The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1917-03-16

lures are resting has been tested often that
nearly every successful farmer has constructed one
or more of them.
The pit so is only about three years old, and has
been in extensive for only two years. 1t is not
new thing, but ii is new in the Southwest, where
II is more valuable than In any other farming re-
Eion in the United States. few sos have been
In use in Iowa, in Illinois, and even i'm Mississippi
for a number Of years, but their in these
gions has not spread.
A silo is water-tght structure into which corn
and other fodder packed while green so tightly
that space is left for air, and with enough mOis-
ture to insure fermentation. The material is gen
orally cut into strips not than an inch or two
In length. In the winter, after the fermentation
and curing process have been completed, the silo
is opened and the "mash" is fed to live stock. II
Is as palatahle and nourshng green fodder,
and exhaustive and ongcOntinucd experiments
have proved that beef cattle milch COWS, hogs,
horses, mules and sheep thrive on it. The process
preserves about 90 per cent Of the food values of
the green fodder If the fodder is left in stacks
shocks it loses fully one-half of the food value
through the drying-out process.
In the Southwest last winter and spring the own
ers of pit silos learned that the immature and hot
wind driedout fodder crops which would have
been practically worthless as dry food, made n very
good food when converted into ensilage in the pit
silos one illustration will prove it's value in this
regard
J. c. Michael is a farmer in the Lincoln district
of III Paso county, in eastern Colorado. In August,
1913 when II apparent that the drought ana
hot winds had already made il impossible To secure
- crop Michael, assisted by two men working at
odd times built a 35-ton pit silo. The cash outlay
was only $445. Into this hole in the ground Michael
packed the corn from ten acres, the best of which
would not yield more than ten bushels per acre.
The corn immature, and there was no chance
for il to improve If harvested and stacked for use
as fodder in dry form II would have been worth
Cnly few dollars per acre.
From late fall until spring Mr. Michael fed the
ensilnge TO 10 mich cows and l. hcfcrS. 20 pounds
a day per head for the cows and five pounds for
the heifers No grain was fed. but the cattle were
given a little met and oat straw for roughage
The entire herd kept in good condition, and the
ten cows provided Mr.. Michael with ten dollars
worth of cream every week.
The nit silos in the Southwest are generally moth
ing more than holes~n the ground lined with &C.
ment Of varying thickness. Some of them are con-
structed with n heavy concrete collar 10 prevent
the ground caving i'm and to keep out the moisture.
Some OF them have concrete extension above the
surface of the ground There are all sorts and
sizes and all shapes and kinds of construction, for
the Dit silo is still such farm device that II
has not been standardized. The cost ranges from
n45 cash outlay of Mr.. Michael to $50 for the
larger ones. with an inch cement lining and heavy
concrete collars extending deep into the ground
and aboveground extensions. The average cost Of
the hundreds that have been built ranges between
s15 and $50.
A number of interesting methods have been
brought into use 90 make the most Of this new form
NJ silo Two brothers, Ray and Fay Harner. who
i've near Colby in western Kansas, have discov-
sred q method by which they can dig 30foot hole
lor pit silo I'm about two days. They contract to
ug pGt sllos 10 feet in diameter and 80 feet deep