622 



and reproduce themselves. Such a block of land, if kept always 

 understocked, will serve the same purpose as the cultivated paddocks 

 of the localities in which the climate and soil are of a more genial 

 nature. The full use of the land thus reserved will not be obtained 

 for grazing, but that is a small insurance to pay for meeting a time 

 of scarcity. 



BUSH HAY. 



The native grasses of Australia are easily made into hay, 

 little labor being required to perform the work beyond cutting 

 and stacking. On a small property on the Liverpool Plains, 

 New South Wales, I saw, some years ago, the plain dotted over 

 with stacks of hay and silage. A good season gave a very heavy 

 crop of grass, and the proprietor decided to make an experiment in 

 conserving fodder. The grass was cut with mowing machines and 

 run into central points (where stacks were erected), with hay sweeps. 

 The stacks were of moderate size, and I was informed that the 

 total cost of putting the hay and silage into stack was scarcely 2s. 

 6d. per ton. When I saw these stacks they had been up a little 

 over a year and both kinds of fodder were excellent, indeed, the 

 manager had to put fences around the silage stacks to preserve them 

 from cattle and horses. 



From the nature of our Australian grasses they require very 

 little manipulation in being made into hay, indeed the trouble is to 

 get the fodder into stack before it becomes too dry. I have seen 

 bush hay made in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, and 

 it has always turned out a most useful fodder for stock. The sheep 

 may not care for it while they can get the growing pasture, but 

 when a drought occurs and the pastures are bare, they are not par- 

 ticular, and will eat bush hay and hold their condition well on it. 



SILAGE. 



This, I believe, is the coming fodder of Australia. It is a 

 most useful stand-by for the dairyman in the coastal districts, 

 where the soil is rich and the rainfall generally ample, but in the 

 interior it is invaluable for all kinds of stock. With a moderate 

 supply of silage the sheep are safe from that accompaniment of a 

 time of drought impaction of the stomach which kills almost as 

 many in such a time as starvation. From what I have learned of 

 experiments made in Australia there seems to be scarcely a limit to 

 the time this fodder will retain its value. 



Many years ago, during a season of luxuriant groxvth, a stack 

 of silage was made on the Mt. Abundance estate, Queensland. The 

 stack was left for over seven years, and much of the sides fell away, 

 almost in dust. It was so dried up that the men who went occa- 

 sionally to that part of the run used to camp on it. Then came a 

 very bad year, when feed was very scanty. The stock gained access 

 to the stack, and every particle of the silage was eaten, even the 

 dry dust the men used to camp in. 



