140 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage, 
In fine weather it would have cost 6?. to make the hay, but 12/. under 
unfavourable circumstances. 
The cost of mowing is 5s. &d. per acre, and the cost of carting the grass and 
pitching it into the silo is estimated at 5s. per ton. Pitting and treading 
cost 15s. per day. 
This silo, unique in my experience, besides being uncovered, 
and two-thirds below the level of the soil, is situated near a 
brook, the swollen waters from which penetrated through the 
thin brick and cement wall, while the autumn rains completely 
soaked the covering of earth and the silage immediately beneath 
it. Therefore only a comparatively thin layer between the top 
and the bottom was in a fair state of preservation when I saw it 
opened last November, the remainder being fit only for manure. 
II. — Roofed Silos with Portable Weights. 
A. Silage Unchopped. 
1. Mr. A. Copley (per Mr. T. Easdale), East Cowton, NorthaUerton. — The 
original silo was 12 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 8 feet deep, but it is now 2 feet 
deeper. A second silo, built this year, is 15 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 10 feet 
deep. Both are 8 feet below and 2 feet above the level of the ground. The 
first silo was built of bricks and mortar, faced with 1 inch of cement lining, 
and was covered for one year with a low movable span roof. The second one 
was built of concrete, faced with i-inch of cement lining. The cost was the 
same as that of any oblong pit or water-tank of the same dimensions, and 
the silos will last for many years. Filling is done at various times, when 
the crops are ready and other things convenient, but we endeavour to catch 
the material at that stage of growth when it contains most nutriment. 
Meadow-grass, aftermath, comfrej', oats, tares, and clover have been pitted, 
all in a whole state. The filling will be completed in September. A small 
sprinkling of salt has been added — but not more than 1 lb. to 2J cwts. of 
grass, &c. — with the idea of destroying noxious life-germs, such as liver- 
fluke, &c. The material is covered with transverse boards, 2 inches thick, 
and weighted with iron blocks of 1 cwt. each, so as to give a pressure of 
IJ cwt. per square foot. As to the weight of the preserved material, it may 
be stated that in December, 1882, one cubic foot was taken out of the 
original silo and found to weigh 432 lbs., after a pressure of only 100 lbs. per 
square foot. The cost of filling the silo is the ordinary cost of cutting and 
carting home green fodder of any kind, plus that of casting it into the pit 
and spreading and treading it well. The expense of compression depends 
entirely on the material used, and whether with an idea of permanency or 
otherwise. The contents of the original silo were cut down vertically, like 
a haystack, and the cost of emptying it was the same as that of cutting down 
a haystack for the use of cattle. The effect of using the pitted fodder has 
been that the milch cows improved in condition, and the yield of milk, cream, 
and butter increased in quantity and imjirovedin quality. Pjach cow received 
in previous years daily 2 lbs. of oats, 10 lbs. of hay, and 45 lbs. of pitted 
fodder, but this year the use of hay has been discontinued. The fodder can 
be consumed without deterioration, if taken out by degrees, during a period 
extending over several months. 
Mr. Copley is a pioneer in the question of ensilage, and 
