i8 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [lo Jan., 1912. 



When to Cut a Crop for Silage. 



The time at which to cut a crop for silage varies with the different 

 varieties usually ensiled. Thus, maize, one of the principal crops grown 

 for silage, is ready when the bottom leaves are drying off and the grain 

 is doughy and glazing. The same applies to sorghum, amber cane, 

 planter's friend, millet, or teosinte. Oats, wheat, barley, rye, &c. , should 

 be ensiled when on the turn from the green to ripening stage ; the grain 

 will then be fairly full but milky. With weeds, thistles, wild oats, &c., 

 it is necessary to ensile them as soon as the pollen appears, so as to 

 prevent the seed from fouling the ground during the following season. 

 When ensiling any immature growth it is necessary to mix some drier 

 fodder with it to counteract the excessive moisture and thus prevent a soft 

 mushy sour silage resulting. 



As legumes, such as beans, clovers, lucerne, peas, and vetches, have 

 been found to give as good value when dry cured as hay, it is not ad- 

 visable to ensile them, except as portion of a mixture. When ensiled by 

 themselves the loss of food properties is greater than the gain in palata- 

 bility and digestibility, the loss in the most valuable nutrients being the 

 heaviest. 



Filling the Silo. 



Briefly, it may be stated that the preservation of green fodder as 

 silage depends on the fermentation going on in the mass, which is con- 

 trolled by the amount of air present. Should an excess of air be 

 allowed entry, then decomposition sets in and the material is ruined. 



There are two recognized varieties of silage — sweet and sour. By 

 sour, it must not be understood that the material is in any way offensive; 

 it is pale greenish yellow in colour with a vinous odour. Sweet silage, on 

 the other hand, is of a brown colour and has a sweet luscious odour. The 

 sour variety is found more suitable for milking cows, while the sweet has 

 been recommended for fattening stock. 



Slow filling and well trampling, by keeping a minimum of air in the 

 silo, arrests the fermentation ; the temperature does not rise above 90 deg. 

 Fahr., and sour silage is produced, whilst by quick filling the air is not so 

 well drawn out, the temperature rises to 120 deg., or even to 150 deg. 

 Fahr., and sweet silage is obtained. 



Filling too quickly is not considered an advantage on account of the 

 liability of the mass to generate too great a heat with the result that the 

 silage is liable to decompose. On the other hand, filling too slowly is 

 liable to result in a cooling off of the material before sealing the mass 

 down, with the result that loss ensues. 



Before commencing to fill the silo, the interior wall should be lime 

 washed with a thick wash made of lime and skim milk. This may be 

 done each evening after filling, using the silage as a stage. The wash 

 is put on to protect the lining of the silo against the acid juices of the 

 silage, and must never be neglected nor applied thinly. 



Unless unavoidable, the crop or material intended for silage should 

 not be cut until it has reached the proper stage of maturity. 



Every effort should be made to ensile the material the same day as 

 it is cut in the field. 



In order to exclude as much air as possible and economize space, it 

 is necessary to reduce the fodder to a fine mass before filling into the 

 silo. It is therefore necessary to pass it through a chaff or silage cutter 

 and cut it into half to three-quarters of an inch in length. From the 



