The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-03-31
County and City Official Press.
Saturday, March 81, 1877.
ENSILAGE.

To the French we are indebted for the
latest improvement in agricultural
economy, consisting in new process
for preserving green forage for Winter
This process called easiiaqe from silo,
pitt is said 10 be German invention.
due To the experiments in 1870. OF one
Herr Reihlen, q beet-root sugar manu-
fseturer Of Stuttgart, but 10 the French
belongs the credit Of fret reducing the
system to science. and bringing it into
general use. rs extensive adoption
was the result Of the severe drought Of
1874, which necessitated some expedi-
ens for supplying the deficiency in fod-
der crops. Having proven a signal
success, it soon come into popular ia
vor. aud its practice is rapidly extend
ing.
As tn the merits Of the discovery il
is stated that the maximum yield per
acre Of maize the giant variety which
may be cured by ensilage is o. tons,
equivalent to II tons Of timothy hay
and the average is aboat 80 or 3j tons,
eaual to 8 or 0 tons Of hay. Besides.
the Swing may be made late in the
season after the staple crops arc all in,
and the reaping time comes in Septem-
Der, after thc other haryests are out of
the way. The cost Of the crop in France
is reckoned a. CT francs per acre. or
about $f2.20. II Is found to be excel
lent for feeding to milch-eows, and to
serve all other purposes of stock
feed.
The method in brief consists of FIRST
gathering the green forage into sheaves
or bundles after lying two or three days
on thu ground to dry.
These sheasss being gathered into
stocks of ten or dozen called mats,
stand ont until they lose about half
their weight by drying. They are then
packed away iii pits where they un-
dergo process of fermentation. The
usual size of these pits OF siios
Is. depth. 10 feet: i"rg'h on
creturface, eel feet: length on
in bttom eat feet: width a, the top.
Act; width at the bottom, ct feet.
.sch OF these puts have capacity Of
i.4l2 cubic feet or little more than II
cords, and will receive about i0ls tons
Of green fodder. which is piled up to
height above the surface equal to the
depth OF tho pit underground. The
mass is then buried under two feet of
earth. which depresses the pile yard
or more Great care must be exercised
to see that tho cracks which are thus
formed in the earth packing are kept
closed. else the mass will spoil. The
mass continues TO shrink during fer
meatafion until tho weight Of cubic
ard Of il increases from 500 pounds to
1000 There are various notifications
Of the process in respect to the style of
tho pits and other matters, and doubt
less improvements Of method will from
tiUe to time be developed.
Tho kinds Of fodder that may be
subjected TO the operation of sasiia9e,
include maize. beet>. csbbages. clover
aud various kinds of grass. Doubtless
this innovation would prove If grea.
service in orr moist climate. where
green growths are 50 luxuriant and the
difficulty of snn-curing. is excepting in
the strictly summer months so great
yet the relative cheapness of labor and
dcarness Of land in Europe are ele-
sments that make such systems of
greater practical utility there than they
would be here.