Something- New and important in Live
Stock Economy.
Professor S. M. Coloord, of Dover, Massachusetts, one of the best chemists in the
United States has done the live stock industry a great good, in solving the question of preserving green food. During the
period of strongest opposition to the ensilage methods, it will ho remembered that
the Indiana Farmer maintained that the
success of it was "only a question of skill
in construction of silos," and that it was
"nonsense to say that we could preserve
green fruit by the gallon or more, and
could not also exclude the air from the
silo," and further that "genius and science
would satisfactorily solve this matter."
And, so, while the Fakmkk does notJay
special claim to prevision, reasoning from
known data, its prediction seems lo he
fulfilled in the invention of Prof. Oolcord.
At our request he has furnished us with
cuts and some data to explain his invention. Like the splendid chemist and scientist he is, he seems to have gone about
this work with the strong common sense.
that to preserve green food the element
usually baring that end was to be eliminated, or overcome. The invention plainly
goes directly to the point of excluding the
air, which causes over fennentation and undue action upon the food. Prof. Colcord
says that the high temperature theory is
a falacv. Hut let us give his own views as
to his methods:
"Sweet ensilage, as commonly understood, does not represent preserved green
forage produced by this system ; the term
sweet, as originally used, was not used in
a sense as opposite to sour, but as opposed
to putrid (as sweet meat)."
"The average quantity of ensilage as
heretofore made, that can he fed daily, is
about forty pounds; the cattle do not < are
for more, but forage made by this system
and device can be fed IM) pounds or more
daily ,and all of it eaten without any waste,
giving the best results, even better than
fresh cut fodder.
"The most interesting feature in this
system is its economy. From corn call be
raised the heaviest and best crop of forage
at the lowest cost. The big butts contain
the most sugar and starch. Hy this system theso large stocks are preserved and
come out in a soft and pulpy state ami are
all eaten. Ky those who have tested it by
keeping accurate account, the average cost
of preserved green forage is $2 per ton; in
feeding value :i tons of it is equal to 1 ton
of the best hay, making preserved green
forage at #li equal lo hay that Can lie readily sold for sis. Land that will produce
M tons of hay will produce l.s Ions of green
forage and a crop of rye annually, which
will give three times the results in dairy
products and manure, and that continuously, upon the same land."
Tlie Dairy World says of this method:
It is found to have been demonstrated
that the Silo Governor, invented by Mr. S.
M. Colcord,holds the ensilage without heat
or fermentation, controlling the operation
and changes going on in the silo; that it
removes the air, and holds the contents
perfectly, precisely as any food is held in
air-tight packages, and that lt can be applied and used in   old as well as new silos.
When wc speak of fermentation and
heat, the idea is not Intended to be conveyed that a silo can be tilled with green
vegetable mat ter wit bout eliminating beat.
Any succulent vegetable matter piled together iii the presence of air commences
to heat. If allowed to go on, destructive fermentation sets in,and at length the
whole mass becomes putrid and rotten.
Thc various means heretofore used have
only measurably arrested this fermentation, and the measure of success has been
in just proportion to the exclusion of  the
air. Figures 2 and 3 show the pipes,coup-
linga and the orifices by which the air enters the pipes under pressure.
At a meeting of  farmers at Agricultural
Hall, Boston.at which Mr. Benjamin Ware
presided and conducted the investigations,
Messrs. Korristall. Kuggles, ('opeland. ex-
United States Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr. Loriug, and others, were present
and assisting; the whole question was
gone over. Mr. Kuggles, who had used the
Governor, testified as follows, according to
the report of the meeting in the Massachusetts Ploughman.
"I never had   any foul   odors and there
was   no bad smell in  the barn   or silos at
_ _      1
(OI.C OKII'S SH.O liOVKRXIil!.
all. My silo is at a little distance from the
barn. If you should take a handful of ensilage and put it to your face, you would
think it was pretty sweet. It has the lla-
vor of corn. You could detect no scent.
If you dry it, it would bave noeffectin
that respect. Last year I put in a second
governor about half way up, as Mr. Colcord recommended it."
what kminknt citizens say.
"The undersigned, having made and fed
ligl
DIAOHAM OF COl.COKIl's SIl.o QOVKKNOR
ensilage for several years, believing that
we have arrived at certain and uniform
success, say to those who are in doubt.that
we are making ensilage without heat or
fermentation,in air-tight silos, cutting the
corn in )■. to K inch lengths, weighting Ion
pounds to   the square  foot, and with this
pressure getting I foot or more juice in the
bottom of the silo. We remove the air
from the silo by using Coiconl's silo Governor, which causes a heavy vertical, with
very little lateral, pressure. We obtain as
uniform results, coid,moist,soft aud pulpy
ensilage, ol the natural color of the eoni,
without offensive odor, imparting no odor
lo the silo, barn, hands or clothing, but
often of a bright, sweet smell, and sometimes the odor of nice, dry corn fodder.
We feed an average of GO pounds daily to
each cow, and our cattle eat it all without
any waste.
"We regard Mr. Colcord's system as the
true, if not the only true method of ensilaging green forage crops, and
recommend it as sure, uniform, economical and less
troublesome than any other.
By using this systein,with the
Governor, according to directions, anyone may be sure of
success with ensilage.
Kii.Mi'Nii M. Woon,
Boston, Mass.
T. K. Rruta.KN, Milton, Mass.
Chaki.ks L. Clll'Kl.AND,
Milton, Mass.
C. A. Davis, Natick, Mass.
Heunakii Monaoiian,
Hedliani, Mass.
THI'. SII.O   dOVKKNOK.
^ If made of iron pipe to screw
together with pipe tongs, one
Governor for a 100 ton silo
tfg would cost about $25, equal to
2"i cents per ton. Two Governors for a :?00-ton silo would
cost about 800, or 20 cents per
ton, price depending upon the
size and shape of the silo. A
higher-priced Governor is made. These
are made from enameled pipe, with malleable enameled fittings, arranged to sleeve
together, the prices varying from $35 to
ST.", each.
DESCRIPTION OF DIAIIKAM.
Figure 1 is a top view of  a silo ready to
receive   the   ensilage,  anil showing a portion of the apparatus resting ou the floor.
Figure 2 is a vertical section cut on the
line XX oT Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a portion
of pipe on an enlarged
scale, taken from one
of the front corners of
the apparatus, and
placed bottom side up
to show the air holes
on its under side.
figure I isa top view,
OH an enlarged scale,of
a portion of the bottom
of the silo before tho
principal portion of the
apparatus has been
placed in position,
showing the upturned
end of the drip pipe,
and the strainer in its
mouth.
Figure fi is a section
ol a portion of pipe aud
elbow, on an enlarged
scale, showing the
wooden peg which prevents the pipe from
turning in Its bearings.
I UK CONSTRUCTION.
In   relation   to   construction, Mr. Colcord,
says:
I ci instruct my apparatus as follows':  I take
iron pipes it, tt' of  any
d i m e nsions    desired,
and join them together
so as to form afraiueA,
with a continuous air
connection (which also
communicates with the
drip-pipe, li), by screwing each of the ends of
the pipe tt and it' into
its connecting elbow 8
or coupling II, as show n at c.    The ends 10
and 12 of   the pipes a   are   thrust or   telescoped into their couplings I), as shown   in
Figs. 1, .", ami ."..    All the   horizontal pipes
an inch in diameter, and about 6 inches
distant from each other, as seen in Figs. 3
and 5; the ends 10 of the pipes a are each
held in position by a small wooden peg or
pin e, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5.
A T-coupling/ is screwed on to the project ing end of the drip-pipe 6,and the ver-
:1   into the upright
ileal pipe g is screwed
branch of said coupling/; the vertical pipe
g affording an outlet or means of escape
from the silo for the air and gases. The
pipes a <x',which ex tend transversely across
the center of frame A, from side to side,
are screwed into the couplings, 9, 9 and ?',
the downward branch of the latter coupling fitting loosely within the upturned
end of the drip-pipe b. The water, juices,
etc., from the ensilage are drawn off when
desired through the drip-pipe 6, the outer
end of which is provided with a stopper k;
but a faucet may be employed instead of
the stopper, if preferred.
The mouth of the vertical pipe, g I close
with a stopper /, or with a caji.
If the silo has a capacity of over 1">0 tons,
or is more than 16 feet deep, the apparatus
for the bottom of the silo being in place,
the cut corn is piled upon it in the usual
way, and when the silo is about half full,
another apparatus or frame A, not differing materially from that ou the bottom of
the silo, excepting that its vertical pipe in,
which performs the same ollice as the vertical pipe ,/, and also has its mouth closed
by a stopper, rises from the inside of the
silo, as seen in Fig. 2.
For the better support of the second
frame A, and to prevent the small holes at
the lHittom of the pipe from becoming
stopped with the ensilage, it is placed on
a skeleton platform n, Fig. 2, composed of
narrow strips of furring, and upon this
platform n, with the frame upon it, the
*.-ut corn is piled until the silo is filled. To
secure the second frame A in its plaee on
theskeleton platform it, nails or staples are
driven into the platform for that purpose.
As soon as the silo is filled the ordinary
planks are put upon the top of the ensilage, and the weight placed on said plank.
Nothing should be put between the ensilage  and the plank.
When the freshly cut corn is placed in
the silo it has not yet had time to become
much wilted, if, indeed, it is wilted at all;
consequently, the air which remains in
contact with it there is in a much freer
condition than it is after it has wilted, for
through the operation of wilting the said
air becomes much more intimately associated with it, and much more difficult to
separate from it. Therefore, during the
process of tilling the silo containing my
apparatus, a large portion of the air in
contact with the ensilage will be taken
into the pipes <t, ft', and escape into the
surrounding atmosphere through the vertical pipe g and m.
In opening the silo to remove the ensilage, when the first part of the frame A of
the apparatus is reached, the pipe a nearest to the front end r of the silo H is pulled
away from its connections, with the adjacent longitudinal pipes « and the latter are
then also removed; tho pegs e, which held
the pipes it in position, having been first
taken out, or broken off.
As the work of discharging the silo proceeds, on arriving at the central portion,
the pipes «', with their couplings 9, 9, i,
after pegs e havo been removed, ean be
pulled out and lifted from their place, and
their adjacent longitudinal pipes " drawn
out, leaving only the pipe n at the rear
part of the silo, to be removed when
reached.
When liquid rises in the pipe <7 it can be
drawn off by removing the stopper k.
The Silo Governor has air passages within :', to 4 feet of every part of the ensilage
to the outside of the silo, from which to
discharge the air, not only after it is
packed, but while it is being tilled.
Air can be taken out of the silo in larger
quantities from the bottom and central
parts of the silo than can escape from the
top.
While the air is going out of the silo
there can be no ingress, and as soon au
egress ceases   the air   passages   should be
rigs. i.   .an. i o.    au me   Horizontal pipes,
except the drip-pipe b, which runs toward
Ihe side wall of   the silo B, are perforated I closed, by stopping the mouths of the per
on their under side  with holes about {a of   pendicufar pipes I and m.