St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-01-13
IarifnHnraI.
SiIOs and EnsiIage.

ed somewhat the past year, / have had
numerous inquiries in regard to my ex-
pertinent. | will therefore give in as
short space as | can the result of my
operation.
First, in regard to my silo: l took
one joint of my bay extending to the
bottom of my barn cellar, 10 it, by II
#. when finished, and "a #. to top
making the capacity 24OO feet, or 20
feet deep. After pressing, if it had
been filled, allowing 80 lbs. to the
square foot, TO tons would be the
amount it would contain. AS l made
it wholly above ground | constructed
it entirely of wood as follows: l put in
stills to join the sills of my barn, and
timbers SXS in, feet apart between
the sills and plates. then used iron
dogs to tasten the corners of such tim
beers together, made of { inch round
iron, driven 4 inches into the timbers.
| then used 2XS in. studs between
these timbers, joined into the same and
about = feet apart. The outside of my
barn was double boarded perpendicu-
larly, and straw boards put between.
I he outside of my silo in the barn was
also boarded perpendicularly with
paper between the first and second
boarding the inside of the silo was
boarded first horizontally, mailing to
the studs before mentioned, and dry
sawdust was put i'll to fill the space
the entire distance, excepting four feet
at the top above the plates. After com
pleting the first boarding and filling,
| then put on straw boards, then plan
ed and matched boards perpendicular
ly, as the ensilage would settle with
less resistance than when boarded hOr-
izontally. | then put in two press
beams above, making them very strong
by using iron dogs, and mailing the up
right boards inside and out. These
beams are for the purpose of pressing
with screws. | used two common jack
screws for the purpose. | used hem
lock and spruce lumber in the con-
struction. The bottom is to 0e ce-
mented on the ground. AS | had not
time to put on the cement before using
it, smoothed off the ground, which is
clay, and laid floor of boards and
banked up on the outside to exclude
the air. The cost of such a silO, in
Guiding material and work, is seventy
five dollars, all completed.
Second, in regard to filling: sowed
the Virginia white flint corn in rows
81 in. apart and hills ten inches apart,
putting 4 to 6 kernels in a hill. |
planted two acres of this corn June LIST
commenced to fill the silO the 9th day
of September, by cutting with horse
power and an ensilage cutter, making
three cuts to the inch, finishing the sec
ond day, working IL hours and cutting
- tons as it came from the field, max
ing 30 tons after it was pressed. The
|
cut up the corn, one man and team to
haul to the barn, two men and power
to cut in the barn, one to shovel into
silO and two inside to pack and tread.
After cutting | put on foot of straw
well trod, covered this with straw
boards and then covered this with =
inch hemlOck plank placed. close to-
getber, leaving one inch space on the
outside to enable them to settle freely.
placed three 8 inch square timbers
across the planks, equidistant then
two 10 by IL square timbers across
these directly under the press beams
mentioned i'll the construction then
put on the Gacks and run it down, turn
ing them down every morning as far
as we could with an iron bar for about
il week, until it ceased to settle.
opened the silo Dec. LIST, 1881, and
found the ensilage in good condition,
looking nearly as green as when it was
put in. | am feeding 10 animals on 40
lbs. of ensilage and & lbs. of hay per
head, making two feeds of ensilage and
one of hay and 10 head on hay alone.
After feeding five weeks find those
fed on ensilage are in better condition
and show a greater gain than those
! fed on hay. The animals eat it with
great relish not a particle is wasted.
My cows fed on it increased in quaint
ty of milk and quality of butter. So
far as | have experimental, | am sat
listed that in what has been written in
regard to the value of ensilaged crops
| it has not been Over-estimated. NV
only regret is that | did not put in
more and fill it full. But my faith,
confess, was not as strong as it now is.
1t has been demonstrated that wood
slos will preserve their contents as
well as the more expensive ones built
of stone or concrete, and also that those
built in the barn are much more con-
venient to feed from than those outside
of the barn or in pits under the barn !;
of course those built of stone or con-
crete will be more durable.
There is, however, danger in future
that some may suffer loss in not con-
structing their silOs with sufficient
care. This is my main object in writ
ing so particularly in regard to the
construction of my own, as I have
known of some built the past year too
weak to bear the great pressure of such
| n rnnSS Rainn ont sn fine the nnrti