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

Aroiessor McBryde, OF tho State univer-
hity' Tells How to Carry Out tho Pro.
| cess.
10 tie Editor Of the Ncus and Courier !.
10 my hrst letter an historical presenta-
.ion OF the subject of ensilage was at.
tempted. In the present communjca.
lioh' approach it from the standpoint
OF practice; and in my third and last !
VIII notice very briefly few Of the eco.
homic and scientific questions more or
'ess intimately connected with it.
THE FRENCH METHOD
OF preserving Indian corn, or maize NAV
De thus briefly described The seed il
carefully selected, the variety called the
CaYagua-imported originally from Cen.
'rai America, but directly from Algeria
being the one generally preferred II
is planted in drills far enough apart to
permit the free passage of the plough
&c, on land heavily dressed with stable
manure and dsuperphosphates. The cron
IL thoroughly cultivated. It is cut in
iull bloom ii. e. in "the silky and imme.
diateiy carted, unwilted, to the silo. or
PIT, where it is dumped on convenient
platform.
HOW TO BUILD A sILo.
lhe silo is usually of elliptical form,
about Is feet in depth, the same in width
ana from 80 feet to 100 feet in length.
Large sllos are preferred rs presenting
less surface in proportion TO cubioa1
contents. The walls, built of stone
concrete or brick, and lined within with
cement, are two thirds below ground and
one-third above, with the subterranean
portions two bricks thick and the parts
aooVe ground brick and half thick.
lhe pit is covered with an open roof
raised on supports. A door, let into one
end, is built up and cemented before the
sllo, which is placed as near the stables
as possible for convenience in feeding, is
hl!ed. A powerful cutter, driven by
steam, cuts the corn into little disks. four
tenths of an inch thick. These falling
on an elevator are carried up over the
Walls and deposited into the silo. Two
men stationed within it keep the mass
level and well-packed down. When it
Is fuil layer of cut straw, few inches
thlck, Is hrst put in, next covering of
boards, placed transversely to the length
OF the pit, and above all heavy WEIGHT
OF rock, iron, blocks, of wood, bags filled
with sand or soil, &C., about 900 bounds
TO each square yard Of surface. This
weight furnishes the continuous descend.
ing pressure which is considered the sine
qua non of success. The silo is entered
at any time during the winter by cutting
open the door and removing part of the
covering boards and weight at the same
end. The part of the ensilago exposed
Is fed to the stock within twenty.four
hours.
GoFFART's METHOD,
here described, is the one generally fol.
lowed IN this country by those farmers
whose means are sufficient to meet the
outlay required. Within the last few
years, however, hundreds of silos, differ
ing widely from the French type, and
from each other, in shape, size and
materials, have been built, and the pro-
cess has been variously modified. Some
pack down the corn uncut, others first
cut into pices from inch to 7 inch long.
Some silos are merely bitches few feet
in depth and width, in which the corn is
carefully !sid down end then carried yer
tically upwards to the height of 4 or s
feet above ground and covered by heap
ing from Is inches to "a inches of clay
over the sides and top. One silo is
described as we'll, walled up and ce.
mented, and furnished with a windlass
and rope for raising the ensilage to the
surface. Two or more are frequently
built parallel to each other under same
roof, with a common wall between them
and doors leading from one to the other.
Another form is described as an elonga.
ted cylinder, arched over the top in the
direction of its greatest length, after the
manner of cistern, and with only mar
row opening left along the crest of this
area, through which the corc il deliver
ed, and which is closed by simple GOV.
ering of earth after the pit Is filled.
Some are built wholly and some partly
above ground. others wholly below
ground. A corner of barn or stable
is often converted into silo by adding
the other two walls of the required quad.
rilateral. The walls may be of concrete.
stone, brick, wood or clay.
CIsTERNs AS sILos.
A farmer wrote to me few years ago
asking whether it would be practicable
to convert cistern into silo. He af-
terwards sent me the following account
of his experiment-his letter is dated
December 26, 1881: Instructions con-
tanned in the report you were kind
enough to send me last summer led me
to try putting up ensilage. I planted
seven acres of ordinary land, heavily
manured with tobacco stems. in corn.
Cut and stored it away in September in
q cistern rs feet deep by II feet in diam.
eter. The cistern was plastered and
arched. / used an ordinary what we
calll ground hog thresher and power;
had all the teeth taken off the drum, and
fon, steel knives bolted to it ut equal
distances apart, and found that four
mules could drive it 80 as to do good
work. had the corn tramned by men
as it went into the cistern. When
through cutting ! put on six inches of
straw, then about eight inches of dirt
and then pressed the whole down with
powerful jacEscrew. / opened it in No.
vember and found it in prime order.
Boarded fifty cattle for two weeks; found
they ate it we'll and thrived on it. In
troduced it to our dairymen in Clarks.
vile, Tenn, and sold the whole Of it at
good price,"
THE EFFECT OF TRAMPING ENsILAGE.
Some object to the tiamping of the cut
ensilage during tho process Of filling the
silo. Moulton in describing Mils's sys-
tenn remarks: "Mr. Mills allows no
no tramping or mussing of the mass, for
the reason that he finds that any portion
Of the succulent stalks subjected to pres.
sure will cause the juice to exude, and
Immediately upon relieving the pressure
the air takes It's place in the cellular tis.
sue of the plant, and fermentation results
in the body of the mass" It is held
that the pressure of the superficial lay
ers is sufficient to force out the air and to