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A SIXTEEN-SIDED BARN.A subscriber, Mr. S. H. Jameson, ol Wright county, Iowa, forwards a photograph of a sixteen-sided barn which is now nearing completion- It is in reality a combination barn and silo. The silo forms the center of the bam with a large feeding space all around. The barn itself is eighty-one feet in diameter, this making a feeding space having an outside measurement of forty feet between the silo and any side of the barn. The barn is high enough to furnish room for a large hayteen feet long, one end resting om the ground, the other end resting on legs bolted on; bore a hole through the scantling, get a three-eighths rod six feet long, stick through the hole, stand a bundle in each corner of the four made by the rod crossing the scantling with the tops together, build about half the shock in this way, then pull out the rod, then the horse, finish the shock, being careful to set the butts of the bundles firmly on the ground, with the tops toward the center, tie it a foot higher than you thinkEARN AND SILO.loft and a circular track has been placed so that the hay^an be stored with the least possible effort. Twenty-live acres of heavy corn has been stored in the silo, this making between Job and 400 tons cf winter feed.The arrangement here is an ideal one for economizing labor in feeding operations, because the ensilage can be re-moved from the silo and placed in the j feed bunks with one handling only. !MANAGING THE CORN FODDER CROP.To the Edit-,r of The Homestead:I find it best in my business to plant my corn for cutting just as 1 would for husking in the field. My reason for planting corn for cutting just as 1 do for husking out in the held is because 1 never know just how much I will cut up until near the time of corn harvest, and corn planted thick, or late, for the purpose of making fodder does not make the best of corn for husking in the field.The time for corn cutting usually comes after ail other rough crops are ir- and no one knows just what he has in the way of hay or other roughage on hand, and can estimate its probable value, and can just about know how good late pasture will be.' like to have the husks all turned and about half the blades, though some young husks and blades do not ripen just as others do.Herein lies the great value of the corn binder. You can wait till all the corn is just about the right stage. This is something that cannot be lone if you cut by hand with the reg-nar force on the farm—and I want ■ be excused from hiring outside men Ar corn cutting. The harvester does cot fault you, won’t go off and per-n.ps not return and cause trouble, md never demands a raise in wages.The corn harvester will pick up uost of the down corn nicely, willit ought to he, and the job Is done ! in good shape. If the com is very i tall, it may be well to tie it again a little lower down.I never allow my fodder to remain in the field long, I store it just as soon as I consider it safe to pile the corn up, but be sure that it is dry.Of course you can let your fodder stay out in the field till the corn is all husked out, when you will per-j haps have more time to attend to it-| So can you let your hay stay out till j after the oats is cut, but it is not ' worth much for hay afterwards.! Every day you let your fodder stay out after it is fit to store robs it of just so much of its nutriment and of its palatableness.Therein lies much of the value of shredding. Then there is the point of economizing space, for the shredded fodder will not, if properly mowed, occupy more than one-third the space of the whole stalks if loose, thus making it possible for many to house their crop shredded who would be utterly unable to do so were it unshredded.In the absence of a good, well built silo this in my judgment is the only thing to do. Experience has taught me that we farmers cannot afford to let the great feeding value of the stalks shred away in the wind during the winter season.There are four ways of practically utilizing the stalks. First and besi however, is to silo the crop, or much of it at least. Next best, is to cut and shred. Next comes the old way of shocking it and feeding it as shocked com, which is better than nothing, by a long shot. Next, is the pasturing of the stalks in the field after the corn is harvested. This, however, is not always desirable, and is never the most profitable. Only a small part is saved, and the ground is not , always in good shape for such an operation. Subscriber.
Newspaper Details
Des Moines Iowa Homestead
Des Moines, Iowa, US
Thu, Dec 01, 1910
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MD, USA 05 Jan 2024
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