Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1888-05-18


solid wall of timber aid mud. The
ground is the floor and the silo was
completed and ready for tise us soon
as it was dry. For strength, utility
and economy there is none superior
to this.
1t will probably not be amiss here
to speak Of the method OF cultivatina
the crop to bG cnsilvcd. Corn is the
best because we can make greater
yield per acre of that, than any other
product grown in this country. Plant
the corn 30 rs to get the greatest
yield of stalk, grain and blades
quantity is what you want. Plant
in the months of May or June. /
plant four and half acres Of rich
sod land in rows three and q half
feet apart, six inches apart in the
rows and with the product I flied my
silo
With this ensilagc | fed sixteen
head of cattle, twenty hogs and one
hundred and ten sheep and occasion
ally gave some to my horses, for
three months lacking one week. This
was during the months of january
February and over half of March
and never had my stock looking so
well ut the salnc period when fed on
dry food. l gave them no other
food while feeding ensilage and sold
some of the cattle for bcevcs in
March, The ensilagc came from the
silo moist and warm, and was de.
voured with the greatest relish by
the stock.
My ensilage kept splcndidly and |
am NOW preparing to build another
and probably two more of the same
Kind and am now planting corn with
which to fill them
When the corn has become
glazed nearly hard (I believe fod
der pulling time is the best) cut if
down in the usual way, throwing
1T in small heaps, then shock it up
III small shocks and let it dry out
for I'VE er six days (somc haul it
up as fast us ii falls, cut it rp at
once and put it in the silo) then
with two wagons and one team
and driver, as in hauling hay. haul
to the silo, and after cutting it up
with II cutting knife, put it in the
sIlo and tramp hard especially
around the sides and in the cor
ners until full.
| use Il horse. power formerly
used for threshing' wheat, and an
eleven inch Sinclair cutter which
had been in my barn for years. |
take off one blade which causes
1t to cut the corn about one inch
length. Two horses pull it with
ease, and cut UP the corn quite as
fast as two wagons can haul it
from the field, which is about two
hundred yards distant. Use hay
frames with plank flooring in haus
ing. To avoid too much handling
pass it through the cutting knife
as taken from the wagon.
My cutting knife is on an upper
floor, adjoining the silo, and the
band from the horse power passes
MP to it. y man stands on the
wagon and passes the com up to
another on the upper floor, and it
is there cut up and falls through u
door five feet from the top into
the silo. This is closed air tight
after filing. Some have their
cutting knives on the ground, and
after the corn is passed through it
Is carried up ny an elevator, but
as | am writing this for the poor
man, economy must Uc consulted.
After filing the silo I take the
litter from the barn alleys, or chaiT,
and cover it about six or eight
inches deep over the top, and then
|
place plank close together as in
making floor; let it be nearly the
length of the silo, and allow for
sinking at least four feet.
In order to get sufficient and
evenly distributed pressure Iplacc
eight or ten logs as large as four
men can handle across the plank
covering giving ii the appearances
of an inverted floor with the ioists
OH top. l then put thereon ten OF
twelve tons Of rock. Green cord