The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-04-02
ENSILAGE.

| Joel Benton, in the New Yorl, Ecening
! Past, gives an interesting sketch of
recent visit to several farms near Armenia,
| n. T.. where silos have been constructed
and the herds of COWS kept there. whose
milk is sold to the Borden condensed milk
factory, are fed in part at least. on en-
| silage. Dr. William II. Tanner built
silo, costing $500. that hold, ESQ tons of
ensilaged corn, which he deems equal in
value to l25 tons of hay. Except one
backetful Of ensilage spoiled by a slight
| leakage of air at the doorway of the silo
! the contents opened in perfect order. and
are greclily eaten by the doctors eighty
six cows, about ten quarts each at feed
ing. The milk produced from it is of
excellent quality. Mr.. James S. Chaffee
went into the enterprise with no great
alacrity when it was first presented to
| him, but his visit to DR.. Bailey's farm
and his present experience have converted
! him into staunch believer in tile posi-
| tive merits of the silo. He intends,
eventually. to build another slo. which
he will till half full of clover in June, and
| then cover it up until he can complete
| filling it with Hungarian grass later i'll
| the season. The mixture of these two
grasses with the corn ensilage he thinks
will make perfect feed and he never
| expects To raise a large regular corn crop
again for the grain product. Mr.. Jacob
Pugsley is also firm believer, from en-
perience, in ensilasc. Mr.. Benton gives
these practical answers to question often
asked by farmers regarding this matter:
l. When green corn is cut and put into
the s;lo and pressed down, does it not
heat and decompose?
1t does not: for the exclusion of the
air prevents this process from taking
place. In the fruit can exclusion of the
air for the preservation of vegetables is
accomplished by heat; in the silo the
same substantial result is produced by
pulpy mass under pressure.
9. What is the appearance of ensilage
when it is taken from the slo and is in
good condition?
1t has the color of tea leaves when
they have been stepped in water and are
ready to be drawn from the tea pot-a
sort Of bottle green. The predominating
flavor is certain sourness, but when you
taste of the stalks the sugary element is
apparent: SO that one may say it is sweet
and also that it is sour.
3. Must the silo be built below the sur
face of the ground, like cistern, or can
it be built above ground?
1t can be built any way if it serves to
exclude the air, but the best position for
convenience in filling and taking out the
ensilage for feeding purposes is where
the barn in which stock is kept is SO sit
uated that the slo can be cxcavated from
an adjacent bank or side hill.
The New York Tribune has the follow
ing: Mr.. F. S. Peer, East Palmyra, n.
Y. converted az old stone building, IS
by 20 feet, into a silo, and filled it with
corn fodder on which ears had formed,
cutting it in he field with a reaper. He
reported, at recent meeting of the
Western New York Farmers Club that
stantly for four weeks to swine, sheep,
calves, colts and cows. with the most
pleasing results. The third day S rations
to cows nearly doubled the milk they
were giving on corn stalks, and the but
ter is more abundant and of higher color.
Cotswold sheep became so ravenous he
was obliged to make a partition between
them and the troughs and when the lat
ter was filled, raised covers for them to
eat. The rations of ensiage appear to
enable them to eat and digest more straw
than when fed on dried fodder. He is
keeping more stock than he possibly
could on the ordinary products Of the
farm; thinks he can raise thirty tons of
cornfodder per acre on land that would
yield only 4 ton and 4 half of timothy
hay; and estimates that two tons of ell
silage are equal in feeding value of ton
of the best timothy
The Bucks County Mteliigencer says:
Few new things have been introduced
which bid fair to give rise to greater
amount of study, comment, valuable as
sistance and real advantage to the dairy
farmer than the siio. This is Il French
invention OF discovery, and is just now
receiving marked degree of attention
among progressive dairymen in this
country. The first American silo of
which we have any knowledge is the one
constructed by DR.. Bailey. of Billerica,
Massachusetts, which is now being uti-
lied for the third year with very satisfac-
tory results. There have been number
of new ones made this year. and SO far as
report goes are doing all that was claimed
for them by their originator, and the
American pioneer, DR.. Bailey. There
will be many more silos constructed next
year. One holding from two to five hun
bred tons costs from $500 to $780,