188 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The only point to be considered in preserving the fodder 

 is this, — weight on the top to expel the air, and to prevent 

 the access of more. The air and water tight sides and 

 bottom of the pit have nothing whatever to do with it : they 

 are only the form ; the weight is the siibstance. It is not 

 necessary to cut the fodder into small pieces when it is 

 massed. To secure close packing, it is only necessary to lay 

 the fodder all one way ; so that, when heating takes place 

 from agencies at work within the stalk (which has been 

 opened at the bottom only), and the envelop softens, the 

 weight applied at the top will compact the stalks firmly 

 together. 



Common prudence would dictate such a manner of laying 

 the stalks ; for, by laying them in all directions, room is 

 wasted, and spaces to retain air and gasses are created. 



To secure a uniform settling of the mass, have the retain- 

 ing- walls of the pit (no matter of what they are made) 

 plumb, or, better still, inclining inward at the top one inch 

 to six feet rise. To render the operation of filling the en- 

 closure more easy, dig a short distance into the ground, more 

 or less, according to the amount of fodder to be stored, and 

 the location. The posts will thus be more easily kept 

 plumb, and the dirt excavated is just where it is wanted, — 

 to bank the sides, to keep them in position, and protect the 

 mass from the frost. When these simple precautions have 

 been taken, the pile may be made and tramped as well as 

 two men can tramp it ; and, if necessity requires, it may be 

 left for a week, provided a small weight be placed atop. 



If a week should intervene between the time of leaving 

 one lot of fodder and beginning to put in another, no harm 

 is done ; for when the heating takes place, and the stalk 

 softens, the mass will settle enough to exclude the air 

 between the stalks, and the heating nearly ceases. When, 

 the whole mass is together, it may be covered with straw or 

 old hay, and weight applied. If stone be used, half a ton to 

 the square yard is the rule ; if dirt, two feet is none too 

 much. 



This method of applying the silo system has some disad- 

 vantages, as well as the other. If the pit is in the field, 

 distant from the barn — it is often bad weather when the 

 farmer wishes to remove the ensilage, — working in the wet 



