8 August, 1907.] Silos a//d Silage. 503 



Mr. T. R. Xicholls, Drummartin, is not a dairy farmer. His ex- 

 perience with the sheep confirms the fact that for sheep, silage has to 

 be made both well and from good fodder. 



We opened the silo the second week in Murcli and have been usinj^ it con- 

 tinuously ever since. The first two weeks we fed i6 bullocks. I then sold 

 them and started to feed 160 ewes and 6 head of cattle, and have fed them 

 daily ever since. The cattle had a small dray load of damaged stuff daily, 

 and the sheep a somewhat larger quantity of the best ensilage. The cattle ate it 

 well from the start, but there was a good deal of waste on account of its being 

 damaged. The cattle kept their condition fairly well. The three cows we were 

 milking got hay chaff twice daily in addition. ' The ensilage did not appear to 

 make much difference in the yield of milk, but kept them in good health, being 

 fine in their skins. 



We had more difficulty with the sheej); for the first week they ate very Tittle. 

 We laid it on the ground in rows, but they ran over it and destroyed the greater 

 part. We then got some iron troughs and got on much better feeding them 

 then. Sheep like it well cut. We had ours cut with an ensilage cutter, r-.nd 

 it was cut long. The sheep would pick out the fine and the long stuff we used 

 to take home for the cattle. Another year we will cut it with a chaffcutter. 



We found a good deal of waste in the silo. I should say one-third was 



damaged, on an average i foot to 15 inches around the outside was very inferior, 

 and there were patches further in apparently mildewed. We had a man in the 

 silo whilst filling. I think he did not trample it evenly. After every load was 

 out, three or four men would go in and trample it mostly on the outside, which I now 

 think was not a good thing. What is wanted is an even pressure all over it. 



Next time when filling, I will have a shoot to run the ensilage into the centre of 

 the silo, and after every load is cut, gO' in and trample it evenly all cxver. I 

 find in making ensilage or hay, the better the quality of the material the better 

 the ensilage or hay. A neighboTir helped us when filling the silo, and then 

 we helped him fill his silo. The material we used was wild oats, with a mixture 

 of wheat about 5 feet long. The wild oats were a bit on the dry side. My 



neighbour's was Algerian oats about 3 feet hiph and fairly green. His sheep 

 were very fond of it, and would run to meet the dray when they were bringing 

 it out. He fed it on the ground to them and had very little waste. In the 

 silo the damage was much the same as in ours. I hope, next year, with the ex- 

 perience we have gained this time to turn out a better article. 



My neighbour had an unfortunate experience of spontaneous combustion with 

 his stack ensilage. Here is his account : — The crop cut for ensilage was self 

 sown wild oats ; 27 acres were cut with a mower and carted and stacked while 

 being cut. The crop was out in ear and beginning to turn in colour. Twelve 

 winding drums with ratchets and levers were used, six on each side of the stack. 

 There were six heavy logs put underneath the stack and the drums were bolted 

 down to the ends of the logs. The six cables were made from three fencing wires 

 (No. 8) twisted together and put over the stack and fastened to the drums. 

 The drums were then turned with the levers (both on the same cable on each 

 side of the stack at one time) until very tight, and levers were shifted to the 

 next two drums until all were tightened. The stack was pulled down every day 

 for a while, and then every few days, then every week or so. It had not been 

 pulled down about a month before the fire, and as the stack had been built over 

 three months, we considered it would be set. Fifteen days after the fire there 

 was a big heap of stuff just smouldering away in flakes. A few days after the 

 fire we removed 3 feet off part of the top to see if there was any of it 

 not burned but the fire had apparently got through it all, as it was all black and 

 smoking. We had to water it well to be able to stand on the stack to take any 

 off. The fire was blazing at 6.30 in the morning before any one noticed it. There 

 must have been many tons weight on the stack as we broke two of the cables 

 pulling it down and it was good wire. 



This is an unusual occurrence and speaks in favour of weighting 

 which gives a continuous pressure. 



Messrs. Swan 8c Sons, Londrigan, write : — • 



Although all grass has dried up our cows are keeping up well on the ensilage 

 and are also in splendid condition. The top part of the silo was rather unsatis- 

 factory but we think this was due to using it too soon, and not using enough at 

 each feeding, owing to maize and other green feed being plentiful. There is 



