The idea that silage to be kept for any length of time must be 

 conserved in pits, is n>>\v completely exploded. In Australia very 

 lew silage pits are now made, and it has been found that the stack 

 silage is much better for pasture animals than that made in pits. 

 Silage that has undergone a thorough fermentation in stack turns 

 out of a dark colour with a sweet aromatic flavor, while pit silage 

 in which the fermentation is checked by heavy pressure is usually 

 of a green color, and quite sour. Sheep do not take kindly to this 

 sour fodder. In the experiment in stack ensilage made on the 

 Liverpool Plains the stacks were weighted with about a foot of 

 earth placed on the top, but on several Victorian farms weighting 

 stack silage is entirely done away with, and the stock eat every bit 

 of the fodder. 



One of the largest makers of silage in Australia is Mr. C. H. 

 Lyon, of Ballanee, Victoria. He uses neither silage pit nor 

 pressure. As a result of his experience no pressure is necessary, 

 and the silage to be good should be subjected to a thorough 

 fermentation. If a large stack of silage is built up rapidly, the 

 great pressure on the lower portion of the fodder prevents this 

 fermentation, and the result is sour silage that cattle will eat if 

 pressed for food, but that sheep will not touch. In a pamphlet 

 which Mr. Lyon published some time back, he gives the following 

 results of his experiment in feeding sheep on silage : " Within the 

 last year and a half I have fed 14,000 sheep on silage, and all these, 

 with the exception of 1300, were Riverina wethers. In two stacks 

 of silage I had about 1700 tons. It cost me is. 6d. a ton, and saved 

 a loss of 2000. In one instance I was enabled to hold on 8000 

 sheep until rain came. I then sold them well. This last winter I 

 kept nearly 4000 sheep, fed principally on silage. I will get more 

 for the wool of these sheep than I could have got for the sheep 

 themselves four months ago." 



Mr. Lyon's stacks were made 40 feet square, and carried to a 

 good height, but there is no occasion to make stacks of such large 

 size ; indeed for the purposes of the pastoralist, smaller stacks 

 scattered over the run would be more beneficial. They are safe 

 against bush-tires and with a slight covering of earth might be left for 

 years until required. Silage may be made in any weather. Mr. 

 Lyon states that during the making of a large stack, 274 tons of 

 water fell on each acre of land on which he was working, and yet 

 he made 1000 tons of excellent silage when it would have been 

 impossible to make a ton of good hay. The stack was 44 x 38 feet 

 and 22 feet to the eaves, and was left entirely without pressure. I do 

 not think it is necessary to advocate the making of silage on the 

 sheep-walk as a reserve of excellent food during a period of drought. 

 The experiments already made in most of the Australian colonies 

 have fully demonstrated the value of this description of fodder. It 

 has proved as useful in the districts of ample rainfall as in the great 

 thirst land of Central Australia. 



