at Home and Abroad. 
183 
Society's Laboratory at different dates. The analysis of the 
first, sent on November 12th, 1883, is given above ; it con- 
tained only 57*55 per cent, of water, and went rapidly mouldy. 
The second, sent on January 2nd, 1884, contained 75"6 per 
cent, of water, and kept fairly well in a wide-mouth stoppered 
bottle ; but the remainder, left in the tin in which it had been 
sent, soon became mouldy. 
25. The Duhe of Hamilton {per Mr. David Smith, Agent), Easton Park, 
Wickham Market, Suffolk. — The silos are each 22 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 
10 feet deep, and are above the level of the soil. They are constructed in 
the hay of a barn, and the walls are of 14-inch brickwork, coated with cement, 
with a wooden curb on the walls. The floors are of concrete, also coated with 
cement. I have made no experiments with silos not covered with a per- 
manent roof. The first cost of the silos was about 36?. I should imagine at 
the end of fifty years they will be as good as they are now. One was filled 
the end of June, and filled up again three weeks after the first filling ; the other 
was filled the beginning of August, and filled up again about a month after. 
The crops were clover and rye-grass from the first growths in the first filled, 
and from a second growth in the second ; and they were cut when they were 
fit for making into hay. They were pitted in a chopped state (average 
length, 1 in. to Ij in.), and part of them during a drizzly day. Salt at the 
rate of about Ih lb. per cwt. of grass-chaff was mixed with it, in order to give 
the food a greater relish. The silos were filled in two operations, about three 
weeks intervening between each operation in the one case, and a month in 
the other. I think they might have been advantageously filled a third 
time. 
At the close of each filling, a layer of bran about 3 inches thick was placed 
upon the grass-chaff, upon which were laid some doors, six of 8 feet by 
3 feet 8 inches, and each door was weighted with 500 white bricks. The 
amount of pressure thus applied was about 9 tons upon each silo, which will 
remain upon the silage until it is wanted for use. I imagine the weight of 
the crop per acre was about 3 tons, and the produce of about 15 to 20 acres 
was used to fill the two silos. The expense in labour of filling the silos, in- 
cluding cutting and chaffing the crops by steam-power, was about 15s. per 
acre ; the bricks cost about 50s. per thousand. 
As the silos are by the side of the floor on which the cattle food is all 
mixed, the silage will only be removed as it is required, so the cost of 
emptying has not been gone into. We propose cutting the silage down 
vertically, like a haystack. One result we obtained by pitting our grass 
fodder was to secure the crop without risk of being spoiled, besides having a 
much greater quantity of better food than if it had been made into hay. 
The silos have only been opened about a week. The cattle seem to enjoy the 
silage mixed with the pulped roots and chafl', and look to have wonderfully 
improved in the week they have been feeding upon it. I shall not use more 
than half the quantity of salt when the silos are next filled, as the cattle at 
present consume more water than I think is good for them. — January 29th, 
1884. 
A sample of this silage sent to Hanover Square for examina- 
tion kept remarkably well in the box in which it was sent 
for several weeks. By calculation, it will be found that the 
pressure applied is about 1 cwt. to the superficial foot. 
