144 THE GRASSES— SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 



In case it may be convenient to cut the green crop 

 before the blooming stage, fine weather must be chosen 

 and the cut fodder allowed to lie all day, or perhaps 

 longer, to allow some of the excess moisture to evapo- 

 rate. Green Eye especially, which contains a good 

 deal of moisture, should be carefully dried before 

 ensiling if it is not sufficiently matured. Experiments 

 prove that fodder containing too much moisture never 

 turns out first-class silage. A cut crop should not be 

 allowed to remain in the field until it is to a certain 

 extent dried and dead. The first filling of the silo 

 should be rather drier than the rest of the fodder ; 

 about two feet deep should be put in the first day, and 

 about four feet every succeeding day till the silo is full, 

 after which it may be filled up every other day as it 

 sinks. When filling the sUo, the fodder should be 

 well trodden close to the walls. ^ 



For about ;{'20 a silo could be built i6 feet long, 

 12 feet wide, and 12 feet deep, made of wood, roofed 

 with corrugated iron, and weighted with a continuous 

 weight. This would hold about 50 tons of ensilage. 



We would recommend farmers to try ensilage, mak- 

 ing on a small scale at first, and then to extend the 

 system as they found it advantageous. Where the 

 fodder crop is to be consumed on the farm during the 

 winter months, ensilage is preferable to hay-making — 

 inasmuch as it preserves more of the constituents of 

 the original crop than hay does. — (Abridged frofli 

 Goulding's " Farmers' Diary.") 



KALLANTYNE PKESS: EDINBURGH AND LONDON 



