The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-11-12
Preservation of Green Fodder.

The reservation of cornstalks and othe
green fodder is a matter of great impoFi
, anee to farmers everywhere Mr.. j. I
Brown. of the New York Plow Company
So Beekman street, this city, has just pub
lished book which contains a full accoun
! of the French and American methods o
building air-tight compartments for TIN
purpose, together with the results OF varloui
iexperiments chemical analysis, cost anc
profits, etc This book is Of much interes
in this country, where Indian corn Is rela
lively a far more important crop than IN
any other. and where the best methods Oh
preserving and using it for fodder purposes
are so much to be desired. The advantage
! Of preservation by ensilage over the ola
method by drying are certainly very great,
| and it now appears that what has been
matter of experiment tor many years mas
come to be an accomplished fact, the effects
of which will very likely make great
| changes in the world of agriculture. The
most successful instance in which enslIage
has been employed in the United States,
40 far as we are aware, Is in the case OF MI
Francis Morris, of Howard county, Md,
and the appendix to the book above
referred to contains letter from MN
stating that in 1877 he preserved in this way
a quantity of fodder sufficient for 900 head
Of stock for over two months, and that
much as in the year before. The following
extracts from the book will serve TO show
the purposes of its publication "Ihe end
to be attained is TO prevent all kinds of fer
mentation before and after ensilage; for the
way to avoid bad fermentation is not to per
NIT any 1t is by not having discovered
sooner this fundamental principle that so
many seekers, like myself, have lost 80 many
wears in barren experiences We wish to
,fafIT hot n
say, we turnedO our backs on the solution of
the problem. Fermentation preserves moth
ing on the contrary, it is always prelim-
mary step toward a decomposition more or
less putrid, toward a real destruction. /
have had this experience a thousand times
When my maize had contracted in my inn
perfect slos alcoholic fermentation, | hast
ened to have it eaten up as soon as possible
rather than to see it pass to acetic fermen-
tatiOn, and soon after to Tactic or putrid
These experiences, so of
ten repeated and always fruitless, had
finally discouraged me- For a log time
| had resigned myself to only require
from my silOs a temporary preserva-
ton ola few weeks at the most; that is to
say, the time that lapsed between the ensil-
age and the appearance of putrid fermenta-
ton. | had, however, from that time, at
my disposal all the elements of a complete
success" 81 have obtained preservation
indefinitely prolonged and perfect" My
maize, etc, after ten months of ensilage, has
scarcely changed color, and produces the
same abundance of milk and butter and
the same flavor and color to the but
ter" ''The average yield for five
years has been forty tons per acre"
''Cost of gathering and ensilaging,
about 20 cents per gross ton" ''The effect
upon the food is to increase the facility OF
digestion, and, therefore, the nutritive
power of the food" Corn fodder, pre-
served as stated, is equal if not superior to
June grass, and its preservation is so easy
that no one can estimate its advantage to
the agriculturist. New York Independent.