CATTLE SOILING AND ENSILAGE. 823 



ensilaging it; 3d, Comparative value for food of dry fodder and 

 ensilage; 4th, Relative labor of feeding by the two systems. 



The cost of a stone or concrete silo is estimated at about 

 $1.25 for each tori of capacity. A cubic foot of ensilage will 

 weigh about forty-five pounds, and about twelve tons can be 

 stored in the space which one ton of hay would occupy. In 

 building a silo, you will need to provide about two cubic feet of 

 space per day for each animal of one thousand pounds weight, 

 if they are to be fed all they will eat. In Professor Henry's 

 experiment, two cows, weighing two thousand six hundred 

 pounds, ate an average of one hundred and five pounds per 

 day for twenty-one days, and two cows, weighing two thousand 

 pounds, ate an average of ninety pounds each per day. These 

 cows were giving milk, and were each fed, in addition to the 

 ensilage, two pounds of bran, two pounds of corn-meal, and 

 three pounds of oil-meal per day. Mr. Peer estimates that if 

 cattle are to be kept for six months on ensilage without hay or 

 other coarse fodder, that five hundred cubic feet should be al- 

 lowed for each head. 



How to Make a Silo. If the farmer decides to follow 

 the system of ensilage feeding, it will pay him to build a per- 

 manent silo ; but for the purpose of experimenting, a cheap one 

 may be made. A silo like an ice-house can be made of any ma- 

 terial that will exclude the air, and a bay in the barn, boarded up 

 so as to allow a four-inch space to pack with earth, will answer; 

 but in case a space in the barn is used for this purpose, one 

 must remember the great weight, and not run the risk of losing 

 the crop by breaking down the floor. It would probably be bet- 

 ter to take out the floor and lay down loose boards on the 

 earth, so that all the weight would rest on the ground. In this 

 case it would be necessary to make the double wall the width of 

 the sills, as there must be no projection to impede the settling 

 of the ensilage. For the same reason the inside of the silo 

 must be made smooth, so that the plank covering may fit closely 

 and settle without hindrance, and for the same reason it should 

 be boarded up and down. 



Several points must be considered in building the silo. It 



