TEE AGRI C U LT 



URAL JOURNAL. 



239 



3. In greater weight of forage saved. 



4. In greater avaihable variety and ro- 

 tation of crops. 



5. Increased facility for storing crops. 

 It is suitable for all kinds of stock ■ — 

 dairy stock, breeding stock, store stock, 

 fattening stock, and farm horses. 



The Commissioners, in conclusion, 

 state that they have endeavoured to dis- 

 count all exaggerated estimates, as well 

 as to make allowance for a considerable 

 amount of prejudice and incredulity 

 which they met with, and they add : — 

 "After summing up the mass of evidence 

 which has reached us we can without 

 hesitation affirm that it has been abund- 

 antly and conclusively proved to our 

 satisfaction that the system of preserv- 

 ing green fodder crops promises great 

 advantages to the practical farmer, and, 

 if carried out with a reasonable amount 

 of care and efficiency, should not only 

 provide him with the means of insuring 

 himself to a great extent against unfav- 

 ourable seasons, and of materially im- 

 proving the quantity and quality of his 

 dairy produce, but should also enable him 

 to increase appreciably the number of 

 live stock that can be profitably kept 

 upon any given acreage, whether of pas- 

 ture or arable land, and proportionately 

 the amount of manure available to fer- 

 tilize it." 



The report of the Eoyal Society's 

 Judges is also very interesting and in- 

 structive, and is equally favourable to 

 the system under investigation. 



The following concise summary of the 

 experience of the judges of the northern 

 division is worthy of production : — 



"We are of opinion that the great ques- 

 tion of satisfactorily ensiling green crops 

 has received ample confirmation. It has 

 been proved to us incontestably that its 

 success has been manifested in every dis- 

 trict. We have seen silos of brick, of 

 stone, and of wood ; we have seen old 

 bams and other buildings converted into 

 silos ; we have seen them containing 30 

 tons, and we have inspected others cap- 

 able of holding 700 tons ; we have found 

 silos constructed at a little over £20, and 



others at £400; we have found them filled 

 with all sorts of green crops, and we have 

 found some sour and some sweet, the 

 latter in by far the greater proportion ; 

 we have seen them weighted with bricks, 

 with stones, with slates, with sand, with 

 earth, and also with ingenious mechanical 

 contrivances ; we have inspected some 

 chaffed, and in others the fodder spread 

 out and put in whole ; in all cases the 

 practice was successful, and in every in- 

 stance cattle of all descriptions did well 

 on the silage, and in many instances the 

 opinion was conclusive that decidedly 

 more stock could be carried per acre with 

 silage than with hay. In conclusion, we 

 would say that we consider the system of 

 ensiling will probably afEect the future 

 of agriculture on strong land, as in most 

 instances, especially in such where it is 

 necessary to obtain winter foods for the 

 stock, a crop of winter-grown tares or 

 trifolium, or other strong-growing green 

 crops may be sown in the autumn at little 

 expense, and mown and put in the re- 

 ceptacle by the first week in June, and 

 thus do away with the immense expense 

 and great uncertainty of the cultivation 

 and consumption of roots on such land. 

 The report winds up with the following 

 verdict :— The chief advantage of silage- 

 making against haymaking is its com- 

 parative independence of the weather, 

 that the fodder is handled while green 

 without any risk of the tender and 

 nutritious leaves being lost on the ground 

 as in haymaking, that the resulting silage 

 is succulent and palatable, and that on 

 purely grazing farms it is now possible to 

 obtain a portion of the grass crop for 

 winter in such a state as to equal the 

 effect of summer-fed grass for the pur- 

 poses of the dairy." 



In conclusion, it may be added that 

 we cannot continue to keep farms in a 

 high state of fertility without stock, and 

 we cannot keep dairy cattle profitably 

 unless we provide feed for them during 

 periods of drought and consequent 

 famine, and the silo will greatly assist 

 us in this direction. 



[The End]. 



