THE ENSILAGE PIT.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 15115, 28 December 1921, Page 8

THE ENSILAGE PIT.

CONTENTS IN TONS. The Farmer and Settler (an Australian contemporary) remarks: — The contents in tons of an ensilage pit will naturally allow greater cornfollowing factors —(1) Depth. The greater the depth the more compressed the material, and, consequently, the greater weight per cubic foot. (2) Shape. A brick or timber-lined ■pit will noturally allhw greater compression than one excavated out of earth and having its sides sloping. (3) The amount of pressure'employed, whether by levers or by weights of timber, soil, etc. (4) The class of crop used, and the stage of maturity at which it is cut. (5) Age. The older the ensilage the greater the compression—within certain limits. A fair average o,f the weight may be taken as 401 b per cubic foot, or 56 cubic feet j>er ton. An, ensilage stack of unch'affed sorghum at an agricultural college, six weeks after completion, was 18ft high, and about six months after, its height was only (showing the gradual compression) ; the weight per cubic foot was 471 b. This stack was only lightly weighted with fencing rails attached ■to wire. Although the compression, except under much heavier weights, is not likely to be so great in a pit (owing to friction of the sides) as in a stack, especially with unehaffed fodder, a good idea of its dxtent may be obtained from these figures. With regard to a formula, it is necessary to know the shape of the pit. With a pit- with vertical sides it is only necessary to ascertain area of the base, and then multiply by the height to give content. If, however, the pit has sloping sides, the prismoidal formula must be used. Add together the area at the top, the area at the bottom, and four times the area half-way down (thb average of the top and bottom lengths multiplied by the average of the top and widths will give the area ' half-way down), multiply by the depth and divide by six. If the measurements are in feet, the result will be in cubic feet, and (taking 401 b as an average weight) dividing by 56 will give tons.