344. Pulling.-Throughout the Southern States there is a tendency for the leaves of maize to dry up before the ears are mature, and it has been the custom to strip the leaves from the culms while they are still green and the ears immature.

"Fodder pulling is effected according to latitude and season from the first of August to the middle or even the last of September. When the operator's hands are full of blades and he can hold no more, the quantity is termed a 'hand,' and is bound rapidly with a twist and hung on a broken stalk to cure. On gathering a day or so later, from three to four hands form a 'bundle,' which is, also, bound with a few twisted blades. The bundle weighs from one and three-fourths to two pounds and forms the staple 'roughage' of southern draft stock." 1

2

At least eight stations in the Southern States have investigated the influence of this practice on the yield of grain, and in general report a decrease of from ten to twenty per cent. The earlier the work was done, the greater the loss. Redding concludes that "pulling fodder" is only expedient under the most favorable circumstances, but where it is resolved to do so, the best practice is to strip the blades, from and including the earblade, downward, at about the usual time of pulling, and in a week or ten days to cut off stalks above the ear. Besides adding

largely to yield of stover, it is believed to be more expeditious.

8

The Florida Station reports that "pulling fodder" has the effect of loosening the husks on the ear before the grains become hard, thus promoting the ravages of the weevil.

1 The Book of Corn, p. 169.

2 Ga. Bul. 23 (1893), pp. 81-82.

3 Fla. Bul. 16 (1892), p. 8.

345. Silage. Probably the most important change that has been made in the handling of the maize plant in the last quarter of a century is the practice of putting the unripened plant cut into small pieces by a feed cutter into a receptacle with air-tight sides and bottom, called a silo. The essential value of this process, aside from economical farm management, lies in the greater palatability of silage as compared with maize fodder. Experiments show the digestibility of silage and maize fodder to be about equal when all other conditions except method of preserving remain the same. A large number of American feeding experiments, mostly with milch cows, show, in general, about equal food value for amount of dry matter consumed, but that ordinarily there is less waste in the consumption of silage, thus adding to the total returns per acre, and that a rather higher rate of feeding can be maintained with silage, thus adding to the daily production of butter fat.

346. The Silo.-A silo should have air-tight bottom and sides and should be constructed in such a manner and of such materials as to be durable, protect the silage from freezing, and afford ventilation. Its sides should

be perpendicular, rigid, with inner surface smooth. The efficiency of the silo will depend, also, upon its size and shape. The more compact the silage, the better it keeps. The greater its diameter and the more nearly circular the silo, the less the resistance of the sides to packing. The deeper the silo, the more compact the silage, and the less the surface exposure in proportion to the whole mass. A silo should never be less than twenty-four feet deep, thirty feet is very much better, and forty feet is desirable where practicable and the capacity desired

warrants it. The surface area of the silo should be such that the silage will be fed rapidly enough to prevent decay. It should never be more than ten square feet per cow, five is better; while seven and a half gives good results.

The riper the silage, the less weight the silo will hold. The higher the silo and the greater the diameter, the more weight the silo will hold. The weight and keeping quality will depend also upon the manner of filling. The material should be evenly distributed and the silage next the sides of the silo thoroughly packed by tramping in order to overcome resistance offered by the sides. The more slowly the silo is filled, the more it will hold. A silo sixteen feet in diameter and thirty feet high will hold, when continuously filled with suitably ripened maize, about thirty-three and a third pounds of silage per cubic foot, or about 100 tons of silage. A cubic foot of such silage is a standard daily ration for a cow in milk. The capacity of the silo required may be calculated in cubic feet by multiplying the number of animals to be fed by the days of feeding desired. Twelve tons of suitably ripened maize per acre is a good yield; eight to ten tons per acre is a safer estimate when calculating the land to be planted in order to fill the silo.

347. Losses in the Silo.-Babcock and Russell1 have shown that the changes which take place in the silage are not wholly due to bacteria, but partly, at least, to the respiratory activity of the yet living protoplasm of the plant tissue. The loss due to respiratory activity was shown to amount to about one per cent of the total weight of the silage, and was due to the carbonic acid (CO) gas evolved. King has shown that the unavoidable losses may amount to from two to four per cent. These are the losses in feeding value which cannot be prevented with a silo of the very best construction, filled in the best possible manner. The losses not due to respiratory activity are due to

1 Wis. Rpt. 1901, pp. 177-184.

Wis. Bul. 83 (1900), p. 64.

fermentative processes. What the losses are in general practice cannot be accurately stated. Different stations have frequently reported losses of twenty per cent. It is probable that, with the proper construction and filling of the silo, and beginning to feed as soon as filled, the loss will not exceed ten to twelve per cent.

348. Loss of Maize Fodder by Curing.-Experiments at the Wisconsin, Vermont1 and Pennsylvania Stations show a loss of nineteen to twenty-one per cent of the dry matter of maize fodder from field curing. Maize fodder cut when nearly ripe lost about five per cent more than fodder cut when maize was in the roasting-ear stage, evidently due to the large amount of soluble carbohydrates in the former. (351) The loss, when stored in the barn October 29th, was one per cent greater than when allowed to stand in the field until December 18th. Ears cured upon the stalk with as little loss of dry matter (eight to ten per cent) as if picked and dried, but when put in the silo the loss of dry matter in grain was considerably greater. While not economical on account of labor involved, the loss of dry matter could apparently be reduced somewhat by husking ears and placing only the remaining portion in the silo. The losses of the maize plant, both in field curing and ensiling, are largely in the carbohydrates other than fiber.

349. Time of Harvesting will depend upon whether the maize is grown for ears alone; for both ears and stover or fodder; or whether for silage. When grown for the ears alone, the plant is not only allowed to ripen, but the ears allowed to remain on the standing stalks until they have become dry enough to be placed in storage, which usually requires about a month after maize is ripe, or after the first killing frost. When stover is to be harvested, it is customary and desirable to allow

1 Vt. Rpt. 1894, p. 171.

• Penn. Rpt. 1892, p. 43.

the plant to become as ripe as is possible without the leaves falling off before or during the operation of shocking. The ears should be all, or nearly all, dented or glazed, the husks dry, and the leaves from one-third to one-half green. When cut for silage, it is necessary to cut a little greener in order that the mass may pack and sufficiently exclude the air. This condition is reached when many, but not all, the ears have become dented, a portion of the husks dry, and the bottom three or four leaves dry, with the rest still green. On the other hand, up to this stage of maturity, the greener the maize the greater the loss in the silo.

There are six advantages in allowing the plant when intended for silage to arrive at the stage of maturity indicated: (1) greater yield of water-free substance; (2) less weight to handle ; (3) less loss in silo; (4) superior composition; (5) greater digestibility; (6) greater palatability; resulting in a greater feeding value per acre at less cost. The following table shows the influence of maturity upon weight of fresh and dry substance and loss in the silo:

350. Influence of Maturity Upon Yield.-There is no relation between the apparent size of the maize plant, as, for example, height, and the weight of dry matter. When the plant is in full