234 



TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



mission on Vegetable Products, and 

 nauch valuable information was distri- 

 buted. 



Before giving some details concerning 

 the introduction of the silo into these 

 Colonies, it may be mentioned that there 

 are now a very great many in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland, and hundreds of 

 new ones are being built every year. The 

 Messrs. Trepplin, near Kenilworth, War- 

 wickshire, preserve over 5,000 tons every 

 year, and at the Smithfield Club Cattle 

 Show, Islington, 1884, there were 25-1 ex- 

 hibits entered for competition, compris- 

 ing almost every description of plant 

 that could be placed in a silo. 



Australian Silos. 

 To Mr. Charles Kake, of Olive Eanii, 

 Enfield, South Australia, is the credit of 

 introducing the silo into these Colonies. 

 Mr. Eake has for a long time been in the 

 habit of taking in all the best agricul- 

 tural papers in the world, and, observ- 

 ing the apparent success of the silo in 

 America, was not slow to imitate the ex- 

 ample. As early as 1880 Mr. Eake built 

 his first silo, and the whole neighbour- 

 hood thought he was doomed to disap- 

 pointment when they saw him putting in 

 tons of succulent green fodder into a 

 pit. Mr. Rake invited his neighbours 

 to come and see the opening of the silo 

 six months afterwards, and, to the sur- 

 price of all, found the fodder coming out 

 in excellent condition. Mr. Eake the 

 following year increased his silo capacity 

 to six in number. By this means he was 

 able to produce first-class cream and 

 butter all the year round. 



Mr. J. L. Thompson, who was manag- 

 ing "Beef acres," the adjoining estate, at 

 that time, on seeing the success of Mr. 

 Hake's silos, was induced to imitate his 

 example, and in 1884 he built a silo of 

 concrete, which for strength, durability, 

 and convenience, will compare favour- 

 ably with any silo in the world. This 

 silo consists of four compartments, each 

 20 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 15 feet 

 deep, having a total capacity of 14,000 

 cubic feet, and capable of holding 300 

 tons of green fodder. The cost was about 

 £300, and the structure will last 

 sixty years, bar accident. A sample 



of ensilage from the first fill- 

 ing of this silo obtained a prize of £10 

 10s., presented by the proprietors of the 

 "Australasian" at the National Show, 

 Melbourne, 1885. 



When carrying on dairying at the 

 well-known Spring Bank dairy farm near 

 Egerton, Mr. Wilson used to incur heavy 

 losses every summer, owing to the sudden 

 shrinkage in the cpantity of milk when 

 the grass dried up. Ensilage being re- 

 commended as a summer fodder, he had 

 a silo constructed and filled with chaffed 

 green oats, peas, and maize. The oats 

 and peas were cut and put into the silo 

 in the month of November, and from the 

 same land a crop of maize was ready for 

 the silo by the following April or May. 

 Thus two crops a year were had from the 

 same land, giving an average yield, in 

 the green state, of about 20 tons per acre. 

 The ensilage always turned out well, and 

 lessened the dread of dry summers, 

 scarcity of summer feed, and shortage of 

 milk. 



Further practical proof of the value of 

 ensilage for milk-producing purposes, 

 when other feed was scarce, was given at 

 the grounds attached to Government 

 House, Melbourne. Shortly after the 

 arrival in Victoria of Lord Hopetoun, 

 Mr. Wilson, by desire, superintended the 

 cultivation of 3| acres of poor land at 

 Government House for the growth of two 

 crops a year on it for conversion into 

 ensilage for feed for the Governor's cows 

 during the summer months. This also 

 was a great success, for by applying 30 

 loads of stable manure per acre to the 

 land a crop of twelve tons per acre of oats 

 and vetches was obtained, followed in the 

 autumn by a twelve-ton crop of maize. 

 This fodder, grown on 3^ acres of land, 

 kept twelve cows in splendid condition 

 right through the whole of the dry 

 weather each summer. The milk and 

 cream produced by the cows fed on the 

 ensilage were pronounced by Lord Hope- 

 toun to be equally as good as when the 

 cows were fed on the spring pastures. 

 These facts have been repeated to far- 

 mers in almost every part of Victoria, 

 yet, strange to say, not one in a thousand 

 has yet adopted the system. 



