92 H. E. STEVENS ON ENSILAGE. 



and lambs were healthy. Don't know what it costs to keep sheep ; 

 less than on same crops fed dry, because they ate all stalk and leaf 

 clean. I think sheep thrive fully as well on ensilage as on hay : can't 

 say further. 



I practised " soiling " until I learned ensilage, but not since, as I 

 consider this method of feeding much the best. 



In addition to the fact that fodder thus preserved has no tendency 

 to scour or bloat cattle, another important advantage is gained by this 

 process. These fodder-crops may be allowed to attain a much larger 

 and more substantial growth before cutting than is practicable when 

 the same crops are fed fresh from the field. 



During my absence from home in the summer of 1879, my foreman 

 had inadvertently allowed a field of about four acres of pearl-millet to 

 attain so large and hard a growth that my cows wholly rejected the 

 stalks, and would eat only the leaves when the millet was offered 

 them green. 



By way of experiment, and without much confidence in the result, 

 I cut about one-fourth of this field, and filled one of my pits with it. 

 The remainder of the field was cured by drying in shocks in the 

 ordinary way. This last was found so near worthless for feeding 

 dry, that it was used for litter in the barnyards, and for covering 

 ice. That preserved in the pit was opened and fed in April last. 

 My cows ate it all, leaf and stalk, eagerly, without any loss or waste 

 whatever ; and it was fully equal in value to the same quantity of the 

 best corn-fodder preserved in the pits. 



First, The preserving pits must be wholly air-tight, so that when 

 sealed the air cannot come in contact with the food preserved. 



Second, The pits should be of such form and dimensions as will 

 best facilitate the settling and compacting of the food into a solid 

 mass, and when opened for feeding will expose as small a part of the 

 surface to the atmosphere as practicable. 



Third, The fodder must be cut green, when in the best condition 

 or in bloom, passed immediately through the cutting-machine to 

 reduce it to uniform short lengths of not more than one inch, and at 

 once be deposited and trod firmly into the pit ; sufficient salt being 

 used to render it palatable, but no more. As fermentation, which 

 will commence at once, proceeds, and the mass settles, the cutting 

 and treading-in of fresh fodder must be continued at intervals of 

 thirty-six to forty-eight hours (depending upon the rapidity with 

 which fermentation and settling proceeds) , until settling has ceased, 

 and no more can be trod into the pit. 



