[8 



Maize as a Fodder and Silage Crop, [april, 



very sensitive to cold weather, and frosts are fatal to it ; after a 

 time, also, the birds begin to discover the half-formed ears. We 

 have already seen that the crop cannot profitably be used before 

 the end of August ; it cannot be relied upon after the first week 

 in October, so that the period over which it is available is limited. 

 But during the six weeks that it can be had it is without doubt 

 an excellent crop, not quite like anything else commonly grown, 

 somewhat resembling grass, except that it contains less protein 

 and mineral matter. It can be given to all kinds of stock ; dairy- 

 cows, bullocks, sheep, horses, and even pigs, all take it eagerly 

 and do well on it, and it is well worth a trial on farms where 

 there is a shortage of keep during September. 



Maize as a Croft for Silage. — The practice of converting maize 

 into silage seems to have been originated by Reihlen of Stuttgart, 

 about 1862, but it was not well known till 1875, when Goffart 

 published his " Memoir e sur la culture et V Ensilage du 

 Mais-fourrage." It was subsequently taken up on the Continent, 

 in England, and to an enormous extent in America. Ensilage 

 attracted a good deal of attention here during the wet cycle 

 of years culminating in 1883 ; an elaborate report on the 

 subject was presented to the Royal Agricultural Society by 

 their Secretary, Mr. H. M. Jenkins, and published in their 

 Journal in 1884, and in 1885 a Commission sat under Lord 

 Walsingham to collect evidence and report thereon. Some 

 of the witnesses were very enthusiastic about silage and stated 

 that by its means their land had been enabled to carry a larger 

 head of stock with more profit than before, that winter butter, 

 previously impossible, could now be made, and that generally 

 the productive capacity of their farms had been considerably 

 increased. Notwithstanding much evidence of this sort, how- 

 ever, the process has by no means become general. 



The silo used at Wye is a wooden cylindrical structure 12 ft. 

 in diameter and 17 ft. high, standing in an extension of the barn. 

 The maize is cut into pieces about an inch long, then thrown in, 

 spread evenly and trampled ; rapid shrinkage takes place and 

 three or four fillings are required. When there is no more maize 

 to go in the mass must be covered up to exclude air as far as 

 possible ; this can be done by putting on a thick layer of chopped 

 green material of less value than maize, or by throwing on some 

 seed to germinate and form a fibrous mass of roots. No pressure 

 is applied, the mass sinks by its own weight. For the first 



