The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-06-07

1
of corn down to 10! feet. Size of pit l2x
l2x40 feet Area of land in corn. Is
acres rows % feet apart. was nine
days in filling silo with about 10 hands
ana mules His silo was opened about
december 20, of the same year, and "the
ehsiiage iound III excellent condition.
! PROF. M'BRYDE's EXPERIENCE.
My own experience with ensilare
oates from the summer of 1879. After
reading the accounts of the'French expe.
rlments l soon arrived at tho conviction
that they were Of comparatively little
value to the great body of our farmers
Few Southern farmers have either the
money or the inclination to build silos
costing hundreds of dollars, to buy ma.
chinery costing hundreds more for the
purpose OF testing the merits Of ensilage
l deemed it best, therefore, to make nv
earlier experiments as simple as possible.
AS they were carried on in section of
country not unlike the upper portions of
our State in it's agricultural and other
features, will give them somewhat in
detail. :"
A pit feet long, feet wide and 6
feet deep was dug on the northern side
OF small grove The soil was a stifr
loan resting upon dry and compact red
clay subsoil. The sides of the si.o were
neither bricked up nor cemented The
corn In consequence of the long contin.
ued drought was dry and wilted when
harvested. 1t was cut on tho 9th of
september, when the ears were bepin.
ming to fill, and Immediately carted to
the pit. The stalks we're laid !ongthwise
IN the sllo and packed down layer by
layer. The mass was carried vertically
upwards, 6 feet above the surface in
order to allow for its settling. About 3
feet OF clay was then thrown on top and
1t was allowed to stand for "a hours. At
me expiration Of thai time it had settled
down within few inches of the surface.
1t was then heavily tramped and more
clay thrown upon the tops and sides. In
few days more tho mass was several
inches below the surface. The pit was
closely watched and every crack careful.
~ stopped: The corn weighed about 49,.
OO0 pounds. AS the capacity of the
sllo was 324 cubic feet the ensilape
weighed upwards of 40 pounds to the
cubic foot The pit was opened on De.
cember Ii of the same year. The ensi.
iage proved to be of excellent quality.
It's color was greenish yellow, its taste
lnsipid and its odor alcoholic. 1t was
greatly relished by our cattle. The silo
was opened by taking off the covering of
earth and boards at one end. The nor.
ton OF ensilage uncovered was removed
oy making vertical section from the
top to the bottom of the silo. Tho
heavy, superintendent pressure on the
remaining portion of the mass prevents
the entrance of the mir at the exposed
end. The superficial layer of ensilage
Immediately in contact with the bottom
and sides of the silo was covered with
mold and slightly damaged to the depth
OF an inch or so. The loss from this and
all other sources amounted to about
400 pounds.
In 1880 two additional slos were pre-
pared. Both were like No. 1-simply
pits dug i'll the.clay soil. No. 9 was 10
feet deep, 10 feet wide and 20 feet long.
Ihe corn was cut August 4th and 5th.
and Immediately hauled to the silo in
carts, where it was dumped down after
being weighed in an adjoining scale.
room: 1t was then passed through No.
II Sihciairs feed cutter, driven by 8
one-horse railway (tread) power. This
cutter, although, it repeatedly sliced up
cart.ioad OF corn weighing 500 pounds
into pieces about half an inch long in
hve minutes time, is too light for a
heayy. crop of corn or sorghum. The
machinery was simple and cheap, such
as could be used for many other farm
purposes: The corn fell from the cutter
directly into the pit, where it was packed
gown e1 oy heavy tramping. The silo was
hlied with $4,000 pounds of corn and
$4,000 pounds of green (second crop)
mos q r
above the surface. The process of filing
occupied three days. The ensilape was
covered with few inches of chaff.
boards were placed across this, and the
required weight, about 100 pounds to the
square foot Of surface, applied. This
weight was furnished by q covering of
red clay, weighing about 80 pounds to
the cubic foot. The mass in a few davs
had settled down we'll within the pit. A
rough shed was placed over the silo to
protect it from the weather.
Silo No. 3, liz by 10 by 20 feet was
partly filled in the same way with $4,000
pounds OF corn and 5000 pounds of Ger
man millet. 1t WAS weighted with old
Siio NO. was enlarged and filled with
IL, 4oo pounds of second crop clover.
Nos. 2 and were opened during the
winter Of 18S0-81. The ensilage proved
to be of excellent quality and every
pound of it was eaten by our stock. No.
was not opened until the following
winter, ,el881-82-fifteen months after It
was filled. The euslage (clover) was
somewhat more acid than that of Nos. 2
and 8, was eaten with less relish by the
cattle.
THE OBJECTION TO EARTuEN sILos. !.
The great objections to silos. with
earthen walls is the falling in of the sides
during winter weather. When emptied
to prevent the heaving disintegrating
action of the frost upon tho damp Claw
To ensure the uniform descending press.
ure 80 essential to the success of tho
process the walls must be perpendicular
and smooth, and hence the only remedy
is to enlarge the silo. 1t is often incon.
venient and expensive, and sometimes
impossible, to do this.
:, Encouraged by the successful expert
ments OF the preceding years, I deter
mined in 1881 to construct silos of q
more permanent character Two were
accordingly excavated on the upper side
of hillside barn, each about % feet
long, II feet wide and IL feet deep.
They were strengthened on the inside by
brick wall, lined with cement, and
were covered by projection Of the roof
of the barn. The cost of the two was
about 5000. In consequence of the long
continued drought the crops planted for
ensilage were almost failures, and only
one silo was partly filled with 49,O65
pounds of corn, 1880 pounds of dhour-
ra and 4,785 pounds Of sorghum, 66 $50