Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-06-03
SILOS AND ENSILAGE.

the Young farmer of the Boston Journal
as they met on the street. "'I have
seen nothing about it IN the Journal
lately, aud SO | suppose that the scien-
tific men have converted you TO the be-
lief that dried grass with bucket of
water, is just as good as green grass, or
that preserving the green grass in
silo destroys the nutritious qualities
of il.
On the contrary, my faith in ensilage
is as strong as it ever was, and | have
said nothing about it lately because it
seemed to me that all the agricultural
papers were advocating it in their edi-
torial columns, while their correspond
ents We're nearly unanimous in favor of
the new method (as it is called) Of pre-
serving fodder. / do not like to have
my arguments all on one side, like that
of the old darkey who boosted of two
hours argument with old massa, who
said that cotton grew best on wet
land, and he said so, too, and then they
argued and argued, and when they
got through they were both convinced
that it was so.
But if the scientific men are combat
ing it upon the principle that there is
nothing lost in the drying of grass or
corn fodder, excepting Ger ain weight
of pure water which evaporates, can
not agree with them, unless they can
give me more scientific knowledge than
| have now. / am more inclined to
agree with the editor of the american
CulticatOr, WHO asks, very pertinently,
whether the believers in that doctrine
would accept slice of dried beef and a
dish of dried apples, with glass of
water, as q substitute for juicy beef
steak and good mellow apple.
It may be that which evaporates con-
tains nothing aChich can be measured
or aceighed, excepting pure water, but
the rich flavor and delicate aroma are
gone, and we cannot replace them, nor
do know of any way to estimate their
value as nutrition. Whether this VIOLA
tile essence contains nutritious proper
ties, or imparts value by the part it
plays i'll the digestive process, we can
not ascertain i'll any better way than by
asking the animals to which we have
fed the green grasses and the we'll cured
hay. Ii they are willing to give more
milk, make more butter, or store up
more fat on the green fodder than they
will upon the dry, supplemented with
all the pure water they can drink, then
shall | trust to the judgment of the
cow rather than to that of the learned
professor, and shall believe that grass
contains something more than hay and
water.
And | will venture another assertion.
and call upon any one who has prac-
| l. A., -, -
amount of grass which will keep COW
thriving and in a good flow of milk,
when fed to her green, will not be of q
sufficient ration for her if it is made
into well-cured hay. This NAY be
easily proven by cutting two lots Of
grass of equal weights and curing one o.
them.
As regards the cht mical changes in
the ensiIage wilhelm the pit, the weight
OF evidence seems to indicate that they
make the fodder more nutritious ant
valuable than it was when put in; yet
as much may depend upon the condi
ton of the fodder when put in, or tn,
: rapidlty or perfection Of the method o
packing, this point may be considered
as ~ c;.en question for the present anG
/
The point which the practical farmer
will desire to know is not whether en-
silage fodder is more valuable than il
was before it was put in the pit, but is
it more valuable than if it were cured
by the process of drying, and can it be
put IN the pit at less cost than it can be
dried. The evidence of at least nine
tenths Of those who use ! silos last yeai
leads me to believe that both these
questions may be answered i'll the affirm.
alive.
WHAT PINT OF MANURE ia
Wisconsin farmer sends this experience
to the american -1gricUiturist Last
Year, in hauling yard manure across a
field ufterward planted to corn, some
of it scattered off in driblets, from a
handful to n pint or so in place
When planting the corn, / found Dor
tlons OF these droppings, aud where no.
ticed, drew them into the hills, and
with the hoe mixed them little with
the soil as the seed was dropped In
three instances, where large handful
or about a pint of the manure was
thus put III, stick was driven down 10
mark the hills. When hoeing, we no.
ticed that 10 these hills the corn plants
had started off more vigorously, were
greener, and at the third hoeing they
were 6 to y inches higher than the
other hills adjoining. Our curiosity
being awakened, we followed up the OBJ
servations, and when gathering the
crop, each of the three stalks in all the
three hills, had on it two large plump
ears, while the surrounding corn did
not average one good ear to the stalk.
This sets us to figuring. That bit
OF manure Lad given the young corn
roots vigorous start, Just rs good feed
starts off a young calf, or pig, or lamb,
and the roots penetrated further in ev-
cry direction and gathered more food
and moisture. These stalks being better
nourished from below, ran far away from
the poorly fedneighbors. As TO the fig
ures, therows were B. feet apart, and the
bills feet distant III the rows. say 4. 600
hills on an acre, aud 4 000 pints Of man.
ure - about 81! bushels, or two large
wagon loads. Anybody can reckon the
difference between six large, we'll filled
/ ears Of corn on each hill, and less than
! three per hill, aud the cost Of the ma
nure as compared with the total value Of
the final crop. The blowing, and the
seed, and the hoeing, amount to the
same IN each case. Ali have to SAY Is.
that every corn-hill planted on M farm
0 .