The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-02-16
AGRICULTURAL.
The Ensilage Question.

Whether Il silo is profitable invest
N ent for the average farmer seems to be
still an unsolyed problem. But i: is not
likely long to remain undetermined, for
numerous experiments have been made.
and the results arc being made public.
The following is the experience of IL
Proctorsvil'e man, Mr.. l.. K. Spaulding,
"a related in letter to the Mirror and
Eurmer:
My sio IL built on the back side OF the
barn on tho north side, in Il very cold,
bleak place. The Larn IS up from the
ground some 3 feet or more. / dug into
the ground some 3 feet; put double stud
ding under the sill Of the barn, 2 by 4
inches, set on inch apart, making 0 in
ches space betwe the boarding.
L oarded up on the inside; Thea put on
s.eathirg paper AMI another thickness
of boards over that. the paper and last
boardin, going up on the outside of the
barn, which is double boar. ed. That
makes one side of the silo up to the
caves of the barn. The back side under
the sill is board, d and cracks patterned;
the space betw, en- the boarding is filled
I
mil, near by. The back side is If feet
studs, set the same AS the Others; only
one set is by with three larger pests
to make it stronger; it is all stayed in
number of places to make it strong.
Ends the same; stills and plates 2-incn
pianks. The whole is attached to the
barn with large nails. The roof comes
Just under the caves of the barn. The
space on the back side end ends is filled
about two feet back with cement concrete,
the rest with India wheat hulls. The
boarding is all the same rs under the sill
of the barn; done in this way to protect
it against frost, so if do not like for n
silo can make root cellar and place
for straw owe. head. My silo is y feet
long inside by 8 feet wide; capacity, IS
tons. There is n door from both barn
floors into it, also n door in one end five
feet from the bottom. 1t is feet from
the barn floors to the bottom of the silo.
| made it all of rough boards and made
the inside boarding as tight as could
conveniently get it. so rs to get my ensi-
lage in; when complete it will cost about
500. | had 81 acres of corn of three
kinds; bailey's Ensllage, Sanford and
common Western; it averaged Is tons
per acre. The cost of the ensilage. in
Guiding one-fourth the manure, % loads
per acre. 200 pounds phosphate per acre
blowing, planting with machine, cultivat
ing, cutting. etc, was 50 per ton. |
think that one ton of good hay is about
equal to - tons of ensilage. | have
been feeding ensilage since Nov. 20. TO
eight cows in milk; also to sheep and
young cattle; the cows have one bushel
apiece, night and morning, with Ii
pounds of wheat bran, and straw twice n
day My large>GajtleAtafe 4Jc1ad any
hay as vet, except the oxen when they
are worked. Inc straw was in the way
and rs the cattle eat il we'll, have con-
tinued to feed it, The cows increased i'm
milk in few days, and have done re-
markably well. The butter 4 nice.
without any coloring. am satisfied
that all my DOCK is gaining in flesh. am
fattening one con ;ishe gets the same as
the rest with the addition of s quarts of
corn and cob meal day, and is gaining
fast. My horses are not particularly
fond of it and have not fed it to them
much. have had no experience with
t, eding it to swine or poultry. NV silo
was weighted with about one foot of
stone, and when opened it found the
corners were not tight, and have lost a
thin layer next to the boarding. | think
little fixing will make it all right
another year. AS an experiment | put
in one load of long corn at one end, near
the top; 1t raised heavy heat and does