The daily gazette., 1883-02-15
ENsILAGE.
The Interesting Experience of = Della
ware Farmer-The Salvation OF the
Eastern Farmers.

ware Farmer-The Salvation OF the
Eastern Farmers.
To THE EDITOR OF THE GAZETTE -
HocKEssIN, DEL, Feb. 18th, 1885,
Learned men in all ages, philosophers,
statesmen, orators, from Cicero to Kossuth,
have done themselves honor and appeased
the gods, by laying their goodwill offerings
on the altars ofagriculture. So your cor
respondent, being one ofagricultures humble
Votaries, who lately sang for the preserva-
ton Of the woods and trees, comes this time
with his goodwill offering Of Ensilage, and
70 sing the song Of the Silo.
And what is ensilage? and what Is silo
many will ask. Both words are nouns, and
as TO their origin l am not thoroughly
posted; possibly they are French; certain It
is that the system Of ensilage is claimed TO
have first been discovered by Frenchman
by the name of Auguste Gof1art.
You will not find the word ensilAge IN
Webster, but it appears In the appendix to
Worcester and Is defined as ga mode Of pre-
serving vegetables fresh, as green cornfod-
der, sugar-eane and other arundinaceous
| plants by burying them in the earth In
silS, or trench. The same authority, as does
| also Webster, defines "silo" as ga pit or
subterranean repository for grain" not
quite correct for 1t is not the grain but the
stalk that is stored away.
The system Of Ensilage, more fully de-
scribed, is the preservation Of green corn
fodder, green clover or rye by means of
pressure in air-tight vaults or pits called
silos, afIording those who practice 1t cheap,
wholesome and nutritious food for their
stock.
Last summer year your correspondent
| got his courage screwed up to q pitch Of
building a silos. Digging some eight feet Of
earth out from space about IL feet long
by 10 feet wide, he built himself vault sur
rounded by concrete walls 10 inches thick
| not getting it finished in time that season he
had to delay till the past one, faith in the
| undertaking growing stronger meanwhile.
Last september placed In my sil0 corn
fodder in green sweet state, grown for the
purpose 10 the amount say 25 tons.
For pressure to exclude the air l used
barrels Of stone, applying Herewith about
100 pounds pressure TO the square foot.
| Having never seen a silo in my life before,
and not being perfectly acquainted with the
exact nature of the ensilage, when taken
out after pressure had ceased and 1t was
considered ready for feeding, you can
hardly realize my feelings as / hoisted the
first row of barrels off a section, and
grabbing handful of the pressed fodder
walked to the yard to witness how greedily
my faEorite COW gobbled it out of sight.
Since that date / have been feeling my
way, and watching the effects OF the feed.
ing with ensilage, and have arrived at some
definite conclusions. First, my COWS are
always ready for their rations of ensilage.
Second, it keeps up the yield of milk
Third, richness has been added to the
cream, good butter of course naturally
following.
My experience has been similar to that o
the Rev. VIM. Ormiston, who related his al
the Ensilage Congress, lately held In New
York city. Even the most intelligent o
my friends" says DR.. Ormiston, " laughed
at me when l proposed to experiment
with ensilage." But he had faith in the sys
TEN and had gone on in spite of the laugh
Speaking of the Ensilage Congress-
was gathering Of practical farmers, and
read with interest a synopsis of their pro
ceedings in the Chicago Tribune Of Januar,
20.
After ones own success 1t is refreshing tt
read the experience of others.
Mr.. j. B. Brown, the Secretary of tht
Congress, says The system of ensilage 4
destined to be the salvation of Eastern
farmers, and your correspondent might adj
| calculated to bring about quite revolution
in feeding generally.
Mr.. j. Y. Smith of Doylestown, Pa, said
have made butter for 90 cents a pound
which my housekeeper has had the impu
dence to sell to you at 81 cents per pound
j. w. WalcOtt, who owns large farm
near Boston, and hotel in that city, sait
that the entire cost OF his ensilage which b
fed to 104 cows was little over 81 per ton
he sold 81 200 pounds of ensilage butter pc
\ week, and received 65 cents per pount
for It.
With these few remarks, coupled with th
extracts, / extend a kind invitation to all in
terested to visit my silo. They say 9Th
proof of the pudding is in the eating of it.
! Seeing my stock enjoying their rations Q
, ensilage will be proof enough in that direC
| ton.
Respectfully,
VIM. B. JACKSON.