148 Report on the Practice of Ensilage, 
give a decided opinion on this important point. I have reason to think that 
after the pit has been once opened more care is required in using the pitted 
fodder which has been stored in a very wet condition, i.e. saturated with rain- 
water. 
The results obtained — at least to the extent of the limited capacity of my 
silo — may be summed up as follows : (1) Comparative independence of the 
weather, enabling a luxuriant crop of grass or other foraae to be expeditiously 
preserved without fear of deterioration from wet or other exposure. (2) A 
cheap and efficient substitute for roots, so far at least as cattle are concerned ; 
sheep I have not found to take so kindly to " silage." (3) A wholesome 
change of diet, and one greatly relished by horned stock of every age. I have 
not given it to horses, but I have no doubt tliat unbroken animals and those 
used for slow work would thrive equally we!l upon it. 
By careful management pitted fodder can be consumed without deteriora- 
tion when taken out by degrees during a period extending over several months. 
To this end — in so damp a climate as ours — I would recommend either that 
the silo be constructed very long and narrow, or that it be divided into several 
small compartments (say of 4-inch brickwork). In the former case the 
"silage "is to be cut down vertically with a hay-knife, a narrow strip at 
once, the entire width of the pit, regulating the thickness of the slice by the 
number of mouths to be fed, so that each strip, from the top to the bottom of 
the pit, be consumed within four or five days ; thus no part of the surface of 
the main bulk of fodder will be e.xposed for more than that length of time to 
the atmosphere. Or, by the second method, the whole of the cover and 
weights from one of the small compartments or sections may be removed at 
once, and the " silage " taken evenly off the top of the mass — a thin layer 
each day as required. The pit should of course be constructed wider or nar- 
rower, or the sections larger or smaller, as the case may be, according to- 
the number of animals proposed to be fed upon the contents. I have no 
experience of pitted fodder not keeping sound "even for a few days" after 
opening the pit ; but I believe it is more liable to turn mouldy when the 
latter is in a damp situation, or sunk below the surface of the soil. 
With regard to my experience as to the use of pitted fodder as food for 
stock, I have found cattle of all ages and descriptions grow and thrive re- 
markably well upon it, even when made from the coarsest description of 
herbage, such as they would scarcely touch if presented to them in any 
other form — with the addition of about 2 lbs. of cake or meal each per diem, 
and one feed of hay or oat-straw. Or if the pitted fodder is composed of 
grass of good quality, store beasts will not require any " artificial," as it is 
called, in conjunction therewith, though 1 should still give a feed of hay or 
straw, merely for the sake of a little variety, which is always advantageous. 
In the case of milch-cows and fattening stock, the pitted fodder should also bo 
supplemented by a few pounds of cake or meal, indeed it is essential for 
the latter description of stock. In conclusion, I believe that the system of 
ensilage is the most economical method of preserving forage crops that has 
yet been discovered. M3' own experience points unmistakably to the fact 
that a ton of grass preserved by ensilage will go as far in the maintenance 
of stock as (at a low estimate) would 25 cwt. of the .same material if made 
into hay. I am also confirmed in the opinion, expressed more than a year 
ago, that it is by no means essential that the silo should be sunk below 
the level of the soil. In fact, to do so would, in the majority of cases, be 
only going to needless trouble and expense. Probably the most convenient 
form of silo (as rcgaids filling and emptying) would be one partly above 
and partly below the surface of the ground, though any old barn or other 
substantial building might be converted into a silo at comparatively small 
cost, and answer the purpose well enough. — October 2ith, 1883, 
