Connecticut western news., 1881-06-29
Some Suggestions About Ensilage.

From present appearances there seems no doubt that good many farmers will try their hand with ensilage the coming season. The following suggestions are offered for what they are worth by one who writes simply from observation:
 The pressure required to preserve the crop may be obtained by means of com mon jackscrews, such as are used by building movers, much more conve- niently and cheaply than by the cum- bersome load of stones frequently used. We will suppose the silo to be of ma- sorry, sixteen feet wide, and of any length. The covering blanks will go crosswise; across these, or lengthwise, the silo, two timbers six inches square may be placed, four feet from either side and about twelve feet long, to carry the jackscrews. Over these should be stationary timbers framed across the pit, so as to carry the weight of the roof when the strain of the screws is applied to them, and also tied down by iron bolts reaching several feet into the stone work below. Four screws will answer for silo of any size, for the screws can be replaced by studs or shores, and removed from one section to the next. One man can easily exert a pressure of several tons with this ap- pliance. and probably would need to follow it up daily for week or more after filling the silo. In case the silo is partly filled with rye or clover and afterward filled up with corn, the cover- ing can be very easily taken off and put on again by this arrangement.
 The owner of less than eight or ten COWS will hardly care to go into the business unless he can easily borrow or hire the machinery for cutting the fod- der. This machinery, costing several hundred dollars, will soon be readily hired if there is a demand for it by small farmers.
 The fodder is not complete ration like good rowen hay. It is best sup plemented by cotton seed or linseed meal, shorts or middlings. The chief value of the ensilage system will per haps be found to be in the relish given to the stock by the succulent fod- der. Roots, as is well known, are use- ful in this way, but are too expensive to be profitable, while ensilage is compar- atively very cheap.
 If ensilage can be successfully used, the farmer may be able to sell some of his English hay without exhausting his farm, since he will buy shorts or oil cake to feed his increased herds along with the ensilage, thus increasing the fertility of the soil. Some of the best farmers now buy considerable quanti- ties of shorts to feed with dry corn stover and meal, and sell English hay. With ensilage this way of working might be increased.
 The almost universal. testimony of those who have tried ensilage IS to the effect that it is relished by the cattle, and that they thrive remarkably well upon it; that the milk and butter are first rate, even in winter. There can be no question that the corn fodder can be grown much more cheaply than roots, hay, or any other kind of fodder what ever, and I see no good reason why it should not be very largely used in fu- ture. The statements of some writers, however, that two tons of ensilage are equivalent in feeding value to one ton of good English hay, need verifcation by more extended experience before they will be generally believed.-W D. Philbr5cE a2e American CultiUator.