STACK SILAGE MADE FROM BRACKENS. 211 



black, and had been subjected to a high temperature in the 

 stack, viz., 140° F., but it differed from the Pitfour sample in 

 one important particular ; it was interpenetrated with mould, 

 which appeared as little specks all through the mass. Mr 

 Calder reports that his cattle refused to eat it, and there can 

 be no doubt that the cause of that repugnance was the presence 

 of mould, which had apparently attacked the silage long after it 

 had been successfully made. 



The making of bracken silage may require more than usual 

 care, and it is fortunate that the first attempts have not 

 all been failures. Mr Stewart, Culgruff, adopted a method 

 which was entirely successful, and it has the advantage of being 

 very simple. It is not exactly a stack which he makes, but a 

 plum-pudding shaped mass which he treads down with horses. 

 He describes it thus: — In making bracken silage "my experience 

 is that a plum-pudding shaped mass is better than a stack, as 

 there is not the least waste. The base of the mass must be 

 large enough to allow a couple of horses to walk round and 

 round — about the size of an ordinary horse-power circle. The 

 outside of the horse track will be found not to be well pressed. 

 I simply use a hay knife to cut off this part, and I strew it on 

 the top of the mass. Of course, I choose a place where stones 

 are abundant, and where one side is higher than the other, so 

 that the horses may go easily on and off. Horses are not a 

 necessity, but they tramp it better than men, and make the 

 mass much firmer. So long as the stuff is evenly spread, and 

 plenty of weight put on the top, it will keep. I heap up earth 

 all round, and then the stones begin. If a farmer puts up only 

 ten tons, he should make a plum-pudding heap, and after 

 covering the bracken with rough straw or rushes or even 

 old bags, he should cover it over with twelve inches of earth." 

 There is one important point to be attended to in making 

 bracken silage, and the whole success of the operation depends 

 on it — the ferns should be cut while young and juicy, before 

 the curl has gone off the leaf If the plant is allowed to 

 grow, and spread out to its full extent, the leaf is hard and 

 leathery, and the stem is much too dense to make into silage. 

 A sample of bracken silage sent me was of this kind, and 

 it never heated in the stack, but turned out a kind of bracken 

 hay. 



I made an analysis of it, so as to compare it with the samples 

 given above, and find its composition to be as follows : — 



Moisture, 53-54 



Solids, 46-46 



100-00 



