A SIMPLE SILO. 



A little way from the farm barns near a railroad cut, a hole was 

 dug in the ground, having each of its measurements eight feet. 

 The spot was chosen near the railroad cut to secure good drain- 

 age, as most of the land about the farm buildings is low. The 

 soil was compact and gravelly. Into this hole, green clover di- 

 rectly from the field was thrown, and tramped down as closely as 

 possible ; the hole was filled, and clover added until it formed a 

 mound rising above the level of the ground. Upon this, straw 

 was [placed and a few short boards, and then part of the earth 

 taken from the pit was thrown back upon it, making a mound as 

 is often done in burying roots for winter. In a day or two, the 

 weight of the earth had pressed everything below the level of the 

 ground. Earth was again heaped up, and in a few days the pro- 

 cess was repeated. At length, when about two-thirds of the earth 

 had been thrown back, the settling ceased and the earth over the 

 clover was on a level with the surface of the ground. Of course 

 this brought a great pressure to bear upon the clover, but the fall 

 •was so extremely wet that since I had placed no protection of any 

 sort over the spot, I supposed the clover had spoiled. A few 

 days since, the hole was opened and the clover came out in per- 

 fect condition. Cows eat it greedily. It is very moist and has 

 not lost all of its natural color. 



It should be understood that there was no protection of any 

 kind to the bottom or sides of this miniature silo, and only a little 

 straw and a few boards on top of the clover, besides the earth. 

 Burying a green hay crop in this way is of course not a practica- 

 ble method, but for those who wish to test ensilage in a small way, 

 it is not a bad experiment. It shows, also, how those living 

 where the subsoil is very compact, could make a silo with either 

 very light walls or none at all. 



