280 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ S 'ptember 20, 188?. 
fodder that some farmers assert it will be as valuable as the corn. 
Spring Oats ripen slowly and badly, corn so ripe as to be easily shaken 
out of the ear being visible among much that is still green and unripe. 
Winter Oats, on the contrary, were carted comparatively early, threshed, 
and the straw cut into chaff, so that we have ample store of sound 
wholesome food for the horses at harvest work. Green food alone is 
insufficient for them, for we have hilly fields where four horses are 
required for each waggonload of corn, and it is highly important that 
horses be kept in high condition now, as ploughing and Wheat-sowing 
must follow harvest work c’osely. Two or three days of bright sun¬ 
shine and wind have hardened Wheat so much that the threshing 
machines are at work on it, and fair samples are being offered at market. 
This early corn-threshing is an outcome of dire necessity, and it has 
already caused a downward tendency in the price of Wheat. Farmers 
are so hard pressed for money that they are in many an instance obliged 
to realise what they can from farm produce as soon as possible. To 
home farmers who have to maintain a supply of flour from home-grown 
Wheat, we advise caution about threshing prematurely. Where Wheat 
was carted as it became dry between showers, the grain cannot be in a 
suitable condition for grinding for some months, and it is better to 
leave a certain quantity exposed long enough to ensure condition, even 
with some risk of sprouting. A common scarcity of straw has led to 
a little early Wheat-threshing, and the grain will be turned to 
account for sowing, otherwise it is as well to store enough sheaves 
in a barn to afford a supply of seed, and so avoid having to pull the 
stacks about for seed corn. 
MAKING ENSILAGE. 
We have received from Messrs. Eyre & Spottiswoode a pamphlet of 
fifty pages, published by them under the direction of the Ensilage 
Society. It is entitled a “ Practical Guide for Making Ensilage,” and 
appears to contain much information on the subject treated ; also gives 
evidence of successful results. An extract from the first three pages 
will show the character of the work. 
There is scarcely anything which grows on the farm which may not 
be made into ensilage. From Maize to Mangold tops, from Beans to 
Beetroot, from Tares to Thistles—the silo or the silage stack will receive 
all alike, and preserve as serviceable fodder. This, however, is not to 
say that the resultant fodder from these various crops is all alike. It 
differs necessarily as much as the crops differ. That which is put in 
comes out. If it be successfully ensiled it comes out but little different, 
either chemically or apparently, to what it went in. It follows, there¬ 
fore, that the more valuable the crop, the more valuable the silage made 
from it. 
All the graminaceous, leguminous, and cereal plants commonly 
cultivated are suitable for ensilage, and all have been successfully dealt 
with. The legumes have sometimes appeared to be a little more diffi¬ 
cult to deal with than grasses or grain, but with ordinary care they may 
be made into valuable silage. In the return on ensilage made by the 
Agricultural Department of the Privy Council in 1885, it was remarked 
—Meadow Grass, Clover, Trifolium, and aftermath appear to have 
been generally preferred for ensilage crops, but coarse herbage of all 
kinds, however uneatable it would be if made into hay, has been used 
to form ensilage. Oats, green Barley, Wheat, Maize, Buckwheat, Sain¬ 
foin, Rye, and other artificial Grasses, Vetches, Lucerne, Hop-bine, 
Mangold, and Turnip-tops, Peas, and Beans, with mowings of rough 
grass from plantations and orchards, hedge sides and ditches, together 
with Nettles, Sedges, and Rushes, have all been more or less successfully 
made into ensilage, and in that palatable form have been taken eagerly 
by stock.” This utilisation of waste substances is in fact a salient 
feature of the ensilage system. In some circumstances it becomes an 
important part of farm economy. Fern, for instance, especially in 
Scotland, if it be cut sufficiently early, has been made into serviceable 
fodder in this way, and the same may be said of Hop-bine in the south. 
The proper time of cutting the crops intended for ensilage is a highly 
important consideration. The object being to obtain a succulent food 
the plant should be cut not only in a living state, but when it contains 
all its natural moisture. To obtain this it is essential that the crop 
should not be permitted to get over-ripe when intended for ensilage. 
The following may be reckoned as the best stages at which to cut the 
crops named:— 
Grasses and Clovers —as soon as they come into flower. 
Tares nr Vetches —when the corn begins to form in the pod. 
Bye, Oats, and other cereals —when the corn is bursting into ear. 
Before cutting tne crop the preliminary question as to placing it in 
a silo or a stack must be settled. This must mainly be left to individual 
choice as influenced by local circumstances. Where a silo is already to 
hand we should unhesitatingly say—Fill it. Where no preparations 
have been made, the respective advantages will have to be weighed. 
On the side of the silo there is, in the first place, a minimum of waste. 
The provision also is a permanent one, and the silo, whatever its form, 
may be available for other uses when not occupied by ensilage. Form¬ 
ing part of the farm buildings it will probably be conveniently situated 
for feeding the ensilage to the stock. On the side of the stack there 
is, foremost, the question of cost. Under special conditions, and espe¬ 
cially by the conversion of a barn or other building, a silo may be in¬ 
expensively obtained ; but, as a rule, its first cost, whether it be built 
or excavated, is considerable. The stack avoids this outlay, though at 
the expense of some waste on its exposed sides. Another point in 
favour of the stack is that it may be erected on the field where the 
crop grew, and thus save the labour of carting green stuff any long dis¬ 
tance—a very appreciable consideration. A point which may have 
weight with some is that t; sweet ” ensilage is more easily made in a 
stack than in a silo. 
Supposing a silo is used it will be well to consider whether the stuff 
may not be chaffed with advantage before being pitted. Some of the 
most experienced ensilage makers consider that the advantage of chaffing 
far outweighs its cost. The stuff lies closer together in the silo, and is 
thus more easily compressed, while it is also very convenient in a chaffed 
state for feeding to stock and mixing with other foods. Of course, in 
the case of a stack, chaffing is impossible. 
Supposing a stack to be decided upon, the farmer’s first care will be 
to gauge roughly the probable amount of green fodder with which he 
has to deal. In estimating this he may calculate that a crop which 
would make ton of hay to the acre will make something like 
5 or 6 tons of silage to the acre. To be on the safe side, for the present 
purpose, he will do well to take the higher figure. Supposing, there¬ 
fore, that he has 10 acres, which he estimates at 1^ ton of hay to the 
acre, he would reckon that he would make a stack of 60 tons of silage. 
He would then decide whether he should make one or more stacks of 
his crops. Generally speaking, the larger the stack the better, inasmuch 
as the proportion of exposed surface is less. He will then choose the 
place or places which will be most convenient both for present stacking 
and for future cutting out. In most cases a situation in or adjacent to 
the field itself will probably be desirable, as the carting will be a less 
serious matter when the time comes for feeding the silage than it is at 
the time of stacking. 
At this stage of the proceedings—if not earlier—a decision will have 
to be arrived at on the important subject of pressure. And here pro¬ 
bably the tyro in ensilage-making will be perplexed. There is such a 
wide variety and large number of “ methods,” each of which has its 
special advocates, that in the multitude there is bewilderment. Never¬ 
theless, though the details of ensilage-making differ, there are at the 
bottom of it certain principles which may well be borne in mind, and 
which, if borne in mind, will help the farmer either in choosing a method 
or arranging one of his own. It is very difficult to go far into this sub¬ 
ject without traversing something which somebody believes ; but nearly 
all experienced makers of ensilage will agree upon the following general 
principles as the basis of successful ensilage-making whether in silos or 
stacks : — 
1, That the character of the silage depends upon temperature. 
2, That the temperature depends upon pressure. 
3, That in early stages pressure should be controllable. 
4, That the pressure should never be taken off until the silage is 
used. 
It will be observed that each of these requirements is completely met 
by the use of dead weight, which after all is the ideal form of pressure. 
Unfortunately, however, there are very often considerable difficulties in 
the way of the employment of dead weight. Where a silo is sunk in 
the ground there is probably no kind of pressure so economical as that 
of stones, bricks, or earth, and there is none which is more satisfactory 
in every respect. But in a built silo or on a stack the labour of lifting 
dead weight up and down is very considerable, and some mechanical 
means of applying pressure is probably in most cases preferable. This 
may be either one of several patent methods, or it may be arranged hv 
the ingenuity of the farmer himself. On the whole we should recom¬ 
mend for a first attempt, unless—as aforesaid—it be in a sunk silo, the 
purchase of one of the well-tried systems of pressure, such as those 
which are associated with the names of Blunt, Johnson, Reynolds, or 
Wilson. 
Inventor of Hay-drying Machine. —A correspondent reminds 
us that the address of Mr. Gibbs is Guilwell Park, Sewardstone Green, 
Chingford, Essex. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 
Camden square, London. 
Lat. 51° 82' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8- 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
In the day. 
Hygrome- 
a • 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
q 
oti 
ter. 
§•=8 
perature. 
Temperature 
September. 
In 
On 
MS 03 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Ho 
H 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
9 
30.21 9 
55 4 
51-5 
N. 
55.6 
02.6 
44 8 
106.5 
39 3 
0.0'»6 
Monday. 
10 
3M.114 
55.8 
52.8 
N. 
54 7 
01.3 
44 0 
95.5 
38.0 
O.U6I1 
Tuesday .... 
11 
30 304 
53.5 
50.4 
IV, 
54.2 
42 7 
111.0 
37.9 
— 
Wednesday.. 
12 
30.495 
53.6 
50.2 
S. 
54 2 
67.1 
43.8 
107.0 
39 2 
— 
Thursday.... 
13 
30.510 
53 2 
52.6 
N.E. 
66 3 
44 3 
104.9 
37.1 
— 
Friday . 
14 
£0.274 
59.3 
57.U 
N.E. 
54 6 
69.6 
49.2 
106.9 
41.7 
— 
Saturday .... 
15 
39.112 
54.7 
54 3 
N.E. 
55 6 
72.7 
52.4 
107.2 
45 9 
0.014 
30.297 
55.1 
52.7 
54 8 
66.4 
45.9 
105.6 
39.9 
0141 
REMARKS. 
9th.-Dull early, heavy showers from 10 to li A M.,and showery till midday, flne evening 
fn-queut llghtniug from 8 to 10 I’.M. 
10th.—Freq lent showers throughout, but occasional sunshine in afternoon, 
llth.-llright and fresh. 
12th.—Bright and warm. 
13th.—Foggy till 9 a m., then bright with ea terly wind. 
14th.—spots of rain early, bright warm day. 
15th.—Generally bright and warm, but rather close ; slight showers at night, 
A flne pleasant week, with high barometric pressure, and temperature about the 
average.-G. J. SYMONS, 
