544 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 15 
hastened, no doubt, by the fact that butter costs, ;for 
feed alone, about 16 cents per pound, and is selling for 
11 to 15 cents in the general market. Some are suc¬ 
ceeding in producing butter for 9 to 11 cents by the con¬ 
tinued use of ensilage for most of the year, and their 
success encourages the average farmer to invest. 
Selecting a Site. —The location of a silo is an im¬ 
portant matter. The best place is inside the barn at 
a point near to the stock, to save steps and lifting, 
yet where the silo can be filled from the outside. I 
helped fill two silos last season, and found that one 
needed three men more than the other, from the fact 
that the corn had to be carried up to the cutter in the 
one case, and was slid down to the cutter in the other. 
Where the cutter is placed outside, there is room to 
drive up alongside easily, and a bank can be con¬ 
structed to drive on, so that the load will tip toward 
an inclined table which should connect with the 
cutter. Then one man can unload as fast as needed. 
Owing to the great weight and saving of lumber, the 
silo should be built on the ground. So much more 
fodder can be stored, that, in most cases, a portion of 
the bay can be spared. More land w’ill be planted 
to corn, and there will be less hay. In many cases, 
the necessity of building a new larger barn can be 
avoided. By using the bay, the cost is reduced more 
than half, and the construction requires no skill or 
extra tools. 
Securing Stability —In building, a solid, air-tight, 
dry foundation is best secured by digging a trench, 
so graded as to discharge at the lowest corner, any 
outside water which may soak into it. The trench 
should be filled with broken stones and mortar within 
a few inches of the top. This, if deep enough, will 
keep out the rats. A wall of masonry should be built 
one foot high on the broken stone. In this wall, two 
inches above the level of the bottom of the silo, a 2x12 
plank should be imbedded so that the inner edge will 
project half an inch over the wall. The weight of 
the wall on the plank will keep it in place. The frame 
of the barn being large and framed together, but 
little studding is needed. In a silo 10x14 feet, the 
first three pieces were two feet apart, and 2x10 inches 
in size. The next one was 2x6, 2% feet above. The 
fifth one was 13 feet from the bottom, and where the 
boards came together ; this was a 4x6. Three others, 
2x6, three feet apart, were above this. It takes nine 
pieces, counting the plank in the wall on each side. 
These were horizontal, and nailed to the frame of the 
barn so that the edge was even with the inside of the 
post. A short post, a, Fig. 173, was placed against the 
larger one to keep the studding from slipping down. 
A 2x4 piece, b, was nailed to each set of studs at the 
corners, to stiffen the frame and make a broader cor¬ 
ner. This piece should be so placed that, when a 
foot-wide board is nailed to it, the board will just 
reach the shed on each side. This insures a tight 
corner, saves the troubles of fitting a board, and 
does away with the sharp corner in which ensilage 
is likely to spoil. 
Care should be taken that all studs and pieces 
should be in line with the silo and the beam above, 
so that there will be no trouble in getting it tight 
when boarding up. The silo was lined with foot- 
wfide hemlock inch boards. A space 20 feet wide was 
left from the bottom to the top in one side for the 
door. The boards were nailed securely to the studs, 
each acting as a post. Two lengths, 13 feet long, 
were required to reach the top. The square ends 
coming together at the wider stud, give no chance 
for an air hole. A sheathing of tar paper which was 
oily and pliable, was next put on inside the unplaned 
boards. This was in long strips which reached from 
bottom to top, was lapped at the edges, and held in 
place by tacks with thin tin heads. Great care was 
taken in handling it so that there should be no holes. 
Inside of this should be another sheathing of boards, 
so placed that the cracks should not be in the same 
place as the first set, if the boards are unplaned. 
I found that I could get dressed pine or spruce for 
nearly the same price as hemlock, and used that. It 
was matched and six inches wide. With this, we 
turned the corners without slitting out any pieces. 
The doorway was closed when filling. We cut boards 
to reach from one stud to the one above it only. They 
are not nailed. Then the tarred paper is put against 
them. Last, doors made of the matched stuff are 
placed, and the corn filling against them holds them 
securely. No nails are used, and they come out 
readily when the silo is being emptied. The space 
between each stud is a separate door. 
I purchased a few cents’ worth of coal-gas tar, and 
painted the inside. Two of us heated the tar, and 
painted the inside of the silo in one-half day. The 
tar should be boiling hot, and will then spread easily 
and fill all the cracks. After drying, it is as hard and 
smooth as a blackboard. It not only fills all cracks, 
keeping out the air, but it prevents absorption of 
moisture by the boards. Our silo did not swell when 
filled, or shrink when empty, and will not be likely 
to rot out. A cement of eight parts lime to two 
parts sand, was worked in under the ends of the 
boards on the bottom, to prevent them from rotting, 
and make all air-tight. 
Not a Difficult Job. —Two of us, neither one 
hardly able to saw off the end of a board square, 
armed with a hammer, saw, square and ax only, 
built a silo 10 x 14 feet, and 26 feet high, in six days. 
The lumber bill was less than 850, and all other ex¬ 
penses did not make more than 875, including labor. 
It could be made for less, but I made it good, so that 
it would last and also be sure to save the fodder. I 
could not build a round silo alone. I would dislike 
to cart ensilage from an outside silo, and am entii-ely 
satisfied with this one. Not 50 pounds were uneaten 
of all that was put in. This silo will hold about 90 
tons, and cost 80 cents per ton capacity, c. e. chapman. 
AN EXPERIENCE WITH " CORN HAY." 
HUSKING AND THRASHING THE CORN FODDER. 
Last year The R. N.-Y. had several articles about 
“Corn Hay”, which is the fodder as it comes from 
the machines for husking corn. The whole stalks 
are put into the machine, the ears are snapped off 
and husked and the stalk crushed and broken up. 
Mr J E. Wing last fall estimated that horses will eat 
about 80 per cent of it ; I place it at 75 per cent, but 
I find that the cattle will eat a little more and place 
their consumption at 80 per cent. I think that they 
could be easily forced to eat a greater proportion if 
made hungry; but it is my rule to feed liberally, and 
I do not know what proportion a hungry animal 
would eat. 
The corn must have time to cure in the shocks after 
cutting, and it must be free from moisture when 
shredded, if stored in large quantities and packed in 
to economize space. If these conditions can be 
reached, and the fodder be kept dry after being 
shredded, most excellent feed will be secured that 
all stock relish and will eat in preference to good 
Timothy hay, and it will keep them like hay. It 
packs readily in the mow, and becomes quite solid 
with moderate tramping; but if at all damp when 
shredded, it must not be tramped, but tossed back 
loosely with the fork or it will heat and spoil. If 
there be more than a few hours’ work to be done, 
this will be found difficult, because of lack of room 
in an ordinary barn. 
I put the largest-sized Keystone machine at work 
about November 1. The corn was Learning, heavy in 
the shock, but having small ears, making little more 
than a half crop of corn, because of drought which 
came too late to prevent a full crop of fodder. The 
fall was very dry ; little rain fell upon it after being 
cut, hence the fodder was at its best—well-cured and 
very dry. The machine was worked to its full capac¬ 
ity for 33 hours; in that time, about 30 acres of corn 
were husked and put into the crib, and the fodder 
shredded and put into the barn. When time was 
called, I had a little over 1,000 bushels of husked 
corn, and a solid pile of shredded fodder 40 feet long, 
20 feet wide, and 18 feet high, tramped until it was 
firm and solid, almost approximating that which was 
baled. I paid the husker 833, six cords of wood for 
his engine, and board. 
It took four teams, five wagons and eight men. We 
used three low wagons with wheels 24 inches high, 
and 6-inch tread, to haul the corn from the field ; 
these wagons had racks 18 feet long, and eight to 
nine feet wide, with smooth, solid floors. To save 
time and fodder, the shocks should be set upon these 
wagons upright, and left tied as in the field, until 
they reach the machine ; hence the big racks upon 
which two rows of shocks will set readily, so that six 
to eight shocks can be put on a wagon. Hauled in 
this way, the fodder reaches the machine without 
waste, and the loader can place it upon the table 
straighter and faster, which hastens feeding. Two 
men stayed in the field to load the wagons ; they use 
an ordinary husking horse, strengthened, so that it 
can be set on edge by the side of a shock, which is 
tipped over on to it as in husking. These men then 
take hold of the handles, lift it up to the side of the 
platform of the wagon, tilt it, and the shock goes 
back to an upright position upon the wagon. One 
man and team, with two wagons, took care of the 
ears and shelled corn, and two men found ample work 
building that block of shredded fodder. An exchange 
of men and teams may readily be effected, and so 
save a cash outlay for that. We much prefer helping 
for help back to run the machine, than to go out and 
husk corn by hand so many days. 
This is the plain presentation of the facts upon the 
one side ; but there is another—most things have two 
sides. In most seasons, late varieties of corn can 
scarcely be cured enough to husk in this way before 
the fall rains set in, and after that, it will be found 
difficult to find a time w'hen it is dry enough. The 
fodder should be too dry to husK by hand. When it 
is in that condition, many blades are lost; they break 
up so fine that much passes out through the screen 
in the bottom of the carrier with the shelled corn, 
and other portions are so fine and dustlike, that they 
waste in various ways. Again, when the fodder is as 
dry as it should be to keep, the ears shell badly. 
We had 100 bushels of shelled corn at the end of 33 
hours’ work. This was mixed with two or three 
times its bulk of finely broken blades, mingled with 
all the dust and smut the corn contained, until this 
mass of blades was decided worthless and hauled to 
the field after the shelled corn had been fanned out. 
Many farmers will be deterred from this method of 
husking by the cash outlay of (in my case) 833. This 
I estimate to be the cost of husking 1,000 bushels of 
corn and shredding the fodder. The corn must be 
hauled in any event, and the fodder also, and it is no 
more work to haul it whole to the machine and mow' 
away the shredded fodder, than it would be to tie it 
into bundles and haul it to the stack or barn after 
being husked by hand, and the twine, at least, is 
saved. Much better feed is obtained, and a much 
greater proportion is consumed. It may be fed in 
any place like hay. The refuse is the very best of 
bedding, and in the end, good manure, easily handled. 
Noble County, Ind. w. w. latta. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
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How Roses Are Propagated. 
T. C. A. F., Sheridan, Ind. —How are the “outdoor-grown” rose 
plants produced? Are they started in greenhouses, and then 
transplanted to the field ? Are they protected in winter, and if so, 
how ? At what age are they generally sold ? What kind of culti¬ 
vation is given them ? 
ANSWERED BY W. VAN FLEET. 
There are, practically, only two methods of propa¬ 
gating roses now in use ; the rooting of cuttings of 
green or ripe wood under glass, and the budding of 
improved varieties on vigorous species of wild roses, 
which is usually done in the field during summer. A 
few rose plants are grafted or layered for special pur¬ 
poses, and the various varieties of Rosa rugosa and the 
Austrian brier, or hardy yellow rose, are often raised 
from seed, or propagated from root-cuttings, as the 
case may be ; but the number grown by the latter 
methods cut a very small figure when compared to 
the millions of plants annually produced by the pro¬ 
cesses first named. 
Budded roses are chiefly produced abroad—in Eng¬ 
land, France, Holland, Belgium and the German 
States—and are exported to this country in immense 
numbers. They are much used by florists for bloom¬ 
ing under glass, and to produce propagating wood for 
rooting as cuttings. They are not well adapted for 
outdoor planting in this climate, as unless carefully 
watched, the stocks push up strong suckers, which 
rob the bud variety of nourishment, and cause it to 
languish and die. Although these foreign roses are 
generally strong, fine looking plants, their use, ex¬ 
cept for the purposes above mentioned, is sure to 
result m disappointment, as in addition to the objec¬ 
tionable stocks, they seem more subject to disease 
than those grown here. Budded roses are generally 
sold in the fall succeeding the summer budding and 
are, consequently, only a few months old ; but if the 
stocks are vigorous, they should be as large as plants 
of a similar variety when grown for two seasons on 
their own roots. 
This process of growing budded roses may be briefly 
described as follows : The stocks employed are, 
usually, seedlings of Manetti, or the dog rose (Rosa 
canina), both natives of southern Europe. They are 
grown in immense numbers by specialists, and may be 
imported very cheaply. The stocks are planted out 
in early spring, six or eight inches apart, in rows 
either 18 or 36 inches apart, according to whether 
hand or horse cultivation is contemplated. They are 
given clean and thorough cultivation through the 
growing season, and are budded with the desired 
varieties during July and August, as the canes begin 
to approach maturity. The strongest plants are 
usually dug for sale or storage in November. The 
