1880.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



21 



To leac'li his sramlBon clicss llicn, 



His IiMSuie he'd employ, 

 Until at Inst the old iiian 



Was beaten by the boy I 



History and exiitnii'iicc coiilli-ins Ihf liclicf 

 Ihat we have not <xo\w liackward, bill forward 

 to a belter state of prosperity, to jjreater 

 comforts and coiweineMci'S tliaii nges wbii'li 

 have lapsed into eternity; and in no class of 

 people be they learned in lh(^ professions of 

 relif^ion, law, medicine or other human inir- 

 suits. has there been sreater pronress than in 

 the eomforls and respectability of the Ameri- 

 can farmer; anil this is uenerally true of all 

 classes in the various pnrsuils of life in the 

 United States, broin;ht about by the inf»entl- 

 ily and sUill of the mechanical inventions and 

 improvements in inachineiy. What would 

 the Xew Knjjland States be to-day withotit 

 llieir niannfaetures aiul commerce V but their 

 public s|>irited citizens foresaw years ajjo 

 what makes a pros|)erons country, and bravely 

 went to Work to build factories and coiistrtK't 

 railroads. They ilid not fold their hands, or 

 use llieni only to hold the jiloni;!! with, but 

 took bold at ibe right end and ('reated mar- 

 kets at home in the nianufacturinp: towns for 

 llieir agrienll oral producls. Thus by enter- 

 prise and industry the Eastern States liavc 

 arrived at a hii,di degree of i>rnsperity; and 

 trener.ally the wealth, an<l especially so in 

 .America, has been creatiMl by the labor of 

 the citizens in the various branches of indus- 

 t ry. 



The Xew Einjland Statis furnish us an 

 example of what can be aceompli.shed by in- 

 dustry. Their Reotfraphical position is such 

 that llie climate one-half of the year is liansh, 

 the soil f^eneially stony and poor, but their 

 water-power and commercial facilities and 

 skilled operatives in the factories give tliein 

 superior advantages. They work wealth out 

 of their water and tlieir stones; their ice and 

 their granite aniuially bi'ing them vast 

 amounts of wealth. — C. L. Hanserter, Mon- 

 heim totimtshij). 



PRESERVING FOOD FOR STOCK.* 



Is there sufficient evidence that ^'Ensilaijc" 

 is a succofsfid method of preserving food for 

 stock? That our method of feeding stock, 

 especially during the winter, is very wasteful 

 there is .scart^ely a d(nilit; and any metlmd 

 t.hat will tend to lessen the cost of feed and 

 iiicrea.se its value will be. bailed with joy by 

 all praclii"il farmers. By some it is claimed 

 that this can be done by preserving gi'een 

 fddiler crops in silos, by the method known as 

 "A'D.si/of/p.'' This method has been ))ractised 

 for some years by some French, Belgian and 

 (ierniau farmers with favorable results. The 

 plan usually adoiited is as follows : Pits 

 about 7.") feet long. 9 feet wide at top and fi 

 feet wide at the bottom, and (5 feet deep. The 

 sides and ends of the pits are built tip of 

 masoniy laid in cement. In these pits cait 

 coiustalks are laid in layers about S inches 

 thick and sprinkled with .salt at „be rate of lUi 

 pounds to the pit and tramped as .solid as 

 may be. The stalks are e.xpo.sed to the sun 

 for two or three days after they are cut olf 

 and before they are challV-d and put into the 

 pits. In that time they lose about two-lifths 

 of their weiglit. A pit holds about Si) tons. 

 The fodder is heaped up about (i feet aliove 

 the surface of the ground and covered with 

 earth lo the thickness of two or three feet. 

 As th(> fodder fermeids it shrinks, and !>}' the 

 lime the pits are opened it_ has lo.st about 

 one-half of its bulk. One account says that 

 the |iits were finished on the 14th of .Siiptem- 

 ber. ls7-i. and the first pit was opened April 

 l-'itli, IST:!. The fodder was found in perfect 

 condition, except for an inch or two upon the 

 snrfaci' and sides wliere it was blackened and 

 decayed. The color was yellow', the odor 

 agreeable, but the stalks had lost their sweet- 

 ness and were somewhat ac'd. Tlie fodder 

 was eaten with great n^lisb and only some 

 jiorlionsof the harder stalks left. Tbcsecond 

 jiit was opened .July .'Jd, 187)i and was in as 



*Ke.ia before the Agricultural uud Hgrticultur»l Society' 

 by Joseph F, Witnier. 



good condition as the first. The third (lit was 

 opened April -iUtli, IS74, 18 mouths after 

 covering. It was in as good condition as the 

 two, e.xcept that tlie discolored and decayed 

 layer was thicker than in the others. This 

 was attributed to the gravelly and porous 

 character of the covering. The preservation 

 of the fodder tieingdue solely to the exclusion 

 of the air. 



In some instances the silos are luiilt above 

 ground and the walks banked up with earth. 

 They are, I believe, generally consi<lered more 

 convenient. Some have covered the fodder 

 with only a layer of <day nine inches to a foot 

 thick, well tramped down. This would have 

 to be watched cand'ully so that no cracks occur. 

 The cost of tliti process here described is rep- 

 reseuti'd as being about three dollars per ton, 

 including cutting, hauling, curingaud feeding; 

 the daily ratimi for ordinary stock being 

 about 40 pounds. 



A process similar to this has been in use in 

 this country for some time for preserving 

 brewers' grain, a substance containing about 

 as much water as cornfodder. The jirincipal 

 difference being that the "brewers' grain" 

 being finer than the corn-fodder, it will iiack 

 much closer and exclude the air more thor- 

 onghlj', so that a covering of jointed ]dank 

 and a foot of straw on toji of them is all that 

 is reipiired. So far as I know this process of 

 saving fodder has not been attempted by any 

 one in this country, except Ijy Mr. .1. W. Bai- 

 ley, of Belleric, Mass., and a Mr. Morris, of 

 Maryland. The opening of Mr. Bailey's silo 

 is described in the January number of the 

 Amfrkiin AffriruJturist as follows : 



'■•The first silo in America, built on the 

 French ])lan of M. A. Goflart, was opened at 

 Winning Farm," J. W. Bailey, proprietor, 

 Belleric, Mass. on December ;5d last. This 

 silo or fodder pit is 40 feet long, 12 feet wide 

 and 10 feet deep, roofed, and having a capa- 

 city of 500 tons. It was partly filled with 

 green cornstalks, cut by an "Ensilage cutter, 

 the pieces being 4i inches in length. After 

 this (ait fodder had been thorouizhly tramped 

 down by men, a layer of straw 12 inches thick 

 was spread over it all, and the whole covered 

 closely with planks upon which about TjO tons 

 of stones were placed. This was done early 

 in October. At the opening of tlie silo the 

 fodder was found to be in an excellent state 

 of preservation; at first a little sour, but in a 

 sbo'rt time the .sourness passed away, and 

 when fed to cattle or sheep was eaten with a 

 relish. A number of agriculturists and mem- 

 bers of the press were jiresent; in fact, the 

 "opening" of the silo was well attended and 

 voted a success. Mr. ]5ai!ey was so well 

 lileased with his experiment that he will 

 pr.actice this method of preserving green fod- 

 der in a green .state to a large extent the 

 coming .season. Others have also expressed 

 their intention to erect silos at an early date. 

 This is one of the most important of recent 

 improvements in agriculture, and one which 

 every one who raises cornfodder should inves- 

 tigate before the next crop is harvested. I 

 wrote to Mr. Win. Crosier, of Northport, L. 

 I., a leading agriculturist, and here iswimthe 

 says, after acknowledging the receipt |of my 

 letter and apologising for not answering 

 sooner. lie says, 1 am sorry I cannot give 

 you any information on the subject you re- 

 quire. I am well satisfied with my own way 

 of feeding. Cut or pulped roots, cut corn- 

 stalks mixed with bran and ground oats and 

 fermented a little. I find it does better than 

 steaming food for cattle. We have in this 

 country too much laud lying waste to go and 

 make pits to bury our green fodder. And it 

 will never, in my opinion, become a success: 

 for instance, we cannot give it the time at the 

 period to cut our hay and green corn to put it 

 into snbpits, and put on 10 or 15 loads of 

 stones for every 4 or 5 feet of said pit. 

 Although you have my heartfelt thanks for 

 seeking of knowledge in getting food for 

 cattle, &c. 



From the reports of the very few experi- 

 ments- which have been made, I scarcely know 

 how to answer the question referred to me. 



That fodder can be kept in this way I do not 

 think tluae is any doubt, but whether it will 

 pay (on farms of ordinary size) for the trouble 

 and risk, I have very serious doubts. In the 

 first place the pits must necessarily be very 

 expensive, and secondly I think they would 

 reijuire very close attentir)u, and unless the 

 fodder be taken out with great care there 

 would be danger that what remained in tlie 

 pit would spoil. But if as they claim that 25 

 to 41) tons (and in one instani^e as liigli as 75 

 tons) of fodder can be grown on an acre, and 

 tliat the ration of a cow is from (iO to 80 

 pounds |ier day. With the least yield and 

 the geatest consumption here named, one acre 

 will keep a cow 025 days,or nearly two years. 

 Half an acre of fodder will keep a cow a year 

 in stable or yard, and no other food is more 

 productive of milk or more healthful thau 

 this. It is plain then that if this matter can 

 be introduced into our farm practice, a great 

 economy will result. There would be less 

 trouble and risk in keeping cattle during the 

 summer on food pre.served in this way than 

 by the soiling system. Because the rotation 

 which is so necessary in soiling would be done 

 away with, and the uniileasantness of gather- 

 ing i'ood during storms would be avoided. 



I shall watch any fuither dcTelopments 

 with great interest, believing that where 

 large herds are kept and where men of more 

 than ordinary intelligence have the direct 

 management of them, it will pay. But 

 whether it will pay belter than roots, cut 

 fodder and chopped grain fermented, as Mr. 

 Crosier suggests, I am not prepared to say. 

 .Since writing the foregoing I received a letter 

 from Mr. ,1. W. Bailey. lie says, "Ensilage" 

 is a perfect success. 00 pounds daily of corn- 

 fodder prepared by "Ensilage" is sufficient to 

 keep a cow in as good condition as good hay 

 "ad libitum," or good pasture will do. The 

 cost of the silo will be not far from one dollar 

 per ton capacity, and the cost of the ensilage 

 will not exceed two dollars per ton. 40 to 50 

 tons can easily be raised u|ion one acre of 

 good land." Now, gentlemen, you have the 

 results f)f iny research and must decide the 

 question for yourselves. 



CAN WE PLANT TOO MANY FRUIT 

 TREES.* 



It is unuecess.ary to inipiire into the anti- 

 (juity of fruit-growing. Some kinds of fruits 

 have been cultivated from the earliest historic 

 ages. In all times the value of fruit as an 

 article of diet has been recognized. In warm 

 climates the inhabitants exist to a great 

 extent upon fruit, and there appears to be a 

 necessity for fruit acid, as a corrrctive of the 

 tendency to bilious attacks and an antidote 

 to the insidious efircts of hot weather. Hence 

 it is, that during the summer season in tem- 

 perate latitudes, nature has provided a great 

 variety of fruits, commencing early in the 

 summer with the strawberry and extending 

 until late in the season with a constant suc- 

 cession of palatable productions. The neces- 

 sity of fruit acids in the dietetic regime is 

 shown by the outbreak of scurvy among 

 sailors and others who are forced to subsist 

 for long periods upon a diet of meat and 

 nitrogenous food, without the addition of 

 vegetables and fruits. It is apparent, there- 

 fore, that fruit was intended by an all-wise 

 ProTidence to occupy a prominent i>lace in 

 the liuman economy, and too much attention 

 cannot be bestowed upon the subject. 



An Important Era in Fruit Growing. 

 We have undoubtedly entered upon a most 

 important era in the history of fruit growing 

 in this contnry. In sections supposed to be 

 utterly nnfavoVable to the production of crops 

 of fruit, certain varieties of apples and other 

 fruits are now grown with great success. 

 During the year 1879, thousands of fruit 

 trees were planted in Iowa, Minnesota, and 

 the great' region of the Northwest, hardy 

 varieties of fruit having been discovered 

 which are proof to the most severe storms 



•Reed before the PcTmsylvanU Fruit Qrawen' SocUtj by 

 Cyrus T. Fox, of Bending, P», 



