SUCCESSFUL METHOD OF MAKING ENSILAGE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 445, 6 March 1912, Page 6

SUCCESSFUL METHOD OF MAKING ENSILAGE.

There is still some doubt in the minds of those qualified to speak on the question, says a writer in the New Zealand Times, as to the economic value of ensilage for this coutry, it being contended that the cost, especially of labour, counter-balances its undoubted advantages and makes it less valuable than the provision of green crops, which in the equable climate of this island is a practicable proposition. There are others, on the other hand, who contend that ensilage is superior to all other food stuffs for the milk producer and that its preparation need not, even in this country, be a costly matter. The making of ensilage and good ensilage, says a Taranaki dairy farmer, is as easy as falling off a log. In fact, he says, he cannot understand why more people do not take it up. He has been making it for five years, and every year with the most gratifying success. The only time it did not turn out as good as he would have liked was once when the weighting was faulty. His method of procedure is to put in seven acres of red clover, which is cut in the one day. It is raked up and cocked immediately, in order to get it in as green as possible. The material is built up like an ordinary hay stack, in square form, a dry part of the field and as near the gate an possible being selected for the site of the atack. The clover is stacked right away. The lower layer can, however, be left for a day or two, but when putting the top part on, the quicker it is stacked the more satisfactory the result, as no opportunity is the given for the heat to rise. A fair slant is allowed to top of the stack, which is covered with sheets of corrugated iron. This, when the stack is about 16ft high. About 8 inches of earth are taken from around the stack and put on top of the iron, and this is all that is required to weight it. To get in the seven acres, which were only shut up for six weeks, took two carts and seven men for the day. The cost of labour was very much reduced by adopting the co operative principle. As a neighbour was assisted in the getting in of his ensilage material the compliment was returned by him assisting and bringing his man. Thus the two farmers and their two men only required the assistance of three men, the cost of labour being thus only about £1 for one day The farmer in question informed the writer that his cattle are particularly fond of the silage, preferring it to the best hay. It is, he declares, the most economical cow feed he can grow. From the seven acres of red clover he is growing this year he expects to have three cuts, which will give him three stacks of ensilage. He used 15lbs of seed to the acre, and this gives an excellent botoni.