Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-04-30
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Practical Talk ON EnsiIaee.

The report of the Fifth Ensilage con.
gress contains with other matter of gen.
eral interest the address of Mr.. Geo. G..
Smith, of st. Adams, VT. This
address, says the New York World,
Is worthy of special consideration,
coming as it does from a practical
dairyman who on his farms has for a
number of years practiced the feeding of
ensilage to his mich COWS with favor
able results. In this address Mr.. Smith
gives his views as to the best methods of
growing, storing and feeding ensilage-
views gained by his own experience and
coinciding with the opinions expressed
by many other advocates of ensilage.
Following are conclusions deducted from
Mr.. Smiths address:
The feed most valuable to the dairy
men for the production of butter or to
the producer of beef is the feed from
the pastures in June or Indian corn when
the stalks are green and full of nourish-
ment. Between these two feeds there is
not much to choose. To get best re-
suits both of these must be supplemented
with certain proportion of grain. AS
Indian corn produces a greater amount
of perfect food to the acre than any other
crop, it is gener lily accepte, as the most
profitable ensilsge for this country.
AS corn requires plenty of light and
air, best results are gained from planting
in drills far enough apart to allow thorough
cultivation and plenty of space in which
to grow. Mr.. Smith plants in rows about
three feet, six inches apart. AS soon as
the corn is up a Thomas smoothing har-
row is put on and the piece narrowed
every four or five days, until the corn is
about one foot high. After this the cul-
tivator is used and the piece kept thor
oughly cultivated until the corn is too
high for the cultivator to work. With
a light dressing of manure Mr.. Smith
got on poor land twenty seven and half
tons of en- ,ilage to the acre.
Experience also dictates that the best
time to cut corn-fodder for ensilage is
when it has arrived at its fullest develop
ment as to size and it is fullest of nutri-
ton; that is when the ears are fully
formed and before they have begun to
glaze over and before the stalk begins to
harden and dry up. Mr. Smith advises
cutting the fodder in dry weather and
getting it into the silos before it begins
to wilt. Next tramp it down thor
oughly around the edges and in the corn
ers of the silos, and cover as quickly as
possible and weight heavily enough to
press out all the air possible before re-
filing the silos. Finally make the
weighting heavy enough to practically ex-
clude all the air. Mr.. Smith advocates
cutting the fodder short enough to insure
close packing in the silo, and short
enough so that when it is fed out the
cattle will eat it up clean.
Mr.. Smith has found that the best
quality of ensilage, both for dairy and
fattening purposes, is that which is cut
and put into the silo in the least possible
time, and when it is covered and
weighted without delay. He advocates
several small sios in groups, rather than
one large s'lo, where great quantity of
ensilage is required, each silo TO be about
ten feet long by six or seven feet wide
and fifteen or twenty feet deep. He fay-
ors concrete silos as being both cheap
and practicable.
Corn ensilage grown and put in sios
by Mr.. Smith, cost, on an average, sew
enty-seven cents per ton, and he esti-
mated that he raised enough on one acre
to feed two steers twelve months with all
the green food required.