370 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
curate in regard to proportions, but best to 
be uniform. If the muck layer be about 4 
or 5 inches -thick, half a bushel of lime will 
be sufficient for a space of 10 feet by 10, or 
100 square feet, and may even be used for 
double that area. The muck being piled up 
in layers, each receiving its quota of lime, be¬ 
comes changed—more easily pulverized and 
disintegrated, equally useful as an absorbent, 
and a superior ingredient of composts. 
The muck or peat of some localities may 
be applied directly to the land, either fresh 
dug, if dry enough to haul, in which condi¬ 
tion it is best to apply it in the autumn, so 
that it may become ameliorated by the frosts 
and thawings of winter, or after such 
weathering. Other kinds of muck cannot 
be used advantageously without composting 
with lime or manure, or with ashes, or some 
other active substance, while that of some 
localities, applied raw, is positively deleteri¬ 
ous to the crops of the first year. 
As a general rule, muck may be made 
most useful in ordinary farm operations by 
mixing it with manure from the stable, in 
the cow-yard, the pig-pens, or the sheep- 
yards, and it is safe to say that the addition 
of muck of good quality in this way may 
easily double or triple the value of the 
manure made upon the farm. That is, a 
yard capable of furnishing, under ordinary 
circumstances, 100 loads of manure, may be 
made to furnish twice or even three times 
as much, both in quantity and value. 
A Box-Trap for Rats. 
Mr. W. H. McDonough, Allegheny Co., 
Pa., describes his box rat-trap, and from the 
sketch sent us, the accompanying engravings 
are made. The trap consists of a box 2 2 / 3 
feet long, 10 inches deep, with the end and 
—py top pieces made to fit, 
*» a. and fastened to the 
y box at the middle 
point, d. These ends 
are raised to within 
I six inches of each oth¬ 
er, and are held there 
by a hook as shown 
in figure 1. The hook 
is made of heavy wire, 
fastened to one “ lid,” 
and hooking into a sta¬ 
ple in the other. From 
this hook, a wire runs down through a hole, 
into the center of the box. Figure 2 shows 
the form of the trigger. So soon as a rat 
feeds upon the bait, the ends of the trap fall, 
and the vermin is caught. The rat can be 
killed by drowning or in some other way. 
Fig;. 2. —TUB TRIGGER. 
Ensilage and Silos. 
j. 
P. ROBERTS, PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE, CORNELL 
UNIVERSITY. 
During the past year, I have had some ex¬ 
perience in building Silos, and in cutting and 
feeding Ensilage, and perhaps it may be of 
some value to those who intend to adopt this 
new method of preserving fodder. As I have 
formerly stated, the Silo should be long and 
narrow, with the long side next to the barn. 
If the extreme inside length were 32 feet, 
and the width 16 feet, there should be three 
cross divisions in it; this gives four compart¬ 
ments, 8 by 16 feet each. If the extreme 
depth of the Silo is 20 feet, it can be filled up 
15 feet, and will settle to about 11, nearly all 
the settling occurring within forty eight 
hours. Nearly all the upper half of the Silo 
is for temporary use, and therefore may be 
constructed of rough unmatched boards. 
There will be wanted at most, only 12 feet 
of air-tight stone, or wooden wall. 
Last year, I raised and ensilaged about 
three acres of Southern White Corn. The 
drouth cut it short, and there proved to be 
scarcely 50 tons of it. It was fed to fattening 
steers, milch cows, and three-fourths blood 
Holstein heifers, coming two years old in 
June and July. The three heifers selected, 
were an average of six that had been running 
in an open basement, and had been fed on 
hay alone. They were put into stanchions 
on a plank floor (for the first time,) and about 
two weeks afterwards, the experiment be¬ 
gan. Each was fed daily, 50 pounds of Ensi¬ 
lage, and one half pound of Malt-sprouts. 
The weights at various times, were as follows : 
No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. 
Feb. 24.770 pounds 
Mar. 3.832 
“ 10.830 
“ 17.840 
“ 24.824 
651) pounds 
850 
590 “ . 
900 
882 
780 pounds 
834 
850 
820 
824 
March 31st, 2 pounds of Cotton-seed Meal 
were added to each ration : 
Apr. 7.890 pounds 850 pounds 840 pounds 
“ 14.872 “ 938 “ 862 “ 
“ 22.870 “ 925 “ 902 
May 1.916 “ 960 “ 926 “ 
If the weight of March 3d be taken as the 
most correct, it is evident that there was no 
such true gain, as the figures between Feb. 
24th, and that date indicate, but rather an 
increase of the contents of the stomach, due 
to more palatable food—then, the increase 
shown is but 14 pounds for the three ani¬ 
mals in 21 days. It is evident that this ra¬ 
tion was very close to a maintenance one, as 
it was meant to be. The analysis of the En¬ 
silage, as well as all the other foods experi¬ 
mented with during the last year, has now 
been made. The gain in the last 23 
days, when the two pounds of Cotton¬ 
seed meal were added, was 222 lbs., while in 
the interim of 14 days, from Mar. 24, to Apr. 
7, the gain was 50 pounds. Without doubt, 
this last gain was largely made during the 
first seven days of April, when the meal was 
fed. From the above, may not the following 
conclusions be drawn? That Southern En¬ 
silaged corn will maintain young animals, 
but that it is better economy to add to it 
some food rich in albuminoids. The heifers, 
fed as above, came through the winter look¬ 
ing far better than the three of the same age 
fed on hay, and have done much better this 
spring since they went to pasture. 
In February we had two. aged cows go dry, 
and one heifer ; they were then low in flesh, 
having been milked over a year. With feed¬ 
ing stuffs, ranging from $35.00, to $40.00 per 
ton, they could not be sold at an average of 
more than $25.00. I determined to feed 
them. They weighed as follows : 
TIeifer. No. 1. No. 2. 
Feb. 21.1150 pounds 1000 pounds 980 pounds 
Apr. 20.1320 “ 1150 “ 1070 
Selling price.. .$65.74 $50.00 $49.97 
They were fed 52 pounds of Ensilage, and 8 
quarts of Corn-meal each, per day, until April 
5th, when two quarts of Cotton-seed Meal 
were substituted for two quarts of Corn-meal. 
The best results in feeding for milk was, 
when Ensilage was fed in connection with 
about 2 pounds Corn-meal, 2 pounds Bran, 
and 3 pounds Cotton-seed Meal, 
The experiments with the steers are too 
lengthy for insertion here, and I pass to what 
I have been doing more recently. 
On the 16th and 17th of June, I put into 
one of our Silos (11 by 16, and 28 feet deep,) 
three acres of Rye, and 1 £ acre of Clover ; one 
load of Clover was sandwiched between two 
loads of Rye. The fuel was 14 cord of 2 foot 
wood; the engineer a 16-year old student; 
one man in the Silo the first day, two the 
second ; seven men and two teams to cut, 
haul, and feed the material. The Rye aver¬ 
aged fully 6‘/ 2 feet in hight, and grew on 
the ground where the Ensilage Corn grew 
last year, which is already again planted to 
Ensilage com. The Clover was heavy, and 
together they filled 22 feet of the Silo. It 
settled six feet in forty-eight hours, and ap¬ 
pears to be about done. This, at 45 pounds 
to the cubic foot, gives 63 tons. The pressure 
is secured by about three tons of stone piled at 
the corners, and a screw, anchored in the bot¬ 
tom of the silo, made of two sections of l‘/ 4 - 
inch square iron ; the third section, round, 
four feet of it having threads cut, five to the 
inch. Two 8-incli timbers are laid length¬ 
wise about four feet apart; short blocks upon 
j these form a sure foundation for the circular, 
| cast-iron cap, upon which the nut turns. 
Notwithstanding all that has been said against 
the rod pressure, I like it. The Silo was cov¬ 
ered, weighted, and screwed down within a 
half hour from the time the cutter stopped, 
and less than two hours labor of one man has 
been spent since, in turning down the screw; 
ten minutes will unseal it. 
The reader, who is balancing the pros and 
cons of Ensilage in his mind, is without 
doubt still undecided, but I think I have 
given data, from which a better understand¬ 
ing may be reached. It is utterly impossible 
for anyone to make others’ circumstances 
similar to his own, but it may not be unprof¬ 
itable to enumerate the various items of cost, 
etc. First, we have a stationary engine for 
threshing—a horse power may be used. The 
Silos of 150 tons capacity together, cost about 
$300. The cutter cost $100, but we need one 
for other use. Two of the men employed, 
cost $1 per day; seven men $1.25 per day, 
and one man, $1.75 per day. The teams are 
worth very little to us about that time of 
year, and their labor is light. There is a little 
charge to be made for the use of tools and 
implements. The three acres of Rye had a 
dressing of 15 loads of farm manure, worth 
to us, $15. Perhaps half of this should be 
charged to the succeeding Corn crop. 
What it will cost A or B to raise three 
