282 
Experiments in Maldng Ensilage 
matter is to learn how to make ensilage in ordinary seasons, 
for such knowledge will prove the surest guide for successfully- 
saving forage crops in a wet season. The most trustworthy 
directions for making ensilage, and records of successful experi- 
ments, exist in the several books, reports, guides, and letters 
written previously to the practice of the last summer. The recent 
experimenters, grateful for the means by which much of their 
property was saved from destruction, extol the system with all 
the zeal of converts, and whilst great value will be attached to 
these latest reports of real work successfully done, yet it is de- 
sirable that the earlier experiments, made iu silos, made also in 
stacks, and carried out under conviction (from 1883 to 1887) 
and not of necessity (as in 1888), should form the first part of 
the education of those who wish to study the theory and practice 
of the ensilage system. 
The schedules of questions which were sent out were not 
distributed to the past masters of the system, or to others who 
had been experimenting for years, but to those who were be- 
lieved to be making first attempts. Correspondents were asked 
to describe the exceptional adoption in the past unseasonable 
summer of the ensilage system, and the various means of stack- 
ing and applying pressure to grass and forage crops, by replying 
to the following questions : — 
1. Hare you in the past season first adopted tlie ensilage system ; or, 
having previously adopted it, have you increased its practice by making 
stacks ? 
2. By wliat means in building stacks have you carried out your plans : 
as regards methods of pressure and process of formation ? What have been 
the costs of any mechanical methods employed, and cost of horse and manual 
labour ? 
3. Dates and period occupied in the work ; and whether such work con- 
tinuous, or, if interrupted, for how long, and why ? 
4. Please supply any records made of temperature, and whether attempts 
were made to control it. 
5. Does your experience advise you to modify the means, plans, and 
labour you employed ; if so, in what way ? 
6. Have the crops been satisfactorily preserved ; and, in feeding stock, is 
your ensilage proving valuable food ? What has been the proportion of 
waste ? 
7. Remarks: — Generally upon the ensilage system as you have practi- 
cally worked it out, especial attention being given to the rough-and-ready 
method employed iu the past wet haymaking season. 
The replies to this schedule of questions form a bulk of in- 
formation that demands study in detail, and fully enunciates 
(1) that the methods followed had beneficial results to a degree 
that astonished those who had made a farm-use of the ensilage 
system in saving their crops, which became of great value as 
stock food ; and (2) further certifies that the several means 
