882 CATTLE-BREEDING. 



served through weeks and months in a green 

 state in a compact form and fed with great 

 advantage. The juices of the plants undergo a 

 fermentation which does not impair their use- 

 fulness if properly conducted; but it is neces- 

 sary that the silo should be so constructed as 

 to exclude all air, as the hermetic sealing of 

 the silo is an essential condition of this fer- 

 mentation taking place without souring. New 

 appliances are making the construction of silos 

 more and more easy and satisfactory, and the 

 time is probably not far off when the use of 

 ensilage will be quite common. There is cer- 

 tainly immense scope for the development of 

 such a system. The difficulties are of course 

 very real and very patent. The cost of the silo 

 is considerable, and in most sections of the 

 country the making of silage has not passed 

 beyond the stage of experiment. The cost of 

 labor, too, tells heavily in these days of slow 

 returns and small profits. But greater than 

 any other difficulty is the general want of prac- 

 tical knowledge which has caused many who 

 have made the experiment to fail, and discour- 

 aged others who would otherwise have been 

 glad to make the attempt. This will, no doubt, 

 give way before greater experience, and in a 

 dozen years or more ensilage is likely to play 

 an "important part in our farm economy. 

 Let me now give an average case taken 



