The morning call., 1895-02-13
Importance of Ripening Cream in
Butter-M Making.
TEMPERATURE And CLEANLINESS.
New Points Concerning Pruning and
Grating Fruit.Trees- Making
Stilt0n Cheese.

green feed is early and abundant. Ihey
are valuable, however, and will, no doubt,
eventually be extensively used.
In 1881 John w. Green, a successful
farmer of San Benito County built silo
on his place near Hollister.
Since then it has been used several times
successfully and last summer Messrs. Ladd
and the Kciser Bros. stored about 800 tons
of corn fodder in it for use this winter.
Mr.. Green's silo was the second opened
in the United States, though number had
been built about that time in New York.
The dimensions of his are as follows: 1t
is built of solid concrete and 20x20 and 20
feet high, with a redwood shingle roof, and
will hold 450 tons of corn fodder.
The use of the silo is to make ensilage, a
food prepared by cutting green corn in the
stock and storing away for future use. But
anything else can be stored in it, such as
hay, peas, etc. Of course, one need not
erect so large a silo as Mr.. Green's, for a
small one will do as well and the expense
is less. Stock fed on ensilage is just as
healthy as if fed on green grass or any
other food.
We clip some articles which will give our
readers some idea of what ensilage is:
A correspondent of the Courier-Journal
writing from Russellville, KY, gives the
experience of Nimrod Long, a wealthy
farmer of the place, with the silo. Mr..
Long he writes, told me that last summer
he engaged hands and had pit dug 16 feet
square and II feet deep.
The ground was the ordinary red clay.
He already had in his stock barn the
hauled the corn from an adjacent field
stalks, roasting ears and all-and ran it
through his cutting-machine, cutting
it in half-inch lengths. This cut stuff
he put into the pit until filled. He
then covered it with flooring boards
and weighed it down with over foot
of stone about 500 pounds to the square
yard. This soon caused it to sink to about
half the depth of the pit In cutting this
corn Mr.. Long was unfortunate and broke
his cutter. AS he could not get<it mended
soon he removed the weights and filled the
pit with clover hay, cut in the field and
hauled directly to the pit. With this he
filled the pit a little more than full and
again put on the weights.
When this had been pressed down the
weights were again removed and the pit
again filled with clover hay freshly cut,
and weights again applied and left. On
the 23d of December he began to
feed twenty-five large steers for the
market and a large flock of Cotswold
sheep. He estimates that it will last till
the 1st of May. The steers get nothing else,
and cattle and sheep eat ravenously. Not
counting the cost of the steam power, this
ensilage has cost about so cents ton. Its
color, as it comes out, is very light maple
leaf brown, the boards, for a space about
three feet, are removed at time and it is
cut down with knives.
Next to the dirt, for less than one-quar-
ter of an inch, 1t is nodded, but elsewhere
perfectly sound. Mr.. Long SAYS he has
long dealt in tobacco and was, of course,
familiar with the principle, so that as soon
as the discussion about ensilage began in
the agricultural papers his atten-
ton was arrested. These siios
and kept dry. This experiment shows that
a less per cent is lost by contact with the
earth than by contact with stone walls
Mr.. Long is preparing extensive silos, and
this coming summer will ensilage the corn
from thirty acres. This he will plant at
three different times, so as to have it come
in successively. This will allow for time
consumed in pressing.
The corn ought to be planted in drills
three feet ten inches apart and eight
inches between stalks, and cut after forma-
ton of pollen on the tassels and before it
has entirely gone. AS this cut stuff was
was put into the silo Mr.. Long had it well
tramped. He will also ensilage clover and
rye, as well as corn. He says his cattle
love it and are fattening better than any
he ever fed.
Another writer SAYS:
The trench ensilage was put up as fol-
lows: On dry piece of ground the earth
was excavated in a trench feet wide at
the top and feet wide at the bottom and
as long as desired. The green corn was cut
and laid in lengthways of the ditch and
trodden down solid. 1t was filled to the
top Of the earth, and then carried up both
ways like the roof of house, some three or
four feet above the ground.
Then some straw was laid over this and
the earth thrown out of the ditch used to
cover it some two feet deep. Where the
green fodder settled and caused the earth
covering To crack, more earth was thrown
upon these cracks and rammed down to
keep the air from entering. This was done
several times, and when the fodder was
taken out in winter it was eaten by cattle
with better relish than dry fodder. This
was called sour fodder.
But now NJ. Goffart has adopted a silo
built with tight wall of masonry 16 feet
high upon each side, and II TO 16 feet apart
with roof over it. The roof is placed
some three feet above the top of the wall
so as to give headroom for filling.
The best way to build, in most places in
this country, is with a water-lime concrete
wall, twenty inches at the bottom and
1Ou1OCCl lilShCo nLiC tOt, tuC Sldllb UtlllS
on the outside of the wall, since the inside
must be perpendicular and smooth, for the
planks, placed on the top of the ensilage
to settle as the green fodder settles or be-
comes compressed. 1t is more convenient
to have the silo walls twelve to fourteen
feet apart, rather than wider, as the
planks are more easily handled at that
length.
A silo II feet wide, 16 feet high and 40
feet long will hold about 100 tons of green
fodder. When more room than this is
needed then build two silos side by side
and let the middle wall be 20 inches thick,
carried up perpendicular on both sides,
and the two outside walls built as above
described.
The door of the silo is in the end, and
the planks are placed crosswise on top
after the silo is filled. One plank is taken
off at time and this space cut down for
feeding Instead of laying in the corn
lengthways without cutting, as was former
ly the way, it is now run through large
cutter, and cut into half-inch lengths, and,
by carrier attached to the machine, is de-
Evered over the wall into the silo.
Here it is spread evenly and trodden
downssolid. 1t will pack much more solid
after being cut short in this way, and thus
keep the air from entering. When
the silo is full and solid loose planks
are fitted in across on top from wall
to wall, and weight pressure is
placed on these with stone-about 500