Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1886-07-09

WITH ENSILAGE YOU CAN
COMPETE WITH THE
WEST IN GROWING
CATTLE.
MH GAEEETr'S DIRECTIONS How TO
MAKE II.


December 3. 1885.
lily Dsa' Sir
| nm Just in receipt of your favor
of the eth ullimo, inuuiring about
my experience with ensilage | glad
II comply with your request.
| have bceu putting up cnsilagc
and feeding it for over five years,
and my experience causes me to value
it moro and more highly as I learn
how to take care Of il more choaply.
When | built my first si!os, in The
Summer of lGS0. the idea was that
only those hni!t of cement or brick.
il thc ground, world answer tho pur-
Pse. and costing at least 81 per ton
9 build. Now thcy arc built on top
SAX / the ground, entirely Of wood and
birth, and at y cost of from 75c. to
y per ton. These keep the ensilagc
well as those constructed of CO
mt or brick, arc much moro con-
hient, and involve less labor to
Il from. l have two wood silos,
" in 1881, above ground, and
Hing $50 tons, both costing not
Re than S125, the repairs sincenot
feding $25, Which are now in
q order n."!1 foil II Of cnsilagc, and
boon flied every year since they
7 buiit. The contents, without
lpiioil, have been fed in good con.
in. The silos built i'll 1880 (of
cement below the Ground.) held 125
Tons, and cost nc about So per ton.
These also have been filled every year
since, sometimes twice yoar,) and
the ensilngo was rot any better pre-
served than in those built of wood.
Since l began to mako ensilago, in
the Fall of 1880, | have fed nv
horses. mules and COWS almost OK
clusi9cly on it, and havo yet to sec
any bad results from it; on tho con.
trary, | lavo been able to keep them
III much better condition than before
L commenced its use. In tho ycar
1879 had nine mules and noises
and about as many cattle, end besides
the long forage I could conveniently
make On lny farm, paid out over
S7C0 for hay bought by tho carload
III Richmond. am now feeding fit
teen head OF horses and mules and
thirty cattle. and pay out nothing for
hay, and my farm is no larger now
than il was then. The extra manure
l now produce pays me fully, 1 am
persuaded, for the cost Of tho ensil-
age. 1 nse corn and cow-pca vines
exclusively for ensilagc-tho former,
as L use it. is cheaper; the latter
makes the best ensil lggs;.5 4 s's'a
81; For the past three years I have
sbeen using corn constantly for this
sspnrpose, after it was sufficiently ma
tured to sustain no inicry, when the
blades were ripe enough for fodder.
l pull the corn, then cut the stalks
down TO the ground blades on,) haul
and cut them in three quarter inch
lengths, and pack in the silo; then
weight it us usual This makes n
very desirable food; the stock all
like it, and ! have never seen any
bad results from it. During The three
years named 1 have put up 100 tons
per year from this source. My OK
pcrlence is that land producing 6
barrels OF corn 10 the acre will make
b tons OF ensilage, or ton to the
barrel. | regard the ensilagc as nor,
valuable than the corn, and The cost
of putting it into the silo is less tina,
70 cents per ton. grow no corn OK
clusively for ensi)age: most of j
made in the United States is from
corn grown expressly for the purpose
am OF opinion that ut the time
cut it, it is as valuable fol cnsilage u
at ally period of its growth-hence
great saving in making both croI
OF corn and ensilage see that otl
ers are adopting this plan to advar
tase.
My great plant for cnsilagc is TIL
ordinary field, or cow-pea. OF this
put up about 200 tons yearly, and i
is greatly preferred by my stock t
that made of corn. This pea crop
grow chiefly after wheat and oats.
break the land rs soon as the wheo
is taken off, then plant in drills thro
feet apart, eight to twelve peas in