588 Agricultural Gazette of N.SJF, iJuli/ 2, 1908. 



The silai,'e was made fniiii a crop of" inai/.e urow ii on a little less tlian 

 20 acres, and was carted to the site ami tliei-c plarcd in thr silo uiicliati'cd in 

 a similar way to that ado2)ted when building a silage stack. 'I'lie inai/.c 

 stalks were crossed at tlie corners, butts outwards, and kept as tirinly 

 pressed up to the slabbing as possible — the latter is inipoitant, as there is a 

 great tendency, if any undue haste is allowed to i>nterfere with this necessarv 

 precaution, for tlie maize to draw away from the corners and sides, as settle- 

 ment in the middle, (hie to more pei-fect solidification, takes place. 



The stack was continued above the to]) of the silo to a height slmwn b\- 

 the dotted lines, about 2'2 feet. This was kept to the same dimensions as 

 the silo, and the sides trimmed with a hay-knife, and as solidilication took 

 place most of the part above the silo sank down, till, on the occasion of mv 

 visit, there was oidy from 1 foot at the sides, to alxait 21 feet in the middle, 

 above the walls of the silo ; the top was covered with a f(>\\ loads of -'fat 

 hen" aiifl "pig weed,"' then l)ai'k, logs, and stone. 





Harvesting Maize for Silage. 



Mr. Bowyer-Smijth calculates to have now lOO tons of silage, and 

 half a ton a dav for liis herd has 'iOO days feed <in hand. The present silo 

 occupies the site of a smaller one erected last year which gave good results ; 

 in fact, such good r(>sults that he was persuaded of the necessity of enlarging 

 the silo for tht; present season. 



Tt is well known that to obtain the maximum amount of ]ierfect silage 

 from a gi^cn quantity of green fodder it is essential to chatl' it in addition to 

 thoroughly treading it into a silo which should be perfectly airtight with 

 smooth vei'tical sides free from angl(>s. In this case none of these conditions 

 are found, the maize was not chaired, the silo is built strongly, but the sides 

 being made of split slabs are necessarily rough, and a large part of the mai/.e 

 »vas in the; forn\ of a stack which ultimately sank into the silo as consolida- 

 tion due to fermentation took place. What proportion of waste is there, and 

 how far does the amount of waste go as a set-off against the additional cost 



