Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-11


grows out of the discovery made by
Frenchman, Auguste Goffart, that green
crops. when stored under heavy pressure
in water-tight pits, called silos, do not
decay, but are preserved fresh and sweet
and retain for considerable length of
time all their nutritive juices, and are
more preferable as winter food for cattle.
This is a subject which very naturally
has excited great deal of interest among
the farmers of this State. as elsewhere,
since not only is it asserted that a great
deal more of weight in green food
than dry can be raised on an acre,
but ensilage, it is claimed, possesses the
advantage of supplying cattle with sue
culent food in the winter-a great ad-
vantage, especially to mich cattle. The
Missouri Republican, in recent issue,
gives full description of this food, the
mode of its preparation, and indeed all
valuable information connected with it.
As the article will probably prove of
considerable interest to our farmer
friends, we will produce it in substance
for their benefit.
According to our Western cOntem-
poraly any green crop that stock are
fond of when In a growing state is good
material for ensilage grass, clover,
rye, young corn. sorghum, and vege-
tables; but corn, clover and the
grasses are most generally used, because
when growing they are full of juice,
which is lost in curing into hay or fod
der, but preserved in the silo. Several
kinds of green crops may be packed in
the same silo, and the ensilage is said to
be improved by the variety. Corn,
either drilled and cultivated or sown
broadcast, and cut in its most juicy con-
dition, is the basis of most ensilage expe-
riments in this country; it may be packed
in the same silo with clover or grass Of
any kind cut green, and successive crops
of corn may be planted for mixture with
different kinds of grasses in their season.
As it is estimated that ten to twenty tons
weight of green crops may be cut from
an acre of good soil-five to ten times as
much as the weight of a dry crop of
grain or hay it is easy to see how much
more profitable it is to save green crops
in the folm of ensilage than to allow
them to mature and dry. Colonel ]. w.
Wolcott, of Boston, who owns farm
nesr that city, raised 466 tons of ensilage
on "a acres-14 tons to the acre-last
year By raising two crops on the same
soil he has gathered as much as 81 tons
per acre. On one piece of ground he
gathered 81 tons per acre, but "that
corn was fourteen feet high" he says.
He adds: II am satisfied that an acre
of ground will keep cow twenty four
months"
When the silo is opened in winter the
contents are found in a sort of cheesy
condition, and require to be sliced off
with a sharp axe. They have undergone
slow and slight fermentation, which
does not impair their merits as feed and
is not offensive to cattle. Indeed, the
first smell of ensilage is said to ''set cat
tie wild for it, and they prefer it to any
other kind of feed.
Silos are variously constructed. The
usual plan is to dig pits ten feet wide,
fifteen feet deep, and as long as may be
desired, on sloping ground, and make
them water tight with cement. Mr.. G. w.
Mills, of Pompton, New Jersey. prefers
to build a strong frame, board 1 up tight
aud close with thick lumber, entirely
above the ground, something in
the fashion of an ice-house. The green
crops may be packed into them, either
whole or cut up with a cutter; each plan
has its advocates, though the weight OF
opinion is in favor of cutting, as it allows
of closer packing. As the crops are
thrown in they are trOdden down as close
~ near the edges as possible, and when
the silo is full it is covered and weighed
with heavy rocks or earth, and then
shielded over to protect it from the
weather. In few weeks the ensilage
is ''ripe" and ready for use. One end of
the silo, if built along the ground, may
be opened and the ensilage cut out and
fed as it is wanted. Its quality will
depend on the crops of which it is made
and the care with which they are packed
away. Nearly all animals will eat it, and
cattle are said to like and thrive on it,
while for mich cows it is particularly
valuable, as it increases their flow of
milk and keeps them in healthy condi-
| ton.