ENSILAGE MAKING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4827, 8 May 1925, Page 1

ENSILAGE MAKING.

EXPERIMENT WITH ELECTKICITy i WAITING THE RESULT At the Thames Valley Pjwer Boa '< meeting- at.Te Arolia on Tuesday the. resident • engineer, Mr N. G. McLeo 1 submitted an interesting report in regard to making ensil.? o by th 1 ' heir- of electricity. The report stated that an experiment had been carried out on M. Schwartz’s farm at Pipuoa durin; last month, the general a l ' ahgemen’s being as follows A istack of green maize ’"as plac'd on a number of iron pl ’tes on ths ground and neutral plates were placed on the top of the stack and con nected up to the board’'’ phase, tin' current "passing- from ■ the top plates to the bottom ones throug.i the stack and causing the stack to heat, thereassisting fermentation The- electr.city was also believed to have a beneficial effect .a killing harmful bacteria, such as mould - nd fungus growth. As yet the success of he experiment was somewhat dou'Vul, owing to the effect of frost on the maize bofore being cut, which n'Aght caus'.' decoihposition to set in ana ruin the stack. Until the >tack w,s cut ope i in about a month’s tim", ? definite statement could not be made. fih'om the record of rowings ke?t it was evident that only a comparatively small amount of electricity was sufficient to thoroughly m>L quite large stack, and, therefore, if the expciment proved successtu’ the cob" would come well within the reach ot farmers. The schedule of temper -.‘tires showed that on the bottom of the stack on April 23 it was 180 degras, with SO degrees at the top on April 24 tt'temperatures were 195 n d 120 grees •on April 200 an*' 125 j Apri’ 26, 2 f ‘O and 140 ; April 27, 215 and 14 0 degrees. After the fourth via? the power was disconnec cd Basing the charge on t'j-eepence a unit for electricity, the total cost amouned to about 14s. The engineer was thanked for Ins report, and the chairm-V: said that the u-.imate result of the '• xperhne'j; would be awaited with * onsiderabl' interest. If successful a new avenut would be opened up for the use -’f electricity sb far as the Domlnice was concerned. -