at Home and Abroad. 
239 
-exact idea will have already been gained. No doubt green 
maize is, far excellence, the crop which is at the same time the 
best suited by its composition for preservation by ensilage, and 
the least capable of being usefully preserved in any other 
manner. But as it can be grown profitably in only a comp.ara- 
tively small corner of England, it has relatively little interest 
for the Btitish farmer. Grasses and clovers, as well as green 
■oats and rye, can be perfectly preserved, especially if cut a 
little before the time at which they are at their best for being 
harvested in a dry state. Pulse of all kinds, but especially 
tares and peas, are also capable of preservation in silos, but 
their treatment requires more care, as I have already mentioned. 
Buckwheat is a crop which has been successfully ensilaged 
on the rare occasions that have come before me, while on the 
other hand I have not yet met with an instance of prickly 
comfrey making good silage. 
Utilisation of Silage. — Most agriculturists who have tried the 
system of ensilage use the contents of their silos by cutting 
them vertically as they would hay in a stack. A few adopt the 
opposite plan of cutting laterally ; but on the whole the balance 
of advantages appears to be largely in favour of the more 
general plan. In England, again, where the system is still 
more or less in an experimental stage, the general plan at 
present is to substitute silage for all other bulky food for stock. 
In France, however, it is customary to mix the silage with an 
equal or even a much larger quantity of other material, such as 
chopped straw, beetroot-pulp, hay, roots, &c. My impression 
is that the French system, which is founded on a longer experi- 
ence than we possess, is the more rational, and, indeed, the 
more economical. By reference to Mr. Hunting's account of 
his experience it will be seen how a trained veterinary surgeon 
was surprised at the action of silage upon the alimentary canal 
of his cattle. It made them costive. This is not to be 
wondered at, especially if the silage was not absolutely under- 
going acetic fermentation ; that is to say, if it had not yet become 
converted into sauer-liraut or pickles. It is an everyday experience 
that brandy is given to ?iuman beings in cases of diarrhoea with a 
view of checking it ; and therefore a large dose of 50 to 80 lbs. 
or more of a highly fermented mass is likely to have a similar 
effect upon the animal organism. But a smaller quantity 
mixed with a due proportion of other bulky food seems to 
stimulate the digestive organs, and to enable the animal to 
assimilate more food than it could under other circumstances — 
the nearest approach to its action being probably that of a 
fermented mixture of pulped roots and chopped straw. Then 
it should also be noted that the use of silage does not in any 
