DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 721 



been. The work was completed in October. The ensilage was covered closely 

 with planks, and heavily weighted with stone. Wnen opened in December the 

 preservation was found to be perfect, and the ensilage was greedily eaten by all 

 kinds of stock. To his cows he feeds a ration of 50 lbs. of ensilage daily. 

 With this, and a moderate ration of cotton-seed meal, as good and as much but- 

 ter is made as on the best pasturage. Referring to the construction of the silo. 

 Gen. Thomas said it could be equally as well lined with brick or concrete as 

 with stone, and much cheaper, one brick in thickness being sufficient when 

 earth or sand was firmly rammed in behind the walls. [The author would say 

 never less than an 8-inch wall.] The main point was to have the walls perfectly 

 true and smooth, and the corners square, so as not in any way to interfere with 

 the settling of the contents under pressure. The variety of the corn planted 

 was the common Southern horse-tooth, which he thought the best. His crop 

 was 20 tons to the acre, but he tliought this might be doubled by high manur- 

 ing. He estimated the feeding value of ensilage equal to twice the weight of 

 average hay." 



HI. Two Ghea'per Methods of Building Silos.— The doctor goes on to say: 

 " Captain Morton's silo was muph more cheaply made. He dug a trench 13 

 feet wide and 60 feet long, and only 3 feet deep. He walled this with stone» 

 making the wall 9 feet high, and banking it up on the outside to within 3 feet 

 of the top. It was pointed with mortar and cemented With water-lime on the 

 inside, the whole cost being .$100. This silo was divided by a cross wall in the 

 middle, and only J^ was used, in which tlie corn from 2 acres was placed, 

 being cut in 3^ inch lengths, firmly trodden down, covered with boards and 

 heavily weighted. The preservation was excellent, and all kinds of stock eat 

 it freely. The whole cost of getting the fodder into the silo was under $10. 

 He is now feeding it in combination with fine-cut hay and meal to 27 head of 

 stock, young and old, including 7 cows in milk. The daily feed for the whole 

 is made by mixing 250 lbs. of the ensilage, 180 lbs of cut hay, and 75 lbs, each 

 of corn-meal and wheat bran, the whole well shoveled together, and fed to each 

 animal in proportion to its size. They are all thriving, and his butter sells for 

 85 cents a lb. His ensilage (which was exhibited at the meeting he addressed) 

 was slightly acid, but he said that with a perfectly tight silo and sufficient pre* 

 sure, he thought it could be preserved almost perfectly sweet. This was also 

 Gen. Thomas' opinion. Captain Morton agreed with Gen. Thomas in prefer- 

 ring southern corn for ensilage. He planted in drills 2 feet apart, using 1 bushel 

 of seed to the acre, and tilling entirely by machinery. 



Gen. Grout built his silos with concrete walls, loose stones being puddled 

 in with mortar, and the inside coated v/ith water-lime cement. The fodder was 

 badly frosted when ensilaged, but kept perfectly. He used 300 lbs of stone to 

 the square foot of surface to compress the ensilage, and would never use less. 

 He is feeding it to 72 head of cattle, and 100 sheep. The daily cattle ration is 

 80 lbs. of ensilage in the morning, and a mixture composed of 15 lbs. of finely- 

 cut and moistened straw, upon which 2 lbs. of shorts are spr'nkled; which is 

 fed in two feeds, noon and night. All the stock are gaining on this feed. The 

 sheep were fed almost exclusively on ensilage, and had much improved on it. 

 4a 



