144 
Eeport on the Practice of Ensilage, 
not cover all the adjuncts, and on the other that the cost was 
greatly increased by the drainage difficulties. In fact, as the 
bricks and some other materials were presented to Mr. Ford for 
the purpose of this experiment, it is not possible to enter into 
minute calculations of cost. Then, as regards the cost of filling, 
Mr. Ford is so enthusiastic that he himself sits on the mowing- 
machine, and does not charge anything in his accounts for his 
own time. With the low roof of this silo, the crane is a very 
valuable means of economizing labour in putting the weights 
on and taking them off, as well as in lifting the silage out of the 
silo. 
On January 23rd, 1884, I again visited this silo, to see the 
result of Mr. Ford's experiment. Notwithstanding the per- 
sistent infiltration of drainage from the silo into the well, the 
silage was very good in parts. The grass was the best ; but the 
clover, which had been probably put in when more succulent 
and wet, had been squeezed into a kind of paste. Mr. Ford 
quite admitted the fact, and also the lesson to be derived from 
it, namely, that the pressure should be altered according to the 
nature of the crop to be preserved and its condition when 
pitted. 
It should be added that Mr. Ford farms a glebe of about 
60 acres, and that this is his first year's experience. 
4. Mr. Arthur H. Grant, Abhotswood, Romsey, Hants. — I have five pits of 
the following dimensions : No. 1, 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 6 feet deep ; 
Nos. 2 and 3, each 11 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 10 feet deep ; No. 4, 15 feet 
long, 16 feet wide, and 12 feet deep ; and No. 5, 15 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 
10 feet deep. They are all below the level of tlie soil. No. 4 pit is built of 
9-inch brickwork, run over very thinly with cement ; the others are made of 
43-inch brickwork, and between two pits I have a 9-iuch partition-wall. 
The roofs are of corrugated iron, with the exception of one silo, which is 
roofed with Willesden paper. Incidentally I would mention tliat I prefer 
iron to this paper, as it requires far less wood, although what is used must 
be slightly stouter ; there is also far less carpenters' work to be done. On the 
other hand, over cattle, &c., iron always condenses the moisture of a shed, 
and a drip follows ; this, I think, is not the case with paper. The first cost of 
these silos is unknown, as the gravel, &c., dug out was used for concrete 
building, roads, &c., and many of the bricks used were old. 
The first filling took place in May and the second in July, with vetches 
and oats, meadow-grass, Trifolium incarnatum, and "seeds," consisting of 
Italian rye-grass and hop-clover. All the crops were put in uncut and not 
quite ripe — the vetches when just coming into flower. No substance was 
mixed with them, but 1 once tried bran without any visible effect. Each 
silo is filled to, say, 4 feet above the top of the walls, as quickly as possible; 
the crop is then weighted and allowed to sink one or two nights, then refilled 
to the 4 feet again and closed for two months, when the second or later crops 
are cut. The silo is then opened and filled twice to 4 feet above the surface 
again, and then closed until opened for use in winter. The 4 feet is named 
because my weights, being concrete blocks, build up easily to a height of 4 
feet, thus giving an additional depth. When the silo is quite full, these 
