 fixed upon can only serve as a general guide, be- 
 cause of the frequency of variations in soils in 
 states that lie contiguous and also in different parts 
 of the same state. 
 
 In nearly all parts of the United States and 
 Canada, a succession of soiling crops can be grown 
 which will furnish green food from spring until the 
 closing in of winter. The season for growing 
 these crops will of course vary with the differences 
 in latitude and also in altitude. Along the northerly 
 
 232 
 
SUCCESSION IN SOILING CROPS. 233 
 
 limit of the cultivated area in Canada it will be very 
 short, and as the southern boundary of the United 
 States is approached, it may be made to cover nearly 
 all the year. It will be the aim in this chapter not 
 only to point out the succession in which soiling 
 crops may be grown, but to so designate the order 
 to be followed in the same, so as to enable the grower 
 to feed each plant in its proper season, and conse- 
 quently when the greatest benefit will be obtained 
 from feeding it. 
 
 It should be understood however that the suc- 
 cession of soiling crops given below in each of the 
 divisions named is intended to furnish a general 
 rather than a specific guide as to the order in which 
 they should be grown. It would be impossible to 
 lay down hard and fast rules that would in all in- 
 stances furnish an absolutely sure guide to the 
 grower, and for the following reasons : — 
 
 I, There are individual plants which in 
 favorable locations may be made to furnish 
 green food during all the season of growtli. 
 Such are alfalfa and rape. In these areas 
 other plants may also be grown at the 
 same time. In such instances therefore, the ques- 
 tion with the feeder is rather a choice of plants than 
 a succession of the same. 2, Other plants, as vetches, 
 grow vigorously under some conditions, spring and 
 autumn, but not in the summer, hence they are in 
 season for being fed twice a year. 3, When soiling 
 foods are grown as catch crops, the variations in 
 the season of sowing them will prove a disturbing 
 factor to any order of succession that may be fixed 
 upon. 
 
234 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Grouping States and Provinces. — The order 
 followed in grouping the various states of the Union 
 and the provinces of Canada, will be substantially 
 the same as that given in the book on "Forage 
 Crops," previously published by the Author. It is 
 as follows : — 
 
 Section No. i includes all the arable country 
 north of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, and east of 
 Indiana and Wisconsin. In other words it includes 
 the New England states, the states of New York, 
 New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Quebec and the 
 Maritime or Atlantic provinces of Canada. Sec- 
 tion No. 2 covers the country west of the states of 
 Michigan and Ohio, north of the Ohio and Missouri 
 rivers and east of the Dakotas and the province of 
 Assinaboia in Canada, that is to say, it covers the 
 states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
 Iowa, part of Missouri, and the province of Mani- 
 toba in Canada. Section No. 3 includes the states 
 south of the Potomac, Ohio and Missouri rivers, and 
 east of the ninety-fifth meridian of west longitude. 
 It therefore includes the states of Virginia, Ken- 
 tucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 
 Arkansas and part of Missouri. Section No. 4 
 embraces the states west of the ninety-fifth 
 meridian of West Longitude, east of the Rocky 
 mountains and south of the Dakotas. In other 
 words it embraces Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and 
 Texas. Section No. 5 covers the country north 
 from Nebraska, west of Minnesota and Manitoba 
 and east of the Rocky mountains, that is to say, it 
 
SUCCESSION IN SOILING CROPS. 235 
 
 covers the states of North and South Dakota and 
 part of Montana and Wyoming, also the Canadian 
 provinces of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. 
 Section No 6 includes the Rocky mountain valleys 
 north from Salt Lake. It therefore includes these 
 valleys in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, 
 Washington and British Columbia. Section No. 7. 
 embraces the Rocky mountain valleys south from 
 the latitude of the Great Salt Lake. In other words, 
 it embraces these valleys in the states of Colorado, 
 New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California. 
 Section No. 8 covers the narrow strip of land west 
 of the Cascade mountains and north from Cali- 
 fornia, that is to say, it covers the western parts of 
 Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. 
 
 Succession in Section N'o. i. — In Section No. i 
 the climate is more humid than in areas farther 
 west, and the soil has more of the clay content in it 
 than is usually found in prairie soils. This section 
 therefore has high adaptation for plants of the 
 clover family and for other legumes, as peas and 
 vetches. It has high adaptation also for cereals grown 
 alone or in the mixed form^ These crops there- 
 fore should be used to the greatest extent possible 
 in producing soiling food. Corn may be grown 
 for soiling uses in nearly all the tillable portions of 
 this area, and the same is true of rape, millet, field 
 roots and cabbage, and in a less degree of sorghum. 
 The entire section therefore has much adaptation 
 for the growth of soiling foods. 
 
 The succession in which soiling crops may be 
 grown in this section is as follows : — Winter rye, 
 alfalfa, medium red clover, mammoth, and alsike 
 
236 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 clover, peas and oats or peas and vetches, corn, sor- 
 ghum, millet, rape, field roots and cabbage. Som.e 
 of these crops could be grown so as to be in season 
 at successive intervals : Alfalfa and rape are of this 
 class, others are in season simultaneously, as for 
 instance peas and oats, mammoth and alsike clover. 
 The principal soiling crops in a more restricted 
 succession would contain, peas and oats, or vetches 
 and oats, corn or sorghum, and rape or field roots. 
 Where crimson clover can be grown it will be ready 
 for feeding next after wmter rye. 
 
 Succession in Section No. 2. — The medium 
 red, mammoth and alsike varieties of clover grow 
 well in nearly all parts of states included in Section 
 No. 2, but not in the province of Manitoba. Crim- 
 son clover only succeeds in the more southerly areas 
 of the same, and even in these it is not absolutely 
 reliable. Winter rye, m^ixed grains, millet, rape, 
 cabbage and field roots groAv vigorously, but not 
 with an equal vigor in all the area included. The 
 same is true of corn and sorghum, although these 
 grow much better southward than northward. 
 Peas and vetches grow fairly well but better north- 
 ward than southward. The cowpea and the soy 
 bean in some of their varieties grow nicely in the 
 southern part of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, but 
 not so well farther north. Alfalfa grows only in 
 sectional areas. It is evident, therefore, that the suc- 
 cession in the northern third of this section would not 
 be the same as in the southern third. In the former 
 the order in which the leading soiling crops would be 
 ready would be as follows : — 
 
 Winter rye, peas and oats or peas and vetches. 
 
SUCCESSION IN SOILING CROPS. 237 
 
 corn or sorghum, millet, rape, field roots and cab- 
 bage. And the more important of these would in- 
 clude peas and oats or peas and vetches, millet and 
 rape. In the latter the order would be: — Winter 
 rye, medium red clover, mammoth, or alsike clover, 
 peas and oats, or peas and vetches, corn, sorghum, 
 millet, rape, field roots and cabbage. In the central 
 third of the section the most favored varieties would 
 include, peas and oats, corn or sorghum, millet and 
 rape. In the southern third of the same these 
 would include medium red clover, the soy bean, or 
 cowpea and corn, or sorghum. Where crimson 
 clover and alfalfa could be grown, these would be 
 ready for being fed immediately after winter rye. 
 
 Succession in Section No. 3.^^Winter rye, win- 
 ter oats, crimson clover, the common winter vetch, 
 the sand vetch, corn, sorghum, the cowpea, the soy 
 bean, rape and cabbage can be grown with more, or 
 less success in nearly all sections of the several states 
 comprised in this section. The non-saccharine sor- 
 ghums and millet in some of its forms can also be 
 grown at their best in certain sections, but not so 
 generally as nearly all of the various plants previ- 
 ously named. Alfalfa grows admirably in many 
 localities, but does not succeed in others, and the 
 same is true of field roots, and in many sections 
 Japan clover, the velvet bean and teosinte grow with 
 much vigor. More especially is this true of areas 
 that lie within the Gulf states. 
 
 For the northern half of Section No. 3 the 
 succession would be: — Winter rye, winter oats, 
 crimson clover, the common winter vetch, the sand 
 vetch, corn, sorghum, one or more of the non- 
 
238 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 saccharine sorghums, the cowpea, the soy bean, 
 millet, rape, field roots and cabbage. A limited 
 succession would include crimson clover, the soy 
 bean or the cowpea and corn or sorghum in one 
 or more of its varieties. The succession for the 
 southern half of the section would be to a certain 
 extent the same as for the northern half, but in 
 the former more prominence relatively should be 
 given to the sorghums than to corn, and in some 
 sections the velvet bean and possibly teosinte and 
 Japan clover should be given a place in the succes- 
 sion. Where alfalfa can be grown with entire 
 success, as for instance on the bottom lands of 
 Louisiana, this plant alone could be made to provide 
 soiling food for live stock during much of the year. 
 Succession in Section No. 4. — In Section No. 4 
 the variety of plants that can be grown as soiling 
 food is not quite so large. In much of this area the 
 clovers, except alfalfa, could scarcely be taken into 
 account. The millets, at least in the common 
 varieties, would not prove a marked success, because 
 of the dry conditions. The common winter vetch 
 and the sand vetch would not render much ser- 
 vice, chiefly because of the want of moisture. Much 
 prominence ought to be given to alfalfa, especially 
 in Nebraska and Kansas, and to certain of the non- 
 saccharine sorghums as kaffir corn and milo maize, 
 in all the area, because of the marked adaptation for 
 these plants. The soy bean has on the whole higher 
 adaptation to these states than the cowpea. The 
 moisture is also too little to admit of growing 
 rape at its best and the summer temperatures are 
 also too high. 
 
SUCCESSION IN SOILING CROPS 239 
 
 The succession of soiling foods would be some- 
 what as follows: — Winter rye, alfalfa, the sand 
 vetch, the cowpea, corn or sorghum, one or more 
 of the non-saccharine sorghums, pearl millet and 
 teosinte. A more limited succession would include, 
 alfalfa, corn or sorghum, the soy bean and one or 
 more of the non-saccharine sorghums. These crops, 
 except corn and the soy bean, may be made to 
 furnish more than one cutting a year. 
 
 Succession in Section No. 5. — The succession 
 of soiling plants in Section No. 5 is still more 
 restricted than in Section No. 4. The several 
 species of clover are virtually excluded except in 
 some of the river bottoms toward the mountains. 
 In these alfalfa may be grown. The non-saccharine 
 sorghums, the soy bean and the winter vetch must 
 also be excluded. The cereal grains of the small 
 varieties, corn, millet, rape, field roots and cab- 
 bage are the only soiling foods which can be 
 grown in nearly all the area covered by this 
 section. 
 
 The succession in the eastern half of the section 
 would be : — Winter rye, mixed grains as peas and 
 oats, millet, corn, rape, field roots and cabbage. The 
 more restricted succession would include: — Mixed 
 grains, corn, millet and rape. In the western half 
 of the area, the principal crops would be mixed 
 grains and corn, and in the river bottoms alfalfa 
 could be added. Quick maturing varieties of corn 
 would have to be grown in nearly all parts of this 
 section. Sorghum could also be grown in the south- 
 ern portions. Millet grows admirably along the 
 eastern border. But winter rye could not always 
 
240 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 be depended on westward in the section, because of 
 the want of moisture in the autumn. 
 
 Succession in Section hfo. 6. — In the mountain 
 valleys in this section, alfalfa, medium red clover, 
 peas and vetches will probably furnish the chief 
 soiling foods through all time. In the valleys 
 lying southward these crops will be grown under 
 irrigation. On the bench lands adjacent to the 
 mountains, they Avill be supplied with moisture 
 from seepage w^aters percolating downward be- 
 cause of the metting of the snows upon the 
 mountains. In the valleys lying northward these 
 crops will in many instances be grown without 
 irrigation. 
 
 The possible succession of soiling crops would 
 include winter rye, the winter vetch, alfalfa, medium 
 red clover, alsike clover, mixed grains as peas and 
 eats, the sand vetch, rape, field roots and cabbage. 
 The more restricted succession would include alfalfa, 
 medium red clover and peas and oats, or peas 
 and vetches. In the valleys lying southward, much 
 prominence should be given to the winter vetch, and 
 some use could also be made of corn. Alfalfa alone 
 could be made to supply soiling food during nearly 
 all the growing season. Especially is this true of the 
 valleys north of the Canadian boundary. In the 
 semi-range lands of Washington and Oregon where 
 the conditions are dry, and where irrigating waters 
 cannot be supplied, and where also the nights are 
 cool, the succession would have to be restricted to 
 such crops as mixed grains of which wheat would be 
 one of the chief, Austrian brome grass, {Bromus 
 inermis) and rape. 
 
THE HISTORY OF SILOING. 24! 
 
 Succession in Section No. 7. — Much of the 
 soiling food grown in this section would have to 
 be produced through irrigation. Alfalfa alone could 
 be made to meet the requirements, so marked is its 
 adaptation to the conditions of soil and climate. 
 But to create variety such foods as the soy bean and 
 certain of the non-saccharine sorghums could be 
 introduced. 
 
 The possible succession in soiling crops would 
 include, winter rye, alfalfa, mixed grains, as for 
 instance oats and the sand vetch, corn, sorghum, the 
 non-saccharine sorghums, the soy bean, pearl millet, 
 teosinte, rape, field roots and cabbage. The more 
 valuable of these crops would be alfalfa and the 
 sorghums. These could be grown side by side and 
 could at certain times be fed simultaneously. 
 
 Succession in Section No. 8. — In no part of 
 the continent can soiling foods, leguminous in 
 character, be produced in so great variety as in this 
 section. All the leading varieties of clover grow 
 admirably, and the same is true of the leading varie- 
 ties of the vetch and pea. The sand vetch will doubt- 
 less grow well, but because of the ease with which 
 the common vetch can be produced it is not necessary 
 to grow it unless in areas sandy in character. Rape, 
 field roots and cabbage grow in great perfection. 
 But the summer temperatures are low for corn, 
 sorghum, the non-saccharine sorghums and millet. 
 Alfalfa and crimson clover have not been much tried 
 as yet, but will doubtless succeed. 
 
 The possible succession of these crops therefore 
 will include winter rye, crimson clover, alfalfa, 
 medium red, alsike, mammoth and white clover, 
 
 16 
 
242 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 perennial rye grass, peas and oats, peas and vetches, 
 rape, field roots and cabbage. Medium red clover 
 alone could be made to furnish soiling food during 
 much of the season, and the same is true of the 
 , vetch if both the wjnter and the sprii^g varieties are 
 sown, and it is also true of rape. The restricted 
 succession would include medium red clover, vetches 
 and oats, peas and oats, and rape. 
 
PART TWO 
 
 SILOS AND SILAGE 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF SILOING. 
 
 Any discussion of soiling crops that did not also 
 coiisider silos and silage would be incomplete, 
 since it is probably true that more green food is 
 fed in the United States in the form of silage than 
 in any other form. It would not be possible with 
 accuracy to state the number of silos in the United 
 States at the present time but it is probably not less 
 than one hundred thousand, and it is rapidly in- 
 creasing. There is probably no state in the Union 
 without its quota of silos. This fact is very signifi- 
 cant when it is called to mind that over ground silos 
 had not been built in this country prior to 1876. 
 
 Plan of the Discussion. — It will be the aim of 
 the Author to discuss this question from an un- 
 biased standpoint. In reading the various excellent 
 publications that have appeared on the subject in the 
 United States the thought is forced on the mind by 
 all or nearly all of them that they are in a sense pleas 
 for the silo. The men who have written them have 
 been enthusiastic advocates of the silo, and in their 
 enthusiasm they would seem to have overlooked or 
 kept in abeyance the fact, that silos are not equally 
 needed, or equally helpful in the various states of the 
 Union or even in all sections of each state. This 
 enthusiasm is not only pardonable but it has unques- 
 tionabl}^ been positively helpful in hastening the 
 
 245 
 
246 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 introduction and distribution of silos. And these in 
 turn have proved greatly helpful to farmers and 
 more especially to dairymen. 
 
 The present discussion however will not be 
 a plea for the silo. It will look into both sides of 
 the question for it is true that silos are not equally 
 necessary, that they are not equally helpful, that 
 some conditions of farming do not call for their 
 construction and that only certain kinds of 
 crops can be preserved in them with uniform 
 success. The aim will be therefore to discuss the 
 question as it is, and not as the Author might de- 
 sire it to be. 
 
 Definition of Terms. — A silo is a structure 
 designed for the preservation of food in the green 
 and succulent form. The term is derived from the 
 Greek word siros a. pit for holding grain. In some 
 instances it is simply a pit or hole dug in the ground 
 where the drainage, natural or artificial, is sufficient 
 to prevent an undue accumulation of moisture. 
 In others it is a structure of wood, stone or some 
 other building material or a combination of these 
 standing out by itself or within a barn or stable of 
 which it may be said to form a part. More com- 
 monly it is now built entirely above ground although 
 sometimes it goes down for some distance into the 
 earth. The modern silo is usually a structure rather 
 than a pit, as the original idea of preserving food 
 in pits in the ground is but little practiced now, at 
 least in this country. 
 
 Ensilage or Silage, as it is now more commonly 
 called, is green and succulent food preserved in a 
 silo in a green and succulent condition. It is 
 
THE HISTORY OF SILOING. 247 
 
 preserved in the uncut form or after it has been run 
 through a cutting box and is packed more or less 
 tightly according to conditions such as those that 
 relate to the variety of the food, its succulence, and 
 the depth of the silo. Soon after the green food has 
 been placed in the silo fermentation begins and the 
 temperature rises. The air w^ithin the mass is thus 
 expelled and when it is, chemical change virtually 
 ceases. The product thus preserved may be kept in- 
 definitely, providing air is not allowed to penetrate 
 it. Because of this it is important that the sides and 
 floor of the structure shall be practically air-tight. 
 The air is usually prevented from entering from 
 above to any considerable depth by covering the 
 silage v^ith some less valuable vegetable substance as 
 more fully described in Chapter V. 
 
 The principle in making silage is the same 
 virtually as in canning fruits or in making sauer- 
 kraut. When the temperature in the mass rises un- 
 til it attains 122 degrees Fahrenheit the action of the 
 ferments is arrested. As soon as the available 
 oxygen is exhausted chemical change ceases and 
 sweet silage is the result. If however from any 
 cause, as for instance an excess of moisture in the 
 plants, the temperature does not reach 122 degrees 
 Fahrenheit, the acid ferments will not be killed and 
 the result will be sour silage. Sour silage is not only 
 less valuable than sweet silage, but there is usually 
 greater w^aste in making it. 
 
 The terms sweet and sour as applied to silage 
 are only relative terms. There is no line of dis- 
 tinction between them so sharply drawm that it may 
 be said where the one begins and the other ends. 
 
248 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 There is no silage of which it may be said that it is 
 entirely free from acidity. 
 
 Forrnerly the term ensilage was frequently used 
 to indicate the process of storing food green and 
 succulent in the silo. As distinguished from silage 
 the latter was the food and the former the process 
 of making it, but the use of the term ensilage is 
 becoming obsolete. Ensilage and silage are now 
 regarded as synonymous. 
 
 Siloing or Ensiling food is the process of mak- 
 ing it into silage, that is to say, it is the process of 
 putting it into the silo and of curing it in the same. 
 While it cannot be said that these terms have been 
 extensively used by speakers and writers they would 
 seem to express very concisely the idea involved. 
 Why then should any objection be made to using 
 them ? 
 
 A Siloist is a person who makes and feeds sil- 
 age. The term has not been used heretofore to any 
 considerable extent. Possibly it may never become 
 popular since the making and feeding of silage is 
 more commonly an adjunct of farming, rather than 
 the principal work of the farmer, and those who 
 make silage are also usually farmers. The term 
 is certainly wanted however or some equivalent to it 
 for conciseness of statement when designating the 
 relation of those engaged in making silage to the 
 work in hand, why then should it not be adopted? 
 
 Anfiqnity of Siloing. — It is not known when 
 the method of preserving green food by putting it in 
 the silo originated. It cannot therefore be known 
 who was its originator. History is likely to be for- 
 ever silent on this point. Ancient writers speak of 
 
THE HISTORY OF SILOING. 249 
 
 the practice of burying grain in underground pits 
 to save it for future use, or from enemies. It is 
 possible therefore that the idea of the possibihty of 
 curing food on the principle now practiced in making- 
 silage was the outcome of the accident of hiding it 
 from enemies and then finding it in good condition 
 for use after it had been buried for a period more 
 or less prolonged. 
 
 There is ample evidence to show that semi- 
 barbaric races in various countries have not only 
 known of this method of preserving food but to some 
 extent they have practiced it. Notably is this true 
 of certain of the peoples of northern Europe, as for 
 instance, those located in the regions around the 
 Baltic sea, where rainy harvests render it difficult to 
 preserve fodder for animals in the dried form. 
 Their necessities therefore caused them to give some 
 attention to a question that under other conditions 
 would have attracted no attention whatever. 
 
 Utilization of the Idea. — For about a century 
 the preservation of green food by the same method 
 substantially as that followed in making sauerkraut 
 has prevailed to some extent in various parts of 
 Germany. But it was not until the approach of the 
 middle of the present century that attempts were 
 made to preserve food thus on a large scale. The 
 introduction of the manufacture of sugar beets into 
 central Europe is doubtless responsible, in part at 
 least, for the greatly increased attention that then 
 began to be given to preserving food by burying it in 
 pits. It was found a necessity in utilizing sugar 
 beet tops and sugar beet pulp to the best advantage. 
 But even then the process spread slowly owing 
 
250 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 doubtless to the great labor involved in curing green 
 food by the method then practiced.. 
 
 The Earlier Silos. — The earlier silos used by 
 the people of France, Germany and some other' 
 countries in Europe were simply pits or trenches 
 dug in the ground. The material vv^as spread in 
 these in uniform layers and was trodden or other- 
 wise compressed so as to lie compactly. The green 
 food was put into those pits by successive stages as 
 for instance day by day or at intervals more pro- 
 longed. The amount put in at one time was limited 
 to not much more probably than one foot in depth. 
 The object sought by filling thus gradually was to 
 secure a more perfect settling of the mass through 
 the fermentation engendered. 
 
 When the pit was full it was common to cover 
 the green food with a layer of straw or some other 
 dry porous substance. Boards were then laid over 
 the straw and a pressure applied which was not less 
 than one hundred pounds to the square foot. The 
 pressure was commonly secured through weighting 
 with some heavy substance, as by placing stones on 
 the boards or by covering them with earth. The 
 earth thus used was distributed over the pit to the 
 depth of one to two feet. 
 
 In some instances the sides and floor of the 
 pits were puddled with clay, and sometimes the sides 
 were lined with boards. During the later years of 
 siloing on this plan the trenches were occasionally 
 cemented but this was not until a considerable period 
 had elapsed subsequently to the more general intro- 
 duction of this method of siloing. Such were the 
 first silos made in the United States. They were 
 
THE HISTORY OF SILOING. 25 1 
 
 patterned more particularly after the silos built by 
 Goffart the great French siloist whose work is again 
 referred to. His silos were 39.4 ft long, 16.4 ft 
 broad and 16.4 ft deep and they were much circled at 
 the ends. But the laboriousness of the process made 
 it irksome to those who adopted it, and, because of 
 this, American ingenuity set to work to emancipate 
 the siloist from the bondage of so much hard labor 
 when curing green food.' The result has been that 
 the adaptation of the silo to the needs of the general 
 farmer has been almost entirely the outcome of 
 American skill. 
 
 The Modern Silo. — When silos first began to 
 be built on the modern plan, that is to say on the 
 plan of a structure rather than on that of an under- 
 ground pit it was deemed necessary to make the walls 
 of stone and to excavate so that the silo would be, 
 in part at least, below the level of the ground. And 
 even as late as 1885, the practice of covering with 
 boards and then weighting with earth or stones was 
 universal. The idea of making these structures 
 narrow and deep so that pressure would be secured 
 from the silage itself had not yet dawned on the 
 minds of experimenters. The cost of the structures 
 then used was so great and the mode of filling the 
 silo and feeding the silage so cumbrous that it was 
 feared by many that the silo would be helpful only 
 to those possessed of considerable means, rather than 
 to the great mass of farmers. 
 
 It would be interesting to know more of the 
 successes and failures in building silos and making 
 silage during that peculiarly tentative period in 
 American siloing between 1880 and 1890. To get 
 
252 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 this information would mean a search through the 
 file copies of the entire American agricultural press. 
 Much of it has douhtless never been published, since 
 men are prone to cover up the story of failure rather 
 than to hang it up as a beacon for the guidance 
 of others. No question however was more discussed 
 by contributors to the agricultural press during that 
 revolution period in American siloing, and no ques- 
 tion was more controverted. Even the most san- 
 guine advocates of the silo during the decade re- 
 ferred to could scarcely have hoped so soon to witness 
 the completeness of the triumphs won by the modern 
 silo. None would then have dared to predict that 
 the last days of the century would look out over not 
 fewer than one hundred thousand successful silos in 
 the United States. 
 
 It is claimed that the first silo built in America 
 on the modern plan was made in 1876 and that it was 
 erected by F. Morris of Maryland. The first wooden 
 silo built west of the Alleghany mountains was that 
 erected by John Gould of Aurora Station, O., in 
 1884. The province of Ontario took its full share 
 in helping forward the evolution of the American 
 silo. V. E. Fuller, then of Hamilton, erected the 
 first silo built in that provmce on his Oaklands Jersey 
 farm in 188 1. It was located in the bay of the barn 
 and in making it the ground was excavated far down 
 through gravel hardpan. The walls and floor were 
 lined with bricks and the bricks were overlaid witli 
 concrete. Though Canada is not essentially a corn 
 producing country like unto the states in the corn 
 belt, many silos have been successfully built and op- 
 erated in Ontario. The marked attention given to 
 
THE HISTORY OF SILOING. 253 
 
 the dairy industry in that province is largely re- 
 sponsible for such a result. 
 
 The chief centers for silos in the United States 
 are, of course, the dairy centers, as for instance, New 
 York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Illinois. But 
 many silos are now being built in states further west, 
 as for instance, Minnesota and Iowa. In the New 
 England states the number of silos is also relatively 
 large. 
 
 American Progress in Siloing. — The marvel- 
 ous progress in siloing in the United States during 
 recent years is not accidental. The time was ripe 
 for the introduction of the silo. A wave of dairy 
 advance was beginning to sweep over the continent 
 when discussion began as to the merits of the silo, 
 and dairymen must through all time be deeply inter- 
 ested in securing succulent food for their cattle. 
 The attention of a large and intelligent section of 
 the community was therefore at once secured as 
 soon as the discussion began on the practicability of 
 providing green food summer and winter for dairy 
 stock. 
 
 The great extent to which Indian corn is grown 
 in this country proved favorable to success in the 
 earlier experiments in making silage. It is now 
 generally conceded that Indian corn is par excellence 
 the silo plant. The great succ^^ss achieved bv 
 American siloists is in a measure due to this fact, but 
 of course it does not account for the great progress 
 made in improving the silo or in preserving silage. 
 
 Mistakes Made by Early Siloists.— As was to be 
 expected many mistakes were made by the earlier 
 siloists. The silos were unnecessarily costly as 
 
254 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 already intimated. They were sunk too low in the 
 ground. So little attention was given to the preser- 
 vation of the foundation of wood silos when they 
 were first introduced and to providing ventilation 
 for the walls that decay was unduly rapid. The silos 
 were too shallow, hence the pressure of the silage 
 was not enough to secure the best results. The sur- 
 face dimensions were often so large as to make 
 it difficult to properly preserve the exposed portion 
 of the silage while it was being fed. Corn and other 
 green food was oftentimes put into the silo in a form 
 too green, hence it became unduly sour. And in 
 other instances the food was put in too dry which 
 induced mold. These mistakes may now be gen- 
 erally avoided by the siloist who intelligently makes 
 use of the information now available. But it must 
 be acknowledged that many things are yet to be 
 learned about siloing by the average siloist before 
 he will be able to make first-class silage with uniform 
 and unvarying success. 
 
 Literature on the Silo. — Since the introduction 
 of the silo into the United States no question per- 
 taining to agriculture has been more generally dis- 
 cussed. At the outset these discussions emanated 
 chiefly from the men who had experimented with 
 silos and they appeared in pamphlet or book form 
 and also in the agricultural press according to cir- 
 cumstances. Later, experiments were conducted 
 and somewhat numerously at a considerable number 
 of the agricultural experiment stations. The results 
 from these experiments were given to the public in 
 bulletin form. It is evident therefore that much of 
 the literature produced on the subject is fragmentary 
 
THE HISTORY OF SILOING. 255 
 
 and of necessity somewhat crude in its character. 
 More recently however a few individuals have pub- 
 lished books on the subject which cover the same 
 with more or less completeness. But almost without 
 exception it would be correct to say these are pleas 
 for the silo rather than unbiased discussions of the 
 broad question of silage and the silo. 
 
 In the judgment of the Author nearly all of 
 those who have written thus upon the subject in the 
 United States have overestimated the feeding value 
 of corn and its power to maintain animals in good 
 health when fed confinuously as the principal food 
 ration. They have also apparently placed too little 
 value on soiling crops, more especially the legumes. 
 They have underestimated the worth of pastures 
 by viewing them simply as producers of so much 
 food without having sufficiently considered the 
 beneficent influence which they exert mechanically 
 and otherwise upon soils. And they have not 
 sufficiently emphasized the losses from making poor 
 and spoiled silage. However, it is but fitting to say 
 that the enthusiasm which has shut its eyes to these 
 and kindred truths relating to the siloing of crops 
 has been most helpful in fastening public attention 
 on a method of preserving fodder which is certainly 
 capable of bringing great benefit to our agriculture. 
 
 It is now generally conceded that the first book 
 ever written on the silo is from the pen of M. Auguste 
 Goffart, an agriculturist of Sologne, near Orleans, in 
 France. The manual of the Culture and Siloing of 
 Maize is the title of the book in English. It ap- 
 peared in 1877 a^d it contains the results of 
 many years of careful experiment in growing and 
 
256 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 preserving green crops. The appearance of this work 
 did much to arrest the attention of agriculturists not 
 only in France but also in other countries. Although 
 sundry experiments in preserving green crops in 
 Germany and also in some other countries had been 
 conducted previously to the publication of Goffart's 
 book, there can be no doubt that its appearance 
 served in no slight degree to draw public attention 
 to the advantages resulting to the agriculturist from 
 preserving crops thus in the green form. Because 
 of M. Auguste Goffart's early, persistent and abun- 
 dant labors in this work he has been frequently 
 designated "The father of modern silage." His 
 book was translated into English in 1879, by J. W. 
 Brown of New York City. 
 
 In 1875 "The French Mode of Curing Forage" 
 was published in the annual report of the United 
 States department of agriculture. This it is thought 
 was the first discussion of the subject in the United 
 States which treated it in a comprehensive and sys- 
 tematic manner, although previously various articles 
 had appeared in the agricultural press. These re- 
 lated chiefly to European experience. Dr. J. M. 
 Bailey published a work on the subject in 1880. Dr. 
 Manly Miles of the Michigan Agricultural college 
 wrote a work en silos, silage and ensilage which 
 appeared in 1889. Prof. A. J. Cook then of the 
 Michigan Agricultural college published in 1889 
 "The Silo and Silage" and in 1890 a revised edition 
 of the same. This book treats of silos as then con- 
 structed and of silage, as then made, in a very practi- 
 cal way. The "Book on Silage" by Prof. F. W. 
 Woll, of the Michigan Agricultural college, was 
 
THE HISTORY OF SILOING. . 257 
 
 published in 1899. It is by far the most compre- 
 hensive discussion of the question that has yet 
 appeared from the pen of any American author. 
 Other pubhcations have also appeared in Europe on 
 the question, but they are not noticed here since the 
 methods which they recommend are on the whole 
 not nearly so well adapted to American conditions as 
 those submitted by American authors. 
 17 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE BENEFITS FROM SILOING CROPS. 
 
 The benefits from siloing crops are many. 
 Prominent among them are the following: — i, The 
 crops that are thus stored may be harvested in what 
 may be termed a wholesale way. 2, They may be 
 cured, without loss, in showery weather. 3, Green 
 food may thus be furnished all the year from this 
 one source. 4, The food is rendered more palatable 
 and in a sense more healthful when fed as a part of 
 a ration. 5, The silo is economical of space. 6, It 
 is also economical of labor when the food is being 
 fed to the stock. These benefits are however to 
 some extent offset by certain disadvantages. These 
 will be noticed as well as the benefits, and some prac- 
 tical deductions drawn from the discussion. 
 
 Wholesale Harvesting of Crops. — When crops 
 are cured in the silo the labor of harvesting is of 
 necessity done in a w^holesale way, that is to say, it is 
 usually done within a short period, wnth but little 
 interruption in the work, and with a minimum of 
 waste of time on the part of men and teams. The 
 necessity for first curing the food and then handling 
 it again in storing is thus obviated. But these bene- 
 fits are in a measure offset by the difficulty in se- 
 curing the necessary machinery and men to do the 
 work in season. Especially is this true with the 
 
 258 
 
THE BENEFITS FROM SILOING CROPS. 259 
 
 occupants of small farms, and the difficulty increases 
 with the multiplication of silos in any community. 
 It can be obviated in part, but not wholly, by doing 
 the work on some system of co-operation between 
 farmers who are near neighbors. 
 
 Cured in Showery Weather. — Such crops as are 
 suitable for being made into silage may be stored 
 in the silo under conditions of weather quite adverse 
 to the dry curing of the same in the ordinary way. 
 Particularly is this true of such crops as are easily 
 injured by rain, as clover for instance, and the cow- 
 pea. The work of storing may go on in some in- 
 stances without any interruption other than what is 
 caused by the Avork hands seeking shelter from the 
 falling rain. But in other instances more or less of 
 delay would be necessary, as it is possible to store 
 some crops in the silo with too much of moisture in 
 them. Some kinds of crops can thus be saved with 
 but little harm that would otherwise be ruined by 
 excessive wet, and they may also be handled at such 
 times with but little increase in the labor involved 
 in handling them. 
 
 Green Food All the Year. — The silo may be 
 made to furnish green food all the year, and under 
 some conditions more easily than it can be furnished 
 from any other source. There ar^ localities in which 
 soiling crops other than corn or sorghum cannot be 
 readily grown with marked success, and there may 
 be instances in which it would not be convenient to 
 grow them or to command the time required to cut 
 and feed them when grown. Under such conditions 
 a supply of silage in excess of the needs of the 
 stock during winter is helpful, more especially to 
 
26o SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 men, whose cows would otherwise be wholly de- 
 pendent on pastures which may fail with the advent 
 of dry weather. 
 
 There is no method of ijroviding green food 
 even for summer feeding that is so economical of 
 labor. Silage can be taken from the silo and fed to 
 cows in much less time than soiling food could be 
 provided from any other source. And when meal 
 is given at the same time, it may be fed more profit- 
 ably when mixed with the silage than when fed 
 along with other soiling food, without first running 
 the same through a fodder cutter. To prepare green 
 food thus by cutting it up would be impracticable 
 when harvested day by day, unless when a very 
 large quantity was used daily, and where there is an 
 ample supply of help. 
 
 Live stock will also eat such food with avidity. 
 Instances are on record where cows have shown a 
 preference for corn silage over grass, and there is no 
 period of the year, not even when grass is at its 
 best, that they will not eat with evident relish more 
 or less of corn silage when well preserved. The 
 silo therefore may be made to furnish soiling food 
 every day in the year, since it will answer quite well 
 to begin feeding from a silo the day after the filling 
 of the same has been completed, and even while the 
 filling process is under way. 
 
 But it does not follow^ that because live stock 
 may thus be provided with green food that it will 
 not be eminently proper to provide and feed other 
 green food. Corn is not in itself a balanced ration, 
 nor is corn silage and grass, and even though these 
 did furnish a balanced food, a variety is usually 
 
THE BENEFITS FROM SILOING CROPS. 26 1 
 
 preferable to one or two kinds, and a change of food 
 to sameness in the diet. 
 
 If air is excluded from silage it will probably 
 keep for an indefinite period. Nevertheless there 
 would seem to be no good reasons for trying to pre- 
 serve silage for more than one year under ordinary 
 conditions. The additional space required for stor- 
 ing silage intended for feeding more than one year 
 would be unnecessarily costly, nor would any com- 
 mensurate benefits accrue from so doing. There 
 would seem to be no more necessity for providing 
 storage for silage to last more than a year than for 
 providing the same for crops that are cured in the 
 dry form. 
 
 Food More Palatable. — When food is properly 
 preserved in the silo it is certainly more palatable 
 than when fed in the dry form. This means that 
 a less proportion of the food will be wasted in feed- 
 ing. In fact, there should be but little waste in feed- 
 ing silage in any instance and in many instances 
 none at all. However the liability of improper 
 curing must not be lost sight of. It is easily possible 
 to make silage that will not be palatable, as for in- 
 stance, when it is excessively acid, or when it con- 
 tains more or less of dry mold. 
 
 When food is thus fed in a succulent condition, 
 up to a certain limit at least, it acts beneficially on 
 the digestive organs. It tends to relieve consti- 
 pation induced by feeding dry food when made a 
 part of the ration, and consequently it acts bene- 
 ficially on the health of the animals. But when fed 
 in excess, as when it is made the sole ration for any 
 lengthened period, or when it is inferior in quality, 
 
2^2 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 such feeding may injure the animals and even 
 seriously. The difference in the effects produced on 
 digestion by feeding the same kind of food in the 
 green and dried forms respectively, is well brought 
 out in the feeding of grass when in the most com- 
 plete state of succulence and in feeding the same 
 as hay. 
 
 Economy in Storage Space. — The silo is eco- 
 nomical of space in storing food. In other words 
 it requires a much less area to store food in 
 the green form than to store it when dried. This 
 means therefore that a given amount of green food 
 can usually be stored in a silo at a less cost for the 
 storage accommodation than would be entailed in 
 providing storage room for the sarne in the dried 
 form. 
 
 This advantage is however to some extent offset 
 by other considerations. First, it is necessary to 
 make some provision by way of storage for other 
 food. When the expense of providing storage for 
 both green and dry food cannot be borne by the 
 farmer, he can better do without the storage for the 
 green food. Second, the silo in some of its forms 
 wears out more quickly than structures made to 
 receive dry food. The saving in storage space 
 effected by the silo is most apparent when large 
 quantities of food are to be handled. 
 
 Economy in Labor When Feeding. — The silo is 
 economical in labor when feeding the food. It can 
 usually be located so that the food is nearer to the 
 place of feeding than it would be possible to store 
 equal quantities of dr}^ food in the cured form. It 
 is easily handled because of its lack of bulkiness and 
 
THE BENEFITS FROM SILOING CROPS. 263 
 
 because it is more commonly fed in the cut form. 
 More especially is this true of silage fed from a 
 truck in properly constructed stables. It also ob- 
 viates the necessity of cutting or chaffing, as it is 
 sometimes called, other fodder to provide a bulk 
 factor with which to mix the meal fed, since the meal 
 so fed can be mixed with the silage. But these 
 benefits do not apply equally when the silage is made 
 in the uncut form, that is, when it is put into the silo 
 without running it through a cutting box. 
 
 PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 The following considerations based, in part at 
 least, on what has already been said on the benefits 
 from soiling crops will now be discussed, viz. : — 
 I, The benefits from the silo do not apply equally 
 in all parts of the country. 2, Because of this, while 
 in some sections silos are, in a sense, indispensable, 
 in others the wisdom of building them may well be 
 called in question. 3, In the present state of our 
 knowledge, therefore, the relative distribution of 
 silos (if the term may be thus used) in the United 
 States and Canada can only be given with approxi- 
 mate correctness. 
 
 Benefits Do Not Apply Equally. — That the 
 benefits from the silo do not apply equally is easy of 
 demonstration. These will be relatively greater: — 
 I, When more or less difficulty is usually experienced 
 in curing crops in the dried form. 2, In localities 
 where building materials are relatively dear. 3, 
 Where the winters are relatively long. 4, Where 
 the staple crops grown are not easily preserved 
 
264 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 without loss in the dried form. And 5, Where a 
 large number of the farmers relatively are engaged 
 in dairying. 
 
 In the region of the Great Lakes the precipita- 
 tion is frequently so great as to imperil crops while 
 they are being cured. In nearly all of the Rocky 
 mountain valleys rain is practically unknown in 
 harvest time. The necessity for siloing crops in the 
 former therefore will always be greater than in the 
 latter. In the New England states snow falls 
 abundantly and sometimes in the form of sleet. 
 Because of this corn in the shock is oftentimes ren- 
 derd inaccessible during certain portions of the 
 winter. In the semi-arid belt the snow fall is usually 
 light. In the latter therefore the silo is much less of 
 a necessity than in the former. 
 
 In timber areas lumber and other building 
 materials are relatively cheap. Far out on the tree- 
 less prairies they are relatively dear, other things 
 being equal therefore, the benefits from the silo 
 should be greater on the prairie than in the timber 
 country, since about three times as much food can 
 be stored in the silo as in an equal space in ordinary 
 farm buildings. 
 
 North of the fortieth parallel of latitude soiling 
 food cannot usually be provided from the fields 
 earlier than May nor later than November. The 
 further northward from the said parallel that any 
 place is located the shorter does the season become 
 for providing such food. 
 
 On the other hand the further south from the 
 same parallel that any place is situated, the longer is 
 the season during which green food may be provided 
 
THE BENEFITS FROM SILOING CROPS. 26 
 
 directly from the fields. The season, therefore, 
 for providing- soiling food directly in areas as far 
 northward as in Canada, does not cover a larger 
 period than three to four months, other things being 
 equal, therefore, the further northward the location 
 the greater will be the necessity for siloing the food. 
 
 Some crops are much more difficult than others 
 to cure in the dry form. Such are corn, sorghum, 
 the non-saccharine sorghums, the cow pea and the 
 soy bean. The necessity for silos therefore is 
 usually greater when these are staple crops than 
 when they are not. The non-saccharine sorghums 
 however have greater adaptation for dry conditions, 
 as shown in Chapter IV, Part i., hence it is not so 
 necessary to make these into silage, since the weather 
 is favorable to curing them in the dried form. 
 
 Some sections of the country are almost exclu- 
 sively devoted to the production of dairy products. 
 Other sections produce virtually none of these. The 
 close relation between succulent foods and successful 
 dairying is generally recognized. It follows there- 
 fore, other things being equal, that the necessity for 
 the silo will grow with the growth of dairying. 
 
 Silos Not Ahvays a Necessity. — From what has 
 been said in the preceding paragraphs it will be 
 evident that silos are not nearly so much of a neces- 
 sity in some places as in others, and it would not be 
 going too far perhaps to say that in certain areas 
 they are not a necessity to any extent. It is evident 
 that in the moist New England states which produce 
 corn in good form for the silo, the necessity for silos 
 will be greater than in the moist climate on the Pacific 
 coast in areas too cool for the successful growth of 
 
266 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 corn. It is equally apparent that in the states which 
 border upon the Great Lakes, the necessity for the 
 silo is much greater than in the semi-arid belt east 
 of the Rocky mountains, or in the Rocky mountain 
 valleys where irrigation is practiced. In the former 
 corn grows abundantly. In summer there is usually 
 sufficient moisture and in winter the snow frequently 
 falls deep and piles up around the corn shocks. In 
 the latter the precipitation almost ceases in summer, 
 and the snow fall is usually light. Dairying is not 
 much practiced in the semi-arid region, nor is it ever 
 likely to be the dominant agricultural industry in the 
 same. It would not be incorrect therefore to affirm 
 that there is no great necessity for silos in the dry 
 areas west of the Rocky mountains, nor would the 
 necessity for them seem to be very great in those 
 sections of the western and southwestern states 
 which produce alfalfa abundantly. The latter can 
 be cured almost without hazard in those rainless 
 summer areas, on the other hand there may be in- 
 stances even in the semi-arid region and in the dry 
 southwestern states where silos may be made to 
 render good service. 
 
 In some of the corn growing prairie states, it 
 has been argued that silos are a necessity because 
 of the amount of soil that is frequently deposited on 
 the corn or sorghum shocks by the prairie w^nds, and 
 the argument has some force. But the difficulty 
 may be met by stacking the corn or sorghum as soon 
 as cured. 
 
 Distribution of Silos. — By the term distribution 
 of silos is meant their relative adaptation to the 
 needs of various sections of the country. The 
 
THE BENEFITS FROM SILOING CROPS. 267 
 
 discussion of this question will be simplified by 
 dividing the country into sections where the con- 
 ditions favorable or otherwise to the growing of 
 silo crops and to the curing of the same are not 
 greatly dissimilar. The division submitted below 
 may seem somewhat arbitrary, but it will probably 
 be found at least approximately correct. 
 
 Division No. i will cover those portions of the 
 United States and Canada east of the Mississippi 
 river and Lake Superior, and north of the Ohio and 
 Potomac rivers. Division No. 2 will embrace those 
 states east of the Mississippi river and south of the 
 Ohio and Potomac rivers. Division No. 3 will cover 
 the states of the Union and the provinces of Canada 
 west of the Mississippi river and Lake Superior. 
 
 In Division No. i, the silo will always render 
 greater service than in Divisions Nos. 2 and 3. The 
 moist climate that covers much of the area, the rela- 
 tively long winters with the rain, sleet and snow that 
 characterize them, and the general diffusion of 
 dairying throughout the division, emphasize the 
 value of the silo. There is no state of the Union, or 
 province of Canada included in this division in which 
 the silo may not be made to render excellent service, 
 especially to those who keep live stock in any consid- 
 erable numbers. 
 
 In Division No. 2 the silo will be less helpful 
 relatively than in Division No. i, because of the 
 shorter winters and the less attention given to dairy- 
 ing, and they will be more helpful than in Section 3, 
 because of the more rainy character of the climate. 
 
 In Section No. 3, which covers all the best 
 alfalfa producing areas in the United States, silos 
 
268 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 are needed the least, for reasons already given. In 
 a portion of the states which border upon the Mis- 
 sissippi river the harvests are practically rainless. 
 This is true even of the strip of country west of the 
 Cascades in which the precipitation is frequent and 
 almost excessive during the season of growth. In 
 the same area lumber is also very cheap, hence the 
 provision for the storage of crops in the cured form, 
 need not be costly. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Before building a silo the most careful con- 
 sideration should be given to the location, and form 
 of the same, and to many things that have an 
 important bearing on the work. These are such as 
 relate to the size of the silo ; the materials to be used 
 in building it ; the nature of the foundation and of 
 the floor required; the character of the lining; the 
 necessity for partitions and the method of con- 
 structing them; the placing of the doors and also 
 their form; and the character of the roof, when a 
 roof is necessary. A brief discussion of these 
 questions, therefore, will precede what will be given 
 in detail in Chapter IV, and, in regular sequence, 
 regarding the construction of those forms of the 
 silo which experience has shown to be best suited to 
 the needs of the farmer. 
 
 Locating the Silo. — The locating of the silo will 
 depend on conditions such as relate to the amount 
 of barn or stable room available, the relation of the 
 stables to the mows, and to other places where food 
 is stored, the presence or absence of a basement in a 
 barn, and the nature of the climate. 
 
 Other things being equal, the silo should be 
 placed as near as possible to the center of feeding, 
 when it can be located in close proximity to the 
 
 269 
 
270 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 mangers in which the food is consumed, the saving 
 in the labor of feeding is very great, as compared 
 with the same when the silo is more distant. The 
 location of the silo, therefore, should be given the 
 most careful thought. 
 
 In cold latitudes the necessity for good barns 
 and warm stables is much greater than in those that 
 are mild. In the former, therefore, it will be much 
 easier to find room for the silo inside than under 
 conditions the opposite. When the silo can con- 
 veniently be built under cover, that is to say, when it 
 can be made a part of the barn, it ought to be so 
 built. Locating it thus should prove economical, 
 as it will not require to be roofed, unless the top of 
 the silo should project up above the roof of the build- 
 ing of which it forms a part. The wall of the build- 
 ing may usually be made to form one wall of the silo, 
 when the latter is square or rectangular in shape. 
 The exposed surface of the silage, when it is being 
 fed, will usually be sufficiently protected from frost, 
 and the work of feeding may be done without 
 discomfort in the coldest weather. 
 
 A basement barn furnishes ideal conditions for 
 building a silo when the stables for the stock are in 
 the basement, and, in passing, it may be mentioned 
 that when basement barns are properly planned, they 
 are economical of space, in cost of roofing material, 
 and also in construction, at least when their greater 
 duration is taken into account. They are also labor 
 saving while the food is being fed, and they are a 
 source of much comfort to the animals kept in them 
 in summer, as well as in winter, when the manage- 
 ment is as it ought to be. These opinions may not 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 27 1 
 
 be generally accepted, but it is more than doubtful if 
 any one of them can be gainsaid. 
 
 The silo may be made to occupy a section of 
 the basement, and it may be located in the center of 
 one side of the same, or in the center of that 
 part occupied by live stock. In round, or octagonal 
 barns, the silo is usually placed in the center. In all 
 instances in which the silo is built in the basement 
 it is made to extend upward also into the barn over 
 the basement, and in any event, the doors should 
 open into a feed room or passageway. It is usually 
 more convenient to handle the food when the silo 
 can be located so that it will be adjacent to the room 
 in which meal and other food is mixed for the stock. 
 In outbuildings without a basement, the silo may be 
 made to occupy a part of the bay or mow, but under 
 these conditions it can seldom be located so con- 
 veniently for feeding as in a basement, for reasons 
 that will be manifest. And usually the roof of the 
 silo will of necessity be above the roof of the out- 
 building, in order to secure sufficient hight in the 
 silo. 
 
 When the silo must needs be located outside 
 the barn or stable, it should be placed as near to it 
 as possible. If square or rectangular it may be 
 built against the outbuilding. The wall of the 
 latter duly lined will then form one wall of the 
 silo. The doors will then open into the outbuild- 
 ing. If the silo is round, it should, if possible, be 
 placed near to the outbuilding. The distance 
 therefrom should at most be not more than a few 
 feet. A roofed passageway may then be con- 
 structed from the silo to the outbuilding, and into 
 
2^2 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 this passageway the doors of the silo should open. 
 The passageway should he amply provided with 
 light. When silos are located outside the barn, 
 stable or shed m which live stock are fed it is simply 
 impossible to locate them so conveniently to the 
 center of feeding as when they form a part of one 
 or the other of those buildings. 
 
 Diifcrcnt Forms of Construction. — In form, 
 silos have been built square, rectangular, octagonal, 
 and round or circular. Until within a comparatively 
 recent period the rectangular form was usualh'' 
 adopted by those who built silos, but, since about 
 1890 the round silo has come so generally into favor 
 that in a very considerable degree it is superseding 
 the rectangular mode of construction. 
 
 The square silo may be somewhat more cheaply 
 constructed than the rectangular silo of equal ca- 
 pacity, since tlie wall space is not so much. When 
 the conditions are suitable for placing it, and where 
 the size is nicely adjusted to the amount of silage 
 required, the square silo would seem preferable to 
 the rectangular form. But if a division is to be 
 made in the silo, it will prove more costly to make 
 it than in a rectangular silo, since the space across 
 it is relatively greater. Both square and rectan- 
 gular silos are more commonly placed inside of a 
 barn or stable, and within these it is not generally 
 so easy to secure space of the proper dimensions for 
 a square as for a rectangular silo. 
 
 The rectangular silo has been found specially 
 adapted for being placed within a building that is in 
 process of erection or that is already built. When 
 wanted, partitions can be put into it at a minimum of 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 273 
 
 cost, because of its shape. The objections to the 
 rectangular as well as to the square silo are, first, 
 that difficulty has oftentimes been found in keeping 
 the walls from spreading, and so letting air into the 
 silage, and second, that the silage does not settle so 
 readily in either of these forms of silo as in a round 
 silo, hence there is more waste in the silage. Par- 
 ticularly is this true of the corners. Notwithstand- 
 ing these objections, rectangular silos will probably 
 be built for many years to come, hence the method 
 of building them will in due time be given with 
 some minuteness in details. x\nd what will be said 
 of the construction of rectangular silos will also 
 apply to the construction of square silos. 
 
 The octagonal silo as the name implies is a silo 
 with eight sides. The chief advantage gained in 
 this form of construction, as compared with the 
 square or rectangular silo is found in the less acute 
 character of the angles within the same. Also from 
 the nature of their construction, the walls are so 
 strong that they are not liable to spread, at least, 
 not in a silo of ordinary dimensions. Moreover, 
 some saving in lumber is effected by increasing the 
 space between the girts from the bottom upwards. 
 But there are two strong objections to this form of 
 silo. First, it is ill adapted to being placed within a 
 building because of its shape, and second, the ven- 
 tilation of the spaces within the walls is difficult, 
 because of the peculiar construction of the frame. 
 The lining is nailed onto girts rather than onto up- 
 right studs, and these girts being horizontal when 
 in position in the wall, give rise to the difficulty 
 mentioned. Because of these objections, it is not 
 18 
 
2/4 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 probable that octagonal silos will be numerously 
 built. 
 
 Round silos can usually be built more cheaply 
 than those that are rectangular. They have greater 
 relative capacity, and no form of silo can be built that 
 to so great an extent facilitates the even settling of 
 the silage. The chief objections to round silos are, 
 first, that they cannot in many instances be placed 
 within a building without loss of space, and second, 
 that it is scarcely practical to use partitions in them. 
 If the round silo is placed in the center of a circular 
 building, its position there will result in no waste 
 of space, and but little space will be lost if the silo 
 is partly within the building and partly without. 
 But when placed in a mow, or bay, or cellar, it may 
 not be easy to use to the best advantage the space 
 in that part of the square in which the round silo is, 
 and which is not covered by the same. In stave 
 silos partitions cannot be used, as their presence 
 would interfere with the occasional tightening of 
 the hoops which is frequently necessary when using 
 them. In round silos of frame construction a par- 
 tition could be used. But such a partition would 
 materially hinder the even settling of the silage. 
 Notwithstanding the objections stated, the round 
 silo is likely to be the most in favor in the future. 
 It will therefore be carefully considered in the proper 
 place. 
 
 The Size of Silos. — In determining the size of a 
 silo not yet built, several considerations present 
 themselves. These include the size of the herd or 
 flock which at present and also prospectively is to 
 be fed from it, the probable duration of the period 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 2/5 
 
 each year during which silage is to be fed, and 
 also the settling of the silage after it has been put 
 into the silo. 
 
 It should be remembered that if a silo is to be 
 filled quickly, the silage will settle to about one- 
 third of its entire depth. If material is added for 
 silage a second time and perhaps a third time, it mav 
 be possible to have the settled silage fill the silo to at 
 least three-fourths of the entire hight of the same. 
 This, however, will vary with the hight of the silo. 
 The deeper the silo the less will be the unoccupied 
 space at the top when the silage has settled. The 
 capacity of the empty silo, therefore, will be about 
 twenty-five per cent, more than that of the filled silo, 
 and this fact should not be overlooked in determining 
 the size of the silo about to be built. Twenty-five 
 per cent, may be considered too large an allowance 
 for loss of space in the settling of the silage, but 
 something will have to be added for waste from 
 spoiled silage while curing, and from exposure in 
 feeding, hence, a silo should usually be built with at 
 least one-fourth greater capacity than would suffice 
 to supply the needs of the stock, could it be filled to 
 the top with good silage. 
 
 The amount of silage that may be fed daily to 
 a dairy cow varies from, say thirty to fifty pounds 
 per day. Forty pounds per day may be set down as 
 average. The weight of a cubic foot of settled 
 silage varies with the depth of the silo and the part 
 from which it is taken and also with the amount of 
 moisture in the silage. The variation runs from 
 say thirty to fifty pounds. It would therefore be 
 at least approximately correct to say that a cubic 
 
2y6 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 foot of settled silage will weigh about forty pounds, 
 or, in other words, that a cubic foot of such silage 
 will supply a head of cattle with all that it ought to 
 have of that kind of food for one day. On such a 
 basis the proper size for a silo not yet built can easily 
 be computed. 
 
 If the silo is square or oblong, the length in feet 
 inside multiplied by the width and again by the 
 hight, will give the entire number of cubic feet in 
 the silo. The number of days during which an 
 animal is to be fed on the basis stated above multi- 
 plied by one will give the number of cubic feet of 
 silage required to feed one animal for the requisite 
 time. This divided into the cubic feet in the silo 
 after one- fourth has been deducted from the same, 
 will give the whole number of cows to be f^d thus 
 for the time fixed upon. 
 
 For example : — Suppose a silo is to be built to 
 meet the needs of twenty cows for six months in the 
 year. One cow will consume the silage in i8o 
 cubic feet in that time if fed forty pounds of silage 
 daily, and twenty cows will consume the silage in 
 3,600 cubic feet. But since one- fourth of the space 
 is waste one-third of 3,600 cubic feet or 1,200 cubic 
 feet must be added to give the capacity of the silo 
 required which would make 4,800 cubic feet. Now 
 suppose twenty-five feet is fixed upon as the hight 
 for the silo and twelve feet as the width inside, one 
 foot in length of such a silo will hold 300 cubic 
 feet of silage. To hold 4,800 cubic feet therefore 
 would require s silo sixteen feet long inside. 
 
 To find the contents of a round silo in cubic 
 feet, multiply the square of the diameter, in feet, 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 277 
 
 by the hight in feet, then multiply the product by 
 .7854 which gives the cubic contents. For example, 
 suppose it is required to find the contents in cubic 
 feet of a round silo fifteen feet in diameter and 
 twenty feet high, the square of fifteen, the diameter, 
 equals 225, which multiplied by the hight, twenty 
 feet, gives 4,500. This multiplied by .7854 gives 
 3534.3 cubic feet. But one- fourth must be allowed 
 for waste space and vs^aste silage, which leaves 
 2650.725 cubic feet as the capacity of the silo for 
 good silage. This silage will average about forty 
 pounds to the cubic foot which will give 106,029 
 pounds or 53 tons. 
 
 While it may be easily possible to adjust the 
 size of the silo to the present or prospective needs 
 of the stock, it is sometimes wiser to build two or 
 more silos rather than to try to put all the silage 
 into one. In feeding silage, alDOUt two inches irKiepth 
 of the exposed surface should be removed daily to 
 prevent waste from unduly prolonged exposure, and 
 when feeding silage in warm weather, about three 
 inches of the same should be removed daily. In a 
 large silo such a depth of surface would probably be 
 in excess of the needs of the stock. In such an 
 instance, therefore, it would be better to erect two 
 small silos, if built on the plan of the round structure, 
 than to build one large silo of equal capacity. But 
 in rectangular silos the difficulty mentioned may be 
 obviated by putting in one or more partitions. 
 
 Materials Used in Silos.— -Silos differ first, 
 in the materials used in their construction, and 
 second in the form given to them. The materials 
 that have been used in building silos include wood. 
 
278 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 stone, concrete or grout, bricks and metal. More 
 than one class of the materials named is sometimes 
 used in building the same silo. They are desig- 
 nated chiefly by the material used in their construc- 
 tion. For instance a stone silo though lined with 
 bricks is usually spoken of as a stone silo. 
 
 Metal silos, according to Prof. Woll, are built of 
 homogenous steel plate, lapped and double riveted 
 so as to make them tight. They are objectionable, 
 at present, because of their cost ; because of the ease 
 with which frost penetrates them and because of 
 the quickness with which they corrode. It has been 
 computed that they cost about twice as much as 
 stone silos of similar capacity, while the latter are 
 much more enduring. Being easily penetrated by 
 frost, this one objection would render them unsuit- 
 able for use in a northern climate. Nor has any 
 preservative been found up to the present time that 
 can be applied to them inside which will effectively 
 resist for any lengthened period the corroding in- 
 fluences of the silage juices. Because of these 
 objections, metal silos will not be further considered. 
 
 Concrete or grout silos have the walls made of 
 small stones held together by well tempered mortar. 
 In localities where the materials of construction 
 abound, it may be proper to use them, but since in 
 cold climates the walls must be protected by an outer 
 lining of wood with an air space between, their 
 construction, at the best, is costly. When used they 
 should be built circular in form, if practicable in the 
 location chosen, to facilitate the even settling of the 
 silage, and they should also be lined inside with 
 cement, or, if unprotected outside, with bricks and 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 279 
 
 then cement. Since the materials for concrete silos 
 are only found in certain localities, and since the 
 essential features of construction are the same as in 
 stone silos described later, the building of concrete 
 silos will not be further discussed. 
 
 Brick silos, as the name would indicate, are made 
 of bricks. They have not been extensively tried, 
 it may be, because of the costliness of the material. 
 In northerly latitudes they too would also probably 
 require a lining of boards on the outside to keep out 
 the frost, as is sometimes the case with concrete and 
 stone silos, but the walls could, of course, be made 
 thick enough to protect the silage unless such a 
 method should prove too costly. In some instances 
 stone silos have been lined with bricks and with 
 manifest advantage. This feature of the use of 
 bricks in silo construction will be referred to again. 
 Stone silos are, of course, built of stone and mor- 
 tar. Almost any kind of stone of suitable dimen- 
 sions may be used in their construction. The 
 chief objection to stone silos is their costliness. 
 Notwithstanding, when the wide distribution of 
 stone is considered and when its durability is also 
 taken into account, it would seem to be eminently 
 adapted to the building of silos. In the southern 
 half of the United States the outside lining of wood, 
 which some authorities claim is necessary in the 
 northern states, could certainly be dispensed with. 
 Experience is further demonstrating the fact that 
 stone silos may also be erected in the northern states 
 without the necessity of protecting them with an 
 outer lining of wood. -( See Page 320. ) Stone silos 
 are therefore likely to grow in favor. The mode of 
 
28o SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 building them therefore will be discussed at some 
 length. (See Page 317.) 
 
 Wood silos are such as are constructed wholly 
 of wood, but usually resting on a foundation of 
 ■stone or concrete. Because of the relative cheap- 
 ness of construction in the past, there is an over- 
 whelming preponderance in the number of the silos 
 that have been built of wood. The kinds of wood 
 chiefly used in their construction have been pine in- 
 certain of its species, as the white and yellow, the 
 southern cypress and the Douglas fir. But any kind 
 of wood will answer that is durable, cheap and that 
 does not warp. The spruce of the Puget Sound 
 country would probably prove very suitable and 
 possibly the hemlock also. The chief objection to 
 wood silos is their want of durability. In the not 
 distant future they must also become more costly 
 with the increasing dearness of lumber, and as they 
 do stone silos will grow m favor. The construction 
 of certain forms of the wood silo will be discussed 
 at some length. 
 
 Foundation for Silos. — Whatever the form of 
 silo built, it ought to rest on a foundation that is not 
 subject to decay. The foundation therefore should 
 not be of wood. Stone will be the material most 
 commonly used, though there may be some instances 
 in which bricks would be even less costly. Usually 
 the foundation is sunk beneath the line of frost, but 
 this is not always necessary. In soils which hold 
 much water, every care should be taken to carry it 
 away, as fast as it accumulates, by tiles laid for the 
 purpose. When silos are sunk into the ground, it 
 is not necessary to have the foundation go down 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 251 
 
 more deeply than the floor of the silo. And the 
 wall up to the surface should be of stone whatever 
 may be the materials used in the structure above 
 the ground. If the wall is carried up for a short 
 distance above the surface of the ground, and is then 
 banked with earth it will be better protected from 
 surface water. The aim should be to keep the wood 
 portion of silos away entirely from contact with the 
 earth lest decay should be induced. The founda- 
 tion is usually made wider than the structure which 
 it sustains, but not in all instances. The precise 
 character of the foundation for the different forms 
 of silos discussed will be explained when treating of 
 these. (See Pages 297, 310 and 318.) 
 
 Floors in Silos. — If the earth that forms the 
 floor of a silo is dry all the year, no other floor is 
 needed unless rats should begin to make trouble. It 
 there is a liability to the presence of an undue 
 amount of moisture, measures must be taken to 
 carry it away, or much damage will result to the 
 silage. Tiles may be laid around inside the silo and 
 at some distance from the wall. Provision must 
 then be mad^ for carrying away the water that col- 
 lects in these through some outlet which leads to 
 lower ground. And where grout and cement floors 
 are made in silos, the necessity for drainage is all 
 the greater in order to protect the floors as well as 
 the silage. In silos built on the level, drainage is 
 not usually necessary. And in many instances it 
 will be found that the drainage made to protect the 
 wall will also furnish sufficient drainage for the 
 floor of the silo. 
 
 When it is thought best to put in a floor, the 
 
202 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 materials may consist of what is termed grout or 
 concrete. The cement floor may be made by cov- 
 ering the ground to the depth of several inches with 
 coarse gravel or small stones. These are covered 
 with a good coating of water lime, not less than two 
 or three inches, and over all is put a layer of good 
 cement of say half an inch or more in thickness. 
 Where bricks are used they should be laid in cement, 
 and two layers would probably prove more satis- 
 factory than one. Floors so expensive however 
 are seldom necessary. 
 
 It has been claimed that the floor of the silo 
 should slope downward toward the center to facili- 
 tate the even settling of the silage, but whether the 
 end thus sought is certainly attained can scarcely be 
 said to have been proved. When silo floors are 
 thus shaped, drainage where it is necessary, should 
 lead from the center. If the floor is rather higher 
 at the center than the sides, then drainage into tiles 
 laid around inside the walls would be facilitated. 
 
 Linings for Silos. — The various materials that 
 have been used for lining silos include boards, ce- 
 ment, water lime, shingles, brick, metal and tarred 
 paper. 
 
 Board linings are by far the most frequently 
 used in silos, and except in the case of cement they 
 have been found the best. Various forms of board 
 linings have been used. The best results have been 
 obtained from using one thickness of matched lum- 
 ber with tarred paper under it, or two thicknesses of 
 matched boards with tarred paper between. The first 
 is of course the cheaper method and should there- 
 fore be given the preference wherever it will suflice 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 283 
 
 to exclude frost. The surface of the boards should 
 be smooth to facilitate the settling of the silage. 
 
 Cement lirxing has on the whole proved satis- 
 factory, more especially on silos built of stone and 
 lined, or not lined with bricks. More commonly it is 
 used to line stone, brick or grout silos. The acids 
 in the silage have in many instances softened the 
 cement on the surface next to the silage, so thai 
 to a greater or a less extent, the cement particles 
 have crumbled. Because, of this it has been recom- 
 mended to apply cement every alternate year, or as 
 often as necessary, as whitewash is applied. One 
 instance however is reported in which the cement 
 has not crumbled thus. W. C. Edwards, M. P., of 
 Rockland, Ont., built a stone silo in 1890. Inside 
 it was lined with bricks and the bricks were in turn 
 lined with Portland cement of a good quality. In 
 a recent letter to the Author, Mr. Edwards says: 
 "We have not applied whitewash or cement at any 
 time to our silo walls since the silo was first built. 
 There has been no cracking whatever or falling off 
 of the cement." This one fact coming as it does, 
 from a reliable source, would raise a doubt as to 
 whether the scaling off reported in the experience 
 of many, has not been caused by using an inferior 
 quality of cement, or by not properly preparing it 
 for use. The question will stand further investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 Water lime has not proved serviceable as a lin- 
 ing for silos. It has been found that the acetic 
 and lactic acids in the silage dissolve out the lime 
 particles, thus leaving the lining a layer of crumbling 
 sand. In this condition it very readily absorbs silage 
 
284 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 juices, and is so easily penetrated by the tines of 
 the fork used in handHng the silage, that much of it 
 scales off. 
 
 Plaster is even more objectionable than water 
 lime, more especially when applied to wooden walls. 
 It disintegrates even more readily and therefore peels 
 off more easily. The springing of the wooden walls 
 cracks the plaster when it occurs. The acids wet 
 the lining and render it more liable to injury from 
 frost, and when they penetrate to the underlying 
 lath they hasten its decay. 
 
 Shingles answer fairly well for lining, but they 
 add to the expense of the same. Where shingles are 
 used, matched lumber and tarred paper must also be 
 used, hence lining with shingles would seem to be 
 superfluous, and there is more or less danger that 
 they will be loosened or torn off by the fork in remov- 
 ing the silage. 
 
 Bricks not coated with cement do not make a 
 good lining for the silo. They become damp and 
 do not sufficiently exclude the air, but they would 
 seem to be much less objectionable than unplastered 
 stone, even though the stones were smooth. Bricks 
 draw dampness too easily and do not readily exclude 
 frost. Much of the silage adjacent to such walls 
 would spoil and in time the acids from the silage 
 juices would cause the mortar between the stones 
 to crumble and would thus make the walls rough. 
 Brick or stone walls should be kept lined with a high 
 quality of cement. 
 
 Metal lining for silos has not thus far proved 
 a success. Sheet iron and tin have been tried. Pro- 
 fessor F. H. King, of the Wisconsin Experiment 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 285 
 
 Station, who is high authority on such questions, has 
 said that none of the available metals are in them- 
 selves proof against the acids of the silo and that it 
 is scarcely possible to make paint adhere to them. 
 In the meantime therefore expenditure on such lin- 
 ings would be unwise. 
 
 Lining with tarred paper has also proved unsatis- 
 factory. It cannot be kept in place without more 
 or less of furring, and this interferes with the settling 
 of the silage. The paper is also adversely affected 
 with the silage juices, and this in turn injuriously 
 affects the wood under it. 
 
 The stave silo from the very nature of its con- 
 struction does not call for any kind of lining, and 
 this is in itself a strong argument in its favor. 
 
 Perservatives for Linings. — It was popular at 
 one time to apply some preservative to the inner 
 lining of silos in the hope of better preserving the 
 wood in the same. The more common of these 
 include coal tar applied alone while hot, or with 
 resin added, or dissolved in gasoline and boiled 
 linseed oil. It is also applied with black oil added 
 equal in quantity to the coal tar. It has not yet 
 been demonstrated that any of these applications 
 have materially aided in promoting the end sought. 
 It has even been thought that in some instances their 
 application hastened decay. The fact is simply 
 stated without waiting to give the reasons. When 
 these so-called preservatives are used they may be 
 applied with a suitable form of mop or whisk broom. 
 
 In stone silos the cement lining may, when 
 necessary, be made to last longer by applying a white- 
 wash of cement as often as the lining shows any 
 
286 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 indications of crumbling, 1)ut the fact would now 
 seem to be assured that where a heavy coat of cement 
 of good quality is applied to the inner wall of a stone 
 silo, it will last many years without any renewal. 
 
 Partitions in Silos. — It may be regarded as an 
 open question whether partitions should be used at 
 all in silos. The more these are increased the more 
 -will corners be multiplied, the greater will be the 
 resistance offered to the even settling of the silage. 
 They also add to the cost of the silo and unless 
 strongly built they must needs be braced on one side 
 while the silo is being filled, or filling must take 
 place in a sense simultaneously on both sides of the 
 partition. In round silos whatever may be the mode 
 of construction, partitions are objectionable since 
 they make corners where otherwise there would be 
 none, and in the stave silo they cannot be used. It 
 is further claimed that they are not necessary, since 
 after the silage has settled one section of it may ])e 
 fed at a time without great los^s providing it is cut 
 down perpendicularly with a sharp hay knife, on the 
 other hand partitions may be so built as to become 
 an important source of strength to rectangular silos 
 as is shown in Chapter IV. It has been argued that 
 it would be better to build a second silo than to put 
 a partition in one, but this view is certainly not 
 correct except in the case of round silos, since one 
 large silo can be built with a partition more cheaply 
 than two small ones without one. 
 
 WHien partitions are used they may be con- 
 structed variously, i, They may be built the same 
 as the walls of the silo, that is to say, with studding 
 lined with matched boards having tarred paper 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 287 
 
 underneath. The studs may be less in size than the 
 wall studs, and the dead air space should be left open 
 above except when the silo is being filled to lesson 
 the liability to decay. Iron rods may be made to 
 run through the studs in the partition with some 
 form of washer running up and down the wall for 
 some distance on either side of the silo. These walls 
 would very effectively keep the walls of the silo 
 from spreading. 2, Partitions may be made by 
 spiking 2x4 scantlings on top of one another from 
 the bottom of the silo upwards. Iron rods may also 
 be used in this form of partition. They may run 
 along in grooves, made for them in the scantlings. 
 3, Partitions may be made in narrow silos by 
 using planks two inches thick. These are held in 
 place by grooves made in upright timbers which are 
 duly fastened to the wall at either end. If these 
 timbers are beveled away from the grooves the 
 settling of the silage in the corners will be facilitated. 
 The grooves may also be made by spiking two scant- 
 lings three cornered in shape to the wall at a suit- 
 able distance from one another. They can be ob- 
 tained by sawing a scantling diagonally from end 
 to end. When partitions are made, the boards, 
 scantlings or f)lanks used in making them should 
 be planed on the side which comes in contact with 
 the silage, to facilitate the settling of the same. When 
 the silage has settled and is then fed out from one 
 side of the partition, the pressure against the latter 
 from the silage on the other side is not likely to 
 disturb it seriously. It is only when the silo is being 
 filled that this danger must be carefully guarded 
 against. 
 
288 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Doors in Silos. — Whatever the nature of the 
 silo the doors have some features in common. These 
 inckule the following: i, They should usually 
 he placed one ahove the other and on that side of 
 the silo contiguous to the passageway. There 
 ma}^ be instances in which it may be necessary to 
 have doors on the opposite side of a large silo, but 
 tl-fcs.e will be infrequent. 2, The aim should be 
 to confine the number of the doors within the limits 
 of strict necessity because of the difficulty of exclud- 
 ing air at the openings thus made. 3, When it 
 can be m.ade so, the door inside should have a beveled 
 rim fitting into a corresponding bevel on the door 
 when the door is in place. The bevel on the door 
 should be from the inner rim outward. When a 
 door is thus beveled the greater the pressure of the 
 silage against it the more perfectly will the air be 
 excluded. Other peculiarities of construction will 
 be referred to when discussing the various forms of 
 silos described in Chapter IV. 
 
 Roofing Silos. — When built inside of a barn or 
 stable it is not necessary to provide a roof for silos. 
 When built without, and more especially in climates 
 subject to frequent and also to prolonged storms, it 
 will probably prove more satisfactory in the end to 
 provide some form of the same, and the materials 
 to be used will be dependent to a considerable degree 
 on the form of the silo. These will be enlarged 
 upon when the details of construction in the various 
 forms of silos are discussed. 
 
 But it does not seem to be necessary under all 
 conditions to provide even outdoor silos with a roof. 
 The opinion prevails that not to do so would result 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 269 
 
 in much inconvenience and loss from storms, and 
 that in cold climates much loss would result from the 
 freezing of the silage. Nevertheless, in western 
 Ontario and probably elsewhere, many stave silos 
 have been erected which have not been provided 
 with a roof. These are between the forty-third 
 and forty-fifth parallels of north latitude, and some 
 of them have been in use for several years. The 
 owners claim that no serious inconvenience or loss 
 has occurred from the causes named. The heat 
 generated in the silage seems to be sufficient, except 
 in very extreme weather, to protect the same from 
 injury by frost. When the winter climate is colder 
 than that of southern Ontario, there would probably 
 be inconvenience and loss from frost in roofless 
 silos. On the other hand, if, in the wide areas 
 further to the south, it should be found that such 
 silos meet the ends sought, it may not be necessary 
 under certain conditions to go to the expense of 
 building a roof. 
 
 Decay in Silos. — Many of the earlier silos were 
 built of wood and lined with boards. Those built 
 of stone were also in some instances lined with wood. 
 The lining in many of them, as shown by Prof. F. 
 H. King in Bulletin No. lo of the Wisconsin Ex- 
 periment station, showed some decay at the end of 
 the second filling. It would probably be correct to 
 say that the lining in silos will decay in proportion. 
 I, As sealed dead air spaces are enclosed between 
 the linings of the walls; 2, as stone walls are faced 
 inside with wood; 3, as inner lining boards come 
 against sills, beams or girts; 4, as spoiled silage is 
 left piled against the lining within the silo; and 5, 
 19 
 
290 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 as earth is banked against the outer Hning. Sealed 
 dead air spaces have been made by putting strips 
 of furring laid on tarred paper between the two 
 thicknesses of boards which form the inner lining of 
 the silo, and by lining stone silos wath wood inside so 
 as to have a space between the boards and the 
 wood. These can be avoided, as experience has 
 shown that a single lining of wood with tarred paper 
 under is usually a sufficient protection to the silage 
 w^hen the Avooden silo has also an outer lining of 
 boards, and that in stone silos frost can usually be 
 warded off by lining with bricks inside coated with 
 cement. But dead air spaces must needs be made 
 in the walls of wooden silos wdth studding lined 
 within and without, and also when stone silos are 
 lined w^ithout. These can however be easily pre- 
 vented by providing ventilation. 
 
 Such ventilation may be furnished by making 
 the sills and plates a little narrower than the studs. 
 Openings thus made for the escape of the air below 
 and above should of course be next to the outside 
 sheeting. Where provision is not thus made for 
 ventilation, it may 1:»e made by boring a small hole 
 through the outer lining below and above and into 
 the space between each pair of studs. Openings 
 thus made should be protected by some kind of wire 
 netting to prevent depredation from rats and mice. 
 Moreover, if no ventilation is provided in a silo 
 underneath the roof or in the roof, decay will be 
 rapid from the abundance of the gases which rise 
 up out of the fermenting silage. 
 
 Notw^ithstanding tl^- rapid decay in many of 
 the earlier silos, it is easily possible to build wooden 
 
FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 29 1 
 
 silos SO as to resist decay for many years. The 
 first silo built by Mr. John Gould, Aurora Station, 
 O., has not been repaired since it was constructed 
 in 1884, and it is still in a good state of preservation. 
 Since the stave silo has no dead air spaces, it is ex- 
 pected that it will better resist decay than silos that 
 are lined, but some time must elapse before this 
 will be certainly known. Nor is it ordinarily 
 necessary to create dead air spaces in stone silos. 
 When properly built, therefore, they should last for 
 generations. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BUILDING THE SILO. 
 
 But three kinds of silos will be considered in 
 this chapter, viz., the round wooden silo, the square 
 or rectangular wooden silo, and the round stone silo, 
 and, for the reason that nearly all, if not indeed 
 all, the silos erected in the future will pretty 
 certainly be built on one or the other of these 
 plans. The Author inclines to the belief that nearly 
 all the silos built in the immediate future will be 
 made of staves held in place by hoops, hence it will 
 be the aim to give the necessary information 
 relating to the building of these with some degree 
 of minuteness. 
 
 THE ROUND WOODEN SILO. 
 
 When all the conditions are favorable for locat- 
 ing the round silo, that form of silo should be chosen. 
 It has the following advantages: — i. It is more 
 cheaply bu'ilt than the square or rectangular silo 
 since it requires less material whether built of staves 
 or otherwise. Even when built with a frame there 
 is much saving in studding material, because of the 
 less size of the studs used. 2, The circular form 
 is much more favorable to the even settling of the 
 silage, and therefore more favorable to its perfect 
 preservation. This arises, in part at least, from the 
 
 292 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 293 
 
 entire absence of corners in the silo. 3, The tend- 
 ency in the walls to spread is entirely taken away. 
 In the stave silo the hoops when kept properly in 
 place prevent such a result, and in round silos built 
 with a frame the lining w^ithin and without has a 
 similar effect. 
 
 Of the two kinds of round silos, viz., that kept 
 in place by hoops, or the silo built with a frame, the 
 Author most unhesitatingly prefers the former and 
 for the following reasons: — i. It is more simple in 
 its construction and can be built more economically 
 than the other form of round silo. 2, It is easier to 
 exclude the air, because of the opportunity that is 
 always present to tighten the hoops when necessary. 
 3, It is believed that decay will be less rapid in the 
 stave silo. And 4, Experience has already demon- 
 strated that the frost will penetrate some forms of 
 the round frame silo more easily than a silo made of 
 staves. The advantages of the stave silo therefore 
 over the round silo are so clearly drawn that it would 
 probably be safe to predict that the former though of 
 more recent introduction is likely to almost entirely 
 supersede the latter. Since, however, the round 
 frame silo still has some advocates, it may be well 
 to give in brief outline the essential features of con- 
 struction in building the same. 
 
 BUILDING THE ROUND FRAME SILO. 
 
 The round frame silo consists of a framework 
 of studding resting on a stone foundation and linerl 
 within and without with boards laid over tarred or 
 building paper. The frame rests on wooden sills 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 295 
 
 which of course must be circular in form. It is not 
 necessary to have studs of greater size than 2x4 
 inches, nor is it necessary to have them so close as 
 in the rectangular silo. The inside should be lined 
 with two thicknesses of boards put on horizontally 
 and with joints broken in the same. The boards 
 sjiould be about six inches wide and half an inch 
 thick, and should have tarred or building paper 
 between the two layers, or underneath the 
 layer adjacent to the studs. In cold climates it 
 would probably be necessary to have paper on the 
 inside of the studs and also between the board lin- 
 ings. In mild climates one thickness of boards laid 
 on tarred paper would probably suffice for the inner 
 lining. The outer lining may consist of the same 
 material put on as drop siding and with tarred paper 
 underneath or otherwise, according to the nature of 
 the climate. Ventilation must be provided. (See 
 Page 290. ) When the silo is built inside there may 
 be some conditions in which it will not be necessary 
 to put on any outer lining. The roof, like the silo, 
 will be circular, and it will usually be necessary to 
 have a roof w^hen the silo is built outside. 
 
 BUILDING THE STAVE SILO. 
 
 The stave silo may be located within or with- 
 out although more commonly it is placed outside 
 of the stable or barn. Sometimes it is located in 
 one corner of the outbuilding partly within and 
 partly without the same. It may of course be made 
 large or small and may go down into the ground or 
 be placed on the surface. In building it there is 
 
296 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Fig. 30. Section of Stave Silo, showing Foundation Floor and Splicing 
 of Staves 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 297 
 
 much latitude in choice of material for staves, in 
 character of hoops and in furnishing- of the roof. 
 
 The Foundation. — The character of the founda- 
 tion for the stave silo should be determined largely 
 by the character of the soil, and the size of the silo. 
 Stave silos have been placed on the surface of the 
 ground without any excavations whatever other than 
 that made by removing a few inches of the soft 
 surface soil. But in such instances they have stood 
 on a double thickness of bricks laid first in mortar 
 and then in cement. The mortar below should rest 
 on broken stones or gravel. This plan would seem 
 to answer where the soil is perfectly dry and the 
 silo is of moderate dimensions. In other instances 
 the wall is sunk several inches, that is to say, far 
 enough to go down to a firm subsoil. This plan 
 will probably suffice where the subsoil is dry and 
 winter frosts are not severe. In yet other instances 
 the wall goes down a little lower than the frost is 
 expected to penetrate. The wall should be sunk 
 thus far in all soils that are liable to be much dis- 
 turbed by the action of the frost. When it is neces- 
 sary to sink the wall several feet below the surface 
 of the ground, it will usually prove economical in 
 the end to excavate inside the wall to the same depth 
 to which the wall has been sunk. But when thus 
 excavated care must be taken to have the inner sur- 
 face of the wall made smooth with a lining of cement, 
 and to have the circle made by the inside of the 
 staves correspond exactly with the circle of the 
 stonework when lined as indicated. 
 
 The stone foundation should not be less than 
 two feet broad and should come up several inches 
 
298 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 above the surface of the ground. Flat stones are 
 preferable to round ones, but round stones will 
 answer. The wall may be flat on top, but many 
 favor making a shoulder on the outside as shown in 
 figure 30. The staves of the silo should stand inside 
 the shoulder and close against it. If, when the 
 hoops are drawn tightly, the staves should be drawn 
 away from the shoulder, the space should be filled 
 by pouring thin cement into it. 
 
 When building the foundation wall, some 
 authorities recommend digging a trench of the de- 
 sired depth and filling it with stones, putting the 
 largest stones in the bottom. Smaller stones are 
 worked into the intervening spaces, or they are filled 
 with gravel. In either case they are pounded down 
 until quite firm. When the wall is finished, a thin 
 cement is made and poured over the wall so 
 as to go down in the interstices. When it has 
 set, stronger cement is spread over the surface 
 with a trowel. It is questionable, however, if 
 cement thus applied has any advantage in cheap- 
 ness or otherwise over the good old-fashioned 
 mortar for holding in place the stones of a foun- 
 dation wall. 
 
 When a shoulder is not used on the wall the 
 time for striking a circle to serve as a guide in set- 
 ting up the staves is opportune, while the cement or 
 mortar on top of the foundation wall is still soft. 
 In making it a stake may be driven into the center 
 of the floor of the silo. The circle on the wall is 
 then marked by some suitable implement attached 
 to a cord which moves around on the central pivot 
 while the circle is being marked. 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 299 
 
 The Floor. — The floor may be of earth where 
 the soil is dry, of concrete covered with cement or 
 even without such a covering, or of bricks laid in 
 cement. (See Page 282.) Where the soil is dry 
 earth would answer well enough for a floor were it 
 not for the danger arising from depredations of rats 
 and mice especially the former. Because of this 
 danger, the propriety of making a floor secure 
 against such depredations should be carefully con- 
 sidered. 
 
 The Staves. — The staves should be of some 
 material that is relatively cheap and that is not too 
 difficult to obtain. At the present time, white pine 
 is probably the favorite wood in the northern states, 
 cypress in the southern states and the Douglas fir in 
 those of the far west. But other kinds of pine may 
 be used, as the red, the yellow, the Norway and the 
 southern, and also other soft woods, as spruce and 
 hemlock. It is important that the material shall 
 be sound and free from knots that are liable to drop 
 out, and seasoned himber is preferable to that not 
 seasoned. 
 
 The most suitable size for the staves will be at 
 least measurably dependent on the size of the silo 
 and the character of the climate. The larger the 
 silo the broader may the staves be, and the warmer 
 the climate the less is the thickness required. Six 
 inches may be named as the maximum limit for the 
 w4dth of the staves and four inches as the minimum. 
 The usual thickness is two inches, but in mild cli- 
 mates one and one-half inches will suffice. Where 
 the material can be obtained at reasonable prices, the 
 staves should be as long as the silo is high, but since 
 
300 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 such lumber is frequently relatively costly and diffi- 
 cult to get, it may frequently be necessary to pur- 
 chase staves of two different lengths and to splice 
 them. Where practicable, the staves should be 
 sized, and when they are to be spliced the necessity 
 for thus sizing them is increased. Where this can- 
 not be done, care must be taken to keep them even 
 inside when putting them in place. It is absolutely 
 necessary that they shall be planed on the inside and 
 also at the sides, but it will be advantageous also 
 to have them planed on the outside if they are to be 
 painted. It is not necessary to bevel them on the 
 sides unless the diameter of the silo should be quite 
 small. It is thought that even tighter joints are 
 secured in the absence of beveling, nor is it necessary 
 to tongue and groove the staves. 
 
 Setting Up the Staves. — In setting up the 
 staves, various methods have been adopted. That 
 now described is one of the simplest : — Erect a scaf- 
 fold by setting up scantlings at the corners of a square 
 that will exactly enclose the silo. Then just outside 
 the outer circle of the silo and at the points where 
 it touches each side of the square, set up smaller 
 scantlings. Those at the corners may be 4x4 inches 
 and those intermediate 2x4 inches, but scantlings of 
 other dimensions may be used so long as they are 
 strong enough to answer the end sought. Whether 
 or not these scantlings splice by o^^erlapping they 
 should go ivi abcnit as far as the silo is to be high, 
 and they should be set exactly plumb. They are 
 held in position by boards nailed on the outside. 
 Boards one-half inch tliick are then nailed on the 
 inside of the four intermediate uprights. AMien in 
 
BUILDING THE SILO, 30I 
 
 position they form a crude circle. One of these 
 circles should be toward the bottom of the silo, and 
 one toward the top, and in silos that are high there 
 should be a third circle similarly formed midway 
 between these. A stave is then set up erect and 
 plumb. It is held in position by driving a short nail 
 through the hoop into the stave, but the nail 
 must not go through the stave. Another stave 
 is similarly put up and fastened, and in the same way 
 all the staves are set up. As soon as the hoops are 
 put on they draw the nails in the temporary hoops 
 away from the staves, so that the former are easily 
 removed. When in position the staves may be flush 
 with the inside of the foundation, may stand in the 
 center of the same, or may rest against a shoulder 
 of the foundation as may be desired. In Bulletin 
 No. 167 of the Cornell university experiment station 
 it is recommended that in setting up the staves of a 
 silo, four staves shall be used on opposite sides of 
 the same which shall be several inches thicker than 
 the other staves of the silo. The hoops of the silo 
 are carried through these uprights, which makes it 
 easily possible to tighten the hoops without the aid 
 of keys, but they add materially to the labor of con- 
 struction. It would seem to be at least questionable 
 if such uprights will come into common use. 
 
 Splicing the Staves. — When it is necessary to 
 splice the staves in a silo, one of at least two methods 
 may be adopted. First, the ends may be cut squarely 
 and with precision in a miter box. In this way a 
 reasonably smooth joint is made. The joints where 
 the staves thus meet are broken, that is to say, in 
 one instance the short stave is put at the top of the 
 
302 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 silo and in the next at the bottom of the same. The 
 short staves should be about one-half the length of 
 the lono-er ones. The staves thus alternate all the 
 way around the circle. The alternate joints thus 
 describe two circles around the silo as shown in Fig. 
 30. This form of joint should be covered with flat 
 hoops of band iron to aid in excluding the air. 
 When the staves have been carefully sized, this form 
 of splice may possibly be found to answer, but this 
 does not yet appear to have been conclusively proved 
 by experience. Whatever may be the form of the splice 
 adopted, provision must be made for having it come 
 where it will not interfere with doors and where 
 the joints may be thus covered with hoops of band 
 iron. 
 
 A second form of splice is made similarly, but 
 with the following addition: Saw about three- 
 fourths of an inch into the end of each stave the 
 wide way. A piece of sheet iron of the same width 
 as the stave is placed into the incision thus made as 
 the ends of the two staves are being brought together 
 (see Fig. 31). It may yet be found that sheet iron 
 thus used may corrode too quickly. 
 
 Hoops. — At least three kinds of hoops have 
 been used in stave silos. These are the round, the 
 flat and the woven wire. All three of course are 
 iron. Round hoops are usually from five-eighths 
 to three-fourths inches in diameter, and are held in 
 place by lugs or castings, as shown in Fig 32. 
 These have eyes through which the ends of the rods 
 come. When it is desired to tighten the hoops, the 
 burrs are tightened with a wrench. It is claimed that 
 round hoops are more easily tightened than flat ones, 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 303 
 
 Fig. 3l. Splice of Stave with Iron Tongue 
 
304 
 
 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 but they also cut into the staves, which is somewhat 
 objectionable. 
 
 Flat hoops are usually made of band iron one- 
 eighth of an inch thick and varying in width from, 
 say, two and one-half to three and one-half inches 
 with the size of the silo. These two are held in place 
 by lugs which differ in some respects from those used 
 to hold the round hoops in place, but the principle 
 involved is the same. For a silo sixteen feet in 
 diameter, each complete hoop wdiich encircles the 
 
 Fig. 32. Lugs for Hoops 
 
 a, Cast-iron lugs for round hoops. 
 
 b. Wedge lug for flat hoops. 
 
 same should consist of two separate pieces, and for 
 one with a much greater diameter, of three such 
 pieces. There is then less of a strain on the thrends 
 while the burrs are being tightened. The lugs of 
 the various hoops should also be distributed rather 
 than rise one above another in a straight line. 
 
 Woven wire hoops are sometimes used when 
 the silos are small. These vary in width with the 
 requirements of the silcx The power which some 
 kinds of woven wire have to contract and expand 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 305 
 
 with the needs of the silo has led to their being used 
 by some silo builders. 
 
 The distance of the hoops from one another 
 should be regulated almost entirely by the size of 
 the silo. The greater the diameter of the silo and 
 the higher it is the closer should the hoops be placed, 
 especially toward its base. For a silo sixteen feet 
 in diameter the lower edge of the first hoop should 
 be within about six inches of the base of the staves. 
 The space between the lowest hoop and the one next 
 above it should be two feet. The space between 
 each additional hoop added, and the one next below 
 it should increase six inches. But four feet should 
 be the limit in distance between any two adjacent 
 hoops in such a silo. On the approach of the season 
 of filling the silo, it should be examined and the 
 hoops tightened when this may be necessary, but it 
 should be borne in mind that it is possible to draw 
 ■ the hoops too tight, since the staves will swell some- 
 what after the silo has been filled. 
 
 The Doors. — The doors should be in line, one 
 above another. They should be no larger than will 
 suffice to admit of the easy ingress and egress of the 
 person who removes the silage. Doors eighteen 
 by twenty-four inches on the outside will usually be 
 amply large. The bottom of the first or lowest door 
 should be not less than three feet from the bottom 
 of the silo, and in some instances, as when a horse 
 cart is used for drawing the silage, it ought to be 
 higher than three feet. But when the pit of the silo 
 is sunk down some distance below the surface of the 
 ground the bottom door should be placed as low as 
 possible. The distance between the . doors should 
 20 
 
3o6 
 
 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 not be less than five feet, and the space for these 
 ought to be so calculated as not to interfere with the 
 placing of the hoops, and vice versa. 
 
 The doors should be cut out after the staves 
 have been put in place and drawn tightly together. 
 They should be cut with a bevel on each of the four 
 sides and the beveled sides of the door should be 
 outward when it is in place. The pressure of the 
 
 a b 
 
 Fig 33. Door of Stave Silo 
 
 a, View of outside of door ; h, side view of door. 
 
 silage when settling will then assist in the exclusion 
 of the air at the doors just in proportion to the extent 
 to which the said pressure exists. To aid further 
 in such exclusion of air, a strip of tarred paper 
 should be tacked on each of the beveled edges of 
 the door. Before sawing out the door, two cleats 
 should be bolted across the staves on the outside. 
 These are shown in the door as represented in Fig. 
 33. The end of the bolt which receives the burr 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 
 
 307 
 
 should be outward, and the heads of the same coun- 
 tersunk on the inside. The doors should be carefully 
 numbered on the outside so that each will be used 
 
 Fig 34. View of Stave Silo 
 
 With shute, ladder and hand-cart 
 
 only in its proper place, or they may be so fastened 
 with chains to the outer wall as to hang suspended 
 when for the time being they are not in use. 
 
 The Shute, — In a large majority of instances 
 
308 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 it will be advantageous to make a shute down which 
 the silage falls when it is thrown out at any of the 
 doors. The shute is simply a box with three sides, 
 extending upward from below, the lower door of 
 the silo and covering the doors. The proper size 
 will be about two feet square. A ladder should 
 extend upward on one side of the shute and inside 
 of it on which the person climbs when 'going into or 
 coming out of the silo. Usually a floor is put into 
 the shute and from this the silage slides outward 
 into a cart placed under the same to receive it. 
 When the silo stands outside the stable and near to 
 the same, the shute should come down into the 
 passagev.^ay, as shown in Fig. 34. This passage- 
 way between the silo and the building need not be 
 more than seven feet high inside. It should have 
 windows in it to admit ample light. 
 
 The Roof. — In climates not too cold nor too 
 rainy, stave silos may be left without a roof. (See 
 Page 288.) For silos that are located quite near 
 to the stable, a roof may be made as shown in Bulle- 
 tin No. 167 of the Cornell university experiment 
 station, that is to say, it may be made as follows : 
 Four scantlings suitably placed on the outside of the 
 silo may be bolted to the staves of the same. They 
 should extend downward some distance from the 
 top of the silo and upward some distance above it. 
 The pair nearest to the stable should be higher than 
 the outer pair. Other scantlings to serve as plates 
 or supports to the roof are then spiked across the 
 top of each pair of uprights. A third support in 
 the same line of ascent is then fastened to the side 
 of the stable. Over these supports a roof of boards 
 
Fig 35. Exterior View of Stave Silo 
 
 With roof and lugs properly distributed. 
 
3IO 
 
 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 is constructed, the cracks of which are battened. 
 
 This roof is intended simply to ward off storms and 
 
 would seem to be too costly for the benefits accruing. 
 When a roof is wanted, it would seem wiser to 
 
 build a better one, as for instance, on the plan shown 
 in Fig 35 ; or a conical roof 
 may be constructed as shown 
 in Fig 29. The style of roof 
 last mentioned, however, re- 
 quires some considerable de- 
 gree of skill to construct it 
 properly. 
 
 o 
 
 u . 
 
 ^ o 
 
 
 ^ ':^ 
 
 
 THE RECTANGULAR SILO. 
 
 The rectaneular and the 
 
 mto 
 
 square silo fits better 
 the space obtainable in an 
 oblong building than any 
 other form of silo that can be 
 built. This fact will be at 
 once evident if it is remem- 
 bered that when thus located 
 there is absolutely no other 
 Avaste of space than that oc- 
 cupied by the walls of the silo. And since one and 
 sometimes two walls of the building may be utilized 
 when constructing such silos, they will continue to be 
 erected, notwithstanding the objections arising from 
 the presence of corners and from the liability to 
 spread because of the pressure of the silage. 
 
 The Foundation. — Much of what has been said 
 with reference to the foundation of the stave silo 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 3II 
 
 will apply equally to the foundation of the rectan- 
 gular or the square silo. Usually the walls should 
 not be less than two feet thick, and as with the stave 
 silo they may be sunk into the ground to the depth 
 of three to four feet and the space inside excavated 
 as a receptacle for silage. (See Page 297.) The 
 wall should extend far enough upward to prevent 
 the sills from coming anywhere in contact with 
 the earth. 
 
 The Sills. — Commonly the sills consist of planks 
 of the same material and of the same size as the studs, 
 that is to say, of planks 2x10 inches. They are laid 
 on the foundation walls and framed so as to overlap 
 one another at the corners, and are bolted down to 
 the wall by means of upright iron rods or bolts laid 
 in the wall while the foundation was being built, as 
 shown in Fig. 36. These rods are of iron and they 
 should rise up at the corners and at intervals between 
 the corners which vary with the size of the silo. 
 The favorite distance varies from, say, three to five 
 or six feet. If the space inside the foundation walls 
 is to be used as a receptacle for silage, the in- 
 side of the sills should be so nearly flush with 
 the inside of the wall that when both are lined 
 the inner wall will be quite plumb where the 
 cement lining of the foundation and the wood 
 lining of the walls meet. But when the floor 
 of the silo is about level with the top of the wall, the 
 sills may occupy the central part of the top of the 
 wall rather than the space only toward the inner side 
 of the same. 
 
 The Floor. — The same general principles are 
 to be followed in making the floor of the rectangular 
 
312 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 silo as in making the floor of the stave silo. (See 
 Pages 282 and 299.) 
 
 The Studs. — The size of the studding used in 
 the framework of the walls varies with the dimen- 
 sions of the silo. The same is true of the spacing 
 and bridging of the studs. The larger the silo, and 
 more especially the greater its hight, the larger 
 should be the studs where no girts are used and the 
 more closely should they be spaced and bridged. In 
 silos twenty-four to twenty-eight feet high it has 
 been found necessary to use studs 2x10 inches or 
 3x8 inches, to place them not more than twelve to 
 twenty-four inches apart and to bridge between each 
 pair of studs in not less than three places. 
 
 By bridging is meant the nailing of short pieces 
 of narrow boards or miniature scantlings between 
 the studs. They are cut at both ends with a proper 
 bevel so that they may be easily nailed to the studs. 
 Even when thus constructed, walls have been known 
 to spread somewhat. But where partitions are used, 
 it is not necessary to use studs so heavy, nor to place 
 them so close, since the iron rods which run through 
 the partitions effectually aid in preventing spreading. 
 The studs are usually toe-nailed to the sills below, 
 but in some instances they are mortised into the 
 same. When toe-nailed, several large spikes are 
 driven into each. Plates of the same material should 
 be laid on top of the studs and spiked to them when 
 the size of the material will admit of this, but when 
 it is of thicker size than the studs, the latter should 
 be mortised into the plates. The method more com- 
 monly adopted is to simply fasten the studs by 
 spiking them both above and below. The plates 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 3T3 
 
 should be a little narrower than the studs when an 
 outer lining is used to furnish ventilation to the air 
 space between the inner and outer linings. The 
 plates, like the sills, are put on the four sides of the 
 silo and they are also spliced at the corners. 
 
 In building silos in the past, the aim has been 
 to get studs as long as the intended hight of the silo, 
 but since lumber of such great lengths must con- 
 tinually become scarcer and higher in price, of 
 necessit}^ more attention will have to be given to the 
 use of girts in the future. If girts were made to 
 extend around the middle of the silo, the studs would 
 only require to be one-half the usual length. If 
 mortised into the girts, and moreover, if one or more 
 partitions w^ere used, and if one rod in each partition 
 were also run through the girts on the sides of the 
 silo, spreading would be most effectively prevented. 
 The girts, like the plates, should be a little narrow^er 
 than the studs in silos with an outer lining, and for 
 a similar reason. 
 
 The Inner Lining. — The amount of lining 
 required will depend almost entirely on the character 
 of the climate. Ordinarily, when rectangular silos 
 are built inside, one thickness of boards laid over 
 tarred paper will suffice. When but one layer of 
 boards is used, the lumber should be jointed and not 
 more than one inch thick. Boards not more than 
 six to eight inches wide will probably be better than 
 those wnder, on the principle that narrow boards for 
 flooring are preferable to those wider. The tarred 
 paper is tacked onto the studs. The strips of the 
 same are put on perpendicularly and are made to 
 overlap where they meet on the studs, so that both 
 
314 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 may be tacked to the stud nearest to the place of 
 the overlapping. 
 
 When putting on the lining it is important that 
 the boards shall be so put on as to aid in binding the 
 corners of the silo. This may be done by having 
 each alternate board extend to the outside of the 
 studding of the walls which stand at right angles 
 w^ith the board. Both ends of each board thus 
 extended can then 1)e nailed to a stud properly 
 adjusted in each of the two walls just referred to. 
 This can only be done, however, when the boards 
 used in lining are of an equal width. 
 
 When it is deemed necessary to put on two 
 thicknesses of boards, that first put on should be 
 nailed directly to the studs and in a horizontal posi- 
 tion. These boards need not be planed, but the end 
 sought will be better secured if they are jointed. A 
 lining of tarred paper is then put on over the boards. 
 Over the tarred paper a second lining of jointed 
 boards is nailed. Inch boards are commonly used, 
 but those somewhat less in thickness will suffice. 
 The boards of the second lining should break joints 
 with those of the first, as shown in Fig. 36. 
 
 The Outer Lining. — AVhen the silo Is built 
 within another building, no outer lining is usually 
 necessary. When one or two sides of the building 
 also form the outer walls of the silo, the siding that 
 has been used upon either will usually answer also 
 for the outer lining of the silo, and without any 
 change. When the silo extends upward through 
 the roof of a building, the outer lining of the part 
 which thus projects may be similar to the siding of 
 the building. When the silo Is built without, it may 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 315 
 
 be necessary in very cold climates to have two thick- 
 nesses of boards for the outer lining, with tarred 
 paper between, as show^n in Fig. 36. But usually a 
 covering of drop siding, such as is ordinarily used, 
 will suffice. In mild climates an outer covering may 
 not be necessary, except for the purpose of hiding 
 the uncouth appearance of an uncovered frame. 
 
 Partitions. — When partitions are used in a silo 
 with a width of not more than sixteen feet, they may 
 ordinarily consist of planks two inches thick and 
 held in place at either end by a groove formed along 
 the wall to receive them. (See Page 286.) When 
 filling a silo with a partition of such material, it will 
 be necessary to fill on both sides of the partition or 
 to brace one side while the other is being filled. In 
 a silo twenty-four feet in hight, three iron rods of 
 about three-fourths inch iron should run through 
 the partition at suitable distances from one another 
 and in grooves made for them between the planks. 
 ( See Page 287. ) The rods should be threaded at the 
 ends and should have under the burrs washers of 
 metal of sufficient size to prevent the burrs from 
 drawing into the wood. When thus protected, the 
 walls of the rectangular silo cannot spread. 
 
 The Corners. — In each inside corner a scantling 
 should be placed on end and spiked to the walls so 
 as to present a beveled edge on the mside. A scant- 
 ling 2x4 inches or 4x6 inches ripped diagonally 
 through the center, that is to say, from two opposite 
 corners, will furnish the requisite material for cor- 
 ners. The beveled edge should of course be planed. 
 
 The Doors. — The doors, as in the stave silo, 
 should be placed one above another. (See Page 305.) 
 
3l6 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 They may also be of the same size as those described 
 in the stave silo, .where the distance between the studs 
 will admit of making them thus, and they may be 
 similarly distanced. They may likewise be beveled 
 on the edges and held together by bars bolted to the 
 outer edge of the wall before the dcors are cut out. 
 A simpler form of door has been made by cutting 
 out an opening of sufficient size between two studs 
 and holding together the part of the lining thus cut 
 out by bars nailed or bolted to them on the outside. 
 When in place they rest against strips nailed to the 
 two sides of the two studs adjacent to the opening 
 for the door. When the doors are in place they are 
 covered with tarred paper to aid in excluding the 
 air. Where an outer lining has been put on, open- 
 ings to correspond with those of the inner lining may 
 be made on the same general plan. 
 
 The Roof. — It is only when the rectangular silo 
 extends up through the roof of the outbuilding, or 
 when the silo is built outside that it requires to be 
 roofed. The plates which are spiked onto the top 
 of the studs, or which have the latter mortised into 
 them, should be less wide than the studs that venti- 
 lation may be provided for the air space between the 
 inner and outer linings of the wall. Plates are fre- 
 quently used no thicker than the studs, but in silos 
 possessed of much width it would be no more than 
 prudent to use plates somewhat thicker. The size 
 of the rafters used should be regulated by the size 
 of the silo. When in position they are notched 
 where they rest on the plates and are spiked and toe- 
 nailed to the same. If narrow boards or 2x4 scant- 
 lings are nailed or spiked to opposite rafters and not 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 317 
 
 far up from the plates, they assist materially in pre- 
 venting the silo from spreading. But there is no 
 necessity for nailing them thus to each pair of rafters. 
 The covering of the roof may consist of boards and 
 shingles, or indeed, of any of the materials used in 
 covering roofs that may be desired. In the gable 
 should be a hinged door to admit green food when 
 the silo is being filled. It should be not less than 
 two and one-half feet wide to admit carriers such 
 as are commonly used when silos are being filled; 
 but sometimes the gable end is left open. There 
 should also be at least one cupola or ventilator on the 
 ridge of the roof to furnish egress to the gases which 
 are generated by the fermentation of the silage. If 
 the roof of a silo is closed tightly, premature decay 
 in the roof would result. 
 
 BUILDING STONE SILOS. 
 
 It is almost certain that the stone silo will grow- 
 in favor with the passing of the years because of its 
 greater relative duration. This will at least prove 
 true in localities abundantly supplied with stone. 
 The greater relative first cost of constructing stone 
 silos is probably more than anything else responsible 
 for the infrequency with which such silos are found. 
 Future experience, however, is likely to show that 
 when the greater duration of stone silos is taken into 
 account, they will prove the cheapest by far in the 
 end. The objections have been brought against 
 them that they are damp, and that frost easily pene- 
 trates them, and both objections are true in the 
 absence of certain precautions when building them. 
 
3l8 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Excessive dampness may be prevented by making 
 an air space in the wall while it is being built, or by 
 lining the wall on the inside with one thickness of 
 brick and by giving due attention to ventilation. 
 
 The danger from frost will not be present 
 except in cold climates. The air space in the wall, 
 or the inner brick lining above referred to will also 
 help materially to ward off frost. When neither is 
 present, protection may be afforded by covering the 
 outer wall with a lining of boards nailed to studding 
 so as to form an air space between the lining and 
 the wall. The aim should be, however, to construct 
 the wall so that such lining on the outside would not 
 be necessary. A stone silo properly built should last 
 indefinitely without any form of renewal except in 
 the inner lining and in the covering over the frame- 
 work of the roof. 
 
 Forms of Construction. — Stone silos may be 
 built square, rectangular or round and they will 
 usually be located outside, but may also be placed 
 inside the barn or stable. The aim should be wher- 
 ever practicable to build them round. When this 
 cannot be done, the corners inside should be rounded 
 more or less to facilitate the settling of the silage. 
 
 The Foundation. — The foundation of the stone 
 silo may be made in the same way as the foundation 
 for any structure in which permanency is desired. 
 Every care should be taken to preserve it from the 
 action of frost when built in a cold climate, lest crack- 
 ing of the walls should follow. As the structure is 
 heavy, the foundation should go down to solid earth. 
 If the drainage below is not complete it should be 
 made so by laying tiles under the wall or adjacent 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 319 
 
 to and a little lower than the bottom of the same. 
 The ground should also slope away somewhat from 
 the outside of the wall. 
 
 The Floor. — The floor in the stone silo may be 
 similar in, construction to that in the stave silo. ( See 
 Page 282 and also Page 299. ) 
 
 The Walls. — The thickness of the walls should 
 be determined by the size of the silo. The larger 
 the silo the greater the pressure, and the greater the 
 pressure the thicker should be the wall. It is at least 
 questionable if the wall of any stone silo should be 
 less than fifteen to eighteen inches in thickness, and 
 the necessity will probably seldom arise for making 
 the wall more than twenty-four inches thick. 
 Whether the wall with an air space or the solid wall 
 with a brick lining inside will be the more efficacious 
 does not appear to have been determined as yet. In 
 southern climates where the danger from frost does 
 not exist, the solid wall without an air space or brick 
 lining should answer every purpose. 
 
 The Inner Lining. — The walls inside should be 
 coated with cement of an excellent quality. If laid 
 on a brick lining it will last for many years where 
 frost does not penetrate the wall. In a stone silo built 
 by W. C. Edwards, M. P., of Rockland, Ont., the 
 cement lining has been in place for ten years and 
 is still in faultless condition. The stone wall is two 
 feet thick. It is faced inside with one tier of bricks 
 laid with the side to the wall, and the cement lining 
 is plastered on the bricks. This fact is in conflict 
 with statements made, which claim that it is neces- 
 sary to apply cement of the consistency of whitewash 
 every two or three years to the inner lining of stone 
 
320 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 silos. Whether the cement would last as well on 
 properly built stone silos without the brick facing 
 insides does not appear to have been determined, but 
 there would seem to be no good reasons why it 
 should not. 
 
 The Outer Lining. — Where stone silos are prop- 
 erly constructed, there should be no necessity for 
 an outer lining of wood in any climate where corn 
 can be successfully grown for the silo. The stone 
 silo referred to in the preceding paragraph is located 
 between the forty-fifth and forty-sixth parallels of 
 north latitude, and in a climate that is stern and rig- 
 orous. The larger portion of the wall, which is 
 twenty-six feet high, is unprotected, and yet Mr. 
 Edwards testifies that no trouble whatever has arisen 
 from the action of frost. 
 
 Where it is deemed necessary, however, to pro- 
 tect a stone silo by lining it outside, the lining can 
 best be nailed to upright studs laid into the outer 
 wall while it is being built, but of course studding 
 may be used that is not thus laid into the wall. The 
 studs or strips thus placed do not require to be any 
 nearer than will suf^ce to properly sustain the siding. 
 Drop siding will be suitable. 
 
 The Roof. — The roof of the stone silo when 
 built outside may be constructed on the same plan 
 as that of any other silo. But because of the greater 
 duration of stone silos, it will probably pay to take 
 special pains in the selection and use of material last- 
 ing in character, as, for instance, metal roofing. 
 And since the stave silo is frequently built and used 
 from year to year without any form of roof there 
 would seem to be no good reason for not similarly 
 
BUILDING THE SILO. 32 I 
 
 using the stone silo where the cHmatic conditions 
 are suitable. 
 
 The Doors. — Provision ought to be made for 
 the door spaces when the wall is being built. These 
 should be on one side of the silo and above one 
 another, as in the stave silo. The size of the door 
 spaces should be about the same, that is to say, about 
 18x24 inches, or perhaps a little larger than that, 
 because of the greater thickness of the stone wall. 
 The material for the doors within and without will 
 of course be wood, with tarred paper on the surface 
 next the air space and also on the beveled edges. 
 These beveled edges will fit into a corresponding 
 bevel on the four edges of the inner and also on the 
 outer surface of the wall, which border on the open 
 space left for the doors. But the bevel on the outer 
 side is much less important than that on the inner 
 side, and may be dispensed with altogether. The 
 doors on both sides may swing on hinges of suitable 
 construction, or they may be simply put in place 
 while the silo is being filled. 
 
 In deep and wide stone silos it may be necessary 
 to strengthen the walls, to some extent, with iron 
 bands encircling them, or with iron rods running up 
 and down, as, for instance, near the doors. 
 21 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. 
 
 It would seem to be possible to preserve in the 
 silo with more or less of success any of the crops 
 that are ordinarily grown in this country as food for 
 live stock. Nevertheless, the exact methods to be 
 followed in storing many of these crops so as to 
 properly preserve them have not yet been fully deter- 
 mined. The relative suitability of crops for being 
 made into silage is determined by various considera- 
 tions. Chief among these is the ease with which 
 they may be preserved m the silo. But prominent 
 among the same are the following: i, The readi- 
 ness with which they may be grown in ample supply. 
 2, The ease with which they may be put into the silo 
 and taken out of the same. 3, The facility with 
 which they may be preserved by other methods. 
 Corn for instance is more easily preserved in the silo 
 than winter rye and it also produces more food per 
 acre. On these grounds therefore it is so far the 
 more suitable food of the two for being made into 
 silage. Clover is more easily handled than rape, 
 hence it is so far a more suitable silo crop. Sorghum 
 is more difficult to cure in the dry form than peas 
 and oats, hence it is more suitable than the latter for 
 siloing. 
 
 The relative suitability of the following plants 
 for being made into silage will now be considered, 
 
 322 
 
CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. 323 
 
 viz. : Corn, sorghum, non-saccharine sorghum, legu- 
 minous plants other than clover, plants of the clover 
 family, millets, the common cereals, field roots, rape 
 and sunflowers. With the exception of sunflowers, 
 the Author believes the above have been named in 
 about the order of relative suitability, giving corn 
 the first place. 
 
 Corn. — Corn is pre-eminently the soiling plant 
 of the United States and Canada. It would prob- 
 ably be correct to say that more corn is made into 
 silage in these respective countries than all other 
 crops combined. The high adaptation of this plant 
 for the silo is based on such considerations as its wide 
 distribution, the certainty with which it may be 
 grown, the ease with which it is handled and cured, 
 the large amount of food which it produces and the 
 high character of the same, the aid which it renders 
 in preserving other crops put into the silo along with 
 it, and the difficulty frequently experienced in curing 
 corn out of the silo. It is distributed so widely that 
 it may be grown for silage in nearly every state in 
 the Union and in nearly every province of Canada. 
 Even where it does not become sufficiently advanced 
 to produce soft grain it may be cured in the silo. It 
 is one of the most certain crops of the farm, and 
 when grown for silage, it is even more certain than 
 when grown mainly for the grain product, since it 
 may be cured in the silo before it is fully matured. 
 
 All things considered, no other crop is more 
 easily handled in the green form, and none have been 
 cured in the silo with so much certamty, so small a 
 number of failures and so little loss. Likewise con- 
 sidered, no other crop produces so large an amount 
 
(324) 
 
 Fig. 37. Elephant Fodder Corn 
 
 Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 
 
CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. 325 
 
 of food per acre that is so highly palatable and 
 nutritious and over so wide an area. Various other 
 crops, as clover, soy beans and cowpeas may be bet- 
 ter preserved along with corn, as for instance, in 
 alternate layers, than when put into the silo alone. 
 Since in some sections corn is not easily preserved 
 in the shock, the stack or the barn, the percentage of 
 loss in those areas is reduced when corn is cured in 
 the silo. 
 
 So completely adapted is corn to the require- 
 ments of silage making that where it can be grown 
 successfully from year to year it is questionable as 
 to whether very much attention should be given to 
 the siloing of other crops. Were it not that it is 
 rather low in protein, the propriety of growing other 
 crops to blend with it or to feed along with the 
 silage made from it might well be questioned. Since 
 the protein required to balance the ration can usually 
 be procured more easily in the cured form, it is com- 
 monly more advantageous thus to procure it. 
 Probably the soy bean, the cowpea and the sunflower, 
 plants that are rich in protein, furnish exceptions. 
 
 Sorghum. — The suitability of sorghum for the 
 silo is, in some respects at least, not very far different 
 from that of corn, but since sorghum has not hereto- 
 fore been grown to anything like the same extent as 
 corn in those areas where the silo is most needed, its 
 merits as silage food are but little known, and since 
 its keeping qualities outside of the silo are in several 
 respects superior to those of corn, the same necessity 
 has not been felt for curing it in the form of silage. 
 And when thus cured, sorghum silage has usually 
 been found more acid than silage made from corn. 
 
5 s 
 
CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. 327 
 
 For autumn feeding it would seldom probably be 
 advantageous to make sorghum into silage since it 
 may be fed so conveniently at that season from the 
 shock or heap, as the case may be. But for late 
 winter and spring feeding, in climates subject to al- 
 ternations of high and low temperatures in winter, 
 it is perhaps better preserved in the silo. Alternate 
 freezing and thawing tend to affect adversely the 
 value of its saccharine content. 
 
 The Non-Saccharine Sorghfnns. — The value of 
 the non-saccharine sorghums as silage is probably 
 not far different from that of sorghum, although ex- 
 perience in storing these crops in the silo is so limited 
 that their relative value for making silage should be 
 spoken of with a prudent reserve. Since they are 
 grown in areas where the need of silos is not so im- 
 perative as where corn grows at its best, there is not 
 the same necessity for making them into silage. 
 They are grown to the greatest extent in dry areas 
 where the fodder is not much liable to injury from 
 rain when exposed in stacks, either in the autumn or 
 winter. There should be no difficulty in preserving 
 any of the non-saccharine sorghums in the silo, but, 
 since they are usually less succulent than corn, they 
 should be put into the silo at a somewhat less ad- 
 vanced stage of development. 
 
 Leguminous Plants Other Than Clover. — The 
 chief of these, under conditions that now prevail in 
 the United States, are the ordinary field pea, the 
 common vetch, the soy bean and the cowpea. These 
 can all be preserved with more or less of success in 
 the silo, but when preserved thus without admixture 
 or alternation with other crops, as corn, in instances 
 
328 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 too numerous, the success attained has been only 
 partial. This would seem to be true even of soy 
 bean and cowpea silage. Silage made from these 
 crops is too frequently acid in character, and in too 
 many instances it has become more or less decom- 
 posed and off in color and smell. And these facts 
 are probably true in a greater degree of the common 
 pea and the common vetch than of the soy bean and 
 the cowpea. This would seem to indicate that the 
 two plants first named are usually put into the silo in 
 a form too succulent. Whether the numerous fail- 
 ures in the attempt to preserve these crops in the 
 silo arises from want of knowledge of the proper 
 methods of doing the work, cannot as yet be stated 
 with certainty, but there would seem to be no good 
 reason why" it should not 1)e possible to preserve 
 them w^ith more uniform success than has heretofore 
 been attained. 
 
 The same necessity does not exist for preserv- 
 ing the common pea and the common vetch in the 
 silo as for preserving the soy bean and the cowpea. 
 Since the two former may under average conditions 
 be easily cured in the dry form. They are so fine in 
 foliage that they readily give up their moisture when 
 being cured. Not so however the soy bean and the 
 cowpea. They are so coarse of straw that so much 
 time is necessary to cure them properly and also so 
 much handling, that unless great care is exercised in 
 doing the work, the value of the hay thus made will 
 be greatly impaired through the loss of the leaves. 
 
 When the soy bean and the cowpea are stored 
 in the silo it should, when practicable, be along with 
 corn or sorghum in some of its varieties. Some 
 
CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. 329 
 
 persons recommend storing these foods in alternate 
 layers, since they consider it more practicable to store 
 in layers than to mix the food, as it is easier to handle 
 first one food and then the other when storing, than 
 to handle the two simultaneously. The mixing of 
 the food may be done when feeding it. But, if it is 
 thought better to mix them at the time of storing, no 
 serious obstacle stands in the way. This method of 
 storing tends to make a more perfectly balanced 
 ration. The proportions of each product required to 
 make a balanced ration will vary with variations in 
 the analyses of the crops. But even when these 
 crops are stored thus, it may not always be wise to 
 store them in those proportions that will exactly 
 adapt the food to the needs of the animals to which 
 it is to be fed. It may be impossible to do so because 
 of a preponderance in the supply of one or the other 
 of the crops grown. If it is true that corn, or sor- 
 ghum exercises a preservative influence on the other 
 foods, it would seem to be necessary to have a con- 
 siderable preponderance of them in the silo. 
 
 It is easily possible to grow^ the soy bean and the 
 cowpea so that they will be in season for being put 
 into the silo when corn or sorghum are also in season. 
 But the same cannot be said of the common pea or 
 the common vetch. 
 
 The horse bean has been grown to determine its 
 value for silage at least in an experimental way in 
 the vicinity of Ottawa, Ont. The object sought 
 was to increase the protein content in the silage. 
 Where the beans can be profitably grown and mixed 
 with corn in the silo, the plan of using them thus 
 would seem to be commendable, but the areas in 
 
330 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 which horse beans and corn can both be grown suc- 
 cessfully on this continent are not extensive. 
 
 Plants of the Clover Family. — Clover in all its 
 forms may be made into silage both in the natural 
 condition and after it has been run through a cutting 
 box. It is more common however to preserve thus, 
 only the medium red and the mammoth sorts. Al- 
 sike clover is more easily cured in the dry form than 
 either of these, because of its fine growth and the 
 frequency with which it is grown along with tim- 
 othy. It is much easier to grow an equal or nearly 
 equal mixture of alsike and timothy, than of the red 
 clovers and timothy, and the timothy thus admixed 
 with the alsike is favorable to quick curing in the 
 latter. Alfalfa is more commonly grown in dry 
 climates, hence the necessity for preserving it in the 
 silo is not very great. 
 
 While fairly good silage may sometimes be 
 made of clover when put into the silo without ad- 
 mixture, it does not seem an easy task to preserve it 
 thus in a manner that will give entire satisfaction. 
 In too many instances, when taken out of the silo, it 
 is too dark in color and rank in odor to meet the re- 
 quirements of those w^ho are seeking the very best 
 quality of milk. But the fact that it is sometimes 
 preserved with a fair measure of sweetness would 
 seem to indicate that it may always be so preserved 
 if the conditions that govern the making of good 
 clover silage were fully understood. 
 
 Clover is more easily preserved in the silo when 
 admixed with corn, and when thus preserved the 
 ration provided is in better balance than if it con- 
 sisted only of corn, since the clover adds to the 
 
CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. . 33 1 
 
 protein content which is too much wanting in the 
 corn. But the first cutting of medium red clover can- 
 not be thus mixed with corn, since the corn is not far 
 enough advanced for being put into the silo when the 
 clover is ready for being thus stored. Nor is corn 
 sufficiently advanced for being preserved thus along 
 with mammoth clover. But the second cutting of 
 medium red clover is ready for being siloed at the 
 same time as corn. Because of the greater difficulty 
 experienced in many localities in curing the second 
 growth of medium clover, on account of the in- 
 creased dampness of the weather at that season there 
 is sometimes much propriety in curing it in the silo. 
 But under average conditions in the United States 
 and Canada, the curing of clover in the old-fashioned 
 way, with the exception stated, would seem to be 
 preferable to curing it in the silo. In climates with 
 much rainfall in harvest as that of Great Britain, it is 
 different. In that country it may be the better plan 
 to preserve clover in the silo. 
 
 Millets. — The different kinds of millet may also 
 be preserved in the silo, although they are seldom 
 thus handled and for the following reasons:; — 
 I, They mature at a season of the year favorable to 
 curing in the dry form, that is to say, they mature 
 in the latter part of the summer. 2, Like ordinary 
 hay they are easily handled in the field cured form. 
 3, The method of preserving them alone or unmixed 
 in the silo cannot be said as yet to have proved a 
 decided success. Millet silage would seem to be 
 more liable to mold than corn. This may not be 
 true of pearl millet, but experience in siloing that 
 product would seem to be entirely wanting. 
 
332 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 The plan of preserving millet, in some of its 
 forms at least, along with corn may have some com- 
 mendable features, since it is usually ready for being 
 harvested about the same time as corn. There is the 
 objection to it however, that it does not improve the 
 feeding value of the mixture so much as a legumi- 
 nous plant would, since the latter would be richer in 
 protein. The more bulky kinds of millet and the 
 soy bean may be successfully preserved together in 
 the silo. They make a good food, as each plant 
 would in a sense be the complement of the other. It 
 has been recommended to put one load of each alter- 
 nately into the silo when filling it, and to sprinkle 
 several buckets of water over each load of millet 
 when in the silo. 
 
 The Common Cereals. — Under this head only 
 wheat, oats, rye and barley will be considered. 
 There w^ould seem to be but little reason for preserv- 
 ing these crops in the silo, even though they made 
 good silage. The grain alone which they produce 
 is usually more valuable than the silage made from 
 them, since they must be made into silage while yet 
 somewhat lacking in completest possible nutrition. 
 Nor can they be readily preserved in the silo owing 
 to the hollow and dry character of the stem. Silage 
 as ordinarily made from these crops is much liable 
 to injury from dry mold. This liability can of course 
 be lessened by much tramping while the silo is being 
 filled, and by sprinkling the mass freely with water 
 occasionally, also by cutting the food a little earlier 
 than it is usually cut. The Author made good 
 silage from winter r}^ at the Ontario experiment 
 station at Guelph in 1891. The rye was cut when 
 
CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. 333 
 
 fully out in head and was then run through a cutting 
 box. The cattle to which it was fed ate it with 
 evident relish. But while the rye silage was thus 
 being fed, the exposed surface in the silo dried out 
 so quickly between the feeding periods that the pala- 
 tability of the silage was materially lessened, not- 
 withstanding that it was being fed to a considerable 
 number of animals. 
 
 All things considered, there would not seem to 
 be any great necessity for making these crops into 
 silage. The grain is usually more needed than the 
 silage. They can usually be readily cured as hay 
 when wanted in that form, and there is also less 
 hazard on the whole in curing them as hay. 
 
 Field Roots. — There would seem to be no good 
 reason why the attempt should be made to keep field 
 roots in the silo under existing conditions, since they 
 can be so easily preserved in cellars and pits. The 
 only exception is the pulp made from sugar beets 
 after the sugar has been extracted from them.. And 
 yet it is possible that the day will come when field 
 roots will be run through a pulper and made into 
 silage to secure greater convenience in storing and 
 feeding. They could thus be stored in less space 
 and they would be in condition that would fit them 
 for being fed to any kind of live stock without fur- 
 ther preparation. 
 
 It will perhaps, in all cases, be found more 
 profitable to feed the tops of field roots directly to 
 live stock than to try to preserve them in the silo. 
 The labor of handling them thus is very much less 
 than the labor of first putting them into the silo and 
 feeding them out again, even though they could be 
 
334 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 cured with but little hazard. But it is pretty certain 
 that they cannot be cured thus, because of the excess 
 of moisture which they contain. This at least has 
 been the outcome of experiments made heretofore to 
 preserve the tops of field roots in the silo. 
 
 But it is different with beet pulp. The feeding 
 value is not greatly reduced by taking so much of 
 the sugar content from it. It is ordinarily not prac- 
 ticable for farmers contiguous to the beet factory to 
 cart the entire product of the pulp from the same and 
 to feed it on their farms. They cannot do so in cold 
 weather and the time required would be too valuable 
 unless when they lived near the factory. It would 
 seem to be in a sense necessary therefore to store it 
 in a silo of some kind near the factory and to 
 feed it from the same. The product thus pre- 
 served has been made to furnish an excellent adjunct 
 in feeding dairy stock and cattle and sheep that 
 are being kept for breeding uses or that are being 
 fattened. 
 
 Rape. — Experiments have been made to pre- 
 serve rape in the silo, but so far as the Author has 
 been able to ascertain, they have not been successful. 
 Like the tops of field roots, rape is too watery to 
 make good silage. It deca3^s in the silo, turns black 
 in color and becomes tainted with an offensive odor. 
 Nor is there any real necessity for curing it thus. 
 The labor of handling would be increased as com- 
 pared with that entailed in feeding it directly as 
 soiling food. Though preserved ever so well, it 
 would have to be fed with much caution to milch 
 cows lest taint might be produced in the milk. It 
 would seem therefore to be a waste of time for any 
 
CROPS SUITABLE FOR THE SILO. 335 
 
 but experimenters to ever try to preserve rape 
 in the silo. 
 
 The Sunflower. — The growing of sunflowers lo 
 be made into silage along with corn has been advo- 
 cated by some high authorities and has been practiced 
 to a very limited extent by farmers in some sections 
 of Ontario. The object sought is to so increase the 
 feeding value of the silage that the complement of 
 grain to be added to the same when it is fed can be 
 materially lessened. The sunflowers are grown in 
 rows and cultivated much after the fashion of corn. 
 The heads only are used. They are gathered, run 
 through a cutting box and mixed with corn while 
 the silo is being filled. 
 
 Large yields of heads have thus been obtained, 
 as high in some instances as eight tons per acre. But 
 it would seem questionable if this plant will ever be 
 extensively grown for such a use and for the follow- 
 ing reasons: — i. The labor of gathering the heads 
 is considerable. It must be done by hand. 2, The 
 stalks which require much plant food to grow them 
 have no feeding value. 3, They also cumber the 
 land and involve extra labor in removing them, for 
 which there would seem to be no adequate compensa- 
 tion unless when they can be used as fuel. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 FILLING THE SILO. 
 
 When crops are preserved in the silo, much of 
 the success in thus storing them depends upon such 
 considerations as the stage at which they are har- 
 vested and the precise methods followed in storing. 
 The expense incurred will also be materially affected 
 by the way in which the work is done. The various 
 questions which bear upon these points will now be 
 considered. 
 
 Stage of Harvesting. — The stage of develop- 
 ment at which crops should be harvested when put 
 into the silo will vary with the kind of crop to be 
 preserved. Corn is in the best condition for being 
 harvested when the grain in the ear has reached the 
 ''glazed stage" or what is sometimes termed the 
 ''roasting stage." If put into the silo at an earlier 
 period the corn is less nutritious than it would other- 
 wise be, and it is also more likely to make silage 
 unduly acid. If allowed to pass the stage indicated, 
 the corn is somewhat liable to become more or less 
 moldy. The mold thus formed is found in spots 
 or masses interspersed through the silage. The 
 over-acid condition is induced b}^ over succulence in 
 the corn, and the moldy condition by want of succu- 
 lence. The remedy for the first consists in wilting 
 the corn more or less before siloing it, and for the 
 second, in cutting the corn at an earlier period. It 
 
 336 
 
FILLING THE SILO. 337 
 
 should be possible in all instances to apply the last 
 mentioned remed}^ but not the first mentioned, since 
 there are localities in which the season is too short to 
 admit of corn reaching the roasting stage before the 
 arrival of frost, and yet in these localities it may be 
 desirable to make silage from corn. 
 
 The degree of the wilting will be dependent on 
 the succulence of the corn. The less advanced the 
 stage of the growth, the more should the corn be 
 wilted. Good silage has been made at Indian Head, 
 Can., from corn cut before grain had been formed 
 in the ear. If corn should pass the proper stage of 
 maturity before it is put into the silo, it will keep 
 better if water is poured over the m?ss occasionally 
 while the silo is being filled. The same result will 
 measurably follow if some more succulent food, as 
 clover or oats and peas are mixed with the corn. 
 
 When corn is struck with frost and is then al- 
 lowed to stand uncut for some time subsequently, it 
 will be greatly injured for feeding. But if, when 
 thus stricken, the crop is at once cut and put into the 
 silo, the value of the silage made from it, though 
 reduced is not seriously impaired. 
 
 The exact stage of development at which 
 sorghum and the non-saccharine sorghums ought 
 to be cut have not yet been fully determined, 
 but it will probably be found that the best stage 
 for harvesting these crops will be when they 
 are just a little short of maturity. But crops even of 
 the same species are by no means equally succulent 
 at the same stage of advancement. Much depends 
 upon the climate, and season, and this fact must not 
 be lost sight of when they are being*made into silage. 
 
 22 
 
338 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 The soy bean should be harvested when the 
 beans are more or less grown in the pods, and the 
 same is true of the cowpea and the horse bean. It 
 is usually considered preferable to allow the pods to 
 become well advanced, so as to increase the feeding 
 value of the silage, but more experience is wanted 
 in siloing these crops before the exact stage of 
 growth can be certainly known at which they ought 
 to be harvested. 
 
 Clover should be cut for the silo when coming 
 into full bloom. If cut earlier it is too immature 
 and is over succulent. If cut later it is lacking in 
 succulence. Rye and wheat should be cut as soon 
 as out in head, and the same is true of millets. Oats 
 and peas grown together are ready when the pods in 
 the peas are in process of filling. The seed of sun- 
 flowers should be allowed to becomie nearly matured 
 before putting them into the silo. But from what 
 has already been said, it will be evident that the 
 period of harvesting may be varied somewhat by the 
 treatment given to the crops while storing them. 
 
 Cut ting Crops for the Silo. — The implement to 
 be used in cutting crops for the silo will depend on 
 the nature of the crop. Very frequently the field 
 mower is used. The exceptions are, corn, sorghum 
 the non-saccharine sorghums, sunflower heads, and 
 in some instances such crops as rye and millet. Rye 
 and millet are sometimes harvested with the ordinary 
 binder. When thus harvested they are handled with 
 but little labor. Some form of knife must be used in 
 cutting off the heads of sunflowers. The best mode 
 of cutting corn and sorghum for the silo will vary 
 with conditions. When small quantities only are to 
 
FILLING THE SILO. 339 
 
 be put into the silo, it is questionable if any imple- 
 ment used by hand is superior to the corn knife. 
 But when large areas are to be cut, the corn binder 
 should do the work satisfactorily and with despatch 
 when the corn or sorghum stands fairly erect. 
 
 Conveying the Crop to the Silo. — Since crops 
 for the silo must be harvested in the green form, 
 they handle very heavily. The aim should be to 
 convey them to the silo by that method that will 
 involve the least expenditure in labor. Ordinarily 
 therefore they should be loaded on conveyances 
 which do not rise far from the ground. Careful 
 attention to this matter will prevent the expenditure 
 of muscle in a marked degree. Trucks with low 
 wheels and covered with a broad platform are suit- 
 able for such work. The only objection to them 
 probably is the heavy draught. A platform is some- 
 times made on which to load these crops, and when 
 in use it is suspended underneath the front and hind 
 bolsters of an ordinary wagon. It consists of two 
 strong scantlings of hardwood of any length within 
 the limits of practicability, and held together by cross- 
 pieces at both ends. Inch boards of some hard wood 
 are nailed across these scantlings. If pine is the 
 material used, the boards or planks should be thicker. 
 The platform is suspended so as to come within 
 about a foot of the ground. The green food is 
 placed on the same for conveyance to the silo. 
 
 In gathering some kinds of crops for convey- 
 ance to the silo, as clover for instance, a hay loader 
 may sometimes be used with advantage. But when 
 so used the green food must be lifted from the swath 
 where the mower left it. Sunflower heads are 
 
340 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 usually cut with a strong knife and thrown directly 
 into a wagon box. In this they are driven to where 
 the cutting box is placed. 
 
 Whether crops should be wilted or not before 
 being put into the silo, and also the degree to which 
 they should be wilted, will depend largely on the 
 natural succulence in the crop, and the stage at which 
 it is cut. Crops that are quite succulent, as green 
 clover, are more easily preserved when wilted more 
 or less. On the other hand crops lacking in succu- 
 lence, as winter rye, cannot be placed in the silo too 
 soon after they have been cut. Corn cut at the 
 proper stage may be put directly into the silo, but 
 corn less mature should be wilted more or less ac- 
 cording as it is lacking in maturity. 
 
 Putting Crops into the Silo. — Whether crops 
 should be run through a cutting box or not before 
 putting them into the silo will depend upon con- 
 ditions. When but a limited quantity of silage is 
 wanted, and where labor is not easily obtained, it 
 may sometimes be wise to store crops in the silo in 
 the uncut form. But this method of storing them 
 is not always practicable. In a silo entirely above 
 the ground, it would be almost impossible to get 
 corn, for instance, into the same without excessive 
 labor, and if put into a silo that goes far down below 
 the surface of the ground it would be even more diffi- 
 cult to get the corn out again. The only crops that 
 could be stored in the o^^er-ground silo without 
 excessive labor, are those which may be deposited in 
 the same with the aid of the horse forks. 
 
 In a large majority of instances it will prove 
 more satisfactory in many ways to store food in the 
 
FILLING THE SILO. 341 
 
 silo after it has first been run through a cutting box, 
 and for reasons as follows: — i, Much less labor is 
 required to put it into the silo and to pack it so as 
 to exclude the air. 2, It usually keeps better 
 in the cut form. 3, Much less labor is involved 
 in feeding the silage. 4, A smaller proportion 
 will be rejected by the animals. 5, Meal may 
 be mixed with the cut silage as may be desired. 
 Whenever silage is fed in a large way, it will 
 certainly pay well to run the food through a 
 cutting: box before it is stored rather than to 
 store it in the uncut form. 
 
 Where corn, sorghum or the non-saccharine 
 sorghums are to be run through a cutting box when 
 put into the silo, the cutting box chosen should be 
 strong, and when much work is to be done, it should 
 be capacious, that the work may be done rapidly. It 
 may of course be driven by any kind of power not 
 unduly expensive. The tendency now is to prefer 
 engine power to horse power. 
 
 The lengths to which the food should be cut 
 is yet an unsettled point. In fact it will vary to 
 some extent with the crops stored. All things con- 
 sidered, however, short lengths in the food cut are 
 preferable to those longer. They may be packed 
 more tightly and handled more readily when feeding 
 than silage of longer lengths. Those from one-half 
 to three-fourths of an inch, of such hard substances 
 as corn or sorghum stalks, are in favor with many. 
 Intermediate lengths, that is, lengths a little longer 
 than the above, have been objected to because 
 of the soreness of mouth sometimes induced in cattle, 
 from biting on the ends of the cuts rather than on the 
 
342 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 sides of the same which they must needs do if the 
 pieces are long. The only objection probably to 
 the short lengths in the silage arise from the in- 
 creased labor of cutting the food thus short. It 
 would not seem to be necessary to cut soft-stemmed 
 crops in lengths so short as those that are hard. 
 
 The expense of making silage is lessened by 
 doing the work in such a way that all the workmen 
 engaged shall be kept employed, that is to say, when 
 the men in the silo do not have to wait for cut food, 
 when the engine does not have to wait idly for the 
 arrival of uncut food from the fields, and when the 
 workmen in the fields do not have to wait for the 
 return of the teams which draw the food. To ar- 
 range the work thus requires some executive tact, 
 and where silos are numerous in any locality, it can 
 be most cheaply done when done in a co-operative 
 way. 
 
 Putting the Food Into the Silo. — The silo may 
 be filled quickly and without any interruption save 
 that which is made by taking the usual rest required 
 by the workhands. Or, it may be filled slowly and 
 at intervals as may be convenient. The intervals of 
 cessation in filling should not at any time cover many 
 days lest the exposed silage should begin to decay, 
 unless it is absolutely necessary to wait after the silo 
 has been partially cured for some other crop to 
 mature. In such an event more or less of the food 
 that was last put into the silo will be spoiled. This 
 ought to be removed before the filling of the silo is 
 resumed. When but a short period is covered in 
 filling the silo, although it should be filled to the brim, 
 it will not remain full. 
 
FILLING THE SILO. 343 
 
 The silage will continue to settle for several 
 days, so that a large space will be left vacant above 
 the silage. Where two silos are to be filled that are 
 near at hand, the difficulty will be partially met by 
 filling both at the same time, that is to say, by filling 
 one in part and then the other in successive alterna- 
 tions until both are full. More time is thus given 
 for the silage to settle. For the same reason, when 
 a silo is being filled with a division in it, the two 
 divisions should be likewise filled simultaneously. 
 And when thus filled the danger from pressing the 
 division away from the perpendicular is also ob- 
 viated. But it has not yet been demonstrated that 
 quick or reasonably slow filling materially affects the 
 character of the silage. 
 
 The proper distribution of the food in the silo 
 is a matter of no slight importance. When it is al- 
 lowed to fall from the carriers which convey it to the 
 silo, the mass rises up in the center in the shape of a 
 cone. From this cone the food rolls down toward 
 the sides of the silo. But in doing so, the lighter 
 portions, as for instance the leaves of corn, are 
 forced outward by the heavier portions, as the grain 
 and stem. The quality of the silage, therefore, on 
 the outer edges is frequently inferior to that in and 
 near the center of the same, especially when it con- 
 tains less grain. If, therefore, the quality of the 
 silage is to be uniform in the silo, it must be carefully 
 distributed from the first. 
 
 But still greater harm will follow from allowing 
 the silage thus to pile up in the center. It will not 
 settle evenly. The pressure is greatest in the center, 
 and the tendency in settling will be to draw away the 
 
344 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 food from the walls of the silo, and air will thus be 
 admitted with the result that much of the mass on 
 the outer edges will be spoiled. This condition is 
 even more aggravated when such food as clover, for 
 instance, is thus put into the silo with the horse- fork. 
 Loss from this source may be prevented by first dis- 
 tributing the food evenly during the filling of the 
 silo, and then tramping it so that the impaction of the 
 mass will be about equal in all parts of the silo. The 
 amount of tramping required will be least in the 
 center of the silo and greatest on the outer edges., 
 In the square or rectangular silo, particular pains 
 should be taken to tramp down the mass firmly in the 
 corners, or harm will follow^ from the admission of 
 air. The amount of tramping required will vary 
 with the nature of the food, the shape of the silo and 
 the depth of the same. The less succulent the food 
 and the more woody it is in character, the more 
 should it be tramped. More tramping on the whole 
 is necessary in a square or rectangular silo than in a 
 round one, since the food settles more readily in the 
 latter. Less tramping is needed in a deep silo than 
 in a shallow one, since when the silo is deep, the 
 silage sinks more under the pressure, as it were, of 
 its own weight. It is evident therefore that much 
 care should be taken to tramp down firmly the food 
 in the upper portion of a silo whatever its shape may 
 be or the extent of its depth. 
 
 In a large silo the distribution of the food may 
 be facilitated by the introduction of a simple device. 
 It consists of a platform or table made of boards and 
 suspended far upward in the silo and equally distant 
 from its walls. The food falls from the carriers 
 
FILLING THE SILO. 345 
 
 onto the center of this table. As soon as it accumu- 
 lates sufficiently on the same it rolls down over the 
 outer edges, and is in consequence distributed over a 
 considerable proportion of the surface of the silo. 
 
 Covering the Silage. ^-Vmons methods have 
 been adopted of covering- the silo to preserve the 
 silage on and near the surface. They include the fol- 
 lowing: — I, Covering with old hay or straw in the 
 cut or uncut form to the depth of from one to several 
 feet. 2, Covering with some kind of cloth through 
 which the air does not easily penetrate, and then 
 placing over this a layer of hay or straw as men- 
 tioned above. 3, Covering with boards generally 
 laid over a covering of straw and then weighting the 
 boards with some heavy substance as stone or barrels 
 filled with earth. 4, Sowing some kind of grain 
 over the surface of the silage and then pouring or 
 sprinkling water over it copiously so as to cover the 
 mass with a dense growth of grain and grain roots. 
 
 The first method furnishes a cheap covering so 
 far as material is concerned. Old hay fine in 
 character such as is found in fence corners where 
 blue grass has possession, makes a better covering 
 than hay coarse in character, or than straw, since it 
 lies more densely upon the silage. When either of 
 the two last named substances is used it ought to 
 be run through a cutting box. The tramping of the 
 covering should also be given careful attention. And 
 if a few buckets of water are at the same time thrown 
 over the mass, it will help to exclude the air more 
 perfectly. 
 
 The second method will probably preserve more 
 silage than the first, but the covering thus provided 
 
346 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 is more costly. Whether the advantage will repay 
 the additional outlay has not yet been proved. 
 
 The third method, thought at one time to be 
 absolutely essential, has been almost entirely dis- 
 carded, not because of its want of efficacy so much as 
 because of the labor involved. The benefits derived 
 from it are greater when some covering is put on as 
 described above, before the planks are laid over the 
 food and w^eighted with stone or indeed any other 
 heavy substance. The advantage from thus weight- 
 ing the silage will be lessened by giving much tramp- 
 ing to the food as the filling of the silo nears 
 completion. No doubt there will be less waste of 
 silage when food in the silo is thus covered and 
 weighted. The saving thus effected in the silage will 
 be more than is generally supposed, because of the 
 salutary influence which the weighting exerts on the 
 silage for some distance from the surface, even 
 though it may not have lost its color. But as stated 
 above, the practice is not in favor because of the cost 
 involved. 
 
 The plan of covering silage by strewing grain, 
 as oats for instance, over the top of the same, and 
 then pouring water more or less copiously over the 
 mass, is a good one. The heat engendered in the 
 silo starts at once a rank growth in the grain. The 
 growth of top and root become so dense as to go far 
 toward excluding the air. And when the living 
 mass falls down and decays, the influence exerted, 
 for some time at least, is practically the same, hence 
 there is usually but little loss in the silage. This 
 plan has the merit of cheapness, of economy in labor 
 required and of efiicacy in a marked degree. 
 
FILLING THE SILO. 347 
 
 But it should not be forgotten that by whatso- 
 ever method the silage is covered, there will be more 
 or less of loss. Because of this, some silo owners 
 have adopted the practice of not covering the silage 
 at all. They argue that the greater waste of silage 
 that follows is at least offset by the labor involved in 
 covering the silage. This may be true of the 
 more laborious methods adopted, as by weighting, 
 but it is scarcely true when the comparison is made 
 between no covering and covering with a growth of 
 grain. To leave silage thus uncovered would only 
 be commendable when the feeding of the silage is to 
 begin at once. 
 
 Preserving Green Crops Without the Silo. — 
 Crops are sometimes preserved in the green form 
 without a silo. They are thus preserved in the stack 
 and also under cover in the mow. The principle of 
 preservation however is the same. Through the 
 partial fermentation which the food undergoes, the 
 air in the mass is expelled and through pressure 
 induced by the green condition of the food, the air 
 is kept excluded. This pressure is sometimes fur- 
 ther increased by artificial means in some instances 
 while the food is being deposited and in other in- 
 stances subsequentl}^ When food is thus stored the 
 stack and also the mow becomes in a sense a silo. 
 
 Curing green food in the stack is somewhat 
 common in Great Britain, while the green food is 
 being stacked heavy rollers are made to run over the 
 green mass from time to time, or pressure is other- 
 wise applied, and the food is thus preserved. While 
 the practice may be a good one for farmers to adopt 
 in countries with much rain in harvest, and where 
 
348 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the winter climate is mild, it is at least questionable 
 as to whether it ought to be introduced into locali- 
 ties where green crops can be cured in the dry form, 
 without much hazard. When the cold in winter is 
 severe, the frost would penetrate more or less into 
 the exposed surfaces and bind them together so as to 
 interfere ^^'ith handling the food at such times. The 
 Vv^ork of stacking the food in the green condition is 
 also more or less laborious ; nor is the green food 
 when thus cured as easily handled as dry food. The 
 possibility however of curing food thus is not to be 
 called in question. Thus far, therefore, the way is 
 prepared for those who care to do so, to follow such 
 a system. 
 
 The method of preserving food under cover in 
 the green form and yet not in a silo, has met with 
 some favor in the United States, but only in limited 
 areas. When thus preserved, it has been in mows 
 or sheds, and tramped down during the filling pro- 
 cess. Green clover has thus been preserved in some 
 of the northern states. In the central and southern 
 states cowpeas and soy beans have also been stored 
 thus with success. And more recently reports have 
 appeared in which it is claimed that sorghum may 
 similarly be preserved. 
 
 That such crops as clover, cowpeas and soy 
 beans may thus be preserved cannot be called in ques- 
 tion and yet there is an element of hazard about their 
 preservation by this method that should lead the 
 unskilled in such work to refrain from undertaking 
 it, until they have first made themselves familiar 
 with the conditions that govern the successful curing 
 of those crops in the green form in the mow. The 
 
FILLING THE SILO. 349 
 
 degree of moisture in the crops, the amount of the 
 tramping that should be given, and the size of the 
 mow are all important considerations. Clover is 
 commonly allowed to wilt a little before being thus 
 stored and the same is true of cowpeas and soy 
 beans. Some authorities claim that the wilting 
 should be continued until it is no longer possible to 
 wring much water out of the green mass. Much 
 tram.ping is also considered advantageous, and a deep 
 mow is preferable to a shallow one. Likewise outer 
 walls smooth on the inside are more favorable to the 
 settling- of the food than those with horizontal tim- 
 bers, as girts, to hinder the proper settling down of 
 the same. Not a few who have tried to preserve 
 food thus have signally failed. Closely connected 
 with such instances of failure is the hazard of loss 
 to the building as well, through fire produced by 
 what is termed spontaneous combustion. But since 
 cowpeas and soy beans are difficult to cure in the 
 dry form without much loss of leaves, it may be wise 
 to try and cure them thus, more especially when 
 there is much hazard from rain. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FEEDING SILAGE. 
 
 When silage has been properly covered in the 
 silo, the waste from decay on the surface of the same 
 should not extend downward more than a few 
 inches. \A^hen not covered at all, the spoiled silage 
 will extend downward at least a foot and in some in- 
 stances to a distance considerably greater. After 
 a time, decay below the surface practically ceases, 
 hence subsequently there is but little further loss 
 from this source, though the opening of the silo 
 should be delayed for months after it has been filled. 
 The silage also retains more or less heat for many 
 months and this is favorable to feeding the same in 
 cold weather. 
 
 When the Feeding May Begin. — The feeding 
 of silage may be commenced the same day that the 
 filling of the silo has been completed. When feeding 
 begins thus early, there is naturally no loss of silage 
 from decay, providing a considerable quantity of the 
 silage thus removed from day to day. The Author 
 has fed silage from the silo in this way and with 
 results completely satisfactory. But it is not usual 
 to begin feeding silage so soon after the silo has 
 been filled, for the reason that other green food can 
 be had that is more perishable in character. 
 
 Feed from the Top Dozvird'ard. — In feeding 
 silage it is indispensable that the silo shall be opened 
 
 350 
 
FEEDING SILAGE. 35 1 
 
 at the top, and that in all instances the silage shall 
 be fed from the top downwards. When silos were 
 first introduced into America, the egregious mistake 
 was made of opening them at or near the bottom. 
 When thus opened the air is admitted so as to 
 penetrate upwards more or less into the mass, 
 and thus hasten its decay. Much of the silage 
 above falls down from time to time and in such 
 a loose condition it at once begins to spoil. It 
 is necessary therefore, under all circumstances, to 
 feed from the top downwards, but it is not abso- 
 lutely necessary to feed from the whole surface 
 of the silo at once. A section only of the 
 mass of silage may be fed from until it is all 
 gone, but when silage is thus fed in sections from 
 the top to the bottom, there is more loss in silage than 
 when it is fed from the entire surface, except 
 when the size of the silo is too great for the number 
 of animals that are being fed from it. This method 
 of feeding silage therefore is only justifiable, 
 when the quantity to be fed at one time is too 
 small to admit of feeding from the whole sur- 
 face without harm to the exposed portion of the 
 silage. 
 
 No more of the product on the surface should be 
 loosened up at one time than is wanted for immediate 
 feeding, as when thus loosened and not soon fed, the 
 quality of the food deteriorates. But when feeding 
 from the whole surface of the silo it may be necessary 
 to remove the silage from only a portion of the sur- 
 face when providing food to give the stock but one 
 meal. Another part may be removed to furnish the 
 next meal. 
 
352 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 Under such conditions it will be decidedly ad- 
 vantageous to have a covering, as of oiled cotton 
 cloth, lying over the entire surface of the silo. Such 
 a covering is not expensive, and it will tend to keep 
 the silage on the surface in better condition for feed- 
 ing. When such a covering is used it can be laid 
 backward only far enough to make bare a sufficient 
 space to furnish food for feeding at one time. The 
 cover should be at once put back, and in this way the 
 feeding progresses. But even when thus managed, 
 it should be the aim to feed from every part of the 
 surface, at least as frequently as once in two or 
 three days. Such a covering will also prove help- 
 ful in protecting the surface silage from frost in 
 cold areas, where there may be danger from 
 such a source. 
 
 Feeding from a Part of the Surface. — When 
 the silage is fed from only a part of the surface of 
 the silo, that is to say, when a section of the mass 
 only is being fed from, the side of the mass adjacent 
 to that from which the silage is being fed is thus 
 gradually exposed to the air. Because of such expo- 
 sure the silage spoils for some distance in from the 
 exposed side. The extent of the decay will depend 
 in some measure on the length of the exposure and 
 on the compactness of the mass. It will vary from 
 a few to several inches. Because of this loss, the 
 plan of feeding silage by this method should be 
 avoided as far as may be possible. When silage is 
 thus removed, some sort of hay knife should be used 
 in cutting down the side of the mass. The surface 
 exposed will then be smooth and the waste of silage 
 will be much less in consequence. 
 
FEEDING SILAGE. 353 
 
 Because of this waste from feeding silage thus 
 in sections, it may be better to have one or more par- 
 titions in the silo. Tliis can be managed easily 
 enough in a square or oblong silo, but it is practi- 
 cally impossible in a stave silo, because of the resist- 
 ance which a partition w ould offer to the tightening 
 of the staves sometimes required with a stave silo. 
 When partitions are used, one section of the silage 
 can be all fed out before another section is disturbed. 
 But it should be remembered, as already intimated, 
 that the greater the number of partitions in a silo 
 the greater relatively is the loss of spoiled silage 
 likely to be. 
 
 Conveying Silage to the Animals. — When the 
 silo is not close to the place of feeding and when 
 large quantities of silage are to be fed, it may be nec- 
 essary to draw the silage in a cart or dray, from 
 which it can be shoveled into the feed mangers. But 
 when the silo is near to the place of feeding, the food 
 can best be conveyed in a box truck or car, a hand 
 cart or a basket. If conveyed in a truck or car, the 
 track on which it runs should of course be laid in 
 the feeding alley in front of the mangers, so that 
 the silage may be shoveled from the car or truck 
 into the mangers. When conveyed in a hand cart, 
 one with three wheels and drawn or pushed by 
 means of a short tongue is very convenient, since it 
 may be easily moved from place to place and easily 
 turned within a limited area. When fed in limited 
 quantities the silage may be carried in a basket. 
 When conveyed in a box car, truck or hand cart, the 
 silage can be thrown directly into one or the other 
 of these from the silo. A fork with several tines in 
 
 23 
 
354 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 it may be used with much effectiveness in hfting 
 the silage in the silo, and the shorter the lengths to 
 which the food has been cut, the more readily may 
 it be removed. None of the silage thrown out of 
 the silo should be allowed to remain unfed, or it will 
 at once begin to deteriorate. 
 
 Carrying Silage Over to Another Season. — As 
 previously intimated, it is possible to carry silage 
 over from one season to another. But it cannot be 
 thus carried over without some loss. As soon as the 
 feeding of the silage ceases for the season, decay 
 begins on the exposed surface and it penetrates the 
 same to a certain depth, more or less according to 
 the degree of compactness in the silage. In any 
 event it will be spoiled to the depth of several inches, 
 and up to the present time no effective method of 
 preventing such decay has been discovered, which 
 is not too costly to justify applying it. But before 
 the refilling of the silo begins, the spoiled silage 
 should first be carefully removed. 
 
 Adaptation to Diiferent Classes of Animals. — 
 Although silage may be fed to horses, cattle, sheep 
 and swine, it is not equally adapted to these various 
 classes of animals, nor is it equally adapted to the 
 needs of all animals of the same class. Much 
 depends upon the age of the animals, the other food 
 adjuncts that are commonly fed to them and the 
 precise object or objects for which they are kept. It 
 furnishes excellent food for colts, brood mares and 
 horses that are not being worked. Only small quan- 
 tities should be fed to horses that are being worked 
 moderately and still less to horses that are being 
 severely worked. Like all other green foods it 
 
FEEDING SILAGE. 355 
 
 induces too lax a condition of the bowels when fed in 
 any considerable quantities to horses that labor 
 hard. 
 
 The best results probably are obtained from 
 feeding silage to milch cows. Because of its succu- 
 lence it is favorable to milk production, and when 
 properly preserved it does not in any way injuriously 
 affect the quality of the milk. It also furnishes 
 excellent food for young cattle, store cattle and cattle 
 that are being finished for beef. But to obtain the 
 very best results, the silage must be fed with judg- 
 ment and discretion. 
 
 Silage furnishes good food for sheep of all 
 ages, but in very cold weather caution should be used 
 as to the extent to which it is fed. When fed freely 
 at such a time, much of the silage will become cold 
 before it is consumed, since sheep are usually fed in 
 sheds in which the temperature within is not far 
 different from the temperature without. It is not 
 wise to feed green food in a cold condition at such 
 a time when such feeding can be avoided. Since 
 cattle sheds are usually warmer than sheep sheds, 
 there is not the same objection to feeding silage to 
 cattle thus protected in severely cold weather. 
 
 Silage has not proved a really good food for 
 swine. It is usually too bulky and is in consequence 
 not well adapted to the digestive system of swine. 
 Nevertheless, a little of it may be fed to them with 
 some advantage. Brood sows and store pigs will 
 chew over the parts rejected by other stock and will 
 doubtless get some benefit therefrom. But it is at 
 least questionable as to whether silage should be fed 
 in any considerable quantity to hogs that are being 
 
356 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 fattened. Something, however, depends upon the 
 materials included in the silage. 
 
 Quantities of Silage to Feed. — Much difference 
 of opinion exists as to the quantities of silage that 
 may be fed with advantage. Some authorities claim 
 that it may be made the sole food of animals for 
 weeks and months in succession. That is not the 
 view of the Author. Much of course will depend 
 upon the character of the silage. When it has been 
 w^ell preserved, the silage is not markedly acid, but 
 it is acid in some degree. Now that is not the con- 
 dition in which nature provides green food for live 
 stock, hence it does not seem wise to confine animals 
 to a diet so acid. To test this question, the Authon 
 fed steers that were being fattened on silage and 
 meal for a period averaging about 140 days and 
 during three successive experiments. 
 
 These experiments were conducted at the gov- 
 ernment experiment station at Guelph, Ontario, 
 Can. The first experiment began in the autumn 
 of 1889. Two steers were thus fed each winter. 
 They were pitted against an equal number of steers 
 that were fed meal, an average of thirt3^-three pounds 
 of corn silage per day and all the cut hay they would 
 eat in addition. A third lot of two steers were fed 
 meal, cut hay and field roots. The amount of meal 
 fed was practically the same in each instance. Of 
 the six steers that were fed all the silage they would 
 consume in addition to the meal, two died before the 
 experiments were completed. The veterinarian of 
 the station reported that death resulted from serious 
 derangement in the digestive organs caused by the 
 acid in the silage. More or less trouble was also 
 
FEEDING SILAGE. 357 
 
 experienced with all the steers confined to the ration 
 of meal and silage. They occasionally got ''off their 
 feed." The steers fed on the ration of meal, hay 
 and roots were uniformly healthy and hearty 
 throughout the experiment. With silage less acid, 
 the fatal results chronicled might not have occurred. 
 But since the silage fed was quite as well preserved 
 as corn silage usually is, the inference would seem 
 fair that there is an element of danger in feeding 
 silage in unlimited quantities to farm animals for 
 months in succession. The full details of these 
 experiments are given in Bulletins XLIX, LXI and 
 LXXXII, issued by the aforementioned station. 
 
 While it is impossible to state definitely how 
 much silage may be fed for a prolonged period to 
 cattle without crossing the danger line, in the judg- 
 ment of the Author it is questionable if the amount 
 fed daily to a mature breeding animal of the bovine 
 species should exceed thirty to forty pounds per day. 
 Of course for a limited period it may be safe to feed 
 larger quantities, and it is possible that larger quan- 
 tities than those named have been fed to breeding 
 animals for a period somewhat prolonged without 
 any apparent harm. Nevertheless, the conclusion 
 would seem fair that there is an element of danger 
 in feeding silage in unlimited quantities to animals 
 for months in succession. The most intelligent 
 feeders concur in this view, and it finds farther 
 countenance in the craving which domestic animals 
 manifest for a certain proportion of dry fodder while 
 silage is being fed to them in large quantities. 
 
 Four to five pounds per day may be named as 
 the maximum amounts to be fed to breeding ewes 
 
358 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 for months in succession, but it is possible, and 
 indeed, it may be commendable to feed larger quan- 
 tities for a limited period. 
 
 Any kind of fodder that is palatable and well 
 preserved may be fed along with the silage. But 
 when practicable the fodder thus given should be 
 made as far as possible to give the entire ration the 
 desired balance or equilibrium as to food nutrients. 
 For instance, when corn silage is being fed, clover 
 in any of its forms will make a ration more nearly 
 balanced than would be obtained from feeding dry 
 fodder, the product of corn, sorghum or any of the 
 non-saccharine sorghums. 
 
 Feeding Grain or Meal zvith Silage. — Addi- 
 tional meal is frequently given to animals that are 
 receiving silage. In all such instances the silage 
 furnishes an excellent medium with which to feed 
 the meal. It is the practice with some to mix the 
 meal with the silage in a feed room before feeding 
 the mixture. But the extra labor thus involved does 
 not seem to be necessary, unless when other cut 
 fodder is also to be mixed with the silage. The 
 method of placing the silage in the feed manger and 
 then scattering the meal over it is simpler, and it is 
 probably quite as efficacious. The animals mix the 
 food measurably well while in the act of eating it. 
 When the meal is fed thus, different quantities of the 
 same or different kinds of meal may be fed as may 
 be desired to the individual animals. Such varia- 
 tions in feeding the meal cannot be so well made, 
 if indeed made at all, when the meal and silage are 
 mixed in the feed room. When other cut fod- 
 der is fed it would probably involve less labor 
 
FEEDING SILAGE. 359 
 
 to feed the silage and other fodder separately. 
 This at least would sometimes be true. In such 
 instances, the meal should be fed with the other 
 fodder to induce a greater consumption of the 
 same. Silage is more appetizing as a rule than 
 other cut food, especially when the latter is fed m 
 the dry form, hence it will usually be eaten with 
 avidity without being admixed with meal. This is 
 not true of some kinds of dry fodder, nor is it true 
 probably to the same extent of any kind of fodder. 
 When feeding meal along with silage, the 
 amount of grain that the silage may contain should 
 be considered, and the amount of the meal fed regu- 
 lated accordingly. For instance, while it may be 
 necessary to feed ten pounds of silage daily to dairy 
 cows receiving a large proportion of corn silage 
 which has little or no grain in it, that amount might 
 prove excessive when the corn silage contains rela- 
 tively a large proportion of grain. It is practically 
 impossible to know exactly the proportion of the 
 grain which the silage contains, but a sufficiently 
 approximate estimate may be made by the prac- 
 ticed feeder. 
 
 Attention should also be given to the constitu- 
 ents of the meal fed so as to balance the ration. 
 For instance, should the silage contain much of the 
 seed of the soy bean, it would be proper to add corn, 
 or some other carbonaceous meal, with much free- 
 dom. But if, on the other hand, it should contain 
 much corn and no other grain, it would be in order 
 to add much bran or other nitrogenous meal. 
 
 Feeding Silage with Field Roots.— It is not 
 common to feed silage and field roots together, for 
 
360 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 the reason chiefly that farmers do not commonly 
 grow both crops to any considerable extent the same 
 season. In some degree at least these foods serve 
 the same end, that is to say, they furnish succulent 
 food for animals at a season of the year when it 
 cannot usually be obtained from other sources. Both 
 are favorable to milk production, and when fed in 
 moderation both serve as regulators of digestion. 
 Field roots contain less dry matter, but they are 
 considered, all in all, a more healthful food than 
 silage. The}^ are also looked upon as being more 
 favorable to the robust development of young stock. 
 But it is commonly believed that the cost of growing 
 held roots is relatively greater. There does not 
 seem to be much reason, therefore, for growing both 
 foods in large quantities. Which of the two should 
 be given the preference ought to be determined 
 largely by the more favorable character of the con- 
 ditions for growing one or the other. When both 
 are grown, there is no reason why they should not 
 be fed to the same animals, regulating the quantity 
 of each accordingly. W^hen both are fed, the plan 
 of feeding silage in the morning and roots in the 
 evening, or vice versa, will be found labor-saving as 
 compared with feeding both twice a day, and the end 
 sought should be realized as effectively. 
 
 When to Feed Silage. — When a large quantity 
 of silage is being fed it should be given in two feeds 
 daily, that is to say, morning and evening. When 
 meal is to be fed twice a day, it may be well also to 
 feed the silage twice a day, that the silage may be 
 fed along with the meal as previously intimated. 
 But when only a small quantity of silage is to be fed 
 
FEEDING SILAGE. 36 1 
 
 and no meal, the result from feeding only once a day 
 will probably be quite as satisfactory as from feeding 
 twice. The silage is usually fed before the bulky 
 food, since the latter is the unlimited factor in 
 the ration. 
 
 Some forethought should be exercised in adjust- 
 ing the quantities of silage fed to the prospective 
 needs of the animals. For instance, if the feeder 
 has been feeding a certain amount of food daily, and 
 if he has reason to fear that by continuing to feed 
 thus the supply of silage will fail before the new 
 grass is plentiful, it would be better to reduce the 
 quantity of silage fed daily than to have the silage 
 fall short before the period indicated. While green 
 food is always more or less helpful in regulating 
 digestion when dry food is being fed, it is never 
 more helpful than toward the approach of spring. 
 The system of the animals is much prone to become 
 weakened at such a time, more especially in cold 
 latitudes, hence the greater need for the adjustment 
 of the food to the requirements of these under the 
 conditions just named. 
 
 From what has been said it will be evident ; first, 
 that much has been learned during recent years with 
 reference to silos and the making of silage ; second, 
 that when silage is properly cured and fed it is an 
 economical and health-producing food; and third, 
 that because of its economy and healthfulness this 
 mode of preserving food is likely to grow in favor. 
 Nevertheless, it ought to be borne in mind that many 
 things are yet to be learned about silos and ensiling 
 food in the same. The system is yet in the infantile 
 stage. Many features of the work have not yet been 
 
362 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 
 
 fully wrought out, and prominent among these are 
 the construction of silos that will be sufficiently 
 durable, and the making of good silage with reason- 
 able certainty from other products than corn. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Alfalfa 
 
 discussion of 
 
 distribution of 
 
 soils for 
 
 place in the rotation for 
 preparing the soil for . . 
 fertilizers for 
 
 sowing 
 
 cultivation 
 
 feeding as soiling food 
 
 for silage 
 
 Alsike clover 
 
 for soiling 
 
 for silage 
 
 Antiquity of siloing 
 
 Artichokes 
 
 Benefits from growing soiling 
 crops 
 
 from siloing crops 
 
 Brassica genus, plants of the 139 
 
 introductory remarks 
 
 rape 
 
 Cabbage 
 
 discussion of 154 
 
 distribution of 
 
 soils for 
 
 place in the rotation of 
 
 preparing the soil for 
 
 fertilizers for 
 
 sowing 
 
 cultivation 
 
 feeding 
 
 Cereals (wheat, oats, barley, 
 and rye) 
 
 discussion of 168 
 
 distribution of 
 
 soils for 
 
 place in the rotation for .... 
 
 preparing the soil for 
 
 fertilizers for 
 
 sowing . . . 
 cultivation 
 
 feeding as soiling food 
 
 for silage 
 
 Clover 
 
 discussion of 68 
 
 medium red 
 
 mammoth 
 
 alsike 
 
 crimson or scarlet 
 
 86 
 
 86 
 
 89 
 
 90 
 
 92 
 
 93 
 
 95 
 
 96 
 
 97 
 
 98 
 
 330 
 
 69 
 
 84 
 
 330 
 
 248 
 
 226 
 
 6 
 
 258 
 ■167 
 139 
 139 
 154 
 167 
 157 
 157 
 158 
 159 
 160 
 161 
 164 
 165 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Clover — Continued. 
 
 alfalfa 86 
 
 distribution of 71 
 
 soils for 73 
 
 place in the rotation for 74 
 
 preparing the soil for 76 
 
 fertilizers for 78 
 
 sowing 79 
 
 cultivation 84 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 84 
 
 for silage 330 
 
 Common cereals 168-182 
 
 Common vetch 110-118 
 
 Corn, Indian or maize 
 
 discussion of 19-33 
 
 distribution of 21 
 
 soils for 21 
 
 place in the rotation for 22 
 
 preparing the soil for 2;^ 
 
 fertilizers for 24 
 
 sowing 24 
 
 cultivation 29 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 30 
 
 for silage 323 
 
 Cowpea 
 
 discussion of " 128-138 
 
 distribution of 131 
 
 soils for i . . 132 
 
 . place in the rotation for .... 132 
 
 preparing the soil for 133 
 
 fertilizers for 133 
 
 sowing 134 
 
 cultivation 136 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 136 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 Crimson or scarlet clover 69 
 
 Crops for soiling 3 
 
 Crops suitable for the silo 
 
 discussion of 322 
 
 corn 323 
 
 sorghum 325 
 
 non-saccharine sorghums .... 327 
 leguminous plants other than 
 
 clover 327 
 
 field peas 327 
 
 common vetch 327 
 
 soy bean 327 
 
 cowpea _. . . . 327 
 
 plants of the clover family.. 330 
 medium red 330 
 
 363 
 
3^4 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Plants of the clover family — 
 Continued. 
 
 mammoth 330 
 
 alsike 330 
 
 alfalfa 330 
 
 millets 331 
 
 the common cereals 332 
 
 field roots 333 
 
 rape 334 
 
 sunflowers 335 
 
 Dhourra 54 
 
 Distribution of silos 266 
 
 Ensilage or silage (definition) . . 246 
 Ensiling or siloing (definition) .248 
 Facts relating to silo construc- 
 tion 269 
 
 Feeding silage 350 
 
 when it may begin 350 
 
 feed from top downward .... 350 
 feeding from a part of the 
 
 surface 352 
 
 conveying silage to the animals 353 
 carrying silage over to an- 
 other season 354 
 
 adaptation to different classes 
 
 of animals 354 
 
 quantities of silage to feed . . .356 
 feeding grain or meal with 
 
 silage 358 
 
 feeding silage v/ith field 
 
 roots 359 
 
 when to feed silage 360 
 
 Field Peas 
 
 discussion of 102-110 
 
 distribution of 104 
 
 soils for 104 
 
 place in the rotation for .... 105 
 
 preparing the soil for 105 
 
 fertilizers for 106 
 
 sowing 106 
 
 citltivation 108 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 109 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 Field Roots 
 
 discussion of 195-204 
 
 rutabagas 196 
 
 turnips 196 
 
 mangels 197 
 
 sugar beets 197 
 
 carrots 197 
 
 distribution of 196 
 
 soils for 197 
 
 place in the rotation for 198 
 
 preparing the soil for 199 
 
 fertilizers for 200 
 
 sowing 200 
 
 cultivation 202 
 
 feeding, as soiling food .... 203 
 
 for silage 333 
 
 Filling the silo 336 
 
 stage of harvesting crops for 
 
 the silo 336 
 
 cutting crops for the silo .... 338 
 conveying crops to the silo . . . 339 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Filling the silo— Continued . 
 
 putting crops into the silo . . . 340 
 
 putting the food into the silo . 342 
 
 covering the silage 345 
 
 Flat pea 220 
 
 Grouping states and provinces. . 234 
 
 Kistory of siloing 245 
 
 Horse Bean 
 
 for soiling 213 
 
 for silage 329 
 
 Japan clover 209 
 
 Jerusalem corn 54 
 
 Kafiir corn 51 
 
 Kale 216 
 
 Leguminous plants other than 
 
 clover 102 
 
 for soiling 102 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 The common vetch 
 
 for soiling no 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 The soy bean 
 
 for soiling 126 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 The cowpea 
 
 for soiling 136 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 Lupines 224 
 
 A[ammoth clover 
 
 for soiling 84 
 
 for silage 330 
 
 Mangels 197 
 
 Medium red clover 
 
 for soiling 84 
 
 for silage 330 
 
 Millets 
 
 discussion and classification 
 
 ^.of 183-194 
 
 distribution of 185 
 
 soils for 187 
 
 place in the rotation for .... 188 
 
 preparing the soil for 189 
 
 fertilizers for 190 
 
 sowing 191 
 
 cultivation 192 
 
 feeding as soiling food 193 
 
 for silage 331 
 
 Milo maize 52 
 
 Miscellaneous plants 205-231 
 
 white clover 205 
 
 sweet clover 207 
 
 Japan clover 209 
 
 sainfoin 21D 
 
 trefoil or yellow clover 212 
 
 horse bean 213 
 
 velvet bean 214 
 
 kale 216 
 
 sand vetch 217 
 
 flat pea 220 
 
 white mustard 222 
 
 lupine 224 
 
 spurry 225 
 
 artichokes 226 
 
 prickly comf rey 226 
 
INDEX. 
 
 365 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Miscellaneous plants — Continued. 
 
 sunflower 230 
 
 sacaline 230 
 
 Mustard, white 222 
 
 Non-saccharine sorghums 
 
 discussion of S"^-^? 
 
 kafiir corn 51 
 
 milo maize 52 
 
 dhourra , 54 
 
 Jerusalem corn 54 
 
 teosinte 56 
 
 distribution of 58 
 
 soils for 61 
 
 place in the rotation for 62 
 
 preparing the soil for 63 
 
 fertilizers for 64 
 
 sowing 64 
 
 cultivation •••_•_ 66 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 67 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 Objections to soiling 15 
 
 Peas, field - 102-110 
 
 Preserving green crops without 
 
 the silo 347 
 
 prickly comfrey 226 
 
 Rape 
 
 discussion of 139-154 
 
 distribution of 142 
 
 soils for 143 
 
 place in the rotation for 144 
 
 preparing the soil for 145 
 
 fertilizers for 146 
 
 sowing _ 147 
 
 cultivation 149 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 150 
 
 for silage 334 
 
 Rectangular silo 310 
 
 introductory remarks 310 
 
 foundation 310 
 
 sills 311 
 
 floor 3" 
 
 studs 312 
 
 inner lining 3^3 
 
 outer lining 314 
 
 partitions 3^5 
 
 corners 315 
 
 doors 315 
 
 roof 316 
 
 Red clover, medium 68 
 
 Roots, field 195-204 
 
 Round wooden silo 292 
 
 Rutabagas 196 
 
 Sacaline 230 
 
 Sainfoin 210 
 
 Sand vetch 217 
 
 Scarlet or crimson clover 69 
 
 Silage or ensilage (definition) . . 246 
 Silo 
 
 early 250 
 
 modern _. 251 
 
 not always a necessity 265 
 
 distribution of 266 
 
 division No. i — distribution in 267 
 
 Silo — Continued. 
 
 division No. 2 — distribution in 267 
 division No. 3 — distribution in 267 
 construction, facts relating to.. 269 
 
 locating the silo . 269 
 
 forms of construction 272 
 
 size 274 
 
 materials used in 277 
 
 metals 278 
 
 concrete or grout 278 
 
 brick 279 
 
 stone 279 
 
 v;ood 280 
 
 foundations 280 
 
 floors 281 
 
 linings 282 
 
 boards 282 
 
 cement 283 
 
 water lime 283 
 
 plaster 284 
 
 shingles ■ 284 
 
 bricks 284 
 
 metals 284 
 
 tarred paper 285 
 
 preservatives for lining 285 
 
 partitions in silos 286 
 
 doors in silos 288 
 
 roofing silos 288 
 
 decay in silos 289 
 
 building the silo 292 
 
 round wooden silo 292 
 
 round frame 293 
 
 stave silo 295 
 
 rectangular silo 310 
 
 stone silo 3t^7 
 
 crops suitable for the silo. . . . 322 
 
 filling the silo 336 
 
 feeding silage 350 
 
 Siloing or ensiling (definition) . .248 
 
 Siloing crops, benefits from . . . 258 
 
 wholesale harvesting of crops 258 
 
 cured in showery weather.... 259 
 
 green food all the year 259 
 
 food m.ore palatable 261 
 
 economy in storage place .... 262 
 economy in labor when feed- 
 ing •.••••■• ^^^ 
 
 practical considerations 263 
 
 benefits do not apply equally.. 263 
 silos not always a necessity . . 265 
 
 Siloing, history of 245 
 
 plan of the discussion 245 
 
 definition of terms 246 
 
 ensilage or silage 246 
 
 siloing or ensiling 248 
 
 siloist 248 
 
 antiquity of siloing 248 
 
 utilization of the idea 249 
 
 the earlier silos 250 
 
 the modern silo 251 
 
 American progress in siloing.. 253 
 mistakes made by early siloists 253 
 
 literature on the silo 254 
 
 Siloist (definition) 248 
 
3b6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Soiling crops, benefits from 
 
 growing 6 
 
 Soiling crops 3 
 
 adaptation in soiling crops ... 4 
 partial and complete soiling . . 4 
 benefits from growing soiling 
 
 crops 6 
 
 increase in food supplies 6 
 
 less waste in feeding 7 
 
 sustains animals in better form. 8 
 inquiry through poaching .... 11 
 influence on weed eradication. . 11 
 
 saving in land 12 
 
 saving in fences 13 
 
 saving in fertility 14 
 
 increase in animal production. . 14 
 sustaining the family cow .... 15 
 some objections to the soiling 
 
 system 15 
 
 increased outlay for labor .... 15 
 
 tax on attendants 17 
 
 adjusting food supplies 17 
 
 impaired stamina in the stock. . 18 
 
 Sorghum 
 
 discussion of 34-50 
 
 distribution of 37 
 
 soils for 35 
 
 place in the rotation for 38 
 
 preparing the soil for 39 
 
 fertilizers for 41 
 
 sowing- 42 
 
 cultivation 46 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 47 
 
 for silage 325 
 
 Soy bean 
 
 discussion of 1 18-128 
 
 distribution of 121 
 
 soils for 122 
 
 place in the rotation for 123 
 
 preparing the soil for 124 
 
 fertilizers for 124 
 
 sowing 1 24 
 
 cultivation 126 
 
 feeding as soiling food 126 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 &purry 225 
 
 Stave silo 295 
 
 foundation 297 
 
 floor 299 
 
 staves 299 
 
 setting up staves 300 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Stave silo — Continued. 
 
 splicing staves 301 
 
 hoops, round 302 
 
 flat 304 
 
 woven wire 304 
 
 doors 305 
 
 shute 307 
 
 roof 30& 
 
 Stone silos 317 
 
 form of construction 318 
 
 foundation 318 
 
 floor 319 
 
 walls 319 
 
 inner lining 319 
 
 outer lining 320 
 
 roof 320 
 
 doors 32: 
 
 Succession in soiling crops. .232-242 
 
 introductory remarks 232 
 
 grouping states and provinces. 234 
 
 section No. i — succession in. . 235 
 
 section No. 2 — succession in.. 236 
 
 section No. 3 — succession in.. 237 
 
 section No. 4 — succession in.. 238 
 
 section No. 5 — succession in.. 239 
 
 section No. 6 — succession in.. 240 
 
 section No. 7 — succession in.. 240 
 
 section No. 8 — succession in.. 241 
 
 Sugar beets 197 
 
 vSunflowers 230 
 
 Sweet clover 207 
 
 Teosinte 56 
 
 Trefoil or yellow clover 212 
 
 Turnips 196 
 
 Velvet bean 214 
 
 Vetch, the common 
 
 discussion of 110-118 
 
 distribution of 1 1 1 
 
 soils for 112 
 
 place in the rotation for . . , .- 112 
 
 preparing the soil for 113 
 
 fertilizers for 113 
 
 sowing 114 
 
 cultivation 116 
 
 feeding, as soiling food 117 
 
 for silage 327 
 
 Vetch, sand 217 
 
 Weeds eradication of, by soiling. . 11 
 
 White clover 205 
 
 White mustard 222 
 
 Yellow clover or trefoil 21;: 
 
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 of trade. Beautifully illustrated. New and enlarged 
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 Tobacco Leaf. 
 
 By J. B. Killebrew and Herbert Myrick. Its Culture 
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STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Play and Profit in My Garden. 
 
 By E. P. Roe. The author takes us to his garden on 
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 Soils and Crops of the Farm. 
 
 By George E. Morrow, M. A., and Thomas P. Hunt. The 
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 American Fruit Culturist. 
 
 By John J. Thomas. Containing practical directions for 
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 By Edward B. Voorhees, director of the New Jersey Agri- 
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 Gardening: for Profit. 
 
 By Peter Henderson. The standard work on market and 
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 Herbert's Hints to Horse Keepers. 
 
 By the late Henry William Herbert (Frank Forester). 
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 Barn Plans and Outl5uildin§:s. 
 
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 Cranberry Culture. 
 
 By Joseph J. White. Contents: Natural history, history 
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 Grape Culturist. 
 
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