230 Ensilage. 



give a hand. There is invariably a delay some time 

 during the day that can be worked to advantage in 

 this way. 



POWER. 



In some sections there are men who go about witn 

 ensilage cutter and a threshing engine, and supply 

 the extra help the same as for threshing ; and as en- 

 silage harvest comes after most of the grain thresh- 

 ing is over, there is usually no difficulty in securing 

 an engine to do this work. 



A two-horse tread power will operate a good-sized 

 cutter, but it seems like too much work, besides the 

 horses are all wanted in the field at this time. An 

 eight horse-power engine is best, as it only requires 

 four to six horse-power to run a very large cutter. 

 The engine is easily attended to, and the engineer 

 can often give a hand at feeding, treading, etc. 



PRESSING. 



It was formerly thought necessary to weight the 

 silage heavily. At Maple Lane farm, 1880 to 1883, 

 we had two feet of stone on a plank covering. At 

 Murray Hill in 1884, we made concrete blocks about 

 eighteen inches square, and hoisted them in and out 

 with a hand derrick. 



Nowadays little attention is paid to weighting; a 

 few inches of cut straw, and a plank covering are 

 about all that is necessary, and the majority do 

 without that. Silage is heavy. A good day's filling 

 has weight enough in itself to press all below it. 



