1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



3S7 



THE SILO. 



PROF. COOK GIVES HEAVY TESTIMONY IN FAVOR 

 OF ENSILAGE. 



a EAR MR. EDITOR:— I wish to add to what Mr. 

 Terry says of ensilage. I have a silo, and I 

 know I can fully double my stock on the 

 farm by its use. This means double the ma- 

 nure, which in turn means double the fertili- 

 ty of the farm. The silo may be right in the barn. 

 Mine is. It needs only to be air-tight. It may be 

 very cheap, and, if rightly used, furnishes a food 

 that keeps the stock in most excellent condition. 

 An acre of corn may furnish eighteen or twenty 

 tons of ensilage, tliree of which equal one of the 

 best hay. Tbese facts show ensilage to be a grand 

 adjunct to the farm. I had been feeding my cattle 

 ensilage for some weeks, when my brother thought 

 of an experiment. One day while the cattle were 

 in the yard he filled the mangers, half with bright 

 hay which they had not had for weeks, imd half 

 with eiipilrtge, which they were being fed daily. 

 They CDmmenced as usual to eat the ensilage, with 

 a gusto, while the hay was unnoticed. The hay was 

 then replaced by nice corn and oats ground. They 

 still kept at the ensilage, and paid no heed to the 

 grain. Now, I believe that relish is a wonderful 

 condiment. Food we relish is the food that will do 

 us good, no matter what the chemist finds as to its 

 composition. It is true, that the chemist finds no 

 more nutriment in ensilage than in the dried fod- 

 der; but the chemist can not measure digestibility 

 nor suitability. It is a fact, that ensilage acts 

 much as does the green succulent pasture of June. 

 Again, the ensilage of to-day is no sauerkraut; 

 and if friend Hayhurst could have seen, smelled, 

 and tasted of that in my barn the past winter he 

 would not object to it for his cow, I am sure. One 

 could go into the barn, close by the silo, or even 

 into it. and not think of ensilage. Indeed, it was 

 pleasant to the taste. I found when I was in the 

 barn that I was follo-«-ing the example of the men 

 who did the chores— constantly nibbling away at 

 the ensilage. It was not very tart, but pleasantly 

 so. 



I, with many others, have proved the following 

 points: 

 Ensilage is a grand adjunct to the farm. 

 Corn can be saved as ensilage cheaper than in 

 anj- other way. 



It is best to leave the ears on the stalks. The 

 corn is softened so that digestion is easy and per- 

 fect. 



The corn-stalks should not be cut till the corn is 

 glazed, when it may be put rapidly into the silo, or 

 allowed to dry or wilt some. 



I put mine in as fast as was possible, and secured 

 nice sweet ensilage. Some, however, say that it is 

 better to fill one day, then wait a day, then fill 

 again, etc. I cut my stalks into half-inch lengths. 

 This makes it easy to pack it well in and about the 

 sides of the silo— an important point — and to re- 

 move it when feeding. 



The door should go from bottom to top, and be 

 closed by strips eight inches or so wide, as we fill 

 the silo. This muxt be made air-tight by use of pa- 

 per as the boards are put in place. In feeiling it is 

 best to rake oft' from the top, and lower all at once. 

 My brother never runs in debt. He was a doubter 

 on the silo question, and had charge of building, 

 filling, and feeding at my place. He was asked at a 



recent farmers' club what he thought of the silo, 

 now that he had seen its work. He replied, " I 

 think I should build one at once, even if I had to 

 run in debt to do it." A.J.Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



Friend Cook, I am greatly pleased to get 

 this testimoBy from you just in time to buck 

 up Terrv. It is about what I expected. 

 But in all I have read upon the subject. I 

 never before noticed that ensilage was tit 

 for liuman beings to eat. 1 am exceedingly 

 fond of sauerkraut. The tart taste of it is 

 very pleasing to me, and it agrees with me 

 so well I am sure it is a very wholesome 

 food. Now, I am inclined to think the 

 horses and cattle find the ensilage, as you 

 and your brother put it up, conducive to 

 their" liealth in tlie same way. For years 

 we have had trouble with the stalks from 

 our sweet corn ; that is, we have hud trou- 

 ble in curing them. They either mold, or 

 dry and break all up ; then the horses and 

 cattle both dislike them. Xow, I wonder if 

 either yourself or friend Terry, or anybody 

 else, can tell whether it would be practica- 

 ble for us to put our sweet-corn fodder into 

 a small silo. It contains more sugar than 

 ordinary corn fodder, and I am inclined to 

 think this fact makes it mold all the 

 quicker, unless you dry it as above men- 

 tioned. Our ground is so valuable that we 

 pull up the stalks just as soon as the ears 

 are off ; and as we pull the ears before the 

 glazing stage, the stalks are green, and full 

 of juice. After the ears ure off, every stalk 

 of corn is little better than a weed, so we 

 get them out of the way, and put something 

 else on the ground as speedily as possible. 

 We have perhaps two or three acres of 

 sweet corn ripening at different times, from 

 the middle of July till frost. Would a silo 

 be practicable under these circumsttmcesy 



ANOTHER SLANDEROUS STORY 

 ABOUT OUR HONEY-BUSINESS. 



A DOWN-SOUTH REPORTER COOLLY DECLARES THAT 



GOLDEN HONEY RUNS OUT OF THE TREES 



BY THE BARRELFUL. 



«LMOST every mail brings us more or 

 less clippings from different newspa- 

 pers al)Out a tree near Griffin, Ga., 

 that yields a barrel of honey every 

 year, etc. It seems strange that it is 

 necessary for us to even say that the whole 

 storv is simply a canard, to make people 

 gape and stare and wonder. The reporter 

 who got it up is doubtless the same chap, or 

 one of the same class, that got up the story 

 about artificial eggs and artiticial honey. It 

 is substantially as follows : 



I made a visit a week ago last Sunday to Jt)hn H. 

 Mitchell's. I found this gentleman at home with 

 his family, and my wife and I rectivcd n most 

 hearty and cordial welcome, and spent a hitppy 

 day. We had every thing good for ditmer. and I 

 tried to do full justice to their bountiful hospitali- 

 ty, and I guess I did it. Mr. Mitchell is one id our 

 stirring, active business farmers. He always says, 

 "Come on, boys," rather than go on. He moves, 

 and his work moves with him; he does not wait for 

 luck, but trusts to vim and energy. He is a practi- 

 cal as well as an experimental farmer— hv works to 

 utilize every thing, and wastes nothing. After din- 

 ner he was sitting on his front piazza, and I discov- 

 ered some bees going in and out of a knot in one of 



