286 BOAED OF AGEICULTURE. 



By this arrangement access is gained to the ensilage by 

 taking out the lag-screws with a wrench, and removing the 

 scantling that support the door, and then taking the door out 

 piece by piece, and thus exposing the wall of ensilage press- 

 ing against it. 



The cover of the silo consists of a course of two-inch 

 planed planks, cut five-eighths of an inch shorter than the 

 diameter of the silo, and covered with a course of one-inch 

 planed boards breaking joints with the planks. As the 

 planed surface and edges of the boards and planks fit closely 

 together, the cover is practically air-tight, with the excep- 

 tion of the slight space around the edges which must be left 

 to prevent binding against the walls of the silo as the ensi- 

 lage settles. 



o 



Weights. 



The required pressure is obtained by means of cement 

 barrels filled with earth. 



Barrels or boxes of earth or stones are, in my experience, 

 the best and most convenient weights for a silo, as they give 

 a uniform and constant pressure. Screws are objectionable 

 as they do not give a constant pressure and must be tightened 

 once or twice a day for several weeks, and the labor involved 

 is more than will be required to supply the needed load of 

 earth or stones. 



Fodder Corn. 



The fodder corn for filling the silo was grown on the west 

 tier of experiment plats, and on a small piece of ground 

 west of the plats in experimental grasses. 



No manure was applied, as the condition of the soil for 

 future experiments was a matter of greater importance than 

 a large crop of fodder corn this year. 



<' Longfellow " corn was sowed in drills thirty inches 

 apart July 5. From the late time of planting, a small variety 

 of corn was selected in preference to the larger sorts, which 

 require a longer season to mature. 



The corn made a rapid growth, and it was well tasselled 

 out, when it was struck by the frost on the night of Sept. 3. 



