224 Ensilage. 



which way the cattle had better stand may be decid- 

 ed by the method of handling the manure. If the 

 stables are to be cleaned daily by wheeling the 

 manure in a barrow to a compost pile, then the cat- 

 tle better stand facing, so as to be most convenient 

 for feeding the soiling crops, which, of course, 

 must be brought in on a wagon. Where the barn is 

 already built, and there is not room for a drive 

 through from end to end, the cattle may stand in 

 rows cross ways of the barn, or the soiling crops may 

 be driven into the barn on the floor above, and fed 

 down to the cattle in a shoot. With silos at the end 

 of the barn, the silage may be thrown into a wagon 

 from either silo through a shoot, and thus carted in 

 front of the cows, and fed directly from the wagon 

 into the mangers, in case the cows stand facing the 

 floor, which is on a level with the top of manger, 

 as is the four-foot passage shown on page 223. 



Stacking Ensilage. 



The method adopted in England has been to stack 

 the ensilage, but the practice never became gen- 

 eral, as the}' do not grow maize or Indian corn, and 

 only the grasses, clover, oats, vetches, etc., arc 

 treated in this manner when the seasons are un- 

 favorable for curing them. While any green plant 

 may be ensilaged, corn is probably the only cro]i 

 that will ever find universal favor for that purpose. 

 The stacking process with hay is a most laborious 

 process, and, therefore, has not come into general 



