Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-07-15
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WRITTEN FOR THE BOSTON JOURNAL
am naturally rather cautious and slow
to accept new and startling theories, even
when the, seem to be built upon undisputcd
facts. A. the years pass by grow more
conservative each year. and when the ad-
vocates Of some new order Of things sp-
preach me. take their statements with a
great deal Of allowance for their being inAu-
enoed by their self interest or self-deoelscd
hy their zeal.
When the agricultural papers began to
advocate the idea Of "s!los" and 'cnsilage.
(or the preserving Of green fodder in pits,
thought our climate in New England
would prevent j, ..om ever being adopted
here, however well j, NIGH, operate in
France.
When heard that one Of or farmer. in
Massachusetts, Or BAILEY of BilleE!oal, was
abou, to make q trial Of II. | Was glad thai;
It vas not the money Of poor man that
was to be riskcd in the experiment. and |
hoped for chance 10 watch the results.
Unfortunately FOR me. other engagements
prevented me from visiting the farm ~her,
1t was tried during the winter, while the
fodder 80 procured vas being fed. but /
knew tina, other farmers quite as skcpiioal
a. myself did M, II, and wa, surprised 10
know that they came away quite inclined to
look upon it As a practical thing, and de
oidei improvement on the old methods Of
prc>er, ins fodder.
This spring heard Of o;hcr> who were
about 10 follow hi, example, and a. had
an opportunity | though; hes, 30 examine
for myself acknowledge tina, expected
10 find eat under the meal" soncvh here.
! knew the doctor A. a breeder Of fancy
stock. and a, he had no patent upon this
thing thought j; NIGH; be a shrewd way Of
advertising his stock. but few moments
conversation was enough to satisfy me that
be is so enthusiastic in hi> advocacy Of the
new system a. TO have aimo>, forgotten thai,
he had any cattle or sheep FOR sale. found
him busy experimenting the filing Of one
Of his pits or ,iIos, bu; ready to spend his
time IN answering ny questions and exhibit
ing and explaining all the detail, Of hi,
operations.
He has two silo>. each forty feet long.
twelve wide and sixteen and a half deep.
These viii hold nearly Two hundred tons
each Of green fodder. bu, he regrets tina, he
had not made them three or four feet wider.
q, !, would have greatly increased the stor-
age capacity at small additional cost,
Being built agains, a side hill the wall
next the hill Is d solid stone wall faced up
with cement. but the other side and the
end Is built Of concrete so also i the d.
vision wall between them. Few farmer.
know how TO build concrete wall. We; i is
very simple job. and in many cases would
prove an excellent wall for buildings and
cellars. To build such wall YOU need io
set Ski Joist at the corners. then at inier' al.
Of about eight feet along the outside Of the
wall, placing the jois;s opposite and about
eighteen inches apart On the inside Of the
joist set up plank about foot wide. Their,
Will be then Is inches between these blanks
which will be the thickness of the wall
For large building, which would hay,
heavy floor timbers, the wall might, be two
feet thick for a piggery or other SINAI
building il need not be so thick. Have
cement made by mixing barrel Of gooc
cement with three barrels fine plAsterins
sand and four barrels clean gravel. We
this when mixed so ii viii be thin enough
10 pour and fill between the plank abou
three inches deep, then in that pack SINAI
stones as closely as possible-the NOR
closely the stones pack the less cement
will take. Then pour on more cement anC
put in more stone, until your space is full
The work must be so planned as to us
your cement and get the stones in 1t beior
il has time to harden. For a heavy wal
planks may be raised in about twenty -fou
hours after the space is filed. Raise then
about ten inches, and 90 on as before.
have seen large barn built in that va
which has stood many years; costs abou
the same as timber walls when built, am
needs no paint, no shingles. no repairs @
any sort, while the walls are fire proof an,
rat proof.
But this is DEPRESSION from the ensilsg
business. To return thereto. His pits ad
Join his barn and are connected with il b.
door in the end; they are covered with
low shed and single roof. When | ar
rived they were packing green winter ry
and timothy in one of them. 1t was draw
TO the barn as fast as mown down, and wa
there run through a hay-eutter. which cut i
in pieces about an inch long. An elevate
carried il from the cutter and dropped
near the center of the pit, where it wa
spread and trampled together as solidly a
possible. even driving a horse over it Il
make it solid. When putting in the rye
which had begun to ripen little, they KEEP
a small stream or spray of water running
over it, both to make it pack better and T.
expel the air from it, and fill the spae
with water
He finds it to require less labor to -pu
his grass in the silo, including the cutting
than to cure it suitable for hay. and he i
independent of the weather. 1t does not d.
any hurt If il rains upon it when it is put il
the pit. His calculation was to gu sbou