Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-04-22
Essllage.

Trial OF the System In Western New York.
W: ,: Martin, n: p: Of chstauaua' n. T. in
The new system Of ensilage seems to be
the rock upon which our best agricultur-
lists are split in their opinions, and a.
have an opinion to offer ON this important
subject send it to you. Seeing several
notices of this system, determined to try
Il on a small scale. sent to DR.. Bailey
for his book. He sent mo advance sheets
before the entire book was completed and
I proceeded according to his directions,
digging pit some seven feet deep at one
end and five feet at the other. ] laid my
wall in water-lime from II to 16 inches
thick. When completed I had a vault 10
by % feet, and IL feet high, with door
in one end next to the barn. I filed my
silo with fodder corn and field corn (cut in
lalf-inch lengths and less), millet, clover,
pigeon grass, etc. The severe dr0uth in
the fall made heavy drain upon my SOW
cd corn and did not fill the pit. pressed
it down thoroughly. put straw and boards
over and six or eight inches OF earth
trampled down.
Iopencd the silO December LIST, and be-
gan feeding at once. The first Of the en-
silage near the top was quite brown and
some mouldy, with q peculiar alcoholic
smell, that disappeared on exposure to the
air. NY COWS were in good condition at
the time, and continued to improve in milk
and flesh, although it was fed during the
extreme cold weather of December and
January. Cattle, horses and swine ate it
readily, and I not o ID that the older ones
improved more and seemed to like it bet
ter than the younger ones. The lower
stratum was much the best, of light
straw color and very sweet and nice, and l
never saw any food relished better by any
animals. My only regret SO far is that l
did not learn more of its benefits sooner,
so that I could have prepared larger
quantity, which shall certainly do this
season. l shall increase the capacity of
my present silo by putting four of five feet
additional heigth to the walls, and shall
follow the example ofMr. Jones, of Maine,
by putting a wooden one into my bay 16
by 80 feet, and shall ensilage my feed,
including clover, timothy, miliet and rye.
l shall cut the small fodder with the cut
ting machine, for tVO reasons one is that
the extra labor of settling evenly can be
accomplished by taking pains in putting
in, and the other reason is the danger
from stones raked in with the fodder.
When ready for use sharp hay knife will
put it in shape to use with very little
trouble. The coarse fodder should be cut
fine, and am satisfied that it is as we'll
to fill the silo slowly as to be in a hurry
about it that is, twenty to thirty inches
in depth day is best.
When filled shall use levers for pres
sure instead of weighing with stones in
the manner described by DR.. Bailey and
4 IL .n1~ L.
fastened to the silo wall, running above
the top of the wall to form strong loop
of sufficient capacity to admit a cross tim.
silo from side to side. Three or four tim
bers will suffice for an ordinary silo. The
ends Of the levers are placed under the
cross beams, and a stud cut the right
length and inserted between the lever
and short piece of timber on
top Of the covering or floor. The
weights are a rough box with a
strap Of iron for bail) filed with stone,
which can be managed very easily, and is
within the means of any farmer with i'll
gcnuity enough to make a sled stake.
Some have proposed the use of screws for
this purpose. The objection is that the
ensilage settles away from the screws, and
will require to he attended to quite often,
and besides the expense would be consid-
erabIe, while with the lever an extra full
crum under the stud occasionally would
answer every purpose, and one can get all
the pressure required at very little cost
and trouble. Cost enters largely into the
argument presented by the opponents of
ensilage. My silo cost $50, and can
build another by the side of it for $50 !;
but shall put one in the barn, made of
wood, of more than double capacity for
less than 800. 1t seeems to me that
almost any farmer can try it on a small
scale if he has the will to do it, as trust
all will in time.
What are the arguments against the
new system? l have watched the col
umns of the Country Gentleman for the
last few moths, with considerable anxiety,
l confess, especially before my silo was
opened, as my neighbors insisted upon
calling it an asylum, and limited, in a
vague way, that l was fit subject for ad-
mission. But my silo opened up all right,
and l have looked in vain for any sound
argument against it. Mr.. Crozier, in his
first letter, condemns the whole thing, call
ing it swill, sauer kraut, &c. Swill, l sup.
pose, is almost anything fed from pail,
and is a very indefinite name. So far as tho
sauer kraut is concerned, perhaps Mr.. Gro
zier is not aware that it is a very healthy
article of food, and has been used in the
army and navy with excellent results. l
have ordered it used in my practice as
physician in several cases where the stom-
ach would not tolerate other food. And
it is generally admitted by Psychologists
that it will digest in less than half the
time that the raw or cooked cabbage will
under the same circumstances. l accept
the sauer kraut part of the letter with
thanks for the admission, and l can as
sure Mr.. c. that will take the chances of
my hired mans using Bible language in
feeding kraut, while his is digging his
marigolds out of the snow and frozen
earth with the mercury down toward the
thirties.
Another point in favor OF our system
and against MIR. Crozier's is that We can
raise our crops for the siio at less cost and
with moro certainty. Under ordinary cir
cumstances we are sure Of the crops We
wish to raise for that purpose, while the
beet crop is liable to failure, or has been
with us in western New York. The state
ment by several writer's in your paper, that
SO large a per cent. of the ensilage is water
and of course has no life-giving or life
sustaining qualities, sounds well to those
who like it, aud some OF them seem to re
markably we'll. Is the juice of plant
simply water, or is it something more
Let any reasoning person pass . hay field
where the hay is drying fast on a hot sum-
mer's day, and he must come to the con-
clusion that something beside water is
1,oinr carriod off from, tho uouIv ont sr,.,Sc