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ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
can be all digested and assimilated. Grains may be preserved per¬ 
fectly and clear, provided they are sweet and free from tilth when 
packed ; by packing in a silo or air-tight pits or vessels, for years if 
need be. 
Mr. White, ot Staten Island, has silos, in one of which grains 
have long been preserved in a state as good and fresh as when dump¬ 
ed from the brewery. Grains can be advantageously mixed with the 
green fodders at the time of filling the silos. 
Silos may be made of earth, brick, stone or cement ; and it is an 
economy to build two side by side, as in thus doing one wall, the cen¬ 
tre one, answers for both silos. The dimensions must vary according 
to the quantity of crops ensilaged. Convenient sizes are twelve by 
twenty feet and fourteen feet deep, or twelve by thirty leet, sixteen 
feet deep. The depth of the bottom of the silos should be from four 
to six feet below the surface of the ground to maintain an even tem¬ 
perature. But the ground should be under-drained. The walls may 
be made ot brick, stone or cement, cemented on the bottom and walls 
inside and out, and coated with a thin coating of refined and melted 
asphalt, which may be but on with a broom. This will make walls 
impervious to water or air. The inside walls must be perpendicular. 
The silos should be covered by cross sections of plank three feet 
wide, battened and fastened with screws, and just long enough to ex¬ 
tend the width of the silo, so that when lightly weighted they will set¬ 
tle with and cover the section of the silo for which they are made. 
By the removal of the section nearest the door of the silo, the ensilage 
can be cut down like cutting cheese, just in whatever quantity may 
be required for immediate use. The cut surface of the ensilage will 
not ferment, proving that ensilage can be transported like pressed hay. 
Though, if desired to be kept tor a long time, it is safer to have it 
pressed into hogsheads. Earth silos, or those made of boards or 
plank are not so convenient or reliable as cement and asphalted walls, 
for these only prevent the entrance of air and moisture. Silos should 
be covered by a roof at least three or four feet higher than the top of 
the silo, to give ample room to fill them conveniently. 
In the feeding value of maize ensilage it is estimated that 910 
pounds is equal to one barrel of corn meal. A silo 20x12x16 feet will 
contain 100 tons of ensilage. 
Prof. George H. Cook, of the New Jersey Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station — perfectly reliable authority — estimates that eighty 
pounds of good ensilage will furnish the lull amount of carbhydrates 
for a full grown cow for a day. 
Fresh brewers’ grains may be preserved in silo, perfectly sweet, by 
means of layers of wheat bran, evenly spread over each layer of grains. 
Two inches of bran to each layer of six inches of grain makes about 
the proper proportion. This combination of bran and grains makes 
excellent food for milch cows, and when fed with ensilage it makes as 
perfect fodder as can be used lor milk production in winter. 
Breeding animals, when fed on mixed ensilage, seldom abort, and 
they suffer less in parturition. The young are hardier and thrive 
well; they are less liable to sickness. The winter milk, butter and 
