Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-03-02
AGRICULTURAL.


AGRICULTURAL.
Il Experiment with n Cheap Silo.
Last season Professor Henry, of the
agricultural department of the Wisconsin
University, made an experiment with a
wooden silo built i'll side hin at cost
OF SlS. At n late meeting of Wisconsin
farmers the professor related the results
as follows, as reported to the country
| Gentleman
thirteen rows Of corn were cut Sept.
6 and put into the silo, making 81 1000
pounds iof ensilage. The same number
OF rows of corn were cut and shocked.
In November and December four new
mich cows were selected. Two OF them
were fed on ensilage for twenty-one days,
and the other two were fed the dried fod-
der, which had been under cover ever
since 1t was well cured. At the end of
twenty-one days the cows were changed,
and those fed on ensilage.before were now
fed fodder.
During this test each COW, whether on
ensilage or fodder, was fed pound of
cornmeal, pound of wheat bran, and
l ] pounds Of oil meal at each feed morn
ing and evening. Each COW had all the
ensilagc or fodder she wouldea up clean.
The cows were fed, watered and MIXED
at the same hour each day, and every
means was used to make the test com
plete and fair. The result was that the
ensilage, plus the ground feed, produced
/, 400 pounds s ounces OF milk, from
which were churned 50 pounds and 81
ounces of butter. The fodder plus the
ground feed, produced | ,322 pounds II
ounces of milk, from which were churned
| e
the ensllage produced 1873 pounds and Q
ounces of milk and 6 pounds 3! ounces
of butter more than the dried fodder
the rate the food was consumed the thr-
teen rows of corn cut into fodder would
have lasted forty-eight days, while the
thirteen rows made into ensilage would
have lasted sixty-sevea and half days
Spreading Manure Broadcast.
Manure from the yard or stable"
sNT5 Professor $. w. johnson, of Con
necricut, ''rarely contains such an amount
of volatile fertilizing matter as should de.
ter from spreading IT broadcast on the
surface when most convenient. Unless
manure is very rich, as from grain-fed
animals, ana is i'll an active state of fer
mentation, hot and smoking, and exhales
distinct smell Of hartshorn, there can
be no loss from exposure, and in any case
the loss will be less by spreading over
thinly than by dropping in small heaps
because spreading means cooling and loss
of fermentation. But manure, when pro-
perly handled need not suffer any waste
from evaporation. A moderate ard regu-
lated heating Of fresh manure results in
the formation of humic acid, which Sc
~ l,a g., I, I.
tion. This moderate heating it should
have before hauling out or in cold wealth
er, before it heats at all. The advantages
of spreading manure from the wagon as
it is drawn ont are saving of labor and
an even distribution Of the soluble salts
ammonia, potash, phosphates, etc, J in
ed on the field aud gets heavy rain be-
heaps receives an undue share of the
best part of tie manure. Independently,
however, of loss by evaporation, there
may be circumstances when it is best to
get the manure into the ground before it
has had a chance TO become dry, for it
distributes much better when moist and
swollen with water than when 'chippy' or
'snutfy in texture, and is ready at once
to act ms manure, whereas dry manure
must recover moisture before it can be of
any use.
Making Good Pork.
The first thing, saws a writer in the New
York Times, in order to make letter A
product is to secure the right breed of
porkers Tastes differ on this point. We
like the small breeds, such as the Suffolks,
Yorkshires and Essex. The old fashion
ed ambition to mako hog weigh 800
pounds at eighteen months or two years
old was not profitable to the producer,
and the consumer certainly had chad too
much pork for his shillings" If a pig
can he made to weigh 250 or 300 pounds
ut eight months, rs the Suiiolks usually
do, there is saving of years keeping,
and the pork is of much better quality.
We have eaten none other than pig pork
for four years, and desire to eat no more
OF the big strong sort. The Western
producers are finding the bsst market for
the small breeds, the spring pigs of which
are fit for slaughter before Christmas,
weighing when dressed, $50 pounds on
an average, and furnishing hams of about
10 pounds weight.
The early maturity OF the small breeds
gives them great advantage over the
larger kipds We have known Suffolk
pigs to weigh 300 pounds at seven months.
To secure this result they must be fed
with SKINNED milk when first weaned,
mixing with 1t little bran and oat meal,
and gradually increasing the ration of
oats until the pigs have attained such q
size that 1t will answer to put on fat, |
when corn meal may be substituted grad |
ually for the bran and oats. There is
nothing equal to milk for young pigs.
but for inducing the growth the skinned |
IL fully as good as the pure article
Bone Dust as u Fertilizer.
In reply to correspondent the .Ameri-
can CHttiUdtOr condenses the following
concerning the preparation and uses of
bones Bones owe their value as fer |
tilizer partly to the phosphoric acid which
they contain, and in less degree to the |
combined nitrogenous matter. They are
used as manures, either in the form of .
bone dust or bone meal, or bone ash, or
MS superphosphate after treatment with .
sulphuric acid, Bone meal is obtained .
by crushing or grinding the bones to
kind OF coarse powder. The finer the |
state of division the more rapid is the ac-
tion of the manure. Steaming the bones
previous to grinding them dissolves out
about two-thirds Of the gelatine and occa-
sions loss of nitrogen, but they are then
easily reduced to n very fine powder, and
are thus rendered more effective as man
ure. When bone dust is prepared from
bones that have not been steamed it is
best applied with mixed earth or other
substance and fermented Wet sand,
sawdust, stable droppings or any sub
stance that will induce fermentation will