180 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage, 
(see below) and others ; but it should be remembered that the 
silo was not opened until nearly Christmas time, when the 
yield of milk under ordinary circumstances in England rapidly 
diminishes in quantity and deteriorates in quality. The sample 
of silage sent to me by Earl Fortescue was in a cardboard box, 
and was shown to a number of " amateurs " of the system from 
time to time for several weeks, during which it retained its 
remarkably sweet fragrance, and showed scarcely a sign of 
mould. 
24. Mr. Edmund B. Gibson, Saffron Walden, Essex. — The principal silo is 
60 feet in length, 12 feet in width, and 17 feet deep — 10 feet of the depth being 
below the level of the soil. It is divided into five compartments which open 
into each other. I have two others formed by bricking up the bays of barns. 
The principal silo is built of cement concrete, the walls and partitions are all 
9 inches in thickness, covered by a galvanised-iron roof formed with frames 
on hinges which are raised bj^ means of pulley-blocks. In my opinion, silos 
made without a wet-resisting roof must fail. The cost of the silo first 
mentioned, including 5 tons of cement weights, was 230?., exclusive of the 
IJ-inch battens for covering the pitted material. It will last an indefinite 
period. The silos were filled at intervals as the green crops became ready. 
The chief silo being in compartments, this could easily be done without dis- 
turbing the fodder when once covered and weighted. The crops preserved 
have been rye, tares, sainfoin, clover, trefoil, and grass ; they have been cut 
when in flower, and pitted after having been chopped into half-inch lengths. 
Not any foreign material is mixed with the fodder; if salt is added it of 
course liquifies and tends to make the fodder mouldy ; by adding straw, air is 
introduced with the same result. 
The mode of procedure is as follows : The fodder is carted as soon as cut, 
and passed through an ordinary chaff-cutter, shot into the silo, and welt 
trodden down. The first portion of the material is allowed a short time, say 
12 hours, to settle ; in the meantime it is temporarily covered over with the 
battens, which are subsequently used for the final sealing down. For that 
purpose the)'' are dowelled one into the other, so as to sink bodily like a floor 
under the weights (about 15 cwt. to each compartment) which are placed 
upon them. The dowelled joints are covered by strips of felt, and a thin 
narrow piece of deal is nailed above the felt to assist in the exclusion of the 
air. The weights are sufficient to keep the batten cover in close contact with 
the fodder, and to insure its sinking as compression takes place. This summer 
I have pitted about 400 tons of green food, the produce of 52 acres. 
The expense of filling varies with the nature of 'the fodder and the amount 
of compression — thus an acre of green rye will occupy a much larger space 
than an acre of clover or sainfoin ; but I should put the expense at from 2.s. 6d. 
per ton. My mode of emptying the silo is to take the fodder from the top for 
use, and thus the surface is only exposed for a few hours. By the process of 
ensilage, I have effected (year 1882-83) a great saving in purchased food, 
owing to the increased quantity of natural food produced on the farm, and my 
ability to return nearly all the straw to the land in the form of manure, thus 
saving artificial manure. 
The result of feeding cattle on pitted fodder in my case has been that two 
bushels of ensilaged ryo mixed with one bushel of swedes produced the same 
quantity of milk as one bushel of ensilaged rye and two bushels of swedes, botli 
being used in conjunction with 3 lbs. of cotton-cake per head per day. The 
fodder should be consumed as the animals require their daily food when once 
begun ; it will turn mouldy on the surface after three days' exposure to the air. 
