1 June, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 417. 
Taking everything into consideration, we must say that, so far as our 
grazing paddocks are.concerned, whether on the farm or elsewhere, the farmer 
takes little or no trouble to keep them up or to renovate them. He leaves it 
all to Nature; and if Nature is unkind and withholds the rain, the cattle must 
take their chance, unless their owner has been wise and has laid up a store of 
ENSILAGE. 
For many years it was the custom, principally in foreign countries, to 
preserve certain kinds of cattle fodder in pits, treading it down, and then 
covering it with earth. This receptacle was called a “S110,” the process of 
acking in the green fodder without first turning it into hay was called 
“ HwstLacn,’ and the preserved material received the name of “Srpaau.” 
For some time it was difficult to persuade farmers that packing together great 
masses of succulent green fodder like maize could result in anything but great 
fermentation and speedy rotting of the fodder. But within the last dozen 
years farmers all over the world have recognised the enormous value of Stnace; 
and on every large farm, green fodder of various kinds is preserved either in 
special buildings, which, as I told you, are called Srxos, or else in stacks. 
The old plan used to be to filla pit with a green crop and weight it down 
heavily with earth. Then it was found that a few boards were sufficient, and 
eventually it was proved that no weight at all is required, merely a covering of 
some rough straw or grass being placed on top of it. The fermentation is set 
up, and ina few weeks a dark-looking substance is produced by it, which may 
be either SWEET or souR SILAGE, according to the amount of fermentation it 
has undergone. 
What is the principle of the Stro? It is the exclusion of the air from 
the mass of green herbage. 
Take the case of a dung-heap. The more tightly the heap is pressed 
together the less amount of air can penetrate into it, and, consequently, 
fermentation goes on much more slowly than if the heap were loosely thrown 
together. Now, the principle of the silo is based on our knowledge of what 
goes on in the dung-heap. If the fodder is closely pressed together, and the 
exterior air excluded, oxidation is almost prevented, and the fermentation which 
ends in decay is avoided. 
Remember thatthe more you exclude the air from the silo the better will 
the silage be. I will explain to you afterwards how a silo should be built. 
Meanwhile let me tell you that a specially-built brick, wooden, or stone silo is 
not absolutely necessary. You may put your green maize into a stack. The 
bigger the stack the better, although some farmers have made stacks measuring 
only about 50 tons. You build your silage stack by piling up the green fodder, 
constantly trampling it down, especially at the sides. When it is finished, 
coyer it with some kind of thatch, or boards, to keep the rain out of it, and keep 
everything in place by a few turns of wire made fast to the foundation. 
Now, see what a great advantage to the farmer is this possibility of making 
silage in a stack. He can build it right in the field and so save a great deal of 
carting. If rain should come on when he has a quantity of lucerne cut, and it 
is likely to spoil before he can make it into hay, all he has to do is to build a 
silo stack with it, and he has saved his crop. 
Of course you must not expect that you can save as much fodder from a stack 
as from a building, because the air will get in at the sides, and a good deal will 
be spoilt in consequence. The loss is reckoned at from 5 to 10 per cent. of the 
weight of the fodder. Still, that is better than losing perhaps 50 or 100 tons of 
your crop. 
In a well-built silo, on the other hand, fermentation is very slow and 
often ceases altogether when the air which got in with the forage has been 
used up. 
Maize or any other green crop may be put whole into the silo, but most 
people are agreed that it is better to chaff it first, and chaff it fine. You can 
see the reason for this. Fine-cut forage will lie closer than rough-cut or whole 
