STACK SILOS. 



It will have been observed by those who have followed 

 us thus far that the whole see ret of success in silage- 

 inaking consists in preventing the entrance of air into the 

 silo. In the pit silo the green stuff, closely packed to the 

 walls and corners, keeps as well as that in the centre of 

 the mass. The initial expense of constructing a pit silo 

 is sometimes considerable. A method of preserving green 

 crops without any excavating or building was in use over 

 twenty years ago in Britain, and in several parts of the 

 Colony it is being practised with success. It is a method 

 which has several advantages, and in our opinion bids fair 

 to be the one which will be most employed in these colonies 

 for a good time to come. 



It is termed the Stack Silo system, and consists of simply 

 building the cut forage into the form of an ordinary stack r 

 and by means of ropes, chains and levers, or by dead weights,, 

 bringing a pressure to bear on the mass. This stack should 

 be built as near as convenient to the place where the silage 

 is to be fed, and it may sometimes, when occasion arises, be 

 constructed on the field where the crop has grown. The 

 site chosen, however, should be one sheltered in the direc- 

 tion of expected strong winds. It should be fenced or 

 otherwise completely protected from, the excursions of 

 stock, else once they find the silage out and obtain a liking 

 for it, it is only with the greatest trouble that they can be 

 persuaded to leave the neighbourhood. It might be as well 

 to mention here, lest it be overlooked by the novice, that a 

 stand should be chosen where there will be no chance of 

 the surface water causing damage. It is nearly always 

 advisable to dig a trench round where it is intended to erect 

 the stack. 



There is a rough method of simply laying the first layer 

 of fodder on the ground and adding thereto, trampling the 

 while until a fair height is attained, after which a covering 

 may be put on, and the heap left to look after itself. The 

 chances of anything like success year after year are against 

 such a reckless course. The surface of the ground should at 

 least be cleaned and levelled down, and some worthless or 

 less valuable material than the crop spread two or three 

 inches deep. ' The bottom of stack silos generally go bad ; 

 by doing as advised loss is prevented. Cutting the sides in, 

 keeping them neat and firm the shavings may be thrown 

 into the stack as the building proceeds, is strongly recom- 

 mended. Fodder chopped into small pieces does not balance 

 in a stack, so that this silo is filled with whole materials. 



