740 THE KAKMEKS' HANDBOOK. 



SECTIOINT XX 



Silos and Silage* 



The disastrous drought of 1902 was repeated in 1919 with more or less 

 severity throughout the whole of New South Wales. As a matter of fact, 

 almost every year some portion of the State feels the effects of a prolonged 

 absence of rain, or of a cold winter, when little or no feed is available for 

 stock. During these droughts and times of shortage of feed, farmers and 

 graziers alike talk of the need of fodder conservation, resignedly taking the 

 consequences of not being prepared, and swear that they will not be caught 

 again — only to forget their good resolutions when better seasons and times 

 of plenty come again. 



For the Department to preach conservation of fodder in the midst of times 

 of distress is useless, but when times are normal and the harvest a bumper 

 one, the wisdom of a careful consideration of the advantages of silage as a 

 means of averting, or at least minimising, the disastrous effects of drought, 

 is urged upon farmers, dairymen, and pastoralists. 



By converting into succulent and nutritious fodder, -material (such as 

 surplus grasses, herbage, and crops) that would not otherwise be used, silage 

 effects a saving, which, if the practice was universal thoughout the State, 

 would be of almost incalculable value, the more so, as silage can be made 

 anywhere in New South Wales, and is adaptable to the particular conditions 

 obtaining in every part. 



It is inexpensive, even though the cost of installing the silo, in the event 

 of one being necessary, may seem to some to be large. A brief survey of the 

 losses of stock and of the money paid for fodder at famine prices will soon 

 bring conviction as to the wisdom and economy of the practice of silage 

 making. And there is no possibility of waste even though the silo -remain 

 full and unused by reason of good seasons for several consecutive years. 

 It has not been necessary in this country to keep silage for any length 

 of time, but in the United States it has been successfully kept without 

 deterioration for thirteen years. 



The feeding value of silage is high ; it enables dairy cows to produce milk 

 and butter-fat moie abundantly ; it produces fat beef more quickly than 

 pasture, and more economically than dry feed ; and it is of inestimable value 

 as succulent feed for lambing ewes and for fattening young lambs and calves. 

 A silo, will also enable feed to be utilised that by reason of a rainy season 

 cannot be converted into hay. Altogether it is estimated that the use of 

 silage will increase the carrying capacity of an ordinary farm by 25 per cent. 

 Considering all its merits, it is rather inexplicable that more silage is not 

 made by farmers. Apparently the chief reason is because it is thought that 

 the making is a complicated process, in which special skill and knowledge 

 are required. As a matter of fact, it is simpler and easier to make than hay. 

 In haymaking a considerable amount of judgment is required, as it is easy 

 to make a mistake in putting it in before it is properly dry. The difficulty 

 seems to be that farmers, being used to making hay, cannot realise that good 

 feed can be made from green, sappy material. The processes of silage-making 

 and haymaking are somewhat analogous to fruit canning and fruit drying. 

 If the farmer, knowing that his wife cooks the fruit and then puts it in a 



