206 Ensilage. 



that he found the corn fairly well preserved, and 

 that his stock ate it well. To Dr. Bailey, of Boston, 

 Mass., belongs, however, the credit of building the 

 first silo in America, a successful opening of which 

 was reported in " The Country Gentleman " in De- 

 cember, 1879. I hastened to Boston to see for my, 

 self. The doctor went with me to his farm at Bil- 

 lerica, Mass. , and I saw the cows eating the silage ; 

 and when hay was put into the racks on top of the 

 silage, they pushed it aside, preferring the silage. 

 I had to admit " that there was no accounting for 

 taste," but also "that the proof of the pudding was 

 in the eating." The cows seemed to relish it, and 

 have a hearty appetite for it. This settled the ques- 

 tion for me. The following season we converted an 

 old cobblestone carriage-house and horse-barn into 

 a silo by taking out the hay -loft floor, walling up the 

 doors, and windows, and giving the interior a coat of 

 waterlime cement. This building was twenty or 

 thirty rods from the cattle barns, and all the silage 

 had to be carted there, but no matter. If my cows 

 could be soiled winters, I was willing to put up with 

 almost anything to accomplish it. 



This stone barn made a silo eighteen by twenty- 

 four inside and twenty feet deep, which was filled 

 the following autumn and heavily weighted with 

 stones (which were thought necessary at that time). 

 This silo answered the purpose, and was a success 

 from the first. 



I believe this was the first silo in the State of New 

 York, and the second in the United States, not count- 



