June 27, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
531 
remained so long as to become mouldy. No doubt these are 
instances of faulty practice, but it is self-evident that the risk 
might have been avoided had the Clover been stacked and pressed 
at once when first cut. It is not only a question of risk but of 
expense, the tedious process of shaking out and remaking the cocks 
being altogether avoided by ensilage. 
Success in making stack silage has given rise to many fanciful 
projects, one of the most absurd of which is to make a heap of 
silage and to build a haystack upon it. Far better to keep hay 
and silage apart, say we. By all means make silage, but make it in 
the best way by pressure, and so that it can be used alone when 
wanted. We should always be disposed to regard silage as cash in 
hand for current use, and hay as our reserve fund to be used or 
otherwise disposed of at will, because silage must be used upon the 
farm. Let it not be forgotten now that sheep thrive well upon 
silage, and by making a stack or two at different parts of the farm 
where it is intended to fold sheep, there will be much subsequent 
economy of time and labour. 
There are one or two more points to which the Report of the 
Ensilage Commission wisely calls attention, which it may be useful 
to quote here :— 
“ Independence of Weather in Saving Ciops. —In this respect it 
has been abundantly proved to us that ensilage is of great economic 
value. In Scotland, in Ireland, and in the north and west of 
England few seasons occur in which more or less difficulty is not 
experienced in reducing green fodder crops to a sufficiently dry 
condition for stacking in the ordinary way. This is especially the 
case with second crops of Clover and aftennath. The loss occur¬ 
ring through ineffectual attempts to dry such crops, or through 
their inferior condition when carried, is often very considerable, and 
it is obvious that any system which enables a farmer to store these 
in good condition for future use must be a great saving of expense 
and anxiety.” 
“ In Available Variety and Rotation of Crops.— By the process 
of ensilage many crops can be preserved which would not otherwise 
be found profitable if used in the form of green forage. Rye, Oats, 
Millet, Maize, Birley, and even Wheat, if cut about the time of 
attaining their full development, but before the seed begins to 
harden, have been successfully used as food for cattle through the 
medium of the silo. Such of these crops as are found to reach the 
required condition before the middle of June, if cut before that 
time, will leave the land free for a second sowing, and thus increase 
it3 capabilities of annual production, while maintaining the fertility 
of the soil. Where land is well treated, 'Maize, Buckwheat, or, in 
some parts of England, also Turnips, can be sown after green Rye 
or Oats are cut and carried, and thus a second crop may be secured 
for preservation in the silo, cr for consumption by sheep on the 
land.” 
Improvements in appliances for the pressure of silage are con¬ 
stantly being made, and it would appear that most of them are for 
stack silage. Simplicity and cheapness are what we require in 
such apparatus. Simple enough in all conscience was the means 
which we used for the pressure of our first ensilage, for it consisted 
of wooden troughs filled with slag from an old blast furnace. This 
primitive contrivance answered well enough, but it involved too 
much labour to be consistent with strict economy, and, so far as our 
experience goes, the chain pressure of stacks has much in its 
favour both for quickness and thoroughness. Instead of being 
altogether set aside, silos will always be used advantageously when 
they can be had, because chaffed silage can be made in them. For 
home farms, where silos will always be more or less available, 
chaffed silage of Maize or Sorghum forms an invaluable winter food 
supply, if only the climate is favourable to the growth of them. 
They afford a bulk of wholesome nutritious food altogether larger 
than that of any other crop, and they need not be sown till the 
first or second week in June. To ensure a quick, robust growth 
the soil must be very fertile, and care must be taken to secure the 
crop before there is any risk of damage from early frost. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
So far the haymaking has gone on to our entire satisfaction. The 
crop is a fine one, the grass being remarkable for its height, and there is 
an abundant crop of Black Medick (Medicago lupulina) among it. This 
is the common yellow Clover or Trefoil, a valuable biennial fodder 
plant, which imparts much quality to meadow hay. It produces seed so 
freely that once established in pasture it is never lost. It is superior to 
red Clover as being more nutritious, and should always be included in 
all mixtures for sowing permanent pasture. Much hay has been 
stacked in excellent condition, but as there is so much Trefoil in it 
there is some risk of its overheating in the stacks, and the w-ell tried 
plan of giving vent to heat vapour by drawing a sack stuffed with straw 
from the bottom of the stack upwards to the top as the building is done, 
has again proved useful. Each stack in course of construction has the 
stack cloth drawn off it early in the morning, so as to get rid of as much 
superfluous heat as possible before more hay is added to it. 
Last year we made a lot of inferior hay at a heavy cost; this year very 
little labour is required, and the hay is altogether better and cheaper. 
Each mowing machine cuts 10 acres daily, the tedding machine or hay 
shaker follows quickly. If the crop is heavy it is drawn into wind¬ 
rows by hand, either on the day of mowing or that following it, the- 
remainder of the work is then done by the tedder and horse rake, and 
the hay is soon ready for the carting. To ensure this dispatch we must 
have the barometer keeping steadily at “set fair,” for iu showery or 
doubtful weather haycocks must be made at a proportionate additional 
outlay. Care must be taken to have waggons followed at once by horse 
rakes to clear up any scattered hay, for in such a favourable season for 
growth the upspringing of aftermath will be very quick, especially if 
there is much Cocksfoot in the pasture. It will be understood, we hope, 
that in order for a grass mower to continue mowing ten acres day after 
day a man is constantly employed in sharpening the knives, and the 
machine must be a strong one in excellent order. We use four horses- 
for each machine—two on the machine, with two more for a change 
when necessary. They are pure bred Suffolks, very active, quick¬ 
stepping horses, admirably adapted for the work. 
THE DYSON'S WOOD EXPERIMENTS WITH 
MANURES FOR PASTURES. 
As will be remembered from reports during the past three- 
years, Mr. Martin J. Sutton of Reading has set apart a number of 
plots in fields of temporary and permanent pasture on his estate at 
Dyson’s Wood, Oxon, with the object of testing the effects of 
various kinds of manures on the herbage. The soil is described as 
“ brashy resting on chalk,” therefore well suited for experiments 
of this nature. They were not instituted, it may be said, for 
showing the advantages of any particular manure or mixture, but 
solely with the object of ascertaining facts, so far as they ar& 
ascertainable under the circumstances, and for acquiring informa¬ 
tion on this important subject, to be made known to all to whom it 
may be of interest. The experiments have throughout been con¬ 
ducted with the utmost care under the direction of Dr. Yoelcker, 
and the results ascertained with precision and recorded with 
accuracy. The whole work is carried out in a thorough manner, 
regardless of cost, -which must of necessity be considerable, and is 
undeniably of wide public importance. In previous years a day 
has been found convenient for a large number of scientific and 
practical authorities to inspect the plots; but this year, in consequence 
of both the Royal Agricultural Society’s Show and the hay harvest 
being earlier than usual, a departure had to be made, and visitors 
were left to find their way to Dyson’s Wood according to individual 
convenience. Some at least, and probably several, did not like to 
“ miss a year ” out of the series, for each appears to be more 
interesting than the last, and indeed more instructive. 
More than ever before, the condition of the crops this year shows 
how easy it is to arrive at conclusions too quickly. They demon¬ 
strate, too, the danger of dogmatism on the subject of manures. 
Last year the believers in “ farmyard ” could point in triumph to 
the plots and declare there is “ nothing like muck but though- 
that which was supplied was of the best, and made in covered 
sheds, it was exhausted in two seasons, leaving only a margin of 
profit, and this year the plots are amongst the weakest, and certainly 
not equal to those which have had no manure. 
Passing to chemicals, in the two previous years decidedly the- 
best returns were had from those plots which received nitrogenous 
manures at the rate of 1 cwt., or 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda or 
sulphate of ammonia per acre with or without the addition of 
minerals ; but this year we were not surprised to find the plots 
amongst the weakest in the series. Those salts are essentially 
stimulants, and if not accompanied with the substantial food in 
the form of phosphates and potash in due proportion and regularly 
applied leave the land the poorer. They are like the whip to the 
horse, driving him along the quicker for the time, but only to 
tire him the sooner. In other words they do not endure, but the 
advantage in this respect rests with sulphate of ammonia. The 
fact, however, remains that, used alone or in excess, they are 
eventually soil-exhausters, not crop-sustainers. 
Regarding what may be termed the more solil food of crops, 
raw bone meal, as might be expected, shows more lasting power than 
either dissolved or boiled bones ; but, what was not expected, is the 
