32 THE BOOK OF ENSILAGE. 



From a report to the Central Agricultural Society of 

 France by a " committee of the sections on live stock, 

 physico-chemical and high cultivation," upon the subject 

 of the "Ensilage of green-cut corn-fodder seance, April 

 7, 1875," I make the following extract: 



" The fodder has an alcoholic odor quite marked and slightly acid. It 

 is eaten with avidity by the cows, and constituted their sole food since 

 the commencement of winter. We were struck by the hearty appear- 

 ance of the 28 or 30 cows. Their eyes were bright, their skins soft, and 

 they are in good condition. (Goffart's ' Ensilage of Maize.')" 



On the Qth of December the following report was 

 made to "The Country Gentleman : " 



ENSILAGE IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



EDITORS COUNTRY GENTLEMAN : 



. The " Winning Farm Silos " are a perfect success. The preserved 

 corn- fodder which was cut about T \ of an inch long, and placed in the 

 Silo about the last of September, and subjected to heavy and continuous 

 pressure, is being fed to the stock. They all eat it with avidity. Its 

 preservation is perfect. It has an alcoholic odor, and is somewhat 

 acid. My stock eat it all, lick out their mangers, and look wistfully for 

 more. When the Silo was first opened, Dec. 3, there appeared to be a 

 strong acidity, so much so that some of the gentlemen present were some- 

 what disappointed ; but as we get farther into the mass of Ensilage the 

 acidity is much less, while the alcoholic odor upon exposure to the air 

 several hours is much stronger. 



I tried a little experiment with it this afternoon. I had a pen of seven 

 Oxfordshire-downs, and another pen of five maple-shade Cotswolds. 

 They had just been fed with some clean bright hay. In another feed- 

 trough I put some Ensilage. Five of the seven Oxfordshire-downs left 

 the hay, and ate the Ensilage, and four of the five Cotswolds left their 

 hay and did likewise. 



I feed, in place of the ration of hay, 25 to 30 pounds of Ensilage to 

 each cow in the morning, and the same at night, which has lain upon 

 the barn-floor all night, during which time fermentation is quite active so 

 that it is warm in the morning. 



The Ensilage in the Silo which is compacted, although exposed to 



