1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
5i7 
The Farmers’ Club. 
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A Southern Tub Silo Described. 
H. J. G., Bound Brook, N. Y.— On page 3, R. N.-Y. of January 2, 
J. N. M. says that a stave silo 10 feet in diameter and 20 deep, will 
hold enough ensilage to keep 12 cows from December 12 until 
grass comes again. Also, that he put in 60 two-horse loads of 
green corn. I have a silo of the same size, and could get in but 
22 two-horse loads of green corn, filled as full as was possible to 
fill it. In figuring out the capacity of this silo, I find that it will 
hold about 25 tons of ensilage. I am very well pleased with my 
silo, and with the ensilage from it, but I should like J. N. M. to 
tell us how he can put so much corn in such a small place. 
ANSWERED BY J. N. MEIiONEY. 
The first thing 1 I did was to smooth the ground, 
making it level. Then I drove down an iron pin in 
the center of where I wanted the silo, laid off on a 
board five feet in length, and bored a J£-inch hole in 
one end to fit over the pin >in the ground. Five feet 
from that, I drove a 20-penny wire nail through the 
board, then 14 inches further, drove another nail 
through, so that, when the board described a circle 
around the center pin, two circles were marked on 
the smooth ground—one 10 feet in diameter the other 
14 inches larger all around. I then dug out a circular 
ditch 18 inches deep between the two circles, keeping 
the inside line of this ditch very straight and smooth. 
When the ditch was finished, I filled in with finely- 
broken rock, ^ about half full all around, then made a 
thin mortar of one part cement and three parts creek 
sand, and poured it among the broken stones, filling 
every crevice. When this half was filled with the 
thin mortar, I filled the rest of the ditch with broken 
stone to the top of the ground, and then filled as 
before with the thin cement mortar, so I then had a 
grouted wall 18 inches deep and 14 inches wide around 
a core of earth 10 feet in diameter. After two days 
for the cement to harden, I began digging out the 
center, and, in two days, with my two farm hands, I 
had a nice smooth cistern 10 feet in diameter and 
eight feet deep, with a good grouted wall 18 inches 
around the top. I had plenty of stone convenient, 
easily broken, and plenty of creek sand, so I had 
nothing to buy but two barrels of cement for that 
part. I then began setting up the staves. I put up 
first one, plumbed it with the spirit level, and 
fastened it to a scaffold ; to this one, I nailed a small 
barrel stave on the inside at top and bottom to start 
a circle, then set up one stave at a time, tacking each 
stave with small nails to the barrel staves, putting on 
staves as needed. The curve of the small barrel 
staves was just right to keep the circle, and by split¬ 
ting them all in two pieces, it did not take many 
staves. I was careful to set the lower inside edge 
flush with the one row of brick that I had laid 
(ends pointing in), on the bed of cement, so that, in 
one day, myself and one hand set up the staves in this 
circle, and had them well stayed with two circles of 
barrel staves on the inside. Neither of us had ever 
seen anything of the kind done before, but we thought 
that it could be done, and we did it very easily. So 
we had 104 2x4 pine scantlings, 12 feet long, set up 
nicely on the edge of the wall. Next was the hoops. 
I had sent to Louisville for seven steel hoops, 2% 
inches wide and 5-16 inch thick, with patent lugs to 
tighten. I put on one at the top and one at the bot¬ 
tom, with the screws let out as far as they would go. 
I tightened some, then knocked off all the stays on 
the inside so the staves could be drawn up close, then 
put on all the hoops, tightening every other one at 
a time, until we had a tight, strong tank, 12 feet 
wood and eight feet earth wall. I placed the two 
lower hoops about 12 inches apart, then left 30 inches, 
so that I could saw out a door, the first above the 
second hoop 16 inches from the ground ; the second 
door began six feet above the top of the first. I 
sawed out the doors after the hoops were tight, first 
marking off my doors 30 inches high and across six 
staves, or 24 inches wide, putting two battens on the 
outside of each door, cut to suit the circle. I sawed 
out the doors with a bevel on the inside, so that they 
fit snugly from the inside. Tarred paper is tacked on 
the beveled edges to fill up what the saw cut out, and 
the pressure holds them firmly. 
After all was tightened, I cemented all around the 
outside with good, thick cement mortar on the brick, 
and about two inches up on the stones, also on the 
inside where the ends rested on the wall, and a good 
coat of cement down the grout wall to hard clay. 
But I did not cement the clay wall. A good coat of 
coal tar was put on the inside, and mineral paint on 
the outside. A cheap board roof to cover it and con¬ 
nect with the cow house, and it was done. The 
staves were 2 x 4-inch pine, beveled about one-eighth 
inch on the inside edges, to form the circle, but not 
tongued and grooved. All cost me, complete, $50. 
In filling, I used a good horse power and Belle City 
cutter to cut the corn. I set the cutter on the edge 
of the floor overhead my horse power, 10 feet from 
the silo. I bought a 14-foot elevator and set it so as 
to drop the cut ensilage over the top of the silo, and 
wishing to get in all I could, I determined to cut 
slowly and give it time to settle, also that I might 
not have to hire much extra help. My corn was 
nearly a mile from the barn. I began cutting into 
the silo on September 29. I ran the cutter myself, 
and had two wagons hauling. The road was rough 
part of the way, and we could not bring large loads. 
I cut 10 loads each day for five days when Sunday in¬ 
tervened. Then the ensilage was well packed, and 
had 13^ day and two nights to settle. On Monday 
evening, I cut five loads more, and on Tuesday even¬ 
ing, five more, making 60 loads—but loads are vari¬ 
able quantities. II. J. G. may haul larger loads, per¬ 
haps, on level ground than we did. I had several of 
the loads weighed on my wagon scales, but not all of 
them, enough to satisfy me that each load weighed a 
little over 1,000 pounds. By filling in so slowly, 
packing well and giving so much time to settle, I got 
in over 20 tons of green corn. It was well eared and 
cut to half-inch lengths. 
When I finished, the ensilage was packed level with 
the top, then on top of this, I packed all the trash 
from the cutter, with a lot of chaff and sorghum 
heads, all I could pile on ; then wet this with three 
or four pails of water, and covered over with old 
doors and boards to hold the moisture. As a result 
of the slow filling and close packing, the ensilage did 
not settle more than 18 inches, and was good within 
12 inches of the top in the middle, but was moldy 
about two feet around the wall. I opened on Decem¬ 
ber 12, fed 12 cows and a bull, and had plenty to feed 
’tillgras3 which, with us, is the middle of April. Blue 
grass, Orchard grass, Crimson clover, and Red clover 
will all give us good grazing at that time. I feed 
about 30 pounds of ensilage, 10 pounds of good corn 
fodder, cut one-half-inch, with corn-and-cob meal, 
with which I grind in my own mill one-fourth cotton 
seed I also fed some bran and clover hay. My cows 
are doing well. By grinding the cotton seed with the 
ear corn, it is well mixed, and the oil is absorbed by 
the corn-and-cob meal, so that the mixture is an ex¬ 
cellent feed. The cotton seed costs me $18 per ton, 
so I can make a better and a cheaper ration, I think, 
by grinding the seed with the corn. 
I am well pleased with my silo ; it is the only one 
of the kind in the State, I think. But I am satisfied 
that the stone silo is the best and cheapest for small 
dairymen, and I do not see how they can afford to do 
without it. I opened at the top, fed level off the top, 
and lost none. 
Pear Psy/la and Lice on Maples. 
M. M. W., West Newton , Mass .—I send some leaves from our 
maple tree, also some pear leaves, on both of which are insects. 
What can I do for them ? What are they ? Will they injure the 
trees ? 
Ans. —The maple leaves were nearly covered with 
a sticky liquid substance known as “ honey-dew”. 
This liquid was excreted from the bodies of hundreds 
of little plant lice, probably located on the under 
sides of some leaves above those sent. Plant lice 
suck out the sap of the leaves, and much of this 
liquid food seems to be excreted by the lice. Plant 
lice of all kinds are unusually numerous this year. I 
have never seen so many on both forest and fruit 
trees. Probably the maple trees will not show very 
much injury from these lice. If the trees are small, 
however, it would be well to spray them with whale- 
oil soap dissolved at the rate of one pound in five 
gallons of water. 
The pear leaves indicated that the tree from which 
they were taken is badly infested with the Pear 
psylla, one of the most serious of our pear pests. The 
minute, flat, oval nymphs will be found on the leaves, 
but more especially in the leaf axils, sucking out the 
sap with their little pumping beaks. The adult 
psyllas resemble very strikingly a Cicada or “ 17-year 
locust” in miniature. They may be seen around on 
the leaves and branches, but are very active, jumping 
like fleas when approached. This year, this Pear 
psylla is unusually abundant, and is doing much 
damage in New York and other States. Usually, it 
is the first brood of the insect which does the most 
damage on the young growing shoots and on the 
forming fruit; but this year, the second brood, which 
came on about July 1, is proving very destructive, 
and threatens to ruin several crops of fruit. When 
numerous, it is an exceedingly serious pest, and re¬ 
quires prompt and vigorous work to check it. 
It seems to be harder to get at than usual this year. 
Kerosene emulsion, which we recommended in Bulle¬ 
tin 108, from the Cornell Experiment Station, is not 
reaching the nymphs as effectually as it has in pre¬ 
vious years, Mr. Powell writes me. However, whale- 
oil soap is being used with good results. Mr. Powell 
is using one pound of this soap dissolved in 15 gallons 
of water, and he reports that it kills every one he can 
hit. This is an important point, remember; each 
psylla must be hit with the liquid. These psyllas 
excrete so much “ honey-dew ” that, during a dry 
spell, they get completely covered with it, when it is 
almost impossible to hit them with the spray. Hence, 
an excellent time to spray is just after a rain, which 
will wash off much of this “ honey-dew.” As the 
soap will kill every psylla it hits, in a few seconds, it 
will not detract from the effectiveness of the spray 
if it should rain shortly after you spray. One cannot 
hope to exterminate this insect with one application. 
You cannot hit all of the insects, and the eggs cannot 
be hit with the spray. Spray several times at inter¬ 
vals of a few days, keeping at it until the pest is 
under control. Millions of these little pumps will 
so weaken a tree that it will often not survive the 
following winter. M. v. s. 
The Clover Mite and Fruit. 
A. E., Salem, Utah.— Is the Clover mite injurious to fruit trees ? 
Some eminent entomologists claim that it is not harmful. 
Ans. —The Clover mite has not been discussed in 
The R. N.-Y. since September 8, 1894. Yes, experts 
feel sure that the mite which works on clover also 
works extensively on fruit trees of various kinds, 
especially in the West. The same mite occurs in the 
East, but is rarely so injurious as reported from west 
of the Mississippi River. It often occurs in immense 
numbers, completely overrunning fruit trees and 
often doing much damage. In northern latitudes, 
the winter is usually passed in the egg state. Often¬ 
times, the bark of the trees will be completely cov¬ 
ered in many places with the minute, light, blood red 
eggs of the mites. Usually, the young mites emerge 
in March or April, and continue working in successive 
broods all summer. As it occurs in such great num¬ 
bers, and works mostly upon the undersides of the 
leaves, it is proving a hard pest to combat. It is 
doubtful if the mite can be reached with an insecti¬ 
cide while in the egg state. But good results are re¬ 
ported from thorough and frequent sprayings with 
kerosene emulsion diluted seven or eight times, to 
which may be profitably added two or three ounces 
of sulphur to each gallon of the dilution. I think 
that whale-oil soap, dissolved at the rate of one pound 
in five gallons of water, would prove equally effec¬ 
tual ; possibly the resin washes used in the West 
might also prove useful. The mite seems not to be 
a serious pest to the clover west of the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains. Thorough and frequent applications of the 
emulsion or soap, beginning as soon as growth starts 
in the spring, must soon check this mite. m. v. s. 
Grain for Poultry. 
F. It. S., Detroit, Mich.—Is barley good feed for chickens ? If 
not, why not? Is rye good? If either of the following grains is 
good, how much should be fed per day to every 10 chickens ? I 
can get barley or rye that has been wet and kiln-dried for 20 cents 
per bushel; wheat, same kind, 25 cents per bushel. The grain is 
sweet, but not of first quality. I keep White Wyandottes. 
Ans. —Barley makes an excellent food for chickens 
and, in our opinion, ranks next to wheat for this pur¬ 
pose. We have never succeeded in feeding rye to 
poultry. We observe that they will eat corn, wheat, 
barley and oats before they will touch rye. When 
forced to eat it, they have never given us satisfactory 
returns. At the prices mentioned, we would feed half 
barley and half wheat, which ought to make an ex¬ 
cellent combination for poultry. 
Chicks Under Bare Poles. 
J. L., (No address). —I have a chicken about four weeks old, 
that has l03t all its feathers, and is nearly bare; it is hearty and 
feeds well. What is the matter with it ? 
Ans. —It isn’t likely that the chicken has yet growD 
any feathers, other than the down with which all 
newly-hatched chickens are covered. Most of the 
larger breeds don’t grow feathers to amount to any¬ 
thing before that age, and often appear quite bare for 
a time. If the chick appears healthy and all right, 
he will come around in time, if fed well and kept 
warm. A bare chicken like that is more likely to 
suffer from cold storms or cold nights than one that 
is well-feathered. 
Plant Lice and Ants. 
S. P. It., llartwick, N. Y .—Some of our cherry trees have made 
nearly two feet of growth this season. They were set last spring. 
Shall we let them grow, or pinch them back? Are they making 
too much growth? I see green lice on them on the new leaves, 
and they are covered with black ants. Will the ants do any 
harm ? Will kerosene emulsion destroy the ants ? 
Ans. —We would not advise any pruning. The ants 
will not harm the trees. They “ milk ” the aphides, 
as may be said, without harming them, the aphides 
giving up a fluid of which the ants are fond. Kero¬ 
sene emulsion will kill all of the aphides which the 
emulsion strikes. We do not think it would kill the 
ants. 
Value of “Meat and Bone.” 
E. W. M., Acushnet, Mass. — Wnat is meat and bone worth for 
fertilizer, steamed and dried, such as is taken from markets— 
pieces of bone not larger than walnuts—compared with fish and 
potash at SI 35 per 100 pouuis ? 
Ans. —There is no way of telling accurately with¬ 
out an analysis. The bone and meat do not contain 
any potash. If you add to 1,800 pounds of it, 200 
pounds of muriate of potash, you will have a mix¬ 
ture worth not far from $28 per ton. 
