14 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



till late in spring. The matter was deemed of sufficient importance 

 to claim the attention of the Board of Agriculture, and accordingly- 

 the Secretary visited the farm of Dr. Baile}', inspected his silos, 

 examined the preserved corn fodder, saw the stock which had been 

 fed on it, and saw it fed to tlie stock. He has also availed himself 

 of the opportunity' to carefully examine all that has been published 

 in relation to this system of preserving fodder, and here presents 

 the method of constructing a silo and lilling it, and also conclusions 

 in regard to the value and importance of this method of storing and 

 preserving stock forage. I might here add, that during the past 

 summer several silos have been constructed in our own State, which, 

 last^autumu, were filled with green corn fodder. 



A silo should be located near the barn in which the stock to be 

 fed from it is kept, and should be excavated in a side hill, after the 

 manner of a barn cellar, that it may be filled from the top of the 

 embankment and emptied from the opposite end. In shape it 

 should be a rectangle, with its length about three times the width, 

 and twelve to sixteen feet in depth. A considerable depth is indis- 

 pensable, on account of the fact that the contents can thus be more 

 easil}- and securely compacted. If large quantities of fodder are to 

 be preserved, it is better to construct two silos side b}- side, rather 

 than have all the space in one. The walls ma}' be laid in stone, 

 brick or concrete ; but must be perpendicular, and must be plastered 

 smooth with cement, in order to avoid all possible resistance to the 

 packing down of the ensilage, and also to keep out all water. An 

 opening should^ be left^ in the end, of dimensions sufficient for the 

 removal of the contents as wanted for use. The size should depend 

 on the amount of fodder to be preserved. The preservation of en- 

 silage in small silos is always less perfect than in large ones, j'et 

 thej- should not be so large that the^' cannot be economically filled, 

 packed and emptied. Dr. Baile}' has two, side b}' side, each fort}' 

 feet long, twelve feet wide and sixteen feet deep, and estimated to 

 hold about 800,000 pounds. A cubic foot of ensilage, after being 

 compacted, will weigh from forty to fifty pounds. The silo must be 

 covered bj' a roof, and must, of course, be protected from frost in 

 the winter, and from the ingress of water at all times. 



The green corn or other fodder, witli which it is to be filled, must 

 be cut veiy fine — less than half an inch in length — since the success 

 of this method of preserving fodder depends on excluding the air 

 by close packing, and the finer it be cut the more perfectly these 



