826 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



less than two feet in depth being put in each day. When 

 filled very rapidly the ensilage will settle more, but if there is 

 too much delay, an injurious amount of fermentation is likely 

 to ensue. 



When the silo is full, it must be covered immediately with 

 boards, and weighted down with from five hundred to nine 

 hundred pounds to the square yard. If stone can be had con- 

 veniently they will furnish cheap material for this purpose, but 

 boxes filled with earth will do as well. The ensilage will set- 

 tle considerably, even when well-packed during filling, and 

 where the silo is located so that it can be done, it is well to 

 set a temporary frame round it so as to fill a few feet above 

 the top, as it will soon settle down into the silo. It is well 

 to spread a foot of straw over the top before putting on the 

 boards. 



The cover must be put on so that nothing will interfere with 

 its settling, and the weights should be put on so as to admit of 

 a part of the cover being removed without disturbing the rest. 

 The ensilage will begin to heat, but if properly covered the heat 

 will pass off. 



Cost of Bnsilage. The cost of growing rye, clover, corn- 

 fodder, or other crops for ensilage the farmer can readily esti- 

 mate for himself, but I have some data as to the cost of cutting 

 and filling the silo. The first year that Professor Henry put 

 up ensilage the amount was but about ten tons, and the cost of 

 cutting and storing was one dollar and sixty cents per ton. 

 The next year, with over thirty tons and better facilities for 

 handling, the cost was eighty-nine cents per ton. Dr. Tanner, 

 of Orange County, New York, estimates that with a large quan- 

 tity it can be cut and put in silo for seventy-five cents per ton, 

 and Mr. Chaffce, of the same county, estimates the cost of rais- 

 ing and putting in the silo at two dollars per ton. All of these 

 estimates are where corn is used as the ensilage crop, which in 

 my judgment can be handled cheaper than any other used for 

 this purpose. 



Crops for Ensilage. Any green succulent crop can be 

 stored in this way, but from all I can learn on the subject, corn 



