Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-07-04

EnsiIage--sWh hat il H!
The word enslage means, literally, in a pit,
or trench, and stands for the system by
which corn or any other green fodder is pre-
served by burial in the ground. 1t is also
used, metaphorically, for the fodder so pre-
served. That it is valuable discovery there
is now little room to doubt and its adyo-
Gates, although they have not yet caught the
popular ear-for new discoveries move slowly
believe it is destined to work great revolu-
ton in agriculture The inventor of this new
mode of preserving green fodder, and there
by carrying the succulence of summer food
through the year, is NJ. Auguste Goffart,
member of the Central Agricultural Society
of France. His work was not brought to per-
lection until many failures had strewn the
way, but its success is now unquestioned, and
has won him the distinction of CheUdHer de Ia
Legion d HORHe,T.
What is it that NJ. Goffart does He digs
trenches or pits in the ground, so protected
that water cannot flow or leach into them,
and then covers their sides with Portland
ment. This silo, or ditch, he finds is best
made in an elliptical FORM and with vertical
| walls it is easier to use in that shape, and
will prove more durable. 1t should be made
as large as is consistent with economical use,
since the keeping qualities of the best pit are
not quite SO perfect on the sides elsewhere
| OF COURSE the less side space there is-the
| less necessity of packing in contact with the
| the air, or near 1.-THE better.
In the receptacles we have described, the
stalks of corn or other fodder are placed but
not until they are first cut into small pieces
| by powerful feed-cutter The tinencas to
which I cut my maize, says NJ. Go1art, lat
| the moment of ensilation, is extremely impor-
| tant in view of good preservation. Cut in
| disks of only one centimetre thick about four
| tenths of an inchJ the maize packs better in
| the silo it occupies less space, and takes the
| form and consistency of a species of pulp,
leaving in its mass the least possible amount
| of air. Iu proportion as the length is increas-
| ed, the preservation becomes less perfect, and
| finishes by being entirely defective And
| here we come to the main consideration of pre-
| serving green fodder viz. The exclusion IF
air. Formerly this end was not so perfectly
attained as it now is, owing to the attempt to
mix with the green LEAKAGE dry straw which
| it was supposed would help preserve it, as well
| as to the economy of the operation. NJ.
| Goffart says he has used on occasion, wheat,
oat, and rye straw with his ensilage But the
| keeping power decreased as the straw increas-
| ed. "a fftieth in volume or q tenth in
| weight, was the maximum of what the maize
could carry without being exposed to an early
alteration" This he attributes to the fact
that the straw takes up too much of the wa
ter from the green plants. In fact dehydra-
| dation ought not to ensue, because the water
is wanted not only for ensilage itself, but to
| keep out the air. 1.-The moist condition of
the ensilage, instead of being a cause of de-
terioration, is, on the contrary, to a certain
extent indispensable to the preservation of the
whole matter" And the plan now is to bury
the stalks of the plant that is to be preserved
almost without any mixture.
The silo, when all is ready, should be filled
as rapidly as possible, and the layers should
be kept level during the entire process. The
greater the compression the greater will he
the preservation" The walls of the silo
should be very smooth and the utmost care
must be taken to have the packing against
these done with absolute perfection. In
France, a woman walks continually around
on the stalks to be compressed but in this
country boy or two, well watched and direct
ed, would serve the purpose. When the silo
sis filed to the top and carefully levelled,
spread along the surface short straw four or
five centimetres" Cor about two inches
thick then place on top of this boards fit
ting close together. These should be put
across the silo in order that when it is being
fed out they may be taken off one by one as
the silo is cut down vertically" On top OF
this flooring must be piled very heavy weight
no matter what-of logs stones, brick, OIL
dirt so as to secure continuous density, and
the perfect exclusion of air. Dirt is rather
Objectionable, however, as it is liable to sif
through.
This last act completes the process, and the
fodder so treated remains for months or un
til green grass and corn grow again, in the
moist, succulent condition in which it was
taken from the field the season previous
[ Perhaps the inventor of this plan is none toe
enthusiastic when he calls it his profound
conviction that the culture and ensilage o.
maize is destined to cause q complete agricul
. tural revolution it ought in ten years t.
double the number of animals supported OF
our soil" The translator of NJ Goffart,
book, writing for our latitude, says that q
Z COW to an acre is a reasonable result of tn,
practice of ensilage" The mode of feeding
1 ensilage is to take each day from your sill
q the maize required for the next day use, ant
9 fifteen or sixteen hours after, however coli
and free from fermentation when taken out
d | it will be quite warm and in full fermentation
3 and the animals will eat it greedily. Eigh
hours later it will have passed the prope
: limit, and it will rapidly spoil"
e Lest the reader may chance to think tina
e this whole scheme has rather the flavor of
, French fantasy than that of a real experience
p l must beg space to quote few words iron
It the letter of Mr.. Francis Morris of Oaklan
h Manor, Howard County, Maryland who tell
y what he has done in this way 1t will b
IS found in Mr.. Browns book, to which refer
= ence has been made.
He says Il sowed on the LIST of August
a 1876 about five acres, in drills three fee
o apart, and about a bushel of corn to the acre
Il This was worked twice with a cultivator, an
J. was in tassel in the first days of October. W
# cut the same with a moving machine, carrie
d it in wagons to the feed-cutter, cut it up
IS one-inch pieces, and added to it an amount {
n wheat straw cut up in the same manner
e equal to one-ffth of the corn fodder ha
rs three slos brcked up inside a stone barn
The silos were about ten feet deep and fou
l. feet wide and twenty -four feet fong. The
3. We're covered with boards, on top of whic
It heavy stones We're used for weights. The fir
y silo was opened on the Christmas following
r. and all the COWS were fed with it, Two
l. them refused to eat their portion, and whe
p they left their stalls the other cows ate it
Il and from that day have never fed it to a
e animal that has refused it, Horses, mules
'e oxen, cows sheep and pigs will all leave otl
er food and eat this by choice" Mr. Morris
,r experiments in 1877 and 1878 were equal
l. successful and he adds
sr ''ln very long experience in raising stoc
or l have found corn fodder preserved as aboy
It stated the best food for milking COWS that
J. ever used, 1t is equal, if not superior I
)t some grass, and its cultivation is SO easy i
Is preservation SO inexpensive, that to-day Il
Le one can estimate its advantages to the agr
lie culturist." NJ. GofIart says that sheep an
er cattle fatten with wonderful rapidity upo
Dt maize ensilage with the addition of eight
* ten per cent in weight of oilcake meal" 81
N l am obliged TO fOrego the publication of oil
N or interesting facts.-J0l BENTON, IN ~ ]