7~>6 THE farmers' handbook. 



The conservation of silage will enable the farmer to adopt such a system 

 with greater certainty of making a good profit directly from his green crops, 

 as wel' as indirectly by improving the present yield, because it will place him 

 in the position of being able to stock the land to its full capacity. Unless 

 such a reserve is held it is unsafe to do so, as the green crops may fail to 

 grow at the expected time owing to the absence of rain. 



Further, it enables him to lamb his ewes with certainty. Should a dry 

 season threaten at the mating time he need not be afraid to join in the 

 usual way. 



Another consideration which should weigh heavily with anyone who has 

 to deal with stock, is the. enormous load of anxiety which is lifted from the 

 mind of the fortunate possessor of silage. The man who has a good reserve 

 can carry his sheep along on the grass up to what may be called the last 

 moment ; and then when in the ordinary course some of the weaker ones 

 would be dying through lack of food, he can turn to his silage with the 

 satisfactory feeling that although things have got pretty bad he is still right 

 for a further few months, and that it is very unlikely that it will not rnia 

 before his feed supply runs out. 



Choice of the Site. 



The main consideration is that the place selected should have a non-porous 

 soil. To make sure of this it would be advisable to sink a trial shaft to a 

 depth of 12 feet. The place should be above flood-level if convenient, but, 

 provided it is not in a swamp, any place with the requisite subsoil will 

 answer, as part of the earth taken from the pit can, in country liable to 

 inundation, be deposited in a bank around the pit, say 40 feet to 50 feet 

 distant, so as to prevent flood-water entering, and at the same time leave 

 plenty of room to work drays between the bank and the edge of the pit. 



Two instances have come under notice where a white pipeclay underlay 

 a stiff red-clay subsoil. The excavation was continued into the underlying 

 shale for some feet, but the soakage from the white clay bands needed 

 constant attention. This trouble continued after the pits were bricked and 

 cemented, but was overcome in one instance by placing joists in the bottom 

 and covering them with flooring boards, and excavating a small well on 

 one side to hold the accumulated drippings. A pump was permanently 

 fixed for the purpose of occasionally pumping the pit out. In the instance 

 where this was not done, the silage was spoilt. 



It might be suggested that farmers who find, after sinking some distance, 

 that the pit is leaking from any stratum of soil, should cease deepening, 

 or get the desired depth in the silo by erecting above ground, or else should 

 make some provision to remove the water when it accumulates. The risk 

 of water soaking into shallow pits is not so great. 



A dairy-farmer should select a site- handy to the milking and feeding 

 yards. It would be better for this class of farmer to grow crops for silage 

 as near as possible to the feeding place. Where it is a matter of feeding 

 silage to stock other than milking cows, the area under forage crops may be 

 anywhere on the run, and pits may be excavated convenient to the crop. 



Making the Pits. 



The best practice is to make pits to hold about 100 tons each. It is 

 better, where up to about 1,000 sheep are to be provided for, to make the pits 

 this size rather than larger, as such a pit will feed that number for about two 

 months, and it might happen that it will not be necessary to feed longer. 



