214 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage, 
carman, and the consumption of fuel by the engine, equal 30 fr. (11. 4s; 
making a total of 3?. 8s. 4(i. for 2J acres). The cost of the planking for 
covering the silo is 32 fr. 50 c. (about 1?. 6s.), and the planks are 3 cm. (a 
little more than 1 inch) thick. As to the stones, they cost 30 fr. (II. 4s.) the 
8 cubic metres : and no more than this quantity was used to load the silo. 
The cost of emptying the silo is insignificant. When a silo is opened, the 
man raises the stones which load the three small planks at the end of the 
silo to compress the three large planks placed broadwise. He places the 
stones on the platform which separates it from the neighbouring silo, then he 
raises the three big planks, and takes off next the crust of the surface of the 
silage, composed of sawdust and a little fodder, packed and mouldy, where tlie 
gases from the mass have fixed themselves. He takes each day the necessary 
quantity by cutting down vertically as in a haystack : the remainder of the 
silo remains loaded as before. Arrived at a certain depth, he takes a ladder, 
and, by means of a large basket, fills his small cart (or waggon) with the 
pitted fodder. This cut having gone to the bottom of the silo, more stones 
are taken off: the small planks are removed by sliding them, and one of the 
big planks is raised, and the cut thus commenced is similarly continued to 
the bottom. Thus the mass is always loaded ; the cut in use hardly lasts 
beyond two days, and if there is old hay to be consumed, the cutting can 
be done easily even above the silo, and the mixture with the pitted stuff 
arranged conveniently at the end of the cleared-out silo, even at the very 
bottom of the cut. 
The results obtained from the process of ensilage are considerable ; and I 
will give them in detail. My property, when 1 bought it in 1871, con- 
sisted of 16 hectares (40 acres), and maintained 5 cows. Thanks to ensilage, I 
am now able to keep 16 milch cows, a bull, and 4 or 5 young breeding beasts. 
I have besides 6 horses, whose entire fodder and two-thirds of their oats 
are grown on my estate. Finally, the sale of wheat pays for half of the 
artificial food that I buy for my cattle. These results induced me to purchase 
last year a neighbouring estate where I could place my young stock, my 
present space not being sufGcient at present. I possess now 22 head. Each year 
a portion of my land of between 4 or 5 hectares in extent is put aside exclu- 
sively for the feeding of my cows, and it amply suffices. The remainder of my 
estate is devoted to meadow, corn, and artificial grasses, which do not form 
a part of the food of the cows, or at least no appreciable quantity ; for 
example, the turning out and folding for two hours a day on a meadow which 
has already been twice mown. This numerous herd has enabled me to 
manure my land richly, and to obtain some very good crops; finally, these 
animals, regarded as milk-producers, give a remarkable profit. Again, we 
must credit ensilage with the perfect regularity with which the rations of 
food can be obtained, and which allows us to serve out always a full quantity to 
the animals, an important point, the advantage of which has been shown by 
my weighing-machine. When a silo is opened, a small specimen is taken 
out and analysed, and after analysis the ration is compounded according to 
the age of the animals, from the triple point of view of nitrogenous matter, 
of fatty matter, and extractives. I can support this opinion by the weekly 
weight of the animals bred on my estate and fed exclusively on this food. 
A heifer born on the 22nd of March, 1880, the complete weaning being finished 
on the 25th of July, weighed on that date 197 kil. From week to week the 
following are the weights: 205 kil.— 218— 230— 230— 242— 250— 260— 
266—281—296—295—304—309—313—314—319—330—335—310—349— 
350— 360— 369— 371 — 374—382 —389— 401 — 403— 400— 409— J 18—429 
(the 20th of March). I must ask you to pardon me for not sending the 
weights of the second year, but the 28lh of March, at two yiars six days 
old, the beast weighed 733 kil. Not having bred, she was sold to the butcher 
for 700 francs (28?.) on the 1st of June, 1882, weighing 770 kil. (about 
15 cwt. 1 qr. 14 lbs.), and gave 470 kil. (about 9 cwt. 1 qr. 14 lbs.) of meat. 
