330 Agricultu/ral Journal of Victoria. 



Crops for the Silo. 



The best silag'e is made from plants with a solid stem, as maizO;, 

 sorghum and amber cane, while with these crops there is the further 

 great advantage that the whole of the stem, if the material is chaffed, 

 becomes so soft and succulent that none is wasted by the animals. 

 Considering also the total yield per acre, there is no question that 

 where a crop is specially grown for the silo one of these should be 

 chosen. The hollow stem of the cereals contains air, and this 

 increases the loss by fermentation, even when chaffed ; but in spite 

 of this defect there is no better way of utilising a croj) of rye or 

 l:»arley grown for fodder, which lias become over ripe to be relished 

 by the cows. If other methods of securing green fodder are available, 

 oats,' wheat, and the mixed grasses and clovers are better made into 

 hay. Cabbage, rape, and roots cannot be preserved as silage. In 

 the North the abundant trefoil, barley-grass, and self-sown cereals 

 should be made into silage, because in most cases this is the best 

 way. to secure succulent food in the long, dry summer. Calif ornian 

 reports state that the trailing salt-bash, when chaffed, makes 

 excellent silage. A mixture of peas, tares, beans or clover, with 

 maize or the cereals, greatly increases the food value of the silage, 

 and according to Canadian experiments one acre of sunflowers, with 

 two of tick beans and four of maize, makes a very sati.sfactory 

 balanced ration for the dairv cow. 



Period of Maturity. 



Silage should contain 75 to 80 per cent, of water ; that is, most 

 crojDs should be siloed when the flowers are all out and the grain 

 well formed. An exception occurs in clover, trefoil and lucerne, 

 which should be cut when in full bloom, and allowed to wilt one 

 day before Ailing into the silo. Generally speaking, the crop is ready 

 A)r the silo a little earlier than it is for hay. Maturity is very 

 important in tlie case of maize and similar crops which mature rapidly 

 after the cobs are well formed. Immature maize contains little 

 nutriment, as will be seen from the following table^ : — 



COMPOSITION OF ONE ACRE OF MAIZE AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. 

 New York (Geneva) Station. 



Stack Silage. 



In conclusion, a word may be said about stack ensilage. It will 

 be seen from the foregoing that I do not recommend it for general 

 adoption, on account of the amount of waste due to the imperfect 

 exclusion of the air. This is shown by the fact that stack silage has 



1 l*"rom Henry, Feeds and Fecdnn;, p. 167. 



