826 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 28, 1892. 
to keep bare life in the cattle, for the long hard winter has taxed 
the graziers’ resources severely. It has been a hard struggle to 
very little purpose. So lean are cows and store beasts that it will 
require mouths of plenty to bring them into even fair con¬ 
dition. Most of the hay made was unworthy of the name ; 
the bulk of it was mere litter from which most of the nutritive 
properties had vanished long before it was mown. How very 
dilferent would the result have been had it been mown when 
the grass was in flower and made into silage ; all the vexatious 
delay and most of the costly expenditure would have been 
avoided. The showery weather, instead of being regarded as 
a curse, would have been hailed as a positive blessing, afford¬ 
ing an aftermath of singular abundance in which the cows 
would have revelled to their own contentment and their owner’s 
profit. 
It has been laid down by a high authority that 4 tons of silage 
are about equal to 1 ton of hay. By this statement hay of the 
highest quality is indicated, and "we regard our silage as decidedly 
superior to most of the hay of last year. In really fine brighi 
weather by all means make hay. Our last fine haysel was in 1889, 
when we made most of the grass into hay. In the wet summers 
of 1890 and 1891 a small quantity of hay and much silage was 
made simply because it was the best thing to do. Cheap food must 
be had if live stock is to answer. To be worthy of the term it 
must cost little and be highly nutritious, it is then indeed cheap. 
Hay that is much washed by rain during the making is on the 
contrary most expensive and decidedly innutritious. In no sense 
can it be regarded as either useful or cheap. If it were the only 
thing to do then the grazier would deserve pity, but if he blindly 
persists in making bad hay at a ruinous price when he might 
make excellent silage cheaply his practice is contemptible, 
and it is impossible either to pity him or to help him to do 
better. 
Ensilage at first appeared likely to prove costly from the 
apparent necessity for building silos and for cutting up the fodder 
beforehand. Silage stacks were next tried, and found to answer 
well ; then came silage heaps, which also answer. The process 
followed at Downton College Farm is to make a heap with sloping 
ends, just like a manure heap, so that the grass can be carted right 
on to the heap. Care is taken to spread the fodder evenly, to 
keep it well trampled, and pressed down by a heavy roller, more 
and more being carted upon it as the heap settles—say at intervals 
of about three days. The ends are then cut off and thrown upon 
the top ; when finished it is about 8 feet high. Upon this heap 
a hayrick is built, and thatched in the usual way. The silage 
becomes very solid, a cubic foot of it weighing from 56 to 60 lbs. 
Professor Wrightson, the head of the College, says every year 
he is more convinced of the importance of silage, and those who 
have given ensilage a fair trial must prize it as an admirable 
system, and one likely to do much to carry on farming at a 
profit. The only waste from mould is in a few inches of the 
outside of the heap. This is stated to be the case also at 
Underley, the estate of Lord Bective, in Westmoreland, where 
silage stacks are made just like hayricks, without pressure, and 
are said to keep good for two or three years. This is an out¬ 
come of a series of trials, the tendency of which is to simplify 
and cheapen a process of fodder storage of the utmost import¬ 
ance to farmers everywhere, but especially so in districts having 
a high average rainfall. 
To all who may be induced to begin ensilage this season we 
say. Let your trial be thorough. Let your first stack be large 
and substantial ; apply pressure and you will be safe. Do not 
attempt too much at first, but set about the work in a practical 
manner, not necessarily using the best grass, or any grass at all. 
“ Seeds ” or tares answer equally well, so does any coarse herbage, 
only it should not be forgotten that quality tells equally in 
silage as in hay, and it is probably owing to the use of inferior 
herbage that silage has had a low analysis. It must be so, because 
nothing is lost in the process of ensilage, only anything has been 
thought good enough for the purpose. Be cautious in using it ; 
first mixing a little with other food, adding more as the taste for 
it is acquired, there will then be no difficulty, and it may be 
used for horses, cows, store cattle, ewes, and lambs with excellent 
results. When its full value comes to be realised it will supersede 
roots and enable the farmer to avoid altogether the heavy 
outlay involved in the cultivation of that costly crop. With 
ensilage turned to full account, and a thorough cultivation of 
permanent pasture and all other forage crops, the provident 
farmer would escape most of the heavy losses which now press 
so hardly upon him. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Hoeing is being pushed on among the Wheat, of which the plant is 
so thin that weeds are likely to prove more troublesome than usual. No 
attempt has been made to sow spring Beans, as the season was so 
advanced before this was possible that a full crop was out of the 
question. Spring Tares, Italian Rye Grass, and Oats are the extra¬ 
crops, which will be turned to account either for use while green or 
for ensilage. We like to have, and intend always having in future, at 
least half a dozen stacks of fodder beyond our visible or prospective 
requirements in March. Hay is always a saleable article, silage can 
invariably be turned to account for home use, and the root crop can be 
curtailed without a doubt of having plenty of food to carry us through 
the longest winter. 
We are now quite certain to have a large quantity of Oat straw for 
next winter, as well as plenty of home-grown corn. Now is the time 
to have these things in mind, so as to make sure of a full supply of 
home-grown food all the year round. So many graziers have run short 
of food that the price of hay keeps advancing, and we see much hay sold 
by auction at every market. Grass-keeping lets well, really good pasture 
still realising a rent of from £2 to £3 10s. per acre. We have no 
doubt of the maintenance of such prices wherever there is a local 
demand for milk, or where dairy produce can be sold profitably. The 
long distance from which it answers to send milk to London proves 
this. Not only is dairy farming bound to flourish, but a vast improve¬ 
ment is probable. 
Much good may be done to neglected pasture during the present 
showery weather by sowing broadcast upon it a hundredweight or two 
per acre of nitrate of soda. This is not to be regarded as an ordinary 
dressing, but only a means of making the best of things for the present 
season. It is a hint w’hich many a home farmer may be glad of, as we 
frequently have beginners anxious to do their best at a loss what to do 
with poor pasture. In such cases it is well to ignore special rules, and 
to rather seek for special means. To all such “ emergency men ” we 
say, Keep a stock of manures by you, and if you have no manure store, 
run up one at once. Take care to have a dry damp-proof concrete floor, 
as manurial salts are susceptible of damp. You will then be able to 
take advantage of any show’ery weather, and remember nitrate of soda 
does good even at midsummer in wet weather. By using it judiciously 
you may set any pasture growing freely in a fortnight, and if you get a 
few hours’ rain after the hay is saved just rouse up the aftermath with 
a slight dressing, and raise the milk yield a little. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdex Squabe, Loxdox. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8/ 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY'. 
a 
*c4 
1892. 
April. 
Barometer 
at 32°, and 
Sea Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of soil 
at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 
17 
29-734 
39 6 
35-6 
N.W. 
41-6 
47-9 
28-2 
87-3 
21-7 
0-043 
Monday .. 
18 
30-054 
41-7 
37-8 
N.W. 
41-3 
53-2 
30-2 
99-3 
26-3 
— 
Tuesday .. 
19 
30-385 
43-1 
37-9 
N.E. 
41-9 
53-0 
30-3 
103-6 
25-2 
— 
Wednesday 
20 
30-387 
46-9 
41-3 
S.W. 
42-8 
54-7 
38-2 
83-9 
31 3 
0-158 
Thursday.. 
21 
30-127 
54-3 
50-3 
H.W. 
43-9 
63-0 
45-9 
100-9 
43-9 
■- 
Friday 
22 
30-267 
57-2 
54-8 
W. 
46-2 
69-4 
49-1 
118-7 
41-9 
— 
Saturday .. 
23 
30-456 
550 
47-9 
N. 
48-0 
66-8 
41-9 
112-7 
33-6 
— 
30-2011 
48-3 
43-7 
43-7 
58-3 
37-7 
100-9 
32-0 
0-201 
REMARKS. 
17th.—Generally sunny, but sprinkle of snow between 11 A.U. and noon, and in the 
evening sufficient to cover the ground. 
18th.—Cloudless early, and bright sunshine all day; a little cloud in evening. 
19th.— Bright sunshine in morning ; cloudy at times in afternoon. 
20th.—Overcast, with occasional spots of rain during the day, wet evening and night. 
21st.—Overcast till nearly 9 a.ji., and at times during the day, but much sunshine. 
22nd.—Fine, warm, and sunny. 
23rd.—Warm and sunny throughout. 
Generally fine sharp frosts at beginning of week, warmer afterwards, and on the 
whole near the average.—G. J. Symoks. 
