1875 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
223 
condition except for an inch or two upon the sur¬ 
face and the sides, where it was black and decayed. 
Its color was yellow, its odor agreeable, but the 
stalks had lost all their sweetness, and had 
acquired some degree of acidity. Twenty-four 
beeves were then fed about 900 lbs. daily of the 
preserved fodder, or nearly 40 lbs. per head on the 
average, which was equal to about 00 lbs. of fresh 
green fodder. The fodder was eaten with great 
relish, and only some portions of the harder stalks 
strongly recommended by M. Piret. In this figure 
the covering of clay is shown on the top of the 
fodder. This is beaten down frequently, as it may 
become cracked or disturbed by the settlement of 
the mass beneath. 
The cost of the process here described is repre¬ 
sented as being about $3 per ton, including the cut¬ 
ting, carrying, curing, and feeding of a crop equal 
to nearly 50 tons per acre of green fodder, (50,000 
kilos per hectare). This enormous yield appears 
Fig. 6.—GROUND PLAN OF PIT. 
were ieft; the com having been cut when ripe, and 
having been of a large growing variety known as 
Giant Maize, or Zea Caragua. The second pit was 
consumed July 3d, having been preserved equally 
well with the first. The third was not opened until 
the 20th of April, 1874, 18 months after covering. 
The fodder was in as good order as that from the 
other pits, excepting that the discolored and de¬ 
cayed layer was somewhat thicker in this pit than 
in the others ; a result attributed in a great degree 
to the gravelly and porous character of the cover¬ 
ing earth, the preservation being due solely to the 
exclusion of air. In this instance the fodder was 
preserved whole, and the cost of cutting avoided. 
But when the fodder has to be cut for final use, it 
has been found an economy to cut it before it is 
Btored. This system has been adopted by M. Piret, 
the manager of a large estate owned by M. A. Hou- 
ette, at Bleneau, in Belgium. From his statement we 
find that he made a small experiment in 1868 which 
was perfectly successful, the cut fodder being with¬ 
drawn from the pit in 1869 in excellent condition. 
In 1870 two pits of masonry were erected above 
ground, protected at the sides only by banks of 
earth. These were found equally serviceable with 
those sunk below the surface, and much more con¬ 
venient. Following the statement of this gentle¬ 
man closely, we learn that by the aid of about 450 
lbs. of superphosphate of lime per acre, he has ob¬ 
tained on fairly good soil 75 tons per acre of green 
fodder, although the average of his crop was not 
more than 45 tons per acre ; 250 tons of this was cut 
by a fodder cutter driven by horse-power, cutting 
two tons per hour, and stored in the pits as follows. 
The pit was built as shown in fig. 4, which repre¬ 
sents the section, a dividing wall in the center sep¬ 
arating it into two parts. The cut fodder falling 
into the pit was carried in baskets upon a truck on 
a portable railway to the end of the pit, where it 
was packed away in sections formed by a movable 
partition and trampled down tightly, salt at the 
rate of about 2 pounds to the ton of fodder being 
added. This pit is seen in fig. 5, which represents 
it in longitudinal section, and in fig. 6, which 
shows it in plan, and in which one division is seen 
filled, and the other in course of filling. When the 
pits are filled, the fodder is covered with a layer of 
fine clay 9 inches thick, well beaten down. In these 
figures the parts are shown by the following letters : 
£ is the fodder cutter; C the rail track ; D the ex¬ 
terior walls ; E the division wall; F the filled com¬ 
partment ; G that in course of filling; E the mova¬ 
ble partition with a transverse bar, F, which holds 
it in position; J the truck. The pit is shown in 
fig. 4, as covered with a roof of boards as protec¬ 
tion. from the weather, a measure of economy 
almost incredible to us, being a ton to less than 4 
square rods, still we cannot doubt but such a yield 
is not only frequent, but that it is sometimes sur¬ 
passed. It goes to show that in the cultivation and 
use of this our most common crop, we come far 
short of the possible yield, notwithstanding our 
favorable climate and the necessity of every availa¬ 
ble economy to cheapen or increase its production. 
Log Drains. 
“A Subscriber” in Texas asks for a method of 
making drains with logs, where there are neither 
tiles nor stone to be procured. In such a case we 
suggest a plan which is illustrated by the accom¬ 
panying engravings. The ditches are dug in the 
usual manner, and the logs are placed in the bot¬ 
tom in such a way, as to leave a water-channel be¬ 
tween them. In fig. 2 the bottom log is split, and 
each half is laid closely against the side of the 
ditch, so that the current can not wear it down, 
and cause the earth to fall in. The side logs are 
kept in place by the pressure of the top log. Brush 
Fig. 1.— DRAIN OF WHOLE. Fig. 2.— -OF SPLIT LOGS. 
is laid upon the logs and trodden down, and earth 
is thrown upon it, until the ditch is full. Such 
drains may be expected to last several years, after 
which it will pay to make more permanent ones. 
-— «— -- 
What is the Most Profitable? —Inquiries 
are frequently made as to which is the most profit¬ 
able branch of farming. It depends on several 
contingencies. In some places corn-growing and 
pork-raising, in others wool-growing, and in others 
dairying are steadily profitable one year with 
another. Where circumstances, such as rich corn 
land, healthful dry pastures, or abundant grass, 
with pure water, favor one or the other of these 
specialties, it is best to fall into them and keep 
to them. But for general purposes special crops or 
employments are rarely suitable, and mixed farming 
is the best reliance. This implies the culture of 
roots, grass, and grain, chiefly for feeding to the 
stock, and only partly for sale. The aim must be 
to distribute the produce so that a good portion 
comes back to the soil as manure, and the soil is 
kept improving constantly in fertility and freedom 
from weeds. Then immediate advantage can be 
taken of any exceptional condition of things, and 
if grain does not pay, meat and wool may be made, 
and if grain happens to be high, it may be sold, 
and some other cheaper feed be bought to replace 
it. A sharp farmer who has some capital, and can 
turn about at a short notice, will never be caught 
in a poor year, without at least an average profit 
from his business. 
--- .-—i --- 
Agricultural Steam Engines. 
The employment of steam upon the farm, is yet 
in its infancy. In the mechanic arts there is scarce¬ 
ly any thing produced without the employment of 
steam as the motive power; it is strange that in 
agriculture, the industry which employs more 
laborers and more capital than any other, 
the employment of steam should be very excep¬ 
tional and rare. Horse-power is almost the 
only dependence of the farmer; but it is not so 
cheap as steam. It has been urged that if steam 
engines are used upon farms, the horses will 
stand idle, and the breeding of these animals be¬ 
come unprofitable. The same argument was 
strongly urged within the memory of many of our 
readers, as an objection against railroads. It was 
6aid that horses would become useless for want of 
work. Experience has shown that the wonderful 
expansion of the railroad system has so stimulated 
every industry, that horses are in greater demand 
than ever before, and in some countries their ex¬ 
portation is forbidden by law. The same effect 
must necessarily follow the cheapening of labor on 
the farm, by the use of steam. If the threshing, 
cutting and preparing of feed, and other stationary 
work of the farm is done by steam-power, there 
will be more time in which to plow and harrow, 
and more land can be brought under cultivation, 
and this will set in motion more work again for 
horses, as well as steam engines in other ways. 
Steam-power is cheaper in its first cost than 
horse-power. The power of a dozen horses can be 
purchased for $1,200, and it practically lasts in¬ 
definitely ; never tires, never 6tops for sickness 
and never dies; besides this, and it is a most im¬ 
portant consideration, it only consumes while it is 
working. The food and drink of a 4-liorse-power 
steam-engine, which will do the work of more than 
4 horses, consists of 200 pounds of coal, and 200 
gallons of water daily. The cost of such an engine 
and boiler complete, is about $700, at least that is 
the price at which the portable engine, 6uch as we 
here illustrate, can be procured. A 10-horse-power 
engine of the same kind, costs $1,200. This is much 
less than the actual value of a corresponding force 
of horses. The engraving represents a new and 
greatly improved portable engine, by Messrs. Wood, 
Taber & Morse, of Eaton, Madison Co., N. Y., 
made expressly for farm work. These engines are 
of two sizes, and called the “Rubicon,” and the 
“Hercules.” These names have been chosen to 
avoid the uncertainty which arises from the com¬ 
mon denominations of “horse-powers by different 
makers ” ; each of these two kinds of engines 
being all of exact stated sizes and dimensions. The 
Rubicon is intended to drive a separator to the 
utmost ^capacity of one gang of men in handling 
the grain and straw ; the Hercules will do double 
that work. This is under moderate steam pressure, 
and is not the limit of their capacity by any means. 
The cost of the first is $950, and that of the latter 
$1,100. These engines are complete with strong 
but light trucks, smoke pipe, spark arrester, auto¬ 
matic lubricator, and every modem improvement 
that can be advantageously combined with them. 
For threshing, cutting and steaming feed, cutting 
wood, and doing the general mechanical work of 
the farm, hoisting, loading, or unloading, there can. 
be no cheaper nor more effective power than this. 
