The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-02-09
OUR FARM BUDGET.
Ensilage Of Green CrOps-Fattening an
Old Cow on Milk.
A New Plan of storing Potatoes-What My
Bees Have DOne-Thorough-
bred GObblers.
EnsiIage of Groen Crops.


the enormous yield of cornstalks and other
green crops that can be produced upon we'll
culyated land canbe cheaply stored and kept
in succulent condition for use in winter, or
from one crop to the next, however long the
period, is at last attracting the attention oil
the farmers of the United States.
The method was discovered by Monsieur
| Auguste Goffart. of Burtin, France, after
\ twenty years search, and his treatise upon
the subject was translated and published in
1879 by J. B. Brown, President OF the New
York PIow Company, whose second edition
contains also the --latest Facts, as
developed by experience IN this
country. The silo can be Oh any size
or shape; but il is better TO be OF such
width that it can be covered by one length
of two-inch plank. say twelve to ilfteen feet;
and il is better To have ii below the surface
or barn floor and to be emptled from the
top. instead OF having any door at the bot
tom The pressure upon the fodder, cut IN
half-inch lengths. need not be more than 100
mounds to the square foot of surface; and 1t
is this pressure, continuously acting upon
the shrinking subsidiug mass that preserves
IL by forcing out the air that il contains TO
such an extent that the alcoholic fermenta-
ton can not commence.
It. therefore remains in its bath of car
bOnic acid gas without change. The Preser-
walton is better when the plant IS the most
charged with juice. This fact for a long
time eluded the notice of the discoverer,
who supposed that more or less drying was
necessary TO insure preservation; and IL Is
difficult 10 make farmers now understand
that il j. a reversal Of the old idea OF pres
ervation BY drying and that any deslccatlOn
or mixture of straw is injurious.
The StalksOf maize are sweeter when raised
from the seed grown in the South and which
does not mature IN the North. 1t IS called
Southern Horse-Tooth Corn. When the tas-
sci appears and ripens its pollen, and while
the pollen is dropping upon the silk, the
stock Is fully charged with sap anu oh'aiils
! the greatest amount of saccharine matter.
This is the time for cutting it for ensilage,
while pollen is dropping.
The silO needs 70 be filled rapidly, because
unless il is filled 10 the extent OF TWO feet
per day the mass will heat; and when
II has been heated, or when the cutting
has been DELAYED until the reproductive
act has been acc 'ished and the juice
kretires from the X, it will not keep
perfectly sweet, -Jugh still very excel
INT food for the cattle. The shrinkage of
be cut fodder in the silo is equal to one
uarter of its depth, at least; and 1t is well
arrange curbing above the silO TO hold, at
east. Ons-third OF the whole, so that in
drinking il will fill the silO 10 the top. The
syering should be battened together in
Reflect sections, so that it will remain
vel as il shrinks under the pressure.
re has been much discussion in
agricultural journals * To the
titive value of the enSilage; whether the
ening process Of commencement OF fer
entation does or does not prepare ii for
testiOn in Il profitable manner. The testi-
hOnv seems to be in favor of the system.
ThOSe who have built SilOS and filled them
Fare very much pleased with the results. and
are unanimously in its favor. All who have
built propose to build larger. The larger
silos and the more powerful cutting ma
chimes give, OF course, less cost
TO the crop: but il varies
from seventy-five cents TO g. 30 per ton. a
cubic foot of the packed ensilage weighs
fifty pounds, and a ration for a full-sized
animal is sixty pounds per day. The cost
>sf masonry siIos averages l-25 per ton of
contents, while in many places earth-silOs
will answer and cost scarcely anything but
boards for cover. 1t requires to support a
cow (dry grass and hay) about six acres of
pasture and meadow. Therefore, if forty
tons of stalks can be raised on an acre, it is
equivalent to an advantage of twenty-five TO
one in the power of land to support ami
NAL life, while the manure of the barn
yard will keep up the supply in ex-
cess Of the demand upon it by the
crop. Whence comes this gain? 1t is from
the nitrogen of the air absorbed b. the
broad leaves of the growing crop. We are
drawing more literally upon the aerial
domain OF nature. The cattle lcOWS, oxen,
sheep, hogs, and hOrses) all give preference
TO good ensilage over any other food; but
thew also enjoy and reward a variety in
their bill of fare.
The labor of keeping up meadows to their
full productive capacity is large item in
the cost of hay, while the less costly plow-
ing and narrowing of mellow stubble land is
an item in favor of ensilage.
The pOstpOnement of the severe labor of
harvest to the cooler days of September is a
great advantage in the system of cnsilage
over that of ''haying;" while over and above
all other considerations is the uncertainty
of a good crop of cOrn-stalkS. which can
never be said OF hay. The freedom from
danger by fire; the lack of attraction to the
tramp. and the incendiary and to the
lightning in the silo; the advantage of two
crops a year-all these are important to
every farmer who depends for his living
upon the products of the soil, and point to
the silo as a valuable improvement upon
the hay-mow.
There is also an advantage in having the
cutting ali done at once which is necessary
to its preservation, so that the crop is pre-
pared for use asgathered. The only draw
back to the system is the necessity of pro.
Viding one or more cutting machines and
the necessary power.
The ensilage cutters should have the requi-
site strength and capacity; but many farm
ers will hesitate before investing in that
class of machinery until the low prices for
dairy products compel them TO change their
system of moving machines and haymows
10 that of cutters and silos.