3 921.] Silage for Dairy Cows. 507 



being marsh land). The soil is a heavy London clay, and as 

 the farm is situated in the driest area in Great Britain (average 

 rainfall 19.28 inches) a very real difficulty is experienced in 

 securing satisfactory crops of mangolds. 



The advantages of ensilage under such conditions are 

 numerous, but it will suffice to mention the more important ones. 



In the first place an ensilage crop is sown in the autumn, 

 and, provided the proper tilth is obtained and the mixture 

 selected is a suitable one, the crop is not likely to fail. In the 

 rare event of a failure it is possible to resow in the spring. 

 The crop, moreover, is carted off the land in the dry weather 

 and the land can be well cleaned and prepared for autumn 

 wheat. Mangolds, on the other hand, are sown in the 

 spring, and early spring and late winter are bad times to work 

 heavy London clay soils. Furthermore, the period May to Tuly, 

 v/hen the young mangold plant most needs rain, is the driest 

 period of the year and drought frequently ruins the crop. 

 Mangolds are often carted off at a time when the land is wet, 

 i-nd unless the autumn is particularly favourable it is impossible 

 to prepare the land for an autumn crop. Consequently mangolds 

 are frequently followed by a spring com crop, and spring oats 

 in particular are seldom successful in Essex, for unless they can 

 be sown in February they are almost invariably badly "bottled." 



A crop for ensilage requires a great deal less labour than for 

 mangolds, both in cultural operations and in its subsequent 

 management. Mangolds, for example, have to be carted from 

 the clamp, cleaned, pulped and mixed vnth the chaff before 

 feeding. The silo on the other hand was arranged so that the 

 silage can be thrown down the shoot on to the barn floor from 

 which it is fed to the cows. 



Mangolds are gross feeders and unless heavy dressings of 

 artificials and farmyard manure are applied they make a big 

 drain on the fertility of the soil. If a suitable mixture of cereal 

 and leguminous seeds are grown for ensilage the demands on 

 the soil are considerably reduced and the store of nitrogen in 

 the soil may even in some cases be increased. 



Silage, particularly when the mixture consists of a consider- 

 able proportion of leguminous seeds, is much richer in 

 albuminoids than mangolds, and Messrs. Pitcher were anxious 

 to find out whether by using silage it would be possible for 

 them to reduce the amount of purchased feeding stuffs in use. 

 It was to obtain information on this point that the experi- 

 ment was carried out. 



