88 SILOS, ENSILAGE AND SILAGE. 



dental and unavoidable delays, of several days, in the 

 filling of their silos, so that the silage became " quite 

 hot" before it was covered and weighted. Their fears 

 that the silage was entirely spoiled were not realized, as 

 it proved to be the best they had ever made. Soon after- 

 wards I learned that Mr. George Fry, Chobham, England, 

 had made sweet ensilage by the process of slow filling, 

 when the temperature in the silo exceeded 122. In the 

 ensilage of clover and rye-grass, he observed temperatures 

 of 135 to 158. 



On the publication of these suggestions, with the cor- 

 roborative evidence I had collected in regard to the 

 practicability of the method, I was assailed on all sides, 

 in the agricultural papers of the day, and many theoreti- 

 cal objections were urged that were assumed to conclu- 

 sively disprove the data on which this new departure in 

 ensilage was founded. At the present time, however, my 

 method of filling the silo, to avoid objectionable acidity, 

 has been quite generally adopted, and the favorable 

 reports received in regard to the practice, are the best 

 answer to former criticisms. 



Quite recently it has been discovered that the weights, 

 and even the tight plank covers that were formerly con- 

 sidered of prime importance, can be dispensed with to 

 advantage. In a recent communication from Mr. John 

 Gould of Ohio, who has made extended observations 

 among the silos at the West, he informs me that weights 

 are now seldom used, and that but about one-half of the 

 silos are covered with boards or planks, and that the 

 number of these is rapidly diminishing. Tarred roofing 

 paper covered with a layer of straw or coarse hay from 

 twelve to sixteen inches in depth is frequently the only 

 protection to the top of the silo, while many omit the 

 paper altogether and only rely upon the simple covering 

 of straw or marsh hay, which, they claim, from their 

 experience, is quite as efficient in protecting and preserv- 

 ing the silage as the more expensive methods. 



