400 ENSILAGE. [ApRir., 



according to the length of the pit and the pressure required per square 

 foot of surface, but the chain-tightener and rollers can be removed 

 from beam to beam, so that only one set is sufficient for any number 

 of silos. What are really required for each beam are the two chains 

 and two brackets or bearings into which the chain-rollers are placed 

 when in use. If, for example, a silo of 15ft. long by 12ft. wide is 

 to be pressed with a pressure of 200ibs. per square foot of surface, 

 two beams would be required, each having its two chains. In 

 tightening the chains, a pressure of eight tons can be put upon each 

 beam, or sixteen tons on both ; and this force, divided by the area of 

 15ft. by 12ft., equals 2001bs. per square foot of surface. The silo 

 may be any reasonable depth ; an extra length of chain being all that 

 is wanted. Should a greater or less surface-pressure be required, it is 

 only necessary to place the beams nearer together or further apart. 

 So easy and powerful is the action of the chain-tightener, that it is 

 found that one man, by exerting a power of about 601bs. (theoreti- 

 cally 401bs.), can put a pressure of eight tons on the beam ; therefore, 

 one man only should use the screw, or unnecessary pressure may be 

 obtained. By exerting the pressure once daily for about a week, it is 

 found that the ensilage cannot be compressed further, except at con- 

 siderable intervals ; the application of continuous dead weight is 

 therefore unnecessary. By these patent appliances, the pressure can 

 also be instantly released, and the boards removed to complete the 

 filling of the silo, or when the ensilage is to be cut ; the pressure can 

 also be applied at any depth of the silo, either at the extreme top or 

 at any distance from the bottom. The covering boards for the silo 

 may be two inches thick, and the transverse beam for a silo of 12ft. 

 wide should be about nine inches wide by seven inches deep. 



cr^ ' -jS' ^'i 



Forestry in Bedfordshire. — Mr. Arthur Ransom, one of the proprietors of the 

 Bedfordshire Times, has just been instrumental in reviving the lono-defunct Hor- 

 ticultural Society of Bedford, and from an article which appears in his journal 

 in connection with the subject we extract the following : — " Another point 

 deserves attention. Forestry is at last beginning to obtain the attention in 

 England that it deserves ; but at present it has no recognition in the ordinary 

 exhibitions connected with the culture of the ground. Neither Agricultural 

 Societies nor Horticultural Societies as a rule ofier prizes in arboriculture. The 

 subject seems to belong to the Horticultural Societies, as arboriculture is 

 certainly in many cases a part of a gardener's duty. Here we venture to think 

 is scope for much useful effort on the part of our new Society, especially in a 

 county where there are so many fine woods, and where moreover there are many 

 parks and plantations for pleasure, besides not a little valuable timber scattered 

 about the fields." 



