ENSILAGE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1306, 4 August 1886, Page 3

ENSILAGE.

The Otnyo Daily Times of a recent date rays :- An intonating experiment in ensilage has been conducted by 1 r during the past six months. Having constructed some concrete wdis, he placed in these the crop of cats from an a joining paddock. The ca's were put in just as they were mown down, and then boards were placed on the top cf the fodder, and again cn the top of tfaesi heavy weights in the shape of old c jrn sacks filled with sand. Several times during the course of filling the pits, the fodder was compressed by these temporary weights, and the pits daily refilled nntH the whole of the crop from a paddock 2| acres in extent was placed In the pits, and on the slh of February last they we - e sealed by similar expedients to those used for compressing the fodder. On Saturday last, the 24th instant, one of the pits was opened and the silo examined. Owing to a faulty arrangement of the roof, whereby the pits had not been sufficient'y protected from the rain and snow, and consequently rain water had unf jrtimately filtered down through the seal, the result of the experiment was only a comparative success, as the upper layer of the silo in one corner was found to be mouldy for a depth of about eight inches; the body of ii, however, was f und to be in good order, sweet and fresh, very like grain just malted, and was partaken of by septs cattle with avidity. A horse tkat had been daintily stable-fed could not be persuaded to touch it. And when it is remembered that there was so much good fresh grass in the paddock, it may be considered" surprising that the cattle fed upon it at a’l. Mr B'air, of Nimmo and Blair who was present, and w o may be considered an expert, expressed the opinion that the principle of the thing would work well here, and he believed that had the mouth of the pit been baiter protected the silo would have been a complete success. Taking into consideration, however, the loss of c-op from the depredations of birds and vermin and the waste involved in stacking, and also the expenses <>f so managing the crop, the loss and waste in the silo pits from the circnmslances pointed out is probably less than would have been the case if stacked. And it opens up to one dairy farmers a valuable practical lesson of providing winter food. Experiments in this have been previously conducted in this colony by Messrs Royse, Stead, and Co., in clay pits, and also by Councillor Cairns, who need old barrels for the purpose, but via believe Dr Ooughtrey’a experiments aro the first ones on a 1. rge scale In this eoloqy. Mea rs Nimmo and Blair intend ex hibiting a sample from Dr Coughtrey’a ensilage pit at the forthcoming poult y 1 show, and stockowners should take ad- ' vantage cf that opportunity of testing the product of this silo experiment.