146 ENSILAOB. 



every desirable species of grass to be cultivated in the greatest 

 abundance possible. In this country we seldom, if ever, find any 

 area that is covered at every point with only the best kind or kinds 

 of fodder grass. Hence the first thing to do is to sow or plant up 

 the land with good species, after levelling the ground and laying 

 out the irrigation channels. 



Certain kinds of grasses, especially those which spread by means 

 of runners, may be planted ; the rest are best sown at the rate of 

 from 20 to 40 lbs. of seed to the acre, according to the species used. 

 The usual method of preparing the land, which will probably never 

 be superseded, is to plough it up and top-dress it with manure. 

 This method can give in the very first year of cultivation as much 

 as 600 maunds of green doob {Cynodon Dactylon) per acre. Gene- 

 ral Ottley's system, which is said to increase the yield by at least 

 30 per cent, by giving eight cuttings per annum at the rate of 56 

 maunds of green grass each per acre, and to get rid of the soda 

 efflorescence in reh soils, consists in excavating the soil to a depth 

 of 18 inches, putting in a 9-inch layer of fresh litter or other manure 

 and returning the earth, thoroughly sifted, over the manure. 

 Finally, the area is divided off into beds 3 feet wide and enclosed 

 by a ridge of earth to hold the irrigation water. The system has 

 not yet had a fair trial, but it is beyond question a most costly one, 

 and for that reason alone can never be generally adopted. 



The land should be irrigated once every two, three, or even four 

 weeks, the soil being flooded and thoroughly drenched each time. 



It is evident that in irrigated preserves grazing cannot be per- 

 mitted and the grass can only be cut. 



Section IV.— Ensilage. 



Silage is fodder obtained by storing green material under con- 

 tinued compression and exclusion of air. 



The simplest method of making silage is to excavate a rectangu- 

 lar pit not less than 8 feet deep, in a stiff soil impervious to air. 

 In order to pack the fodder close and thus diminish the quantity 

 of air necessarily left in the pit, it should be chopped short and 

 stratified, each stratum being ^Yell trodden down by men and boj's 

 before the next one is laid on. The thickness of the layers, when 

 completely settled, should not exceed 3 inches, and the shortness of 

 chopping will depend on the stiffness of the material to be ensil- 

 aged. If the temperature of the air is much under 95° Fah., a new 

 stratum must not be put on until a certain degree of fermentation 

 vhas occurred in the one previously laid down. This fermenta- 



