Several silos in Illinois have been filled with sweet-clover straw. When this is done it is necessary to add sufficient water to moisten the dry stems. These stems become soft in a short time and ensile in good condition. When the seed crop is thrashed with either a grain separator or a clover huller the stems are broken and crushed sufficiently to render it unnecessary to run them through a silage cutter. Care must be taken when ensiling the straw to add sufficient water, if molding is to be avoided. It will probably be necessary to add water at the blower and also at the top of the silo. It is essential to tramp the straw thoroughly, so as to exclude as much air as possible. After the silo is filled it should be covered with a layer of green plants and thoroughly soaked with water. Table III gives analyses of several sample of sweet-clover silage as compared to corn silage. Table III.--_Composition of sweet-clover silage and well-matured corn silage._ ---------------+---------+--------------------------------------------- | | Constituents (per cent). | +------+------+--------+----------------+----- Kind of | | | | | Carbohydrates. | | Number |Water.| Ash. | Crude +------+---------+ silage. | of | | |protein.| |Nitrogen-| Fat. |analyses.| | | |Fiber.| free | | | | | | | extract.| ---------------+---------+------+------+--------+------+---------+----- | | | | | | | White sweet | | | | | | | clover; | | | | | | | First year's | | | | | | | growth[7] | 1 | 73.7 | 1.73 | 3.17 | 20.8 | 0.65 First crop, | | | | | | | second | | | | | | | season[2] | 1 | 73.7 | 2.57 | 2.05 | 8.06 | 12.32 | 1.27 Straw[8] | 3 | 73.7 | 1.19 | 2.70 |13.59 | 8.33 | .50 Corn, well | | | | | | | matured[9] | 121 | 73.7 | 1.70 | 2.10 | 6.30 | 15.40 | .80 | | | | | | | ---------------+---------+------+------+--------+------+---------+----- [7] Analysed by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. [8] Analysed by the Bureau of Chemistry. [9] Analyses compiled by Henry and Morrison.