The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1883-02-24
The 9armer.
The Ensilage Congress.

The Second Ensilage Congress of the
United States convened in New York, on
Wednesday, January Gath, with about a
hundred and fifteen members present. The
States represented were New Hampshire,
Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey,
Maryland, Minnesota and
Nebraska. Francis Morris of Maryland
was called to the chair and the proceedings
were opened with the unwilling of bust
of Auguste Goffart, of Burtin, France, who
was the inventor of the ensilage system.
Mr.. J. B. Brown read an address in con-
nection with this ceremony, in which ne
stated that silos had been built for $40
which held ten tons of ensilage. This he
said was good news to small farmers in the
United States.
The proceedings of the second day were
of more practical nature than the first.
LIE Grand B. Cannon, whose extensive
farms are near Burlington, Vermont, de-
tailed his experiments with ensilage in con-
nection with fattening cattle. To deter
mine the relative economy in diet of ensil-
age and hay he bought last year ninety
short horn Greys and separated them into
three groups. The first group he treated
as the average New England farmer treats
his cattle in the winter. He turned them
into the yard with open shelter and fed
them daily twenty pounds Of chopped hay
and three pounds of grain. The second
lot he kept in stanchions and fed them
twenty pounds of hay and one peck of
mangels. The third lot were also kept in
stanchions and fed ON ensilage with three
pounds of grain. He weighed all the fod-
der and also weighed the animals once a
month Assuming the cost of hay to be
SO ton, and the cost of chopping it 81
more, he found the relative cost Of feeding
the three lots as follows for six months;
First lot, 1920; second lot, S23.4O,
third lot, $14.40; the ensilage was counted
at eight cents day. The economy OF en-
silage over hay was $3.50, or twenty-five
Der cent; of ensilage over hay and roots,
80. or thirty-nine per cent. The gain in
weight of the animals was First lot, five
per cent: second lot, nine and One-half per
cent; third lot, eleven and one-half per cent.
The gain in quality was about equal in the
second and third lots. He sold both the
latter for six cents pound on foot at the
farm for export, but for the first lot he
could not get an offer of five cents. The
total gain in favor of ensilage was ftty-one
and one-half per cent.
Orlando B. Potter, whose farm is near
Sing Sing, N. Y, said that his experience
during the last year, as before, had been
that the COWS yielded more and were in
better condition when fed on ensilage than
when fed in the old way. He had last
year tried one experiment, following the
suggestion of NJ. Goffart, which was to
have from ten to twenty per cent. OF old
hay cut up with the corn and put in the
silo. He found that when more than ten
Der cent. was put in the quality of the en-
silage was I'M ured. He had found that
pits below the surface of the ground kept
ensilage better than any other. He was
also convinced that the best and cheapest
covering for silo was earth, putting it on
over few inches of chaff A covering OF
eight to twelve inches in depth would gen.
orally suffice.
John B. Kennedy described his success
in weighing his silo by DIR. Bailey's plan
He used horses to pack it, starting them
on the outside edge and working toward
the centre. When they came to tramp
ling down the crown the lateral pressure
would pack the sides together. The cost
to him of raising 500 tons of corn ensilage
on forty acres, estimating the quantity on
a basis of fifty pounds to the cubic foot,
and packing it, was S2.3S $40 per ton,
and he spent $6.18 for phosphates, which
he made himself.
w. II. Trueslow, who put up 1,40O
tons of ensilage ON the late Samuel Rem
ingtons farm at Cazenovia, n. Y, said
that sorghum made good ensilage, but the
rind was so coarse and sharp that cattle
left great deal of it. He had tried every
thing and found nothing equal to corn
His experience had taught him that silos
ought to be filled in day, and that usual
ly too much pressure was used. The great
thing was to cut the corn when in the right
condition, and this he thought to be when
roasting ears had formed. 1t was a great
fault to cut it too soon.
Resolutions were adopted expressing tc
NJ. Gohart appreciation of the system Of
ensilage, and recommending to the farmers
of the United States its universal adoption
az the cheapest and best method OF pre-
serving fodder crops. ...
Francis Morris and j. B. Brown were
authorized to draft plan for permanent
organization, after which the Congress ad
journed.
The New York Sm says We have
studied with much interest the proceeding
of the Ensilage Congress which met in this
town last week. A large number of prac
teal farmers gave their experience, and al
of them were strongly in favor of this
mode of feeding cattle. Some OF these gen
tlemen had built silos that cost only ten dol
lars each, and others had experimental with
large and expensive establishments; but al
of them unanimously pronounced their ex'
periments successful.
1t seems to us too soon to conclude that
this mode of feeding is sure to be univer
sally adopted. There is no doubt that cat
tie generally like ensilage, but that does
not prove that it is always good for them
There are two questions especially which
require to be determined before we can be
sure that the ensilage system is not pass
ing fancy, but permanent addition to the
resources of farming These questions
are, first, whether cattle fed on ensilage
thrive on it in the long run, or whether
after certain time it does not become ne.
cessary to abandon the ensilage fodder and
to resort to some other mode of feeding;
and secondly, whether the alcoholic spirit
in ensilage, which appears to be what rem
ders the cattle SO greedy for it, does not
produce in them state of partial intoxl-
cation and continuous inebriety, and does
not thus do them positive harm.
History of Cattle Diseases.