123 



Ensilage. 



(GKASS.) 



The preservation of green fodder, in an undried state, for winter 

 feeding is not a recent discovery. The long and severe winters 

 which prevail in Canada compelled the stock-keepers of that 

 country to adopt the system long before it became familiar to 

 farmers in Great Britain.^ At first an underground silo, or a 

 special construction above ground, was considered imperative, but 

 it was soon discovered that air could be excluded from forage 

 stored in old barns and outhouses, and ensilage has even been 

 made in casks. It is therefore obvious that costly buildings are 

 not essential, and the erection of them has practically ceased. 

 The silage stack, however, is rapidly increasing in favour. By 

 this contrivance sweet or sour ensilage can be made at will, 

 and the atmosphere can be effectually prevented from injuring 

 more than a few inches of the exterior of the fodder. The 

 stack also offers an advantage over the fixed silo as it can 

 be erected on any spot that will save haulage and facilitate 

 feeding. 



Subtropical plants such as Maize and Sorghum are expressly 

 grown for conversion into- ensilage, and almost every kind of 

 herbage which this country produces has been experimented 

 upon with more or less satisfactory results. Here I am only con- 

 cerned with the process in relation to grass, and, so far as its 

 application to this crop is concerned, I am persuaded that the 



• In so different a climate as that of the islands of the South Seas the natives avail 

 themselves of the principle of the silo for the preservation of bread-fruits. 



