62 H. R. STEVENS ON ENSILAGE. 



sand, and finally discarded the use of sand, and used gravel, size of 

 a pea down to very coarse sand. I also found that some barrels of 

 cement were not good ; which makes a great difference in the setting 

 of cement, gravel, etc. I shall build two more silos the coming sum- 

 mer. There are many farmers who have no gravel near, and have a 

 good place in their barn cellars. If so, they can make a good one 

 out of plank and matched boards, or two thicknesses of matched 

 boards, with tarred paper between. One of this kind can be put in 

 very cheap. There are hundreds of farmers who could raise up their 

 hay-floors, and make silos in their barn-cellars, like my friend Clem- 

 ence, whose fodder has kept just as well as mine. It would cost 

 them very little. 



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

 ensilage in the silos? 



ANS. I think a silo should be filled as rapidly as possible ; cer- 

 tainly not less than one foot a day. It should be spread evenly, 

 the stalks and leaves well mixed. It should be well trodden. I 

 should keep one man there all the time ; and, if I was filling fast, I 

 would put in two. I say tread, tread : you cannot do too much of it. 



QUES. What do you consider would be the most practical size 

 and form of silo ? 



ANS. My silo is twenty- four feet long, fourteen deep, and twelve 

 wide. I would not build a larger one, unless I run a partition through 

 the middle. I supposed it would hold from forty-five to fifty tons, 

 but I now think it holds more than seventy-five tons. No man who 

 never saw one filled would believe they would hold one-fourth as much 

 as they do. 



QUES. About how much did your silo cost? 



ANS. The help employed cost me sixty dollars ; cement, forty-five 

 dollars. I had the gravel and stone, and supplied the brain- work 

 myself. This is for the walls. The excavating cost but little, as a 

 large share was done with a scraper. I do not think my whole cost 

 of every thing, except brain-work and sand, was over a hundred and 

 twenty-five dollars, and believe if I had nothing else to do, with my 

 present experience, could put one up like it for a hundred dollars. I 

 should want plenty of time, so that I could select my days, and give 

 it time to set, at the bottom particularly. 



QUES. What do you think is the best and cheapest material for 

 building silos ? 



ANS. If the materials are handy, build a concrete wall, of stone, 

 gravel, coarse sand, and cement. 



