The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-12-19
ENsILAGg THE THING
Good Feed Tor Hogs and Clatsop the
Place for Both


Az there has been some interest shown
In Mr.. Relth's experiments with ensl-
lage. and also some Misunderstanding
Of some certain details. few facts
further might be OF value Fodder both
for cattle and hogs Is an item Of i'm
portanoe. and will be still more 10.
Ensllage. or silage as II Is frequently
called. is grass. or clover. or cornstalks
cut green and preserved fresh by
placing into pits. or silos. and pressed
down and covered over and kept much
as fruit or salmon In kept-hermetIcaIly
scaled. on top. the grass OF clover in
silo becomes moldy to the depth or a
few inches. but II well laid that very
moldy top helps 10 keep out the air
from below.
Sllos were first made in the ground
ana walled with stone or brick and
covered. but this has been found un-
necessary and they are now built Of
lumber double walled. and made tight
er with tarred paper The best style
Is after the fashion Of barrel. with
slaves and hoops. or much like sec
tion Of the wooden water main. A mod
crate sized silo would be about 10 feet
In diameter and 20 feet high. Such
siio should hold the product OF FIVE
acre patch Of clover land. and. accord
Ing to SIR. Relth's experience, should
furnish 1900 days feed to one dairy
animal: or one acre should feed one
such animal about one year.
Some surprise has been expressed
that one acre should produce ten OF
twelve tons OF silage But. as in dry.
ling hag shrinks 10 oneFoarth IT'S weight
7 II will be readily seen that land that
would produce two or three tons OF dry
hay would produce eight to twelve tons
or undried fodder. or ensilage. The
economy OF making ensilage OF the
grass comes In in two ways. First. hay
loses about 20 per cent Of It's food value
IN drying. while the loss In ensilage ls
only per cent Second. hay is harder
TO digest than ensilage, so that the
animals do not get so much out of
II In real nutriment Ensllage is easier
to digest than grass unless at its best
Another point OF economy is that
hay, especially in this country, is often
wet and musty while ensilage may Nbe
kept entirely sweet
Clover. either red OF alsike Is proba-
bly, the best that can be raised here
for lensllage. Another advantage OF
clover is that Il makes fine crop on
the uplands or hills, and after cutting,
in June or July. makes a second growth.
furnishing late summer pasture.
II the project OF raising hay and
curing pork In this county. as sug-
gested by the Astorian. is undertaken,
clover, pea vine or vetch ensilage will
furnish feed az the least expense Such
ensilage, with plenty OF artichoke
patches, and pea meal or mush. would
turn out the finest pork in the world.
All three may be had here, as arti-
ohokes and peas flourish here as well
as clover.
Mr. Reith states that special care
should be taken not to make silo
too large. Two or three small silos
are better than one large one, as in
feeding the sllage out the air is let in
and penetrates to some depth and un-
less that part thus affected by the air
is fed Immediately II is likely to spoil
A silo ten or twelve feet in diameter
is plenty large enough for the ordinary
dairy. II. S. LYMAN.