351 



The silo is a simply constructed "lean-to," on the north side of the college cattle 

 sheds, 38 feet long and 13 feet wide. Its average height above ground is from 7 to 8 

 feet, and it is excavated to an equal depth. There are two partitions. This gives 

 three compartments or pits, each 12 feet square inside and about 15 feet deep. The 

 westerly slope of the cattle shed roof is extended to cover all. The sides of the under- 

 ground part have 8-inch retaining walls of brick. All the rest of the structure is of 

 common rough lumber, except the interior lining of the pits; this is of narrow, 

 matched ceiling pine lumber, dressed and put on vertically, from top to bottom. 

 Every piece of this lining was thoroughly coated with creosote oil before being put 

 in place. The lining covers the interior faces of the brick walls, so that the silage 

 may be in contact with wood, a noii-coiiductor of heat, instead of brick. » » » 

 The three divisions or pits have a storage capacity of a little more than 30 tons each 

 of well-packed silage or over 90 tons in all. The total cost of the silo was $245, or 

 about$2.63 per ton of capacity. This cost might have been reduced at least $100 by 

 omitting the brick walls of the pits and using a cheaper grade of lumber. As built, 

 however, the silo is substantial and will last for years. The experience of two sea- 

 sons in tilling and one in emptying has proved the structure quite satisfactory for its 

 special purpose. 



This silo, although easily built and comparatively inexpensive, fulfills the essential 

 requirements for a suitable pit for storing silage. First, it conforms to the exist- 

 ing local conditions; in this case it is an addition or attachment to a set of cheap 

 cattle sheds, rather than an independent structure. Next, it is conveniently arranged, 

 easily filled and emptied. And it has the needed strength to sustain all lateral 

 pressure ; it is air-tight, frost-proof, and sufficiently drained. * » * xhe crojjs 

 used for silage in 1888, and their maturity, were as follows: A strong growing, 

 heavy-foliaged, semi-dent white corn, common to the vicinity, the kernels glazed ; 

 sorghum, with seed in the dough, the varieties being Chinese and Early Orange cane ; 

 and the soja bean, pods formed but seeds not fully developed. [In 1889 the main 

 crop grown for silage was corn. That year it cost $04.40 to harvest and store 45 

 tons of silage, or $1.43 per ton.] It was estimated that the tangled condition of the 

 corn in the field fully doubled tbe labor of cutting and loading it, and had the feed 

 cutter been larger, the same engine and fuel could have doubled the quantity cut 

 per day, although another cart would have been needed in hauling. It is easy to 

 see how these improvements might have reduced the cost of storing per ton to about $1. 

 [In a note by the director it is stated that 30 tons and 15 hundred weight of silage 

 ■were stored at the Houghton Farm in 1883, for $44, or $1.47 per ton. J For purposes 

 of weighting, in 1889, heavy sticks of oak cord-wood were used and found conven- 

 ient and efi'ective. The experience of this station is in favor of weighting moder- 

 ately, as with brick in 1888, and tire- wood the next year, both at the rate of 30 to 50 

 pounds to the surface foot. 



The forage garden (pp. 105-119). — A forage garden of about 1 acre was 

 laid out at the station in the spring of 1889, in which grasses and other 

 forage plants are to be tested with reference to their introduction into 

 Maryland. A list of the grasses, clovers, and other forage plants grown 

 at the station in 1889 was printed in Bulletin No. 5 of the station (See 

 Experiment Station Record, Vol. I, p. 75). This article contains brief 

 descriptions of these plants, with notes on their first season's growth. 

 There is also a brief account of an experiment with mixtures of grasses 

 and clovers and of grasses and wheat. 



Variety test of oats (pp. 120-123).— A brief general record of the ex- 

 periment, with tabulated notes on 32 varieties grown in 1889. 



Variety test of wheat (pp. 123, 124).— Forty varieties were sown late 

 18447— No. 7 i 



