lo Dfc, 1908.] Silos and Silage. 731 



which are called cells. A growing plant is no exception to this rule, and 

 throughout its whole structure there is a continuous circulation of air, and 

 a fluid which we know as sap, and which performs some of the func- 

 tions of blood in the animal. This sap convevs to the growing plant the food 

 which is drawn from the soil 1;\ its roois ; and from which is i,ailt up, 

 f;rst the framework of the plant itself, and finally the flower and seed 

 formation by means of which the plant or some variet\ of it will ultimately 

 be reproduced. When a plant is either cut down, or approaches maturity, 

 the circulation of fluiil throughout its system ceases; the leaves and .stalks 

 v.-ither through evaporation of moisture; the cells within it die; and, in 

 the ab.sence of the sap, the fibrous material of both leaf and stalk becomes 

 drier, harder, and less eas\- of dige-^tion bv animals. 



Xo fodder is relished so much by stock as the fresh spring pasture 

 that is forced into rapid growth by the seasonable combination of warmth 

 and moisture in the soil. Its appearance is synchronous with the natural 

 breeding season of herbivorous stock, w,hen the young animals require the 

 heaviest milk flow. The mature stock then also' again begin to make flesh, 

 and to store fat in their bodies as a reserve against the more scanty food 

 periods of late autumn and winter. No amount of dry fodder can take 

 the place of this green food. It has a wonderfully recuperati^■e action 

 on animals that have become low in condition; and its in\igorating effect 

 is upheld bv the still more strengthening and sustaining properties of the 

 herbage as it matures and ripens its seed. The animal is thus better pre- 

 pared to withstand the strain of any shortage of food tO' which it may later 

 on be subjected bv seasonal conditions. Green food therefore is the natural 

 precedent, as well as the accompaniment, of robust health and a good 

 milk flow in the- dair\- cow; and the farmer who does not make provision 

 to keep his cattle supplied with green food throughout the whole of the 

 year is not doing justice to his herd or consequently to himself. In localities 

 which are favoured with early autumn rains, or where irrigation by any 

 means is possible, this annual dearth of green feed does not so generally 

 occur ; but over the larger part of Victoria a full supply of succulent fodder 

 during the late summer, autumn, and winter months is onl\- possible where 

 fodder crops or grass, cut green, have been preserved in the form of 

 ensilage. 



Ensilage is a term used to designate green fodder that has been pre- 

 served in bulk in such a condition that its original succulent condition 

 and feeding proj^erties are retained. When therefore ensilage is fed to 

 stock, approximately the same results are obtainable from it as from the 

 same weight of the fodder when it is freshly cut or of grass when it is 

 g;azed. 



This method of preserving green fodder has been known and practised 

 for verv manv } ears past ; and, while it has not yet received the widespread 

 attention from stock owners in Australia that its value warrants, yet 

 piobably in every district of the State there are .some who have ]>roved 

 b\- practical test the inestimable value of ensiled fodder for all stock. The 

 scientific investigation of the process of ensilage making dates back to 

 1875 when Goffart published the results of some successful experiments 

 with silage carried out by himself in France; and since then the use of 

 the silo in its various forms has become gradually more common throughout 

 Europe. America, and Australia. 



