Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-07-13
SimpIificd Forms of the Sil0.

Expensive receptacles for preserving
ensiIage are now considered needless.
Treating of simplified forms of the silo,
the New Hampshire Mirror says: From
expensive pits of masonary it came to
wooden structures above ground or
smooth excavations in dry soil without
walls, and from the costly process of
cutting by machinery, which kept the
benefits of the silo out of the reach of
small farmers, to putting the fodder in
whole, in which condition it keeps as
we'll or better. And now that the fact is
understood that the exclusion of air by
tight packing and close covering is all
there is to the mysterious process which
has caused SO much discussion, we
can see why farmers failed to keep their
clover that was put in green. They lack
ed faith and knowledge of the principles
involved. They let their clover dry so
much that it would not pack so as to keep
out the air, and they were afraid to tread
it down because they knew it was not dry
enough to keep. They left air-holes at
the bottom and cracks at the sides, and
covered the NOW with loose straw TO catch
the steam. All these were wrong, while
the main idea, as We can now see, was
right. But the process has been still
farther simplified. Green fodde; has
been stacked in the open cir and pre-
served in good condition, with the loss ot
only about foot in depth on the sur
face. But for this treatment the fodder
should be very green, as it will pack
more densely."
Why Pure Breeds Should Never Be Crossed.
Philadelphia Record.
Pure breeds should never be crossed If
it be desired to cross Tor grade up the
foundation should be the native stock.
Each breed has certain characteristics
of its own, and in the erdeaver to units
the qualities of two breeds it often hap,
pens that nothing is gained, and that the
qualities are lessened. The merino sheep
for instance, has been bred almost e1-
clusively for its wool, and in connection
with the wool fneness is considered
desirable quality. The breed is IN no
sense sdaptad for mutton, for, in the en-
deayor to secure the fine grade of wool on
the merino, no attention whatever was
given the breed as to the value of its car
cass for the butcher, and every attempt
to increase the size of the merino, by
crossing with the large mutton breeds, in
order to fit it for the butcher, was an ad-
OF euc SA pSAsc VI I'LL
ference in the texture of the wool.
Selections among the flock can not be
made for The superiority of wool aud eI-
cellence of quality and size for mutton,
for tbs result is usually ruiuoxs, as the
cross can not compete with either parent
or for the purposes desired. The breeds
of swine hsve also been divided in regard
to merit. The large prominent rams of
the Berkshire are not improved when
they are crossed with some other breed,
and the early maturity, adsptability to
fstten and rapid growth of the small
Yorkshire are lost when it Is united with
the slow growing Cheshire or Jersey red.
1t is known to nearly ali farmers that
wide difference exists between the Jer-
sey and Ayrshire COWS. the one producing
large quantities of butter and the other
eIcelliug in the yield of milk. No ami
NAL of value has ever been produced by
crossing these breeds, but, on the cou-
trary, the greatest care has been taken to
breed close to established lines of pedi-
gree, where experience has shown that
the nearer the approach to certain chan
nels of purity the more inherent the
qualities of the breed A few breeds,