Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-05-21

of North BlllCrlca, Mass. has called AT
tention to this subject. Our readers will
be interested III the following description
of the process, given by the Boston 'Jo"''-
nal:
Mr.. Bailey is a gentleman Of liberal
education and extensive reading. lie has
been farmer for ten years, and he now
owns in Billerica $50 acres OF land. ol
which 45 are arabic. known as the Nv M
ming Farm" from its old colonial propri-
etors. and 5000 acres in Virginia. Upon
the former he is testing ''ensilaging and
breeding fancy stock upon the latter he
PROPOSES to breed draft horses for the
Northern market
Last wear. on his Billerica property,
Mr. Barley, having determined 10 test the
conclusions of his study, built two
'.silos." They are constructed Of rough
stone, smoothly cemented on their sur
faces SO that they are both air and water
tight. and each has Il capacity of 200 tons.
But one of these has been used, and the
result attained seems to have been all
that the most sanguinc wcll-wlshcr oi the
| experiment could have desired Corn
| stalks was the material selected, hui 1t Is
claimed that grasses of any sort may be
| treated III the same manner and with thc
same result. These stalks were cut INTO
| bits one half of an inch i'll length and
packed closely in the slip to 4 depth OF
about ten feet Upon this mass was
placed uncut rye straw to the depth OF SIX
| inches over this were boards, and upon
them was a thick layer of boulders.
Under this weight the mass became very
compact, and when the ''silo' WAS opened
December ;, 1879. the ''ensilaGe was
found to be ready for use. Upon 1t some
twenty head of cattle and one hundred
sheep have been fed up 10 the present
time. and they are in good condition IN
much better condition apparently than II
their diet had been hay and meal. The
usual ration per day for n COW is 3o +" 90
pounds. and this is considered by Mr..
Bailey Ia hc more nutrItive than -
pounds Of English hay. As ''ensilagc
can he raised and sold at II prof; at 81 per
ton, hay 10 compete with 1t must he sold
at 81 per ton. an unheard Of price for
! that commodity.
Judge Isham, Of Chicago, who has
made agriculture study. says that Ell
silaging," III some form is older than the
| Roman empire. II is based upon the Idea
that plants, when they are in bloom. con
tain more nu:riiiye matter than al any
other time, and that they can he preserved
while ut that STAGE Of their existence. II
is essential. however. that they should he
cut fine and packed closely III nearly air
| tight rereptarlcs. i'll order that slow fer
mentatinn may ensue This chemical
change ,lissnlvcs th, starch cells of the
plants and converts them into sugar. 50
| that when they are used for fodder they
are much more valuable than they would
he in their original condition. Mr.. Bailey
seems to have proved all these princi-
pies. All through the winter his chop
ped corn stalks have been fresh and sweet.
| and he now has about five tons of them,
from which there is not the slightest of
fensivc smell ; il fact. their odor is rather
pleasant than otherwise. and their taste
must be appetizing. if the avidity with
which they are eaten by his stock may Toe
taken rs an indication of its character. 1t
is claimed that "cnsilage" will maintain
its quality for any length Of time, and he
always ready for use
OF the stock that Mr. Bailey has been
feeding on this material. perhaps the
most noticeable are his sheep. He has in
his ilocks Cotswolds, Oxfordshirc Downs.
| Vermont Mcrinos, Cotswold- Merinos and
| Oxford Merinos, many of them having
been imported from England OF those
who have crossed the ocean is the Cots
wold buck prince" whose coed nature
is cqualed only by his wool-bearing capa-
city. There have been taken from him
49l pounds of long soft, shiny filaments
in three shearings, the first Welding II
the second, 49, and the third, Il pounds.
OPINION or HON CHARLES l.. FLINT.
In 1863, Mr.. Charles l.. Flint, Secretary
Of the Board Of Agriculture of Massa-
chusetts. was i'll Germany attending the
International Agricultural Exhibition
which WAS held that year i'll the city of
Hamburg While there he visited a num-
Der of agricultural schools. among the
number being one mt Schlclsshelm. In
the report Of the Board Of Agriculture
for that year Mr.. Flint gave very full
description Of his tour, and III the account
of his visit to Schleissheim he wrote rs
follows concerning the preparation and
the character of ''brown hay. Il form of
"ensilage = They prepare here and i'll
many other parts of Germany what is
called brown hay. When the grass is
partially wilted it is collected and spread
in layers and firmly trodden down. 1t is
dried by the heat which is generated i'll
the NOW If the wilted grass is TO be
made into hay it must he taken when
neither too juicy nor too dry. Leaves,
| heads and blossoms must remain firmly
| on the stalk.
In good weather the grass must he cut
in the morning, and after being wllted
and turned, and after lying SIX or seven
! hours. carted i'll and trodden down. The
NOW or stack may he from ten to twenty
| five feet high. If not high enough the
grass does not generate sufficient heat and
molds and Injuries. But if the stack is
too high, .he weight too great, the hay
may become black and mildewcd, because
the warmth, becoming too great, does not
| find its way off sufficiently fast If the
stack is pat up outside the barn, under ii
straw matched roof resting on poles, they
round it up very much in the shape of
our stacks, not less than ten feet in diam
cter
To preserve the hay the Trading must
be carefully done. SO rs to got it as firm
as possible, and to have it nll troddcn
down uniformly. The hrmcr it is the
| better and thi. is regarded as of the first
Importance, since 1T heats all the more
and the moisture is more completely
driven off, till il soon becomes quite dry.
On the top layer of hay from Sin tu
eight inches of straw is spread that no
mold may attack the hay on the top, and
that the evapuratinG moisture passcs into
the straw. If the work is well done i'll
building the stack the hand cannot he
pressed into the sides. Within Il few
days the heat Is So much developed that
III thrustinG IN the hand 1t ia very per
ccptible. After fiv" or siX weeks the
heat is entirely gone and the hay il very
fragrant and ready for feeding out II Is
hence called brown hay. ln using II is
cut down pcrpcndicularly with knife, st"
that it comes off in vertical layers. II Is
perfectly healthy and sound fodder and il
eaten greedily by stock