SILOS, ENSILAGE AND SILAGE. 29 



pulping roots for cattle are 1 st, economy of food ; for 

 the roots being pulped and mixed with the chaff either 

 from threshing or cut hay or straw, the whole is con- 

 sumed without waste, the animals not being able to 

 separate the chaff from the pulped roots, as is the case 

 when the roots are merely sliced by the common cutter ; 

 neither do they waste the fodder as when given without 

 being cut. 



"2nd. The use of ordinary hay or straw, after being 

 mixed with the pulp for about twelve hours, fermenta- 

 tion commences ; and this soon renders the most mouldy 

 hay palatable, and animals eat with avidity that which 

 they would otherwise reject. 



"This fermentation softens the straw, makes it more 

 palatable, and puts it in a state to assimilate more 

 readily with the other food ; in this respect I think the 

 pulper of great value, particularly upon corn farms where 

 large crops of straw are grown, and where there is a 

 limited acreage of pasture, as by its use the pastures 

 may be grazed, the expensive process of hay making 

 reduced, and consequently an increased number of cattle 

 kept. I keep one-third more, giving the young stock a 

 small quantity of oil-cake, which I mix with the chaff, 

 etc. 



"3d. Choking is utterly impossible, and I have only 

 had one case of hove in three years, and that occurred 

 when the mixture had not been fermented. 



"4th. There is an advantage in mixing the meal with 

 the chaff and pulped roots for fatting animals, as thereby 

 they cannot separate it, and the moisture from the 

 fermentation softens the meal and insures its thorough 

 digestion ; whereas, when given in a dry state without 

 any mixture, frequently a great portion passes away in 

 the manure. "* 



The usual practice was to put a layer of chaffed hay or 



* Jour. Roy. Agr'l Soc., 1859, p. 463. 



