News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-22
THE VALUE OF ENSILAGE.
Farmers Who Use the New Method of
Preserving Fodder Exchanging
EXDPriPuCPs,


| Experiences.
The second Ensilage Congress met in
New York City on Wednesday. Mr..
Alfred A. Reid, of Providence. who
presented some valuable data to the
congress last year, being the first
speaker. He said that i'll his experience
another years trial only convinced him
of the increasing value of ensilage. g
had fed my CATTLE" he said, d" three
times day with an ensilage of corn,
rye, sorghum and Hungarian grass.
The corn [ consider the best, as [ noticed
that the rye once or twice gave a slight
taste to the milk. My cattle all gained
in weight and my cows gave more milk.
I gave them also a little bran every day
On four acres Of land, at a cost of
$3.50. 81, I raised 66I tons Of corn. The
average cost per ton was 50. 40"
"Before We go on, said the President,
81 should like to know if any one has
met with a failure?"
q have" said Mr. Roberts, of
Poughkeepsie. q" Before I used ensilage
I failed to keep on what [ raised on my
farm more than six cows, but now [ can
! keep eighteen or twenty"
Il am a minister, " said the Rev. DR..
William Ormiston, ''and I preach the
Gospel morning, noon and night, but
now, incidentally, [ am going to talk
about ensilage. At my farm at Whitby,
near Toronto, undertook ensilage last
summer. The farmers around there
told me was only building a manure
pit. My twelve acres averaged about
| twelve and a half tons in corn. [ cut it
weeds and all-the entire cost from
raising it to packing it in the siIo being
about 81 90 per ton. 7 also put in some
clover, 1t kept perfectly, but it smeled
queer. 7 brought a sample box of it
with me and happened to open it i'll the
cars. Everybody wanted to change his
scat. My man opened the silo the first
week in January. He wrote me that it
was green, but that it smelled rammy.
My cattle gobbIed it up in preference to
tUTnips."
Mr.. Percy, of Chatham, n. Y, said:
''This year put i'll ten acres of ensilage,
cutting the corn, which was in some
places ten feet high, with a reaper. My
sheep were fed on it twice a day. [ had
about 100 tons in the siIo, and it cost me
about dollar per tom
Mr.. Cromwell, of Rye, n. Y, said that
when he cut his corn, he took the rag
weed and all to save time He liked rye
for ensiIage, but it must be cut green.
He fed his COWS out of a summer silo
during the drought with as large a pre-
duction of milk as in June.
my experience in weight, said Mr..
A. A. Reid, ''has led me to fix on 6G5
pounds persquare foot as the best press
ure. "
''Ensilage has kept me out Of the
sherif"s hands," said Mr.. J. Y. Smith,
of Doylestown, Pa.
81 can put corn III the silO, including
every expense, at cost of two dollars
per ton, said Colonel WaIcott, of the
Hotel Vendome, Boston. 81 use rye,
but cut it early. I believe that corn
fodder can be kept in the open air by
simply piIing it up and putting weights
on it to expeI the oxygen. Continuous
pressure is the whole secret"
After a recess Of half an hour Presi-
dent Morris addressed the meeting: 81
cut my corn-fodder by steam power, he
said. ''The corn is cut before the ear
is formed. The Southern, white variety
[ find the best. The soil is half clay,
half loan, but am willing to apply my
method in sandy soils and guarantee its
success.
Dr.. A, S. Heath, President Of the
Farmers Club, was of the opinion that
every farmer with six COWS should have
Il silo. The popular idea that the acid
ity Of ensiIage was harmful, was alb
sUrd.
81 built siIo 14x14 in the ground"
said Mr.. J. J. Greenough, of Deerfeld,
Mass, "and weighted it with sugar bar
rels filled with earth. 1t seemed as if it
was never going to stop sinking. The
neighbors came round and asked where
II was. 1lleS IuOJlSnU II WIS fOIlIllS;
but it didn't rot. It turned out per-
fectly green and fresh, although it froze
a little"
Mr.. S. NJ. Burger, reported that on
the Nelson farm, at New Brunswick, n.
J., he had put in silo this year, 353 tons
at a total cost of $G.25 per ton. Mr.. c
B. Benedict, of the Wilkinson farm, at
HoIyoke, Mass, said that he had made
his at a little less than $ per ton. DR..
". B. Eager said that in 1881 it had cost
him about ninety-two cents per ton to
raise the corn and put it in silo.