ENSILAGE 143 



seasons, be the exception. Grass will continue to be turned 

 into hay very much as heretofore. When a farmer can convert 

 his grass into hay in three genial days, it is improbable that 

 he will consent to cart nearly four times the weight of green 

 fodder to the silo, with the risk of failure in the end. 



Still, it has been clearly demonstrated that in wet 

 summers the silo or silage stack is an immense boon. In 

 districts where the average of seasons is unfavourable to hay- 

 making, ensilage has materially modified the conditions of 

 profitable farming. The reports of greatest success come from 

 farms worked under the alternate system of three or four years' 

 leys. Prescriptions of grasses, clovers, &c, specially adapted 

 for growing suitable herbage for the silo produce the best 

 silage. 



Lattermath grass may with advantage be sent to the silo 

 or silage stack, on account of the difficulty of making hay in 

 autumn, and, as the late crop has the reputation of possessing 

 more 'proof than the summer cutting, it will be all the more 

 valuable for ensilage. The decision to convert a crop of grass 

 into silage should be acted upon from the outset. It is a 

 mistake to suppose that hay badly washed by rain can yield 

 good silage. 



The cost of labour in making silage is not generally 

 higher than the cost of haymaking in ordinary weather, 

 and is decidedly less than the outlay for haymaking in bad 

 weather. In wet seasons, too, the hay is not only more 

 costly to make, but when made is of low feeding quality ; 

 so that silage in such years- will not only be cheaper but 

 superior. 



Those who have tried silage as food for dairy cows are 

 practically unanimous in its favour, although there is some risk 

 in feeding it alone. In fattening bullocks, however, the 

 Rothamsted experiments prove that for putting on flesh, 

 swedes and mangels have a considerable advantage over grass 

 or clover silage, whether sweet or sour. 



