238 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage, 
require more pressure than oats or rye, and these latter more 
than meadow-grass, — supposing all of them to be cut in about 
the same state of ripeness. As a general rule, however, tares 
are cut when much more advanced in growth than grass is 
when mown, and this fact accounts for a great deal of the diffi- 
culty which has been experienced in attempts to preserve tares 
by ensilage. I have already noticed the influence of the treading 
upon the subsequent weighting. 
Having thus indicated what I conceive to be some of the 
main principles which regulate the amount of pressure required, 
I must now glance at the best means of applying it. Iron 
weights, steel ingots, and concrete blocks are excellent materials 
for the purpose, but they cost a considerable sum of money ; 
and although it may be true that iron and steel can be sold in 
the market at any time for nearly their cost price, yet while 
they are being used the capital thus represented is locked up ; 
and one may doubt whether tenant-farmers, as a rule, are in a 
position to invest money in such a way. Mechanical means 
of pressure I have described, and every one can judge for him- 
self as to their relative merits. Speaking generally, they seem 
to me, in their present condition, rather costly, and in some 
cases a little complicated. Still, I expect that in the future they 
will be both simplified and cheapened. The farmer's choice 
is therefore, in my view, at present almost restricted to local 
materials ; and the only danger arising from their use is that 
his men will throw them on the silo "higgledy-piggledy," 
without any regard for the equal distribution of the pressure. 
I would on this ground recommend that, whatever the material 
employed — whether sand, mould, stones, " runners." slag, &c. — 
the pieces should be put into some kind of package. Mr. Bate- 
man uses old oyster-barrels ; the Duke of Sutherland uses bags 
filled with sand (in fact, old guano bags are in frequent use), 
others use boxes, and so forth. I have frequently referred to 
the practice of M. de Chezelles, who simply covers his fodder 
with a layer of sand or earth about a foot in thickness ; it 
seems to me that this is as good a means of weighting as any 
other, if access can easily be obtained to the top of the silo ; 
but I should prefer boards being placed under the weighting 
material, for the sake of cleanliness, and thus to avoid waste. 
The total cost per acre of all the operations connected with 
the filling of the silo varies with the distance of the field from 
the silo, the weight of the crop, whether it is put in chopped or 
whole, and the rate of wages in the locality; but it appears 
from the details already given that about 205. to 255. per acre is 
an average cost, and that this means generally a little more or 
less than 55. per ton of silage. 
As to the crops most suitable for ensilage, probably a tolerably 
