27o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 17 
SILO AND ENSILAGE NOTES. 
ANSWERS BY L. A. CLINTON. 
Silo from a Root-Cellar. 
I have a barn cellar under the drive-way, 15x12 
ft., and nine feet high, which has been used for 
a root-cellar. The wall is 15 inches thick. There 
is a window in one side, near the top, and a door 
at the end near the top, three feet in the ground. 
Could I use it as a silo the coming season ? 
Pennsylvania. reader. 
Our opinion is that it would be highly 
impracticable to use for a silo, such a 
space as described. The chances are 
that the larger part of the material put 
into such a place would not be well pre¬ 
served. The silo should always be as 
deep as is convenient for filling. If you 
should fill your basement with ensilage, 
it would settle after filling from one to 
two feet. This would leave a lot of en¬ 
silage not more than seven or eight feet 
in depth, and over the entire surface, at 
least one foot would probably waste. 
Then the amount of waste around the 
sides and corners would be so great that, 
taken as a whole, it would be a very 
unprofitable transaction for you. We 
would recommend that you construct a 
circular tub silo on plans similar to 
those recently described in The R. N.-Y. 
Your ensilage would then be perfectly 
preserved, and you would not be subject 
to the loss which would be almost sure 
to be incurred the other way. 
Build a Stave Si to. 
I want to build a silo in my basement barn this 
spring. Would it be practicable to put it over the 
stable, as putting it on the ground would inter¬ 
fere with my stable room ? a. l. s. 
Carlock, HI. 
It is possible to construct a silo in the 
manner described, but not practicable. 
The added cost of bracing under the 
floor, and of making the floor tight, and 
of elevating the ensilage the extra dis¬ 
tance, would be greater than the cost of 
a circular stave silo built outside of the 
barn. I would recommend that you 
construct a stave silo. It will be cheaper 
for you to do so ; the cutter can then 
stand on the barn floor, and the ensilage 
will need to be but slightly elevated, 
and you will still have the use of your 
barn room. Build the silo on a level 
with the basement, and have it connect 
directly with the cow stable, and much 
better results will be secured than by 
trying the plan mentioned. 
Ensilage for Steers; Stave Silo. 
Is ensilage good for fattening steers ? If so, I 
want to keep 10 or 12 to fatten during tlie winter. 
What size would be right ? I thought of building 
a tub 20 feet high and 12 or 14 feet in diameter. I 
want to use five-eighth or three-fourth-lnch 
round hoops. Where can I get the couplings ? I 
thought of using 2x0-lnch hemlock. Would that 
be right ? t. j. b. 
Constitution, Pa. 
Extensive experiments to determine 
the value of ensilage for fattening steers 
have been conducted by the Wisconsin 
Experiment Station, and are described 
by Prof. W. A. Henry in the Fifth 
Annual Report of the station, pages 63 
to 66. He says, “On November 22, 1887, 
we purchased eight large steers ; six of 
them were three-year-olds, and two were 
two-year-olds. They all had some Short¬ 
horn blood in them, and were above 
the average cattle. * * * They were 
divided into two lots of four each. One 
lot received ensilage only, while the 
other lot received ensilage, shelled corn 
and bran. * * * Water was kept 
constantly before them in a trough. 
* * * The experiment began on 
December 2, and closed January 6, run¬ 
ning 36 days. * * * The lot fed 
ensilage only, gained 1.5 pounds daily. 
The lot fed ensilage and grain gained 
3.7 pounds daily. To make 100 pounds 
of gain required, with ensilage only, 
3,558 pounds. To make 100 pounds of 
gain with ensilage and grain, required 
654 pounds ensilage, 394 pounds corn, 
181 pounds bran. Four hogs were 
placed with the steers getting grain in 
order to consume the waste in the drop¬ 
pings ; it was found that they required 
only 92 pounds additional corn to make 
100 pounds of gain. * * * Assuming 
that such ensilage as we fed was worth 
$4 per ton, and the mixture of corn 
bran $15 per ton, we can calculate what 
it cost to produce 100 pounds of gain in 
these experiments. To make 100 pounds 
of gain from ensilage only, we have 
3,558 pounds of ensilage at $4 per ton, 
S7 11. To produce 100 pounds of gain 
with ensilage and grain, we have : 
575 pounds grain at $15 per ton.$4.31 
654 pounds ensilage at $4 per ton. 1.30 
Cost of 100 pounds of beef.$5.61 
To produce 100 pounds of gain with 
steers and 100 pounds gain with hogs, or 
200 pounds gain in all, required : 
669 pounds grain at $15 per ton.$5.02 
654 pounds ensilage at $4 per ton. 1.30 
Cost of 100 lbs. beef and 100 lbs. pork.$6.32 
Where ensilage is fed with a heavy 
grain ration, the effects seem most 
admirable, and valuing the corn and 
bran at $15 a ton, a liberal price, we get 
100 pounds of gain for $5.61. * * * 
By having hogs follow the steers, feed¬ 
ing to the hogs only a little additional 
corn, we get 100 pounds of gain on the 
steers and 100 pounds gain on the hogs, 
200 pounds gain in all, for $6 32, or only 
$3.16 for 100 pounds gain. It may be a 
bold statement, but I do not believe that 
any feeder can show superior results to 
these ; at least, I cannot recollect any 
as good ever having come under my 
observation.” 
A silo 20 feet high and 12 feet in 
diameter would hold about 45 tons. 
This would be much more than you 
would need for 12 steers, but it is always 
better to have a silo a little larger than 
is needed by present demands. You can 
get the couplings for your hoops from 
the Aermotor Company, Buffalo, N. Y. 
Hemlock, 2x6, will do for the .staves. 
It should be sound, well-seasoned stuff. 
Georgia White pine would be preferable 
if it can be obtained. 
Shredder for Cutting Ensilage. 
Do any of the ensilage men use shredders in 
filling silos? If not, why not? Would not the 
ensilage be finer and better ? j. p. w. 
Fredonia, N. Y. 
From extensive experiments carefully 
conducted by the experiment stations, 
it has been proved that ensilage has no 
greater feeding value than well-cured 
and well-preserved corn fodder. But 
when ensilage is compared with corn 
fodder which has been allowed to stand 
in the field from one to two months, 
then ensilage is much more valuable. 
The great claim made for the silo is that 
it enables us to preserve the corn with 
less waste than by any other known 
method. If corn fodder could be cured 
without being exposed to the action of 
the weather, then it would, probably, 
possess a feeding value as great as, or 
greater than, it would possess had it 
been made into ensilage. In the report 
of the Pennsylvania Experiment Station 
for 1892, page 15, an account is given of 
an experiment to determine the “ In¬ 
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fluence of Ensilage and Field-curing on 
the Digestibility of Forage Corn ”. The 
following summary is given : 
“ It has generally been held that 
the process of ensilage does not in¬ 
crease the digestibility of corn, but that, 
on the contrary, both ensilage and field¬ 
curing decrease its digestibility. The 
results of these experiments in the main 
support this belief so far as it concerns 
the ordinary conditions of practice. They 
do, however, indicate that it is possible 
to increase the digestibility of the woody 
fiber of corn by excessive fermentation 
in the silo. They show, at the same time, 
however, that whatever advantage may 
be gained thus in increasing the digesti¬ 
bility of the least valuable ingredient of 
the corn, is far more than offset by the 
large loss of valuable material by fer¬ 
mentation and by the decreased digesti¬ 
bility of the other ingredients. The re- 
(Continued on next page.) 
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