158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and for certain vegetable-refuse matter from several branches 

 of industry. Prominent among these various substances are 

 the stalks and leaves of the Indian-corn in blossom, the 

 leaves of the sugar-beet roots, and tlie stems and leaves of 

 potatoes. Grass and clover in wet summer seasons, the 

 refuse pulp of the beet-root from the beet-sugar manufac- 

 ture, and the potato refuse from the starch manufacture, 

 also diseased and frost-bitten potatoes, and roots of various 

 descriptions, have been ki pt in silos, and thereby improved 

 for feeding purposes ; and, finally, coarse grass-like plants, 

 as rushes {JuncacecR) and carices, or sedges (^Cyperacece)^ 

 which in their green state, are, as a rule, but little eaten by 

 cattle, have been prepared, in some instances, in silos, into a 

 quite palatable and digestible cattle-food. The treatment 

 of these and similar articles for their conversion into ensi- 

 lage, or sour fodder, is usually carried out in either dry 

 ditches or cemented cisterns especially constructed for that 

 purpose. The green food, or the factory-refuse mass, after 

 being reduced to a proper size for advantageous close pack- 

 ing, is put in layers, in the space prepared for it, and thor- 

 oughly trampled down, so as to leave no air-spaces in the 

 mass. Horses are frequently turned to account to secure 

 the desired compactness. In piling the material into the 

 pits prepared for it, pains are taken to raise it, in the centre, 

 to a conical-shaped elevated top somewhat above the level 

 of the surrounding ground, whilst on the sides it is kept 

 somewhat lower. This course is pursued to prevent subse- 

 quent depression in the centre of the silo. As soon as the 

 packing-down is accomplished, at least two feet in thickness 

 of earth is filled upon the mass, usually without using any 

 layer of straw or boards to keep the vegetable matter and 

 the soil separated from each other. The success of the entire 

 operation depends on the dryness of the pit, the careful 

 packing-down of the mass in the silo, especially along its 

 sides, and the keeping-out of the air, in particular during 

 the earlier period of fermentation. The contents of a care- 

 fully prepared silo soon undergo a peculiar fermentation ; in 

 some instances, of an acid character; in some of an indif- 

 ferent or slightly alkaline character, which continues from 

 one to two weeks, when they are ready for use : they keep 

 in that condition for from six to eight and more months. 



