16 



FILLING THE SILO. 



There is no doubt that much material of a hard and 

 fibrous nature, such as rank and hard grasses, are rendered 

 more palatable and digestible by fermentation in a silo, but 

 to make silage entirely or largely composed of such innu- 

 tritious herbage would not give the best results. It should 

 be borne in mind that to make good silage, good green 

 stuff is required, and the fallacy, which is popularly be- 

 lieved, that any weeds or old stuff is good enough for the 

 silo, cannot be too severely criticised. Morgen upon morgen 

 ol' good veldt is annually burned in these colonies, and 

 although the custom seems to be justified by some reasons, 

 we feel that it will yet be the custom to cut down that 

 herbage and to turn it into silage. Grasses should be cut 

 when they begin to flower. It should be stated here that 

 care should be taken that none of the poisonous weeds, 

 such as " tulp " (Homeria collina) and " giftbol " (Buphane 

 disticha) are included, lest the animals be unable to 

 discriminate between them, in their altered state, and the 

 healthy material. 



The most suitable crop for silage in this country we know 

 of is mealies, for heavy }'ields at comparatively little cost 

 can be got, and it makes particularly good silage. For 

 this purpose it should be sown broadcast, and cut after it 

 has come into ear, but before it has become hard and 

 voody. Those varieties should be grown which produce 

 the greatest weight of green forage per acre. The cereals 

 wheat, oats, barley, and rye should be cut while they are 

 still in the milky stage. Lucerne and the other allied 

 forage plants make excellent silage. Whatever is used, 

 however, care should be taken that no immature or over-ripe 

 stuff is used. 



All crops cut for silage should be conveyed to the silo as 

 soon as convenient, and it may even be well to harvest so 

 that the fodder may not have to lie out exposed to the sun 

 or drying effects of wind. As the sil;igc will- be fed in con- 

 junction with some other food-stuff, it is customary to put 

 the fodder through a chaff-cutter before putting it in, as 

 afterwards the operation would be less easily accomplished. 

 When chopped it is also found that it can be more uniformly 

 packed. Should the crop be drier than it ought, some water 

 may be poured over it in the silo. The crop may be cut 

 while still wet from rain or dew, and put in at oiice with- 

 out any ill effects. As a quantity of soluble nitrogenous 

 and other matter is always formed in a silo, and as they 



