Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-03-04
Frpln EspIsr Tribnns.

From Esygsr Tribune.
A very pleasant company met at the
home of Hon. I. r. C~arskauOn, on Satur
L.y last. in response to an invitation to be
prc-ent at an inspection Of his sllos.
though the day was cold, TIE pleasant par
'c.I wee cheerful with blazing open hrcJ,
l. diadt;ng heat and comSorG 10 every pert
Cfthe room. An hour or two was passed IN
,ocial chat and then came the request,
Gentlemen, please walk out to dinner.
Everybody at once accepted the invitation,
and no one, we think, was disappointed. For
variety excellence of material and delicate
and tOothsome cookery, it was a dinner
hard to excel.
Ire dinner over, aud the slaves Of the
weed satisfied, the party adjourned to the
splendid barn, to inspect the slios. These
are three in number. They are about
eighteen feet square, and twenty feet deep,
occupying the bay on the west side o. the
barn. One Of them has been emptied and
filled with ice for summer use; a second Is
about half emptied, and the third has not
been opened. We decended into the half
enptied one, and stood on the surface CT
the ensllage. At a depth of ten to twelve
inches the temperature was found to De six
ty-fve to seventy degrees, steam rising free
ly from a fork.full OF it exposed to the air.
Ii has a mild sub-acid smell and taste, rot
al all disagreCable. We were shown a lot
Of calves which had been kept exclusively
upon it. They were plump and seemed to
be thriving excellently, as did also the
sheep, which had in addition a daily feed Of
hay. All the animals seemed to eat it with
avidity. From its great ~cheapness, as COM
pared with any other feed, it seems to us
that it ought speedily to come into general
use. The silo as proposed by Mr.. Carska
don is so cheaply and easily constructed as
to be within the means of the poorer class
of farmers, and we are sure that if farmers
and stock growers will adopt 1t, and with Il
the custom Of sheltering their stock, their
profits will be greatly increased and their
losses quite as greatly diminished. Aboat
this subject we shall have more to say IN tho
near future.
Of the editors OF the State, a large mum,
Der of whom were invited, only a very few
were present. OF the many editors invited
We are sorry that so few responded to the
polite invitation Of Mr.. Csrskadon. We re
-gret this on more than one account. We
believe the visit would have been of value
10 their AGRICULTURAL readers. The farmers
of the Stale will be benefited by the dis
cussion of new ideas, aud the introduction
of new methods. In the matter of shelter
10 stock and Of cheap and wholesome food
for them, reform is evidently much needed,
and the country newspapers ought to advo.
cate it. To this humanity and selfinterest
alike urge.
The value ofthe silo is 10 longer a de-
batable question. 1t has p4ss'1 the exper
mental stage, and may be regarded among
the proved and adopted appliances of the
farm. An acre of good land will produce
twenty tons OF ensilage. Every ton OF this
is worth from one third to one-half a ton OF
good hay. Putting it at the lowesS ratio,
an acre Of ground will p,oduce a v2lue Of
e~nsilage equivalent to about seven s>ls OF
good hay. The cost of ensilage IS from two
to two and a half dollars per ION 1t wi
be seen, then, that ensilage will cost ve;y
much less than hay, which has hitherto
been regarded as the most profitable food
for,.stock.
Mr.. c., who is the pioneer siloist in Wc:t
Virginia, after a CAREFUL trial for two yeas
and after a careful study of the experience
of others, is convinced that the capacity o
land for supporting stock is at least double:
by the use of ensilage. He invites AM
doubters to come to his barn and see thu
stock fed.
On thewhole it was a very pleasant affair
Besides Mr.. Hart, and Mr.. Douglass, of tn
Tribune, there were present DR.. A. Gerstell
who, with his humorous "reminiscences an(
witty sallies, was the life of the party. Dr.
! r. Gerstell, F. NJ. Reynolds, Esq, D. W
Ba5b and C. NJ. Babb, Of Grant county
Okey johnson, Esq, of Patterson's creek
Mr.. Rees, Hon. j. 7. Vance, of Hsmpshir,
county, Mr.. j. W. Wilson, Of Rawlings, anC
others,