CORRESPONDENCE OF GEORGE L. CLEMENCE. 41 



stand better the position of the silo, that my barn is one hundred 

 feet long, by forty wide : the stable, in which I keep at the present 

 time sixteen cows and eight heifers, is in the south side of the barn. 

 There is a drive-way, or barn-floor, twelve feet wide, running parallel 

 with the stable. In the north side of the barn, there are bays for 

 storing hay. The silo is in the west end of the stable, the top being 

 two feet above the level of the barn-floor. 



QUES. Your experience with cutting and packing corn-fodder for 

 ensilage in the silos? 



ANS. I placed the cutter (which, by the way, was home-made, 

 costing only six dollars) on the barn-floor, so that the corn, as fast 

 as cut, fell directly into the silo. The cutter was run by a one-horse 

 sweep-power placed in basement of the barn. We began ensilaging 

 corn Sept. 13, put in two feet per day for three days, when the corn 

 that I designed for ensilage was all in the silo. Sept. 16, mowed 

 two acres of rowen, which we put in the silo as fast as mowed, with- 

 out running it through the cutter : this filled the silo within three feet 

 of the top. I then put on six inches of dry hay, and put on plank 

 cover, on which we piled cobble-stones to the depth of two feet. 

 The whole mass settled two feet after putting on the stones : there 

 never was any steam, or smell of any kind, escaping from it. 



QUES. What do you consider it costs per ton to raise the corn- 

 fodder from the seed, and have it thoroughly packed for ensilage in 

 the silo? 



ANS. I can raise corn-fodder for sixty cents per ton, and the 

 expense of ensilaging is about fifty cents per ton ; making a total 

 expense of one dollar and ten cents per ton. 



QUES. What do you think would be the most practical size and 

 form of silo? 



ANS. I think a silo sixteen feet long, twelve feet wide, and 

 fifteen feet deep, the most practical. 



QUES. What do you consider the best and cheapest material for 

 building silos? Some are built of brick, some of stone and cement, 

 some of concrete, and some have been built up of plank with quite 

 good success. 



ANS. In sections where good building-stone are plenty, I think a 

 smooth stone wall, plastered on the inside with cement, would be the 

 cheapest. 



QUES. Have you opened your silo to feed ensilage to stock? if 

 so, did it come out satisfactory? 



