218 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage^ 
To perfect tlie first pressure, I place a layer of stones, bricks, or lieavj' 
material on the maize. These \veights lie on planks placed at various 
distances. On these I finish my covering hj placing trusses of straw. 
I estimate that a load of 300 kilos (6 cwt.) per square metre (61 lbs. per 
square foot) is sufficient to obtain a good result. Under the above conditions 
the sinking will have taken place in about six weeks. 
In 18S3 my two silos received — 
Maize 473,000 kilos (473 tons). 
Straw and chopped grasses . . . . S,000 „ (5 tons). 
478,000 „ (478 tons). 
Weight per cubic metre before pitting . . 800 kilos (16 cwt.), or 4S J lbs. 
per cubic foot. 
„ „ when used.. .. 900 to 1000 kilos (18 cwt. to 
* 1 ton, or 545 to 60 lbs. per 
cubic foot). 
The cost per hectaie of harvesting and pitting maize is as follows: — 
Per Hectare. I 
Per 1000 Kilos. 
Cartage 
Chopping and filling silo 
Chopping straw, &e., in addition . . 
Francs. 
9 
30 
28-80 
23-91 
10 
2-40 
£ s. d. 
0 7 IJ 
1 8 8i 
13 0 
0 19 0 
0 7 lOi 
0 1 lOJ 
0-19 
0-70 
0-01 
0-53 
0-25 
0-05 
s. d. 
0 If 
0 7i 
0 5i 
0 5 
0 2J 
0 Oi 
110-11 
4 7 7* 
2-39 
1 lOit 
* Equal to 35s. per acre. t Equal to that amount per ton. 
The maize harvested occupied 10 hectares (25 acres) of ground. Each 
hectare gave 47,360 kilos (47 tons 7 cwt.). The silage for use is taken 
daily from the silo by vertical cuts. The great result of ensilage at Cercay, 
on an estate purchased at 400 francs the hectare (GL 8s. per acre) twenty -five 
years ago, is that it has enabled me to base the winter-feeding of my cattle 
on a crop which is perfectly fitted to the climate, which jjroduces a large bulk 
of fodder, and which needs, above all, phosphatic manures (i.e. the least 
expensive manuring material), and which, finally, is alike useful for the 
l)roduction of milk and meat, and for the maintenance of draught animals. 
Without maize, the basis of feeding my cattle would be gone ; or, at least, I 
should be able to maintain only very few. The cultivation of maize requires 
less labour than that of beets and other roots. In a late and during a wet 
season, the reaping of the after-crops is both difScult and costly. The pro- 
cess of ensilage has rendered me very great service by enabling me to convey 
my after-crops, quite wet, into my maize-silos, upon which fermentation pro- 
duces a homogeneous and succulent mass. Vegetable moisture contained in 
green crops has never created difticully, or occasioned mo loss. Kaiu never 
stops ensilage ; but the work-people do not like to carry the maize wet in the 
fields on their backs. Ihiin does not aftect the ]ireservatiou of the maize. 
The ensilage of Trifolhuii cut in June, when in full flower, is a grand expe- 
dient fur getting over the months (often dry and burning) of July and 
August, when the crops resist in a very small de:j;ree the sun's heat. In this 
case the enemy is outstripped. When it comes, that is to say, when all above 
is burning, the early crops arc being preserved in the silo. 
