The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-04-23
Ghq Sarmer.
From HapeI's Weekly.
NEW METHOD OF FEEDING CATTLE.
Ensildge-Hs advantages 10 Construct
= l.. III L L.,

Mr.. C. w. Mills, of New York city
owns farm in Passaic county, New Jer
sey, known as Arrareek, on which he ha
fed, the past winter, 120 cattle and 1.
horses, from ensilage grown upon thirteel
acres of land near the village of POmpton
His cows and horses are fat and in excel
lent condition, although the cost of tn,
feed consumed will not exceed 1925 pc
head, for period ofseven months, from the
18th of October to the 18th of May, next
Mr.. Mills explained to some visitors the
character of ensilage aud the process Of
preparing it. Having selected his seed, a
species of Southern corn of luxuriant
growth, he planted it in May in proximity
to his ordinary New Jersey corn. When
the end of September came, to his disnay
fthe- native corn was~ripe, ia perfect ear,
while the Southern corn, though twice as
tall, was yet immature. If frost came it
would be wasted He felt the necessity
of doing something to save all this food for
his cattle, but knew nothing Of cusilage.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
/ hG ISuemDCIGu buc Oiu l1GkhOu VI keep
ing roots 10 mounds of earth, practiced
| from time immemorial. All hands were
ordered to work. Pits we're dug in dry
graveIly SOIL Tie tail corn was laid low,
cut in lengths, transported to the pit, laid
in it lengthwise on foundation Of boards
When the pit was full, it was rooted with
planks and covered with earth, and en-
+ tirely irrespective of any other silo, per-
/ fectly unaequainied with ensilage, never
having read word about it in any language,
in the same year, 1876, Mr.. Mills discov-
cred the way OF keeping forage. When
the time came to try this food on cattle,
the eoHtenis of the pit were foppd to be in
fair order. Il gave out vineus odor,
vas ola tagny green-'the color Of cooked
/ beans" is Mr. Mills artistic idea of the
exact shade Of good ensilage The cattle
ate Of it greedily. They came aud came
again for ii. The process with its make
shift method was partial success only.
/ What was good in the mass answered all
purposes, but certain portion had rotted.
There was no fault in the general plan,
only the details wanted greater eonsidera-
ton Then Mr.. Mills set about thinking
it all over, and devised his present system
Of preservation BY the exclusion Of the air
by pressure only.
Il all seems simple enough when you
see it, but the simplest things are always
those which one arrives at after matured
thought. When you enter the barn you
see two deep pits sunk right into the floor
OF the barn. The exact dimensions are,
I for each, length, forty feet; width, thirteen
feet, depth, twenty feet. These pits are
! lined with concrete made of rubble and
Rosedale cement. They are solid and sub
stantiai. These are the silos, which hold
( the Cnsilage.
I Now let Us 20 back to the method of
/ planting the special kind of corn. The
( term special IS hardly worthy Of comment
4 ing upon, and need be no bugbear, because
the seed can be most readily obtained aud
IS not in the least expensive. There are
( good reasons for using il one Is because
Of its luxuriance Of growth, aud that, in
our climate, it contains the major part Of
the nutritious qualities in the stalk aud
leaves before il goes to the seed, aud that
By cutting it down 10 time We can get the
utmost advantage out of the vegetation,
Mr.. Mills soWs il 10 drills three inches
wide, with spaces of three feet clear open
soil between the drills. These drills are
heavily seeded. 10 time the field looks a:
ii il we're planted solid, though the inter
vening spaces give the plants light and
air. IL is planted in May, and cut about
the middle or end of September, when il
Is some eight or ten feet high. The pro
duet is about sixty tons per acre, of green
stalks aud leaves Mr.. Mills planted some
thirteen acres, not more; and from the
yield, $50 tons gross of green stuff cut, be
leeds his l20 cattle. This very small
amount Of land, used for this purpose
seems wonderful just as soon as the
corr is ready, which is distinguishable BY
the .asselling aud the formation of few
nubbins, in 20 the meD, who lay it low
Ii is at once carted to the barn where ara
the silos The green stalks and leaves ART
submitted to the action OF ordinary cutting
machines, the only preeautiou necessary
being that the knives be kept as sharp N
: possible, so that the green stuff shall mol
be bruised, Mr. Mills idea being that BY
rough handling the juices are expelled, anC
to that extent air takes its place in the
cells Of the plant-a thing to be avoided
as much as possible Two cutting ma
! chimes are used, which make the fodder
into lengths of one-half ana one inch.
Now to describe the method of filling
silos The cutting machines deliver the
stuff into the cement lined pits, the capac
ity of each being 800 tons. As the ma
| terial goes in it is not trodden on, but work
ed evenly into the silOs by changing the di
rectiou of the delivery. When the pit j:
full, level with the floor, wooden case j:
placed like fence around the pit, which
ease is seventy-6ve per cent. in height ol
the depth OF the pit, for the ensilage by
compression sinks about this much. The
pit being twenty feet deep, when it and
the hlteen-foot case are full, then the
whole mass of green material is covered
with stout wooden plauks, made in sec
tions. These sectional covers are among
the most important adjuncts Of the sllos
and in their proper construction a great
deal of the success of the operation de-
pends. These covers are made Of two-inch
thick spruce plank, tongued and groOved
and firmly battened together, four feet
wide, aud one inch less in length than the
width of the silo. As the silo is forty feet
long, it will take ten of them to cover it
The object in making them only four feet
wide will be apparent later. Now when
the silo or pit is full of green stuff, even
to the level of the fifteen feet additional
the sectional covers are put on the green
stuff, and these are weighted evenly aud
carefully
The whole secret of ensilage depends
upon a simple mechanical one, that of per-
fectly even continuous compression. The
air must be excluded, and also the ambi
ent moisture. Mr.. Mills weights down
his covers by distributing on top of each
silo fifty tons of grain or ground feed III
bags, which he afterward uses to mix with
his ensilage at time of feeding. He re.
commends, in case grain is not handy
that barrels be filled with gravel or sand
and used for the same purpose. As soon
as the weighted covers are applied, the
mass gradually sinks, until it reaches a
level with the fl or, and if the pit has been
| rronarlv constructed after the sink in0