406 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October 
Ensilaging Corn Fodder. 
BY COL. MASON C. WELD. 
Ensilage and ensilaging are quite recent 
words that are now adopted into our language. 
The use of the silo for preserving green 
fodder, and especially corn fodder, is so thor¬ 
oughly introduced, that people are settling 
down in their views about it to common 
sense, or something like it. The idea that we 
can get more or better feed out of a silo than 
we put in is given up, and everybody knows 
that we take out less feed, which is really not 
so good. It is, however, preserved with lit¬ 
tle loss, and of a very fair quality for feeding, 
provided the silo is well made and treated. 
Corn fodder can be raised more cheaply 
than an equal amount of food in any other 
way, unless, indeed, sorghum or pearl millet 
or some similar plant be used in place of In¬ 
dian corn, when there might be a question 
as to which plant produced most. The evi¬ 
dence, so far, is in favor of corn, as being 
the readiest means for converting manure 
into food, which we have at our disposal. 
The silo must be tight—some persons say 
it need not be, but they are wrong. No 
doubt the best are laid up of stone and well 
cemented, but boards will do perfectly. They 
ought, however, to be matched, or battened, 
and well nailed, so that the pit shall be as 
nearly air-tight as possible. The reason of 
this is that access of air causes decomposi¬ 
tion, which wastes the fodder, and besides, 
the air promoles alcoholic and acetous fer¬ 
mentation. The formation of alcohol occurs 
in juices of plants, which contain sugar, after 
a single sufficient exposure to the air, and its 
continuance depends upon the presence of 
fermenting substances, also contained in the 
juice. So long as this fermentation contin¬ 
ues with moderate activity, there can be no 
formation of vinegar, because this requires 
constant access of air. 
In such a mass as corn fodder in a silo pre¬ 
sents, there must be some alcoholic fermen¬ 
tation, but there need be but very little. The 
stalks come from the cutter wet with juice, 
and this exposure induces fermentation, 
which sets in at once. Now, if the silo be 
rapidly filled and weighted at once with fully 
300 pounds to the square foot, it will settle 
down to a compact mass, and the fermenta¬ 
tion will cease, except where the air has ac¬ 
cess to it. Alcoholic fermentation, I have 
said, is continuous after it has once started, 
so long as the ferment is present. In a silo 
filled as described, the ferment will be soon 
exhausted, for if the knives of the cutter be 
sharp, so as to make a clean cut, nearly all 
the juices of the plant will remain within the 
unbroken cells, hence comparatively secure 
from access of air, and the fermentive prin¬ 
ciple so locked up as not to be able to con¬ 
tinue the action. Juice enough is exposed to 
start an active development of carbonic acid 
gas and alcohol from the sugar, and this gas 
fills the whole mass, to the exclusion of the 
air—driving it out, and so, after an active 
“ spurt,” the fermentation nearly or quite 
ceases. Tire way described is not the usual 
or natural way, so to speak, of filling a silo. 
The pit may be all right, the weights may be 
prepared, with the topping planks and every¬ 
thing in order, but the farmer does not think 
it necessary to hire extra hands, so he begins 
—perhaps with his old cutter, a good one for 
dry fodder, but not near fast enough for 
green. He does a good day’s work, perhaps, 
with two teams and four men, and gets his 
silo a quarter full. This he has well tramped 
down, and is satisfied with his day’s work. 
He finds the next morning that it is quite 
hot, and that pleases him, for he knows, per¬ 
haps, that fermentation must ensue, and that 
it is necessary to prevent the unfavorable ac¬ 
tion of the air. So, after working for sev¬ 
eral days, the silo is filled, well tramped 
down, and possibly sufficiently weighted. 
The result of this tramping is, that the 
stalks, being filled with pith, and the pith 
full of juice, are very much like so many 
little sponges, which, every time they are 
pressed or squeezed, and the pressure taken 
off, return partially, at least, to their former 
size. The cells are thus ruptured, the juice 
in part is pressed out, and air drawn into the 
interior of the pieces of stalk. The more 
thorough and frequent the tramping, the 
more are the juices exposed to the action of 
the air, and the more alcohol will be formed. 
Finally, when this vinous mass is opened, it 
will seem to be well preserved, but has the 
odor of beer, and after a very short expos¬ 
ure, will be found to be getting very sour. 
The beer odor came from the presence of al¬ 
cohol, which is rapidly converted into vine¬ 
gar, so that six to twelve hours’ exposure 
will make some ensilage very sour. Cattle 
will eat it, but it works an injury to the milk, 
making it unfit food for infants and invalids, 
to say the least. Besides all this, there is a 
very considerable loss of food-value. 
If the silo be not tight, and the air has ac¬ 
cess to the contents, if there be a lack of 
pressure, or too much exposure to the air 
after the pit is opened, positive decay, which 
cannot be considered “fermentation,”is very 
sure to take place. When put down in the 
best possible way, the incipient alcoholic 
fermentation soon gives place to another 
kind, which causes no such loss of valuable 
food-elements. These changes consist in the 
formation of lactic acid —the acid of sour 
milk—and are almost identical with those 
which take place in the stomach after the 
fodder is eaten. This is the fermentation 
which goes on in sauer-kraut, and it makes 
the ensilage sweeter and more palatable than 
that which contains alcohol, and probably 
more easily digested than if it were fresh 
cut from the field. 
To sum up all: The silo should be tight, 
of such a size that it can be filled rapidly, if 
possible, at one operation, without tramp¬ 
ing, and loaded with the full weight at once, 
even if the weights have to be lifted for fill¬ 
ing up the silo at some subsequent time. 
The best cutter is the one working most rap¬ 
idly, and making a clean cut without press¬ 
ing or bruising the stalks. The best weights 
are no doubt boxes of earth or stones, weigh¬ 
ing 400 or 500 pounds each, which can be 
most conveniently handled by block tackle. 
Kats.— A New York City merchant 
writes us that he “is terribly annoyed by 
large numbers of rats in the coach house at 
his country place,” and asks how to get rid 
of them. We are not told whether the coach 
house is a detached building, or a room in 
the stable. In either case, the coach house 
need contain nothing that can harbor rats. 
If the harness is kept in the same room, it is 
probably hung up in sight, or in closed cup¬ 
boards. We assume that the rats, to do their 
mischief, come in from without, and they 
must enter when the doors are left open, or 
through holes they have gnawed in the sides. 
In such a room it will not be difficult to find 
the hole where the rats enter. The holes 
may be effectively closed by tacking over 
them pieces of thin tin plate. This will not 
prevent them from making new holes. Per¬ 
haps the best plan will be to close all the 
holes but one or two, and set a trap at these. 
One of the best traps is the old fashioned 
wooden one, with a falling door at each end, 
and a platform in the middle for the bait. If 
this trap be set at once, the rats will avoid it. 
Arrange it so that it will not spring, and 
place it in front of the hole until the rats be¬ 
come accustomed to it, and will pass through 
it without fear. Then, after they have no 
suspicion of it, set the trap, and one or more 
rats will be caught. After disposing of the 
inmates, the trap should be soaked in water 
for a day or two before using again. With 
a little care and patience, all the rats may be 
caught. If poison is not objectionable, Phos¬ 
phorous paste may be used with fatal effect.. 
Ground Limestone as a Fertilizer. 
[The enclosed letter from W. H. Jordan,. 
Prof, of Agriculture in the Penna. State Col¬ 
lege, to “ J. C. F.,” Allegheny Co., discusses 
the subject of Ground Limestone as a fertili¬ 
zer,and with his consent we publish it.—E ds. J 
Two facts can be stated which will probably 
help you in settling this matter of the use of 
Ground Limestone. First—Neither caustic 
lime (burnt) nor ground limestone is a fertil¬ 
izer proper. The latter is mainly Carbonate 
of Lime, and the former is mostly Lime, the 
Carbonic Acid having been driven off by heat. 
It would be a rare case where it would be 
necessary to add either lime or limestone to 
supply lime for the use of plants. Both sub¬ 
stances, if they are of benefit, are so because 
they liberate material in the soil which 
plants take up in growth, that had not pre¬ 
viously been available. So you see that in¬ 
stead of adding any valuable plant food to 
the soil, lime really makes it poorer in material 
for future growth. When you add to the soil 
barn-yard manure or commercial fertilizers, 
you are supplying just that material with 
which land that is cropped needs replenishing. 
Secondly—Ground limestone can do nothing 
that cannot be accomplished by caustic lime. 
The only difference between the two is that 
the limestone contains Carbonic Acid which 
burned lime does not. The Carbonic Acid is 
not only of no use to plants when applied to 
the soil combined with lime, but rather the 
chances are greatly in favor of the lime doing 
more good without it. The decomposing 
effect of lime is principally what gives it 
value to the farmer, and if there is any dif¬ 
ference in this respect, it certainly must be 
in favor of burned lime rather than the lime¬ 
stone. In our fertilizer experiments this 
year on the Central Experimental Farm, we 
applied lime to one plot, and ground lime¬ 
stone to another. The yield of oats per acre 
was exactly the same in the two Cases, and 
but little more than where no fertilizer was 
applied. No difference could be seen between 
the plots on which the two substances were 
applied ; 500 lbs. of each were used on one- 
eighth of an acre. The experiment will be 
continued during a term of several years. 
If burned lime can be bought more cheaply 
