THE AGRICULT 



URAL JOURNAL. 



237 



the ruminant animal. Barley and tares 

 sown immediately after the lirst rains 

 are very suitable and profitable for a first 

 filling. These will be ready to put away 

 in the silo, say, about the 1st of October, 

 and the land can be at once ploughed and 

 sown with maize, which will be fit for 

 pitting about the end of February. As 

 much as 30 tons per acre of fodder has 

 beo'H obtained in this way without irri- 

 gation, i.e., from the two crops. This 

 is sufficient per acre to keep a milch cow 

 for twelve months. Indeed, it has often 

 been proved that by thoroughly culti- 

 vating and manuring the land ample food 

 can be grown on an acre for a cow by 

 adopting the ensilage system. Cock- 

 spurs variegated, and Scotch thistle--, if 

 put away in succulent condition, can be 

 taken out six months later in prime con- 

 dition, and stock will devour them, 

 ravenously. In short, the silo has been 

 styled "the farmer's all" ; nothing can 

 come amiss to it. Mangold or turnip 

 tops, cabbage leaves, surplus fodder of 

 any kind can be siloed and kept tili 

 periods of want. 



We have heard of stock-holders in the 

 interior losing in times of drought all 

 their valuable stud bulls, rams, &c., for 

 want of food. There is really no ex- 

 cuse for this state of affairs. Every few 

 years we have seasons of plenty, when 

 thousands of acres of the natural grasses 

 can be mown and siloed for use in the 

 years of famine. Mr. Walter Lamb, of 

 Kooty Hill and Merilong, Liverpool 

 Plains, New South Wales, has proved to 

 his fellow pastoralists what can be done 

 by means of the silo in storing up fodder 

 in good seasons to save his stock from 

 starvation in periods of drought. Mr. 

 Lamb has siloed over 10,000 tons of the 

 native grasses on his estate at Merilong, 

 and is able to keep a full-grown bullock 

 for twelve months in good condition at a 

 cost of 8s. 9d., and a sheep for Is. 9d. No 

 man has done so much as Mr. Lamb to 

 demonstrate the great . boon that may 

 accrue to the pastoralist in these Colonies 

 from the use of the silo. His silos were 

 inexpensive, but answer the purpose well. 

 The weighting is done entirely with 



earth, and he uses no top covering be- 

 tween the ensilage and the earth. 



The Chemistry of the Silo. 



It is not intended to touch on the 

 scientific aspect of the silo, but this 

 paper would be incomplete without men- 

 tioning that eminent scientists have, as a 

 rule, all through thrown cold water on 

 the subject of ensilage. Professor Cus- 

 tance, of the Roseworthy Agricultural 

 College, South Australia, compared the 

 putting of green fodder in a silo to bury- 

 ing a dead dog. Sir John Lawes and 

 Dr. Volcker have often given the Eng- 

 lish farmers gentle warnings that ensil- 

 age was not worthy of their attention. 

 Lately, however, Sir John has conducted 

 a number of valuable experiments as to 

 the feeding value of ensilage, and has 

 proved that 50 lbs. of ensilage was equal 

 to 84 lbs. of good mangolds. 



Mr. A. N. Pearson, our Government 

 Agricultural Chemist, published the re- 

 sult of an analysis of some ensilage sub- 

 mitted to him, and states that 2 lbs. of it 

 are equal to 3 lbs. of good hay. This 

 shows ensilage to be of great value 

 indeed, and scientific men are now forced 

 to admit there is something in ensilage 

 after all, and certainly progressive far- 

 mers of the present day cannot ignore 

 it. 



Stack Ensilage. 



Ensilage has been preserved in good 

 condition in England by simply stacking 

 it green without any silo at all. Mr. H. 

 B. Hughes, of Booyoolic Station, South 

 Australia, stacked a large paddock of 

 lucerne right from his mowing machine. 

 Some time after his stack was built, when 

 his lucerne was 6 inches high, Mr. 

 Hughes put a number of bullocks on to 

 the lucerne, but getting a taste of the 

 stack ensilage they preferred it to the 

 succulent green feed. This shows that 

 there is something in the system that im- 

 proves the fodder, as the tastes of cattle 

 are the best tests of its quality. Mr. 

 Hughes now provides large quantities of 

 ensilage to top up his Queensland 1ml- 

 locks before putting them on the market. 



The only objection to stack ensilage is 

 that our penetrating hot winds and sun 



