Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 3018, 6 July 1893, Page 4

CONSTRDCfION OF A SILO. 1

Local circumstances must determine what material can be most economically used for the construction of a silo, Where plenty of gravel and sharp river sand can be procured, nothing in my opinion, can equal concrete wall. It is not necessary to use cement; one part oi good lime to four parts of sand and gravel%ill make excellent walls. The' division walls should be 2ft. thick, but 18in.will be sufficient for the outside walls, as these will be built against the bank. One-third of the silo should be abort ground and two-thirds below. Door Ways ag far down as the natural surface should be provided, so as to facilitate the filling of the silo, and also the getting out of the ensilage. These openings can be closed up with planks as the silo is being*filled, and removed as the cnsliage is being taken out. The walls of the silo should be as smooth and plamb as possible, so as to allow the ensilage and covering planks to go down easily as the mass subsides. The walls and the bottom of a silo should be afi and water-tight. It was thought, and recommended at one time, to provido drainage at the bottom of the silo, but this is a fallacy, as do moisture should escape from the silo, and a drain that would carry off water would allow air to get in, which would do a great amount of damage to the ensilage. It has been said that it makes no difference whether a silo cost £20 or £500 ; one will preserve ensilage as well as the other, the only thing being required is continuous pressure! But you cannot make small eilos as effective as large ones, nor can you pack the fodder so well against tough surfaces as against walls that are jnfooth; consequently there is more waste of fodder with small pits and rough surfaces than with large silos and smooth walls. Cheap earthen silos (holes simply dug in the ground) are more likely to popularize the system of ensilage among the farming community than expensive masonry, and, where the earth is sound, this plan may be adopted with perfect success. I have seen ns good ensilage preserved in this way as ever I did from the most expensive silo, and a small farmer need not hesitate to sink a hole in any good holding ground, put in his green fodder, and cover it up with 2 ' feet of earth, and it will come out green and sweet six or nine months afterwards. Wooden portable silos are now much used in England. They are in shape like a huge barrel, and answer the purpose very well in that country, but I doubt very much whether they would be successful in these colonies, owing to the excessive heat of our summers. A great deal has been done in England in the .way of converting old barns and other -buildings into silos, with every success.

• mtisa the silos. fe

Before saying anything on this head, it will be as well to state that there are now two recognised varieties of ensilage; viz., sweet and sour ensilage, and I will explain how these can be made. By the term " sour," it must not be understood to be in any way offensive ; it has a pale greenish yellow color, and a slightly vinous odour. Sweet ensilage, on the other hand, is of a brown color, and of a sweet lucious odour. Sour ensilage has been found to be most suitable for animals producing milk, and sweet ensilage for fattening stock. When it is desired to produce sour ensilage, the crop may be cut when fall grown (but before any of the moisture has escaped) and carted to the silo immediately it is cut, and pressed tightly down. The sooner the silo is filled, and the weights applied the better for sour ensilage. If the crops are of a rough nature, such as barley, vetches, maize, &c, they should be passed through the chaff-cutter, but the finer English grass does not require chaffing. When filled rapidly and immediately weighted, the temperature will seldom exceed 80 degrees Fah., and little or no fermentation will take place.

SWEET ENSILAGE.

Where it is intended to produce sweet tnsilage the crop may also be cat when full grown ; but it must lie a day or two in the field, so that, at the time of being put away in the silo, it contains less than 75 per cent, of moisture. The process of filling should go on slowly, so that the temperature may rise from between 125 and 160 degrees Fah. Should the temperature not be sufficient, either the fodder has been too wet, or the filling and consequent compression has been going on too rapidly. When a sufficiently high temperature has been obtained, It should be immediately cooled down to below 90 degrees Fah. by applying the pressure, or the ensliage will rapidly spoil. The testing the temperature of the lilo is a very simple matter. I procured ft 12-feet length of common inch glassr'pe; to this I had welded a steel point, drove this into the ensilage mass about the centre, and by means of a glass thermometer and a piece of string I was •ble to test the temperature at various depths. I should mention that it is well to put a little wool in the bottom of the pipe to saye the glass thermometer in its descent.

COVERING AND CLOSING THB SILO.

The filling of the silo should be carried out in such a manner that the layer of fodder should be horizontal. The filling haying been completed, the covering up takes place. The planks should be put across the short way of the silo, and 9 x 2 red-gum is found to be a convenient size. At ene time it was thought to be necessary to have the covering as close and air-tight as possible, but this has proved to be a fallacy. Sawdust, bran, felt, .boards tongued-and-grooved, have all been tried in order to prevent the ail from escaping ; ut tne object now is to facilitate the air to escape by compression, and for this purpose, it is better tG put the planks about a quarter of an inch apart, and hulf-an-inch shorter at each end than the silo, so that there will be no fear of them sticking against tho walls. 1 have always had less waste in silos when the planks were left as above, j stated.

•WEIGHTING THE SILO.

My fir3t experience in weigh' , si!o was with rou^h pebbles* 'cinß ™* of the River Ton-ens ; ' tons of these to f is required 9o weight, The re*- oIVO lbo suifidont factory, but U> (l!t was ll!ghly Qati3' Was certaip' -c handling of those stones cons?ntr' *-v' no i"'cc' an(^ my employers T. W l oie iniportation of Mcssr3, *p* . . Reynolds and Co.'s, of England, ochnnical appliances for pressing en eilagp.

|»»«!.i..' 'JJJ *—■ . HiLIiLU The Okslqw Biscuit, The latest and mdit delicate biscuit manuf'wturei by Aul-tebrook Mid Ckh