The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-07-16
SiIOs and EnsilaEe.


In the north and northwest the building
Of slos and the use OF ensiage have come
to be recognized and approved as very i'm
portant, If not necessary, adjunctS TO sue
cessful stock-feeding and dairyng. There
are still few farmers In those sections
who are reluctant to give up their objections
and to fall in with the new idea, ana q
very few who stoutly hold out In favor of
dry hay and forage superior to enSilage.
The tendency has been for many years to
cease to rely much on pasturage and
more on green sOiling, which means simply
the cutting and feeding green forage to
animals in their stalls, yards, instead OF
permitting or requiring the stock to
gather it for themselves. 1t requires no
great amount of experience to convince any
one that il is a more profitable use OF
both land and live stock to remove the crops
from the land by machinery and feed 1t TO
the live stock in their managers ana racks,
than to pasture the lands and make the
stock do their own harvesting. In dolnS
this it was soon found that it is an easy
matter to produce more green forage thall
can be consumed by stock while III lts
fresh green state. The first resort, in order
10 utilize the surplus and store ii for winter
feeding, was to cure it into hay and dry
forage. But the very plants that are most
productive Of rich, nutritious and palatable
green food. and that are the easiest to grow,
are those that are difficult to properly cure
into dry forage For instance, Indian corn,
the larger millet5, sorghums, pea vines
etc, crops that are more or less difficult
TO cure for dry keeping, are at the same
time the most productive and valuable
crops for green soiling. Twenty years ago
IN Georgia. corn forage, the result of sowing
corn in drills rich land at the rate OF
three bushels of seed to the acre, and
cutting and curing the product for winter
use, was all the rage. We remember very
~ Co... atom tnGa
L Brown was an ardent advocate of cured
corn forage, and was induced to publish
his experience for the benefit OF the public.
The writer tried II. but found that the
trouble was, first, the difficulty of curing
the long succuent stalks with certainty,
except under the most favorable conditions
OF weather, and, second. the forage was
not very nutritious nor particularly palat-
able.
These ideas led gradually to the develop
ment OF the idea of ensilage, which Is, sub
stantially, substitution of the canning
process (as in fruits and vegetables instead
of the old plan of sun-drying. One OF the
most remarkable features relating to the
use of ensilage Is the exceptional fondness
OF all live stock for II, both in summer and
winter. y COW will generally eat the ens-
lage portion of her daily ration, If she
can get ii separately before she will touch
any thing else. She will come in from rich
bermuda grass pasture after n days
grazing. and go for the ensilage ration
as if she were really hungry. Another prac-
teal and important consideration is that
in cutting up the green forage and putting
II into the Silo pit practically indie
pendent Of the weather. 1t makes no differ
ence how wet the corn is when cut, OF
how wet it is when ii goes into the pit.
The first silOs were shallow pits in the
earth and this method Is perhaps as old
q the Christian era. Afterwards these pits
were lined with masonry. At first it was
found necessary land very naturally to
place heavy weights on the ensilage; but, as
the siIos came to be much deeper twenty
10 thirty feet deeper the weighing was
found to be unnecessary. The great incon-
yenience OF these underground pits was the
dificultv Of getting out the daily supplies
for feeding This was abbreviated to some
extent by building an addition Of wood on
top Of the stone or brick SilO, which brought
a part of the silage above ground. 1t was
observed that the portion above ground,
and enclosed 10y wooden walls, kept just
as well as the portion below the ground
and encased in brick or stone. These We're
two important discoveries, and led to the
building of SilOS entirely OF wood and en-
tIrely above ground. and the use of ele-
waiting machinery carriers to carry the
ensilage as fast as il is cut to the top Of
the silos. however high from the ground.
\ slo has been in use at the Georgia
experiment station for two years past. The
results are entirely satisfactory. The sta
ton silo may serve as a model to guide in
the construction of silos by farmers, and
the station will shortly publish a full de
scription of the plan there used, with such
notifications as experience there and else
where have shown to be desirable.
r. j. REDDING.