'^5^ journal of Agriculture. [ri Oct., 1909. 



nothing in the heat idea, as first-class silage has been made in iron silos 

 in hotter places than Tongala, while bad silage has been made in pits in 

 ab localities. 



Messrs. Hargreaves and Sons, Mandurang, found no difficult\ : — 

 " The material used in filling was maize. It has given every satisfaction, being 

 a splendid sample of silage. It was half full. We started to use it on the isth 

 of May, and are still using it. We have been feeding 27 cows on it all the time. 

 We will fill the silo to the top in the spring with oats, and, later on, in the autumn 

 with Japanese millet. We have tried this fodder, and consider it better tlian maize, 

 as it is much easier to handle. When the maize grows very high, as it does with 

 us, it is bad to cut with the binder. There was very little mouldy silage around 

 the sides. We put straw on the top, and weighted it with about 2 tons of slabs, but 

 consider it unnecessar\-. About 6 inches on the top was mouldy. In conclusion, 

 we can say without fear of contradiction that it is the best method obtainable of 

 conserving and feeding fodder, other than lucerne. We have 10 acres of this 

 fodder which we intend to make in future entirely into hay. This, fed in con- 

 nexion with the silage and their daily pasture and a little bran, will bring us as 

 near to a balanced ration as it is possible to get." 



Although lucerne makes good silage, if care be taken, there does not 

 seem to be the same profit, as compared with making it into hay, as there 

 is with the other fodders. Generally speaking, it is advisable to make 

 lucerne into hay to be used as a protein pro\i(ler with silage ma<le from 

 the less rich crops. 



Mr. D. H. Coghill, Tatong, is interesting: — 



" The silo was immediately used for a crop of sorghum (about 4^ acres) with a 

 little maize. Owing to an unfortunate delay in starting to build it, the frosts cut 

 the sap out of the le;ives. To my surprise, it has turned out far better than I ex- 

 pected. The cows are really greedy for it. In my opinion, had the sap been 

 there, it would have made a splendid sample. I find that the cows are able to 

 digest almost all the hard seeds ; so opposite to the scandalous waste in feeding 

 green. My opinion has always 'been that green maize or sorghum, chaffed, is pre- 

 ferable, in that there is no waste, it is easier for the cow, and there is no damage 

 to the pasture through being trampled over while feeding. This I clearly proved 

 by feeding it just chaffed during a spell of very wet weather, which delayed the 

 filling, and in which we would have been unable to either cut or cart it out of the 

 paddock. I was feeding 45, down to 28 cows, since May, and now feed 28 on 

 about 15 lbs. of silage with 10 lbs. of oaten hay chafi scalded. 



" Re struts and posts. In almost all ground I would advise discarding them, the 

 same as I did. Just specify ^ 6-ft. redgum or grey bo.\ fencing post, to be 6 inches 

 X 4 inches small end with a large butt, say 12 inches .\ 6 inches or better still 16 inches 

 X 7 inches. In the centre of the bays I put a short post, and bolted to bottom 

 hoops. A leather belt elevator I had was a failure, owing to the sap making the 

 leather wet and causing it to stretch and slip." 



Mr. E. J. Savige w-rites from Narracan, a district where considerable 

 trouble has been experienced in making good silage from oats : — 



" I filled my silo three-quarters full last November with Algerian oats. It was 

 very dry here then, so I commenced feeding right away, not putting any weigiit 

 on the silage at all. There was a lot of waste — about 3 tons. It was bad all 

 round the sides, and one patch I struck about half-way down, and extending to 

 the bottom. It was a very dark colour, and appeared to be burnt. The cows 

 would not eat it unless it was well mixed with the good stuff. I did not expect my 

 stull to turn out well last year on account of having such a lot of bother with the 

 elevator and oil engine. I was fourteen days getting it in, so you can see the silo 

 did not have a fair trial. I fed twenty cows for about fourteen weeks, giving each 

 cow 26 lbs. per day, and they kept up in their milk very well. In fact, my returns 

 are the best I have had during the nine years of my dairying exnerience. I hope 

 to have less waste this year. I put in about 9 tons of maize after I had finished the 

 oats. I find the oats a long wav before the maize for milk producing. I think 



if I had filled the silo within three days and then put on about 3 tons of earth I 

 would have had very little waste." 



Mr. W. Rendell, Picola, relates: — 



" We filled it thiee-parts full with an oat crop that we could see would be a 

 failure through the drv season we were having. (The Goulburn Vallev did not get 



