at Home and Abroad. 
147 
average length of the cuttings being about one inch. The first year I mixed 
a little salt with the cut grass, as it was thrown into the silo. The second 
year I only did so with about half the contents of the pit, and this year 1 
have not used any admixture whatever, as the salt seemed to make no differ- 
ence either as regards the preservation of the material or its feeding properties. 
I have generally filled my silo at the rate of from four to eight loads a day. 
When I am unable to cram any more stuff into it I put on the lids and 
weights, and leave it to settle for a month or two, after which it is again filled 
to the top, and then finally covered and weighted down, until the contents are 
required for the use of the stock. 
My present silo being only large enough to contain a small proportion of 
the crop of meadow-grass, the new process is with me, of course, merely sub- 
sidiary to the older and, as yet at least, more important one of hay-making. 
It is therefore my plan to economise time and labour by setting the men to 
pit grass whenever the weather is such as to prevent or put a stop to the other 
mode of harvesting. A two-horse mower soon cuts down a sufficient quantity 
of the grass which has been reserved in the vicinity of the silo; it is then 
thrown together with forks, or collected into rows with a horse-rake, and at 
once carted away to the pit. Here it is spread evenly about, and well trodden 
down by a couple of men, or more generally by a strong woman and three or 
four boys, an extra trampling being given by the whole force of men before 
leaving off or resuming work, morning, noon, and evening. It is quite un- 
necessary to put on the lid, &c., until the pit is full, unless the process of 
filling has to be discontinued, for any cause, for more than twenty-four hours. 
Six or eight days after, the lid and weights are put on, either finally, or in 
order that the contents may be left to settle down for a few weeks before 
adding more forage. I have found it advantageous to seal the edges of the lid 
or platform so as to prevent the entrance of air. This is easily done by simply 
building up the weighting material plumb, with but a little distance (say 
three or four inches) from the walls of the sUo, and filling up the narrow space 
thus formed to a depth of eight or ten inches, with fine dry soil or sawdust. 
If this is not done, and especially if the forage is insufficiently weighted, 
mouldiness will make its appearance around the sides and on the top of the 
fodder to a greater or less extent. The weights consist of hard boulder stones 
taken from the bed of a mountain torrent, and also brickbats, the whole 
amounting to about 70 lbs. or 80 lbs. to the square foot. 
I have not kept any exact record of the weight of the grass ensilaged, but 
should estimate it at twenty-five tons each year. I should say that the 
process entails little or no loss of weight, as the material is very moist and 
heavy when taken out for the use of the stock. If the grass is chaffed before 
being put into the silo, the expense in labour is about 2s. lOd. per ton, and 2s. 
jjer ton when it is pitted long aa it comes from the meadow. These prices 
include mowing, carting, pitting, weighting, and everything, and no doubt 
they might be considerably reduced if the operations were carried out on a 
larger scale. The cost of the lid or cover is included in the amount already 
.specified for the silo itself. It will also have been seen that little or no outlay 
has been required for weighting materials ; in fact, anything that comes most 
handy may be pressed into the service ; and, once the materials provided, 
the expense in labour of placing or removing them is quite inappreciable, being 
at the rate of not more than 3d. or id. a ton on each occasion. 
If the silo is conveniently situated, the cost of emptying it and of supplying 
the contents to cattle is at least no greater than would be the case in feeding 
the same quantity of stock by the ordinary methods. As regards the manner 
of emptying the pit, I have tried both methods (viz. of taking the material off 
in layers from the top, and of cutting it down vertically), but I shall require 
to make still further experiments in the same direction before venturing to 
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