54 SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 



CHAPTER XL 

 THE ENSILAGE OF OTHER CROPS THAN CORN. 



The experiments with ensilage have been, in this coun- 

 try, at least, so generally made with Indian corn, that, 

 in the popular mind, the term is understood to refer to 

 the preservation of that crop. Reference has already 

 been made to the preservation of other crops, and some 

 examples have been given, including one of the success- 

 ful preservation of Brewers' grains for a series of years in 

 a receptacle that is essentially a silo. 



In Germany and France, where large areas are devoted 

 to the cultivation of the Beet as a source of sugar, the 

 closest economy is observed in every step. Indeed, the 

 success of this culture depends largely upon the proper 

 expenditure of the beet-root pulp after the factory has 

 extracted the sugar, or all that it can profitably remove. 



Frost greatly diminishes the yield of sugar ; hence the 

 beets are topped and harvested before there is any danger 

 from this source. As a consequence, the leaves are in 

 excellent condition, being in nearly full growth. While 

 beet-leaves, and especially beet-pulp, contain a large 

 amount of earthy matter, salts of various kinds, that 

 unfit them as an exclusive food for animals, they are of 

 great value when properly mixed with feed of other 

 kinds, and their preservation is an important matter to 

 the farmer who cultivates the sugar-beet. The great 

 mass of beet-tops can not be fed out before it would 

 spoil, and ensilage comes in as an important aid in its 

 preservation. From the accounts given in European 

 works it appears that the beet leaves are merely packed 

 away in pits, and directly in contact with the earth. 



The farmer who delivers his beets at the sugar factory 



