Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-02-20
suIes Asp ExsuLAGE.

0GLoA AND Ey4gLAGE.
AR. Cleveland. of Dalton, Massa-
n asetts. has siIo attached 20 the end
IF his COW stable. Its dimensions are
Is feet BY 30 feet, and 16 feet deep, one
half above ground. The walls are a
concrete of cement and gravel. The
,ilo was covered first with straw six
inches deep and then with plank IA
inches thick. The whole was weighted
With large stones 70 the average depth
Of two feet. In addition to Mr.. Cleve-
lands labor and that Of his team, the
cost of the silo was $30e.75. The fod-
der crops grown were corn and Hunga-
Ran Qrsss. Fodder 10 most valua bic
for ensilaee when In bloom The pro-
duct of corn fodder per acre varied
from twenty to thirty-five tons. The
cost of filing per ton of fodder put IN
was about 81. Two months time
elapsed before the siio was opened. As
TO It's condition when opened " the
top six inches was of Hungarian grass,
two of which was little mouldy. The
corn smelled sweet and good, and after
twenty-four or forty-eipht
hours the odor was similar TO that of
new bread. After first opening, the en-
silaee was all uncovered, and being ex-
posed TO the air, it smelled and tasted
rather sour at last, yet the cattle ate II
with relish.
Mr.. Cleveland writes: 81 think three
tons of ensilage equal in value one ton
Of the best timothy hay. After feeding
ensilage one week my SIX COWS gained
twelve quarts per day in their milk,
after which they did not show any addi-
tional gain, yet they held their own.
The milk and butter produced while
feeding ensilaRe were as good as the
products obtained in June from good
pasture. As to the value of ensilage for
other stock, my young cattle and sheep
ate it with relish, and in preference to
good hay. The daily ration was sixty
pounds ensilacs to each COW. II was
FED at morning and night, thirty pounds
q. a feeding, with small foddering OF
nay at noon. / seldom feed ensilage
alone, using wheat middlings and
,orn meal, half and half, four quarts a
lay. As continued to feed this ensil-
age my stock improved in flesh and ap-
being in poor condition when
commenced feeding. The system of
snsilage feeding enables one with a
little land to keep comparatively large
amount of stock. Last year bought
$3.50 worth Of hay, while this year l
Eve more cattle on the same
land and sold 800 worth Of hay"
The silos owned by VIM. II. Gilbert,
N. Y, are built at the end
VI his barn and extend into the side Of
4 hill. The bottom of the silos are one
foot below the stable floor, with doors
from top OF the silo to the
eyel Of the stable floor. Each silO is
sixteen feet by thirty six feet and nine
.een feet in depth. The walls are of
1t one two feet in thickness, and plas-
tered with water-liole. The bottom is
paved with stone and plastered. The
cover Is of two-inch plank tongued and
srooved. Last year the weighing was
Effected with common field stone, esti-
mated at thirty tons on each silO. This
season barrels filed with sand are used,
giving a weight of 80 to 200 pounds to
The square foot. These two silos cost
about $500. Stone, delivered, cost g.
per cord; mason work, fifty cents a
perch; labor ON building, 800; excava-
ton, $50. The sand for the necessary
mortar was secured in excavating for
the silo pit. Southern corn was planted
with, drill, thirty inches apart and
cultivated the same as field corn. This
of corn grows large and is sweet
and juicy. Corn fodder is most valua-
BILE for ensilage when the ears are large
for roasting. One season with
another, twenty tons corn fodder per
acre is good average. In preparing
the ensilage the cutter was placed on
The wall, 90 that the feed falls directly
INTO tho silo. Tho ensilage was cut
into lengths of three-eighths of an inch,
1t the rate of eight to ten tons per
hour. Two men were kept in silo, lev
cling and packing. The cost for out
ling and packing was between thirty
five and forty cents per ton.
Mr.. Gilbert writes: "My silos were
opened about three months after filling,
The condition Of the ensilage at that
time proving good. There seemed to
DO no deterioration after opening, in
fact the ensilags was as good in April
AZ in December. Five tons Of ensilage
will keep a COW as long rs two tons OF
tho best hay. secured from my COWS
when fed with ensilage twenty five per
sent. more milk than l could obtain
from hay. The butter product was
one, with the flavor nearly az
good as that made from grass. My
horses and hogs ate ensilage greedily
though l did not feed them enough 70
ascertain value. / fed two bushels, OF
forty pounds to each head per day
With good management farm will
keep two COWS the year for every acre
In conclusion, consider
ensilage very profitable in the economy
of the farm.
James Nelson, of New Brunswick, N
j., has silo fourteen feet by forty feet,
and nineteen feet deep. half under the
ground. MIR. Nelson considers a long,
narrow, deep pit preferable; then if a
hay knife be used to cut down smoothly
at tho end there is but little loose fod.
der exposed to the air, and consequent,
ly q minimum Of waste. The walls of
this silo we're of concrete, one foot thick.
The cover ia OF loose boards and weight
cd with about 400 pounds of stone per
square yard. Cost of the silO $3.50, in
Guiding deep underdrain, which latter
cost about $50. Large Dent corn was
sown with wheat drill, rows three and
one-half feet apart. Charging every
expense, including $3.50 per load for
manure. the ensilaee cost Is per ton.
Mr.. Nelson writes: "Ths milk pro-
duced by my COWS fed with ensilage was
exceedingly rich in cream and of re-
markably pleasant flavor. NV method
OF feeding is fifty pounds ensilage, thir-
~ pounds brewers grains. and two
pounds cotton-sesd meal per day for a
lOOO-pound COW. Upon ensilace thus
fed my cattle gained in weight and ap-
pcarance. have contracted for a new
silo twenty by forty feet, and eighteen
feet In depth. to cost $500. 1t is to be
built OF chestnut posts sst in the ground
three feet apart, with doubls lining of
hemlock boards, with tarrcd paper b.
tween. This structure will be all above
ground"
HAVE voU SEEN rnEAf
those elegant new ranges Just received
BY Waddell 4 Miles direct from the man
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