EKSILAGE OF FODDER. 95 



Twenty feet will probably be the practical limit in 

 depth. The silo should be so built that surface water 

 can not come in from the bottom, as air-proof walls and 

 a water-tight and air-proof bottom are the first two es- 

 sentials in silo building. The best way is to put in cross- 

 sills two by ten inches, to tie the footing of the studding, 

 and after the silo is built fill in between these sills with 

 water-lime and small stones, raising it an inch or so 

 above the level of sills, making a smooth level floor. 



**The silo should be twice as long as wide, and at least 

 twelve to sixteen feet deep. This enables it to be filled 

 without delay, and also insures the cooMng of the fodder, 

 which is now considered essential. The silo needs a 

 partition, dividing.it into equal-sized rooms. An ensi- 

 lage cutter is provided with a carrier which hoists the 

 cut fodder up over the walls into the pits. The plan is 

 to cut into one pit one day, say from twelve to twenty 

 tons of green fodder, and by slightly turning the upper 

 end of the carrier, deposit the next day's cutting into 

 pit No. 2. It is not necessary to tread or tramp the cut 

 fodder, only to keep it level in the boxes. The tramping 

 should be done along the side and corners, to make the 

 sides settle as fast as the center. No more fodder should 

 be added until the first filling has reached a temperature 

 of 125 degrees, when another layer should be added. 

 This is the cooking process. The addition of cold, fresh 

 ensilage reduces the temperature of the first to about 

 eighty degrees, audit cannot re-heat, or ferment, unless 

 it is again exposed to the oxygen of the air. This alter- 

 nate filling and heating goes on until the pits are full. 

 The heating has rarified the air that was mixed in with 

 the ensilage, causing it to escape upward, and a very 

 dilute gas takes its place. The heating has also caused 

 the ensilage to settle very compactly; and at last, when 

 the pits are full, it is only necessary to let the last day's 

 filling heat up^ and then level off the surface of the silage, 



