The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1889-09-13
The Farm,
Farmers, Gardners, Horticuiturists,
Dairy and Stockmen are requested to
Vrite for this Department.
Cheap Slloes-Preparlng Fnsilage
for Market.

cheaply built; that silo can be put up
in the op,n field, coYerd with nothing
but lap-board roof, and the ensilagc
kept in it just as we'll as in silo in
the barn; so farmer must be uery poor
who cannot have a good silo. 1t is
perfectly easy to raise first class ensil-
age, just as easy as to raise it poor.
Land that will not grow hay or market
able corn, will grow corn that will make
the best ofensilage; and thousands of
acres that are practically worthless, can
be made to raise paying crop of en-
silage now that it can be packed and
sent to market as easily as can laled
hay.
=" l commenced my experiments by
packing ensilage in common barrels,
pressing it down no harder than was
considered necessary in silo. 1t did
not keep very we'll. l pressed it hard
er and made gain. Pressing it still
harder kept the ensilage in perfect
condition from September of one year
to the last of the following June; but
the moisture from the ensilage warped
large proportion of the barrel heads,
letting in the air and spelling the
ensilage.
next tried syrup casks, with eleven
strong hoops on each cask, and thick,
solid heads-the top head made remov-
able, and fastened in place by device
Of cleats and bolt. have kept cnsilage
perfectly nearly two years in these
casks, but the caska were too expensive
to throw away when emptied, costing
81 40 each consequently they had to
be freighted back to be refilled, which
seemed useless expense. In addition
to that, the filed casks were too heavy
to handle conveniently on and off cars
end wagons. If the teamster lost his
hold, the bottom head was quite sure to
burst out.
My next problem was to make a
crate that would answer the purpose
and be cheap. l now have it. take
two heads twenty inches in diameter,
and cut cheap laths thirty inches long;
nail the laths at one end around one
head, and close together. put a wire
around each end of the cylinder SO
made, and wire around the middle of
its length; place this crate in cylin-
drical tube of sheet iron, made in
halves, hinged and hasped. Fill the
crate with ensilage, and press it down
with common tobacco press; nail in
the top head, unhasp the metallic CYL
inder, and that crate is ready to go to
market. These crates cost ten cents.
and will hold 200 pounds. 1 have
kept ensilage in crate OF this descrip-
ton six months, and when the ensilage
was fed to the COWS, they ate it with
ayidity and the milk was No. l. The
cnsilage would probably have kept
much longer, but six or even two
months is sufficient time, as it would be
packed in crates only to fill orders.
The number of mich COWS kept by
private parties for family use is very
large, and the food fed to the cows is
oil bought. According to reports made
by veterinary surgeons, there were in
1888 over $4,000 stall-fed COWS in New
York and adjacent cities. The laws of
New York State forbid feeding ferment-
ed food to mich COWS, except ensilage.
Why not supply these cows, as we'll as
tens of thousands more kept in cities
aud manufacturing towns by mechanics
and operatives?
read in my paper that the western
corn.grower is beginning to silo his
cornstalks for winter feeding. Why
not silo it all? Why not make up
whole train loads of ensilage and send
it east and south, same as they do -four?
Ensilage in portable packages will keep
all the year. l have placed packages
of ensilage where it froze as solid as
possible, and let it remain frozen
several weeks; when thawed out it was
as sweet as before, and the cows appear
ed to relish it full as we'll as from the
silo.
There is perfect and reliable way
to raise corn ensilage, and every farmer
should be taught what kind of corn to
plant, how to plant it, when to pluck
the ears and silo the stalks, or when to
silo both ears and stalks. 1t is all very
simple when once they know how.
l think here is an opening for new
industry which will pay those who take
hold of it. Organize parent company,
which in turn will organize local com