326 Teinperatare a^'eeiiiKj the Qualifi/ of SUagc 



5. Silage made by Capt. Nicoll of Alresford in 1920. 



Tlie crop was slightly overmature when cut, but not badly laid; 

 during the greater part of the filling the crop was allowed to wilt after 

 cutting and frequently got very wet with rain, but during the last two 

 days of filhng the crop was ensiled directly after cutting. 



The top part coinciding with the dry period of filhng of the silo 

 produced very good silage upon which the cattle throve, but the bottom 

 coinciding with the wet period of filUng was poor silage and the cattle 

 fell away whilst feeding upon it. 



In 1921, the silo was filled throughout with freshly cut material and 

 the product was excellent: green in colour with the characteristic 

 "fruity" smell. 



G. Silage made from immature crops on Mr Alfred Amos' farm at 

 Wye, Kent. 



Maize was grown for several years in succession from 1899 to 1904 

 and ensiled in a tower silo, but the variety grown — American Horse 

 Tooth — failed to ripen sufficiently for ideal silage purposes, rarely getting 

 beyond the flowering stage. Under these conditions the silage was in- 

 variably "sour"' with a pungent clinging smell. The cattle ate it, but 

 not greedily and did not thrive greatly upon it. 



In 1921, a crop of winter oats which had grown very rankly and 

 was hkely to be badly laid before harvest was cut oil between May 8th 

 and 10th when a foot to 15 inches high, and put into a clamp silo after 

 wilting for 24 hours. The crop was of course very immature. The re- 

 sulting silage was of a greenish ohve colour with a most objectionable 

 smell, similar to that described in General Adlercron's silage. The silage 

 was fed to dairy cows in late summer, being scattered on the grass during 

 the severest part of the drought in that year. The cows did not eat it 

 greedily until the smell had partially blown away, but after lying in 

 the sun for an hour the silage was readily eaten. The cows kept in good 

 condition, milked well and no taint was noticeable in the milk. 



7. Silage made in a stave silo in Sussex in 1920. 



The crop consisted of oats and tares in which a large proportion 

 of charlock was growing. This was allowed to become very mature 

 before cutting, so that the charlock had set seeds, which were almost 

 ripe, and produced stems which were hard and woody. The crop after 

 cutting was allowed to wilt 24 to 48 hours and was consequently very 

 dry when ensiled. This fact combined with the woody character of the 

 charlock stems prevented the chaffed crop being adequately packed by 

 trampling, so that much air was included. 



