102 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COT1AGE GARDENER. 
[ January 20, 1886. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse and Hand Labour .—With timber-drawing and much extra 
carting of coal, the carting of manure upon grass land from the mixens 
containing the bulk of the manure cleared from the cattle yards last 
spring, the horses have been so fully employed that we have considerable 
arrears of underwood carting upon hand. This, however, must wait now 
till the ploughing of seed lays and Mustard folds for Peans, Beans, and 
Oats is finished. One field that is sorely infested with Charlock we 6hall 
bow with Peas, keeping the drills full 12 inches apart to admit of frequent 
hoeing as long as possible after the Peas are up and growing freely. This 
field has been two years under Rye Grass, and last autumn we attempted 
paring and burning it, to destroy the seeds of Charlock and other weeds 
as well as the larva of insects, and to impart fertility to the land with the 
ashes. The surface was so hard that we could not manage it, so now we 
must resort to artificial manure and a persistent use of the hoe. We 
know nothing so disheartening in farming as this battle with Charlock. 
Last spring a large field was ploughed and stirred repeatedly, and sown as 
late as was safe with Oats, which were drilled further apart than usual. 
Hoes were kept going as long as possible, and the Charlock was pulled 
out of the rows. Yet another crop came after the corn was too tall for 
hoeing, and soon the entire field was a sheet of yellow blossom. Un¬ 
doubtedly with Charlock prevention is better than cure, and we now 
manage to keep it from spreading by looking closely after the destruction 
of those first few plants in a field which, if left alone, deposit seed from 
which come thousands of plants next year. 
Live Stock .—Mares to foal early in April should not be overworked 
from the present. Exercise is so good for them that gentle working for 
another month does good rather than harm. Colts of two years old 
should now be gradually broken to harness and work. Patience and 
firmness are of the utmost importance in doing this. Let the harness be 
put on slowly and gently, taking plenty of time about it, especially with 
a nervous colt. Then lead it about and accustom it to the feeling and 
noise of the harness. Next day begin breaking it to the plough by putting 
it in a single yoke between two steady old horses. If the colt prove fairly 
tractable and handy do not by any means forget that it is a colt and trust 
to the care of a boy. We have known more than one serious accident 
happen through such carelessness—the report of a gun, the blast of a 
horn, or any uncommon noise or spectacle, may frighten the timid animal 
and cause it to bjlt if it can. As a rule it answers best to break them to 
the plough at two years old, but not to take them into the team till the 
following spring. 
SILOS AT BEDFORD. 
A controversy has arisen respecting ensilage. Though all are agreed 
that some results are preferable to others, and that sweet silage of good 
keeping quality loses less in preparation than that in which an acid taste 
predominates, there is great difference of opinion with regard to the process 
by which any definite results are to be obtained. The Tate Dr. Yoelcker’s 
testimony in favour of sweet ensilage was thus placed on record : “ That 
the loss is greater in making sour than sweet silage can hardly be doubted. 
In the preparation of sweet silage active fermentation does not take place, 
and in consequence the sugar and other fermentable constituents of green 
food are subject to much less change and suffer less loss than when silage 
is allowed to pass through a prolonged series of fermentative processes, 
during which the sugar and other carbo-hydrates in the green food are 
broken up and their elements reunited into new combinations, which are 
partly gaseous and pass away altogether.” A silo of certainty—a silo which 
is under perfect control—would attain the end which, having been scientifi¬ 
cally indicated by the great agricultural chemist, is now acknowledged by all 
farmers who have adopted the system to be the most desirable. Or, indeed, 
supposing that opinions should generally veer round from the “sweet” to 
the “ sour ” side of the question, accuracy would just the same be requisite 
in any method adopted for procuring the desired effect. 
The true theory of the silo has, perhaps for the first time, been worked 
to a practical conclusion by Mr. James Howard, M.P., on his farm at Clap- 
ham Park, near Bedford. The curious uncertainty which had heretofore 
beset the process of ensilage had, it seems, greatly exercised the inquiring 
mind of this eminent agriculturist. Whether the acetic, the alcoholic, or 
the saccharine principle should prevail was a question only to be settled by 
chance. That question would now appear to be confined within definite 
bounds, and the result to be brought under positive control. A visit first to 
Mr. Howard’s farm, a few miles from Bedford, will afford a more satisfactory 
demonstration than words can possibly give. On the road from the Midland 
Railway station at Bedford we shall see that all the land once in tillage for 
various crops is now under grass. Indeed, there are some undulating 
pastures by the roadside which are pointed out as having but recently been 
redeemed from the condition known in some hapless countries as “ ruinate.” 
That there should in these days have been land only fifty miles from 
London, and within a distance of two or three miles from the thriving town 
of Bedford, lying altogether uncultivated, is indeed a sign of agricultural 
depression or languid enterprise hardly to be looked for. 
Built against a steep bank, on the top of which is a large field, Mr. James 
Howard’s solid and air-tight brick silo can be conveniently filled from above. 
It is 20 feet high from the lower ground, which is a well-kept yard; and 
from this deep level, of course, the entire front of the elevation is seen. A 
double door, with a high sill or threshold, gives access to the interior from 
below; and a similar opening, as to a loft, is protected in the same manner 
high up. The hardest bricks have been used in constructing the walls of 
this silo, and a large proportion of cement has been mixed with the mortar. 
Ascending to the field above, we see that a galvanised iron lid, of flattened 
dish-cover shape, dips at its edge, on all sides, into a groove which is filled 
with water, and which thus makes an efficient atmospheric trap. This 
groove or gutter is formed by a top course of channelled stoneware tiles, 
corresponding in thickness with the hard brick walls. The inner flange of 
the channel is somewhat higher than the outside rim, so that any superfluity 
of water, caused by a heavy rainfall, pours down on the exterior surface of 
the wall. A sufficient depth of groove ensures the reserve of water at all 
times, except in seasons of extreme drought, as the supply is renewed by 
every shower ; and it is seldom that the little moat is half exhausted. For 
the means of raising and lowering the iron cover, a “cat-gallows ” frame is 
fitted above, with chains, which are easily worked by a windlass. 
It is now time to consider the specific object which Mr. Howard had in 
view when he built this silo. Seeing that, by all the various methods, and 
with the greatest care in manipulation, the ordinary process of top-weight¬ 
ing and enclosure is attended with such remarkable uncertainty, this gentle¬ 
man was led to investigate the cause ; and he has found it, or so he believes, 
in the lack of trustworthy means for confining the process of fermentation 
within a certain range. The real object aimed at has been, of course, the 
exclusion of atmospheric air. But the pressure so implicitly relied on for 
this purpose—the covering of the compressed mass by boards or earth 
has been subject to strange variations of result, and it would appear that 
such means of exclusion do not invariably prevent the setting-up and escape 
of active currents produced by fermentation, nor their replacement by 
descending currents of fresh air. Mr. Howard’s first experiments, prelimi¬ 
nary to the construction of his working silos, were made with large glass 
jars, the transparency of which enabled him to watch the differences of 
fermentation. With one set of jars he followed the ordinary course of ram¬ 
ming down the fodder and leaving it under a top weight. Then filling, or 
nearly filling, the other jars in the same way he closed and inverted them, 
so that the only air which could affect the substance was that limited quan¬ 
tity left in the space beneath. In every comparison it was seen that the 
fodder in the jar which had been turned topsy-turvy was more regularly 
acted upon than was the mass in the corresponding jar which contained the 
silage weighted at the top. ... , 
Proceeding on the principle conclusively established in his mind by these 
simple tests, Mr. Howard built the silo which has been described, and which, 
with a height of 20 feet, encloses an area 12 feet square. It was completed 
in the autumn, and was filled with unchopped green Clover of the second 
c op. This was simply trodden down by boys, and no weighting of any 
kind was adopted. On being opened shortly after Christmas it was found 
to be of the same density as well-stacked hay, fragrant with a suggestion 
of sweetness, and slightly alcoholic. Even at the very top, where the 
trampling had but lightly pressed the silage together, the surface layer 
was perfectly free from mould, nor was this portion of the fodder less 
acceptable to the animals on the farm than the lower part compressed by 
its own weight. The young horses took to this food as kindly as did the 
cows. It may be mentioned that the silo in question has been constructed 
with a drain, which has been pronounced unnecessary, and which will pro¬ 
bably be omitted from any future building on the same plan. At the imple¬ 
ment works is a smaller silo, differently fashioned, but conducing to the 
same result. It is a cylinder of galvanised iron, set up on end like a funnel; 
and it has a ccncave cover precisely on the principle observed in the silo at 
the farm. The only difference in the filling of this chamber is that the 
green Clover was chopped instead of being put in whole. It is therefore 
looser at the top, and can be separated with a fork as easily as cut chaff. 
Nevertheless it is in all other respects precisely similar in condition and 
quality to the uncut Clover in the larger silo. An advantage'not yet men¬ 
tioned attends Mr. Howard’s plan. Additions to the first storage may be 
made at different times during the season, and as the cover is easily lifted, 
the filling-up can be proceeded with as often as the sinking may render it 
desirable. As a matter of fact, the brick silo was filled at three separate 
times, some weeks e'apsing between the first and last operation. 
Since Mr. Howard made public his system another great authority on 
ensilage, Mr. George Fry, who had previously contributed to the science of 
this subject by pointing out that if grass in the silo be allowed two or three 
days to heat btfore it is pressed and weighted for the exclusion of air, so 
that the temperature may rise to 125° or even 150° Fahrenheit, the result is 
a “hay ” fermentation instead of the fermentation leading to the formation 
of lactic or acetic acids—has joined issue, his contention being that if the 
accession of fresh air be rigorously prevented all fermentation ceases. The 
reply, that if the most active agent in fermentation, atmospheric air, be 
controlled the result of the process can be controlled also, is certainly 
strengthened by demonstration, as anyone may see by a visit to the Bedford 
silos, which are opened by Mr. Howard to the inspection of all who are 
interested in this important agricultural subject .—{Daily Telegraph.) 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32'40'' N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
0 
«s 
1885. 
January. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32« 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
| Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
snn. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
18 
30.110 
36.9 
35.4 
E. 
37.0 
37.7 
34.2 
38.9 
34.0 
— 
Monday. 
19 
30.251 
36.1 
35.0 
E. 
37.2 
37.6 
34.9 
36.8 
34 4 
— 
Tuesday. 
20 
30.125 
32.2 
81.7 
N.E. 
37.0 
36.1 
31.8 
34.8 
31.7 
— 
Wednesday .. 
21 
28.990 
26.9 
26.0 
S.E. 
86 5 
34.3 
2.5.8 
35.5 
18.8 
— 
Thursday .... 
22 
30.028 
30.4 
29.5 
S.E. 
35.8 
35.9 
22 8 
35.6 
16.8 
— 
Friday. 
23 
30.099 
30.9 
30.9 
N.E. 
35.5 
36.2 
28.4 
44.6 
28.2 
— 
Saturday .... 
24 
30.146 
30.9 
30.1 
E. 
35.2 
37.3 
29.3 
40.0 
23.2 
— 
30.107 
32.0 
31.2 
36.3 
36.4 
29.6 
38.0 
26.7 
— 
REMARKS. 
18th.—Overcast and dark. 
19t.h.—Dull and overcast. 
20th.—High yellow fog all the morning; dull afternoon, but not so dark. 
21st.—Cloudy morning; very cold, fine afternoon. 
22nd.—Cold, dull, and foggy. 
23rd.—Hull foggy morning; fine bright afternoon. 
24th.—Dull, but sun visible through fog. 
Colder than any week during 1K82, 1883, or 1884, the mean temperature being very 
little above freezing point: easterly wind, dry weather, and a generally cloudy sky. 
—G. J. SYMONS. 
