ON THE SILO. 



practical results. According to the material at hand and climatic 

 conditions, there are certain to be slight variations to all rules. 



Fodder grown under crowded conditions, where the sunlight can- 

 not reach it, is not by any means so valuable as a cow food as fodder 

 grown in the sunlight and under full conditions. It is also better 

 to grow heavy yielding fodders in order to economise labor in cul- 

 tivation and handling. In this respect the lighter sorghums and 

 the heavier variety of maize will be found suitable and much more 

 profitable 'than lighter crops. Take, for example, 20 acres o-f ''Plan- 

 ter's Friend," which is one of the sorghum 'family and a heavy 

 yielder. Put the rent of the land down at 305. per acre for six 

 months, is 15. Ploughing, sowing, and seed at 305. per acre is 

 30. Cutting, carting, and stacking at 355. per acre is 35 ; in- 

 cidental expenses, say, 10. We have a total expenditure ot 90, 

 which is a liberal allowance. Against this we have 20 acres of 

 " Planter's Friend," yielding at the rate of 20 tons of green food, 

 which is equal to 400 tons at a cost of 45. 6d. per ton. Maize, on 

 the other hand, at the rate of 10 tons per acre, or a total o-i 200 

 tons, which would cost much less to harvest, but of much better 

 feeding value per ton, could be conserved at the rate of 45. per ton, 

 which is very important and worthy of notice. 



Conceding that the system of silage which has been described will 

 preserve fodder in a comparatively fresh state, the chief question 

 at once asserts itself: " How shall this process be applied to general 

 stock -feeding in order to make a complete system by which animals 

 may be grown, yield milk, and be fattened ?" As Stewart says : 

 " Ensilage, as generally discussed in this country, has been used to 

 signify preserved green corn. This single food is quite inadequate 

 for the complex wants of the animal system. It is deficient in 

 albuminoids to nourish the muscular system, and deficient in the 

 phosphates to build the bones. Yet it is a very valuable ingredient 

 in the ration of animals because of the large weignt grown upon 

 an acre, and because it is relished by all farm animals. A complete 

 ration for dairy cows is 4olb. corn silage, 5lb. of bran, and 5lb. oi 

 gluten food." Much, however, will depend on the quality of the 

 silage and the animal.. 



In many districts where the farmers cannot afford to erect costly 

 silos, or even to purchase the necessary appliances for stocking 

 under high pressure, they simply build an ensilage stack after the 

 style of a haystack, being very careful to keep the top of the -fodder, 

 whatever it mav be, on the outer part of the stack to the outside. 

 These tops act as a shield against heavy rain, and as these tops 

 become dry they form into hay and protect the main body of the 

 stack from loss. When the stack is completed about zit. of straw 

 is placed on top, then sheets of old iron, and finally weighted with 

 logs. It is said that the waste sustained by this process of stacking 

 is very small indeed,and its adoption is often urged as a system of 

 conserving fodder by some of our most practical farmers, who have 

 adopted it themselves. 



ft must, however, be borne in mind that both failure and success 

 seem to follow almost any system of making silage. Whether it be 

 the happy-go-lucky style which some farmers adopt through life or 

 not, the fact remains that reports are being constantly circulated 

 by the farmers of these failures and successes throughout our dairy- 

 ing districts. But the main complaint is that only but a very few 

 farmers adopt any system of conservation 'of fodder. The fault of 

 this is no doubt largely due to the lease system of our dairy farming 

 districts. Therefore, there is a remedy, if the farmers will use it. 



In any district where the pasture grasses are of such a nature as 

 to afford too much fodder during the summer months and little or 

 none in the winter months, it must be patent to any dairyman that 



313. 



