II UCT., 1909.] S//os and SUage. 659 



the grand ruin last October which benehted such a large portion of Victoria.) The oat 

 crop was only a foot high, so it was very short after it was cut. We got a star/'c 

 filling it on 2nd November, and we were a week getting it three-parts full. I am 

 sure we could do it much quicker if we had good stuff to work with. We had no 

 straw for a top layer. In weighting it we used heavy fencing posts, as many as 

 •could be laid on the surface. We started using the silage on 4th December, feed- 

 ing 15 cows, also yOung stock, and we. found the pigs were fond of it as well. The 

 stock that we fed the silage to kept in good condition, and the cows ke])t the flow 

 of milk up fairly well. I should think that a loo-ton silo filled would easily keep 

 30 cows in feed for six months. I estimated what we put in our silo would have made 

 to tons of hay, and when it had properly settled down we must have had 70 or 80 

 tons of silage. W^e cut it with a No. i Buncle chaffcutter, 12-in. mouth, and we 

 used a strong horseworks made by T. l^obinson and Co., with two horses abreast to 

 work it. The horses were quite able to work it. The elevator gave us some trouble, 

 which we will no doubt be able to cure next time. We kept the outer edges of the 

 silage well trampled while filling, and we found when using it about 6 inches of 

 mouldy stuff. I might mention an easy way of getting the posts up to the top of 

 the silo. We hung a single block on the ridge pole and another one to the side of 

 the silo 3 feet from the ground ; then we reeved a rope through the lower block up 

 to the one above and down to the jiosts. We then fastened the po^ts so as they 

 would go up horizontally, using a horse for pulling them up. By nailing a piece 

 of 3 X 2 to the studs where the jiosts are landed you can prevent the iron from 

 getting damaged. I am very pleased with the way the silage turned out, and 

 think it is a splendid food for milking cows, and I think that if the stuff you put 

 in the silo were made into hay it would only last half the time that the same 

 amount would if made into silage." 



Mr. John F. P\>rtune, Yundool, has not had good results though well 

 satisfied. It appears from the notes that the crops were cut rather on the 

 dry side. The addition of some water and salt would have been an 

 improvement : — 



" No. I silo was filled in November with Algerian oats, grain in doughy stage, 

 seed just firm. Silo filled in two days. One man only was in silo trampling the 

 whole time; I was in occasionally. The stuff was trampled only around the sides 

 but it was well done, the man keeping his back to the iron the whole time and 

 working round and round. No weight was applied. I began feeding this silage 

 the first week in December of same year (about a fortnight after filling) to 23 

 cows and 13 head of young stock. Ration : 20 lbs. silage, 3 lbs. wheaten straw 

 chaff, ig lbs. bran, I5 lbs. Algerian oats (whole) twice a day. Daily ration 

 approximately 50 lbs. a day. The result was that the cattle looked splendid and 

 milked well, milking cows averaging £1 per head per month. From 8 inches 

 to I foot of mouldy stuff on top was all eaten up after being thrown out in the 

 paddock; 8 or g inches of mould all around the sides from top to bottom of the 

 silo was mixed with the remainder of silage and eaten each day without any waste. 

 There were no mouldy patches in the body of the stuff, only at sides where 

 trampled. 



" No. 2 silo was filled directly after No. i was finished. I cut a chain wide 

 around all my grain crops, both wheat and oats, as an insurance against fire. 

 The oats was first filled into the silo, and is therefore at the bottom. It took 

 two days to fill the silo. I had two men trampling the whole time, and myself 

 occasionally. No weights were applied, but when filled the top was well wetted, 

 covered with old bags and bags saturated with water. I began feeding this 

 silage on 26th March, 1909. About 15 or 18 inches on top was very mouldy and 

 tig'stly caked. The stock would not eat any of the mouldy stuff. The silage 

 was much darker, a little hotter, and smelt and tasted much more sour. The 

 cows ate it well, and showed a slight increase in milk. About 14 to 16 inches 

 all around the sides was mouldy, much worse than in No. i silo, and was very 

 tif^htly caked. The cows left all mouldy silage in their feeders. At the present 

 time I have not got down to the oaten silage. From past experience, I think that, 

 comparatively speaking, oats make sweet silage and wheat sour silage, and that 

 the less trampling in filling, the less moulrl. This, of course, is contrary (o 

 Departmental teaching, but, nevertheless, that is my oiiinion." 



Mr. Thos. Douglas, Smythe's-road, is pithy : — 



About 2 acres of maize almost filled the silo. The silage was first class quality, 

 the only loss being about 6 inches on top, while the sides were quite good. There 



