284 The Silo and Silage- stack Competition, 1885-86. 
equally distributed at the sides, but the comers in particular were a distinct 
failure. The maize was cut from 16 acres of land, upon some portions of which 
it failed ; whereas upon other portions it averaged thirty tons to the acre. It 
was drilled during the last week in May, but the seed appears to have been the 
round instead of the flat hardy variety. The centre silo, No. 2, was filled 
with water-meadow grass and maize chaffed — thirty loads of the former, 
averaging 35 cwt. per load, and twelve loads of the latter, averaging 
30 cwt. In this case the silage had sunk 7 feet below the eaves. Except at the 
corners and the sides at the top, the mass was good close up to the wall, 
although, as usual, it smelt very strong. The grass silage was pale in 
colour, and practically sweet. In each silo the comers were square, and a 
considerable proportion of the top layer was spoiled. The Reynolds pressure 
system in this compartment cost 12?. Xo. 3 silo was weighted with bricks at 
the rate of 84 to the square foot, nine tons having been used at a cost of 28s. per 
ton. In this instance cutting, deliver}', and filling cost 11?. 15s. 8d., but the 
result was not satisfactory, a rather large pro(X)rtion being spoiled at the top 
and comers. The cost of fitting and fixing the pressing appliances in Xo. 1 
and Xo. 2 was 11?. 10s. 6c?. 
Hill Bam Silo was in every sense more satisfactory, being a sensible 
adaptation of one end of a barn. Its length was 37 feet 6 inches, width, 
17 feet 1 inch, and height, 9 feet 10 inches, with a supersilo of 2 feet 
9 inches high. This silo is divided in the centre by a wall, making two 
apartments, each 8 feet 2 inches wide. It is filled from the floor of the barn, 
and emptied by a door in the end of each compartment, both of which open 
into the bam. The excavation for floor and fotmdation cost 28s. The old 
chalk walls of the barn were lined with 4J-inch brickwork, and the end wall 
with 14-inch brickwork, whereas the partition wall was of 9-inch brickwork. 
The work cost 42?. 12s. : cementing the interior cost 28?. 7s. — an item 
which was somewhat extravagant ; while the concrete floor, also an expensive 
work, cost 14?. 5s. Upon our visit the right-hand silo was empty, but the 
left-hand one was filled with the first cut of a second years clover. When cut 
into, the silage was distinctly alcoholic in smell, and was very perfectly pre- 
served right up to the wall. A small quantity was spoiled at the top and in 
the comer examined, but the experiment was quite a success, in contradis- 
tinction to that at the other silo. The weighting, at the rate of 70 lbs. per 
square foot, was provided by means of flints packed in gaseline-boxes, 
15 inches by 20 inches. At each end of the boxes were hoop-iron eyes for 
hauling up with a jmlley. The covering-boards were 2J feet wide, and the 
exact length of the silo. The clover-crop preserved consisted of 16 loads of 
35 cwt. each, and cost for mowing, 2?. ; for carting, 5?. 6s. 8d. ; and for filling, 
2?. 4s. 8d. 
Messrs. Ward and Latvry's Silo. — This silo was inspected at the farm of 
Mr. Lawry at St. Dominick, Comwall, and is especially worthy of mention on 
account of the system — the first of the kind seen during the inspection, — of 
lifting the weighting material. The silo is attached to the stone wall of a 
cowshed, and divided into two equal compartments, each measuring 10 feet 
by 15 feet by 11 feet high. The floor of the silo, which is concreted, is level 
with that of the cowshed, into which it opens, and the top of the silo is 
slightly above the level of a rising field at the back, a quantity of earth 
having been excavated. There is a supersilo or shed-room above the walls, 
with a cubic space of 3000 feet, the silos having 3300 feet, and being estimated" 
to hold 56 tons. The material used for ensiling was trifolium, 1| acres, and 
seeds from 5 acres. When filled, the silage is covered with boards nailed 
together, to 3 feet wide and 10 feet long, the weighting being managed by the 
use of granite blocks, each weighing from 4 cwt. to 6 cwt. A holt; is made at 
the top side of each block, into which a lifting-bolt and ring are inserted at 
