ENSILAGE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 269, 3 January 1929, Page 6

ENSILAGE.

A VALUABLE FODDER. Saving and Feeding. (Address on Ensilage Making delivered at a meeting of the Stratford Jersey Club by Mr. J. W. Deem, Instructor in Agriculture) Mr. Deem said the making of ensilage should be a very important 'feature in the farm work of a great many districts of New Zealand, but especially in districts where the weather is tricky and the making of good hay is a doubtful undertaking and a -.source of worry to the farmer. Even •in districts where fairly good hay can be made it is just questionable whe- . ther it would not be a better paying proposition to turn a portion of the available hay material into silage. Ensilage has this great advantage over hay—that it can be made just When the material is ready. Weather .conditions do not intervene, to any great extent, as, unless it is actually raining hard, the work need not be held up ; for instance, showery weather does not hurt except that it increases the weight of the material to .be handled. Ensilage has the further advantage over hay that a great deal of robgh material, such as coarse j, grasses, thistles, etc., that would not make palatable hay will make fairly good silage, as the process of • curing .softens the hard stems and makes the . material edible. At the same time it should here be pointed out that poor material will not make the best ensilage, as in other crops the better . the material the better the ensilage, 'hut let me repeat that very useful

ensilage can be made from material that otherwise would be wasted. A good stack or pit of ensilage is the best insurance policy a dairy farmer can have on his farm. If not required at once it will keep for several years if properly made. Use of Ensilage. Ensilage will be found invaluable for all classes of stock, but especially for milch cows, to take the place of roots and hay during the autumn, winter and spring. For feeding to dairy cows a month or two before calving it cannot be excelled. Experiments show that cows fed on good ensilage will give almost, if not quite, as good a return as when fed on the best of roots and green fodders. Cows fed on ensilage have a mellow appearance as compared with those fed on hay. Their, skins are softer and looser, they calve and clean up better and come to profit quicker. The objection to ensilage is the cost of handling the mass of green material as compared with cured hay. If a mechanical stacker is used for hoisting, and sweeps or sledges are employed, to cart the material to the stack, the labour is greatly minimised and under these conditions would in a great many cases be less than that necessary to make hay, and the material would he saved at its best and the worry of haymaking cut out. It must be recognised that a great deal of the so-called hay saved in many parts of New Zealand has had such a doing from rain and weather that by the time it reaches the stack it is little, if any, better than badlysaved wheat straw.

Material. Having decided that it is good farming practice to make ensilage the next consideration is the best material to use. As for material, good grass and clover are very hard to beat, and if they are mixed in fairly even proportions and properly saved the resultant silage is almost perfect. Among the special crops, oats, wheat or barley, maize, millet or sorghum in conjunction with tares or peas are about the best combinations. Any of the cereals, maize, millet or sorghum, will make good ensilage by themselves, but the addition of tares or peas increases the protein content in the silage and a better-balanced ration is produced. Lucerne also makes good ensilage, but being very rich in protein it is better mixed with grass, millet or maize so that it will produce a more balanced fodder. Lucerne growers frequently find a difficulty in disposing of the first cutting from a lucerne field in the spring, and, as this cutting generally contains a good deal of foreign matter in the shape of grass, weeds, etc., it would make good ensilage without the addition of other mixtures, and there is no better way of dealing with it. On a great many farms there is a surplus of grass towards the end of November. This would, with great advantage, be cut and made into ensilage. Besides producing a quantity of good silage the removing of this grass will greatly benefit the pasture by allowing the clovers and fine grasses to come away and provide a dense green covering. Of the special crops, temporary pasture, 20 pounds of Italian rye, six pounds of red clover and two bushels of wheat or oats in conjunction with one bushel of tares or peas per acre are probably the best. The wheat or oats and tares may be sown in the autumn, fed off during the winter and spring, and then let run for a crop, being ready for cutting early in December. Peas are first class for

' spring sowing but do not stand the ! winter and feeding if sown in the J autumn. One bushel of peas and two ) bushels of beans is also a good ensilage crop, likewise 16 pounds of millet or two bushels of maize per acre, but as already pointed out millet or maize is better when mixed with a legume like lucerne or peas. Peas may be grown in conjunction with either millet or maize or an area of one of the latter crops and an area of peas grown separately and mixed when stacking. This usually gives the heaviest crops. . Time to Cut. As in making good hay, material for making ensilage should be cut at the right time if first-class ensilage is desired. Mixed grasses should be cut when the predominating varieties are in bloom, cereals just when the grain is thickening from the milk to the dough stage, and maize when the cobs are taking on a glazed appearance, and peas and tares between the blooming and early podding stages. Methods of Saving. There are three different methods of making ensilage the pit, the stack and the silo. The silo has many advantages, especially if it can be erected in a central position so as to minimise the carting of green material. It should be fitted with a cutter and blower or elevator for economy in filling. It is best to have two medium-sized silos rather than one large one. This enables the farmer to be filling one while the other is being used.

This is a great advantage where silage is being used for summer feeding and when small quantities of material are available from time to time. Where possible, in erecting silos a site should be chosen where a fair depth of the silo may be let into a bank. This secures economy in erecting and subsequent hoisting of material. Where suitable banks are to be had in handy positions the pit is a very fine way of making ensil- ' age, and frequently a pit can be pro-

vided in each field or one can be made where it will suit two or three paddocks. In choosing the site for a pit care should be taken to see that it can be conveniently filled from above and that a good road can be got from the front of the pit for carting out the material. A round pit is much better than, a square one as it is difficult to fill the comers satisfactorily in the latter so as to exclude the air, and there is generally considerable loss from this cause. The walls should have a slight batter, 1 in 15 being about right. The opening to a round pit should if possible be just wide enough to allow a dray to back in, and where the pit is to be permanent the comers of the opening should be cemented so as to carry timber to close the opening as the stack is being filled. In the cas’e of a temporary pit a good stout post may be placed at these corners, and timber for closing the opening should not be less than twoinch stuff. In filling a pit great care should be taken to see that it is evenly filled and that the sides are well tramped so that there is no possible chance of the material leaving the walls and admitting air. The same precautions are necessary in filling the pit as in building a stack to see that the temperature is properly controlled. The following table

The stack on the average farm will be the system followed by the majority of farmers for a long time and has a great deal to recommend it in that the stack may be built in the field where the material is grown. This means a great saving of haulage. In building an ensilage stack it is very important that the farmer should have a fair idea of the quantity of material he has to put in and the size of the stack required. The following figures may be useful. A good average meadow hay crop will provide about 7 tons of green material, a fair crop of lucerne or temporary pasture 7 to 9 tons, good crops up to 10 or 12 tons, special crops of cereals or tares or peas about 10 tons, extra good giving as high as 12 to 14 tons per acre, millet 12 to 16 tons and maize about 30 tons, extra-good crops running up to as high as 50 tons of green material per acre. About 20 tons is the minimum amount of material which should be put into an ensilage stack. The approximate sizes of stacks are : 20 to 40 tons 14 by 14, 50 to 70 tons 16 by 18, 80 to 100 tons 20 by 24. The best time to cut has already been dealt with, but it may again be repeated that the material should go in at its best and while it retains sufficient sap to bring about the necessary fermentation or cooking. Occasional showers during the building of the stack are generally an advantage and necessary if the material has been allowed to become overripe. Having got everything ready for a start, cut sufficient material and build the stack up to eight or nine feet the first day. Usually the material should be cut and put straight into the stack, with the exception of lucerne crops containing a lot of very succulent material like sow thistles. In such cases it may be allowed to wilt for a few hours before stacking. The stack, having been built up to eight or nine feet, should be allowed to stand for one or more days until it has settled down properly and the temperature in the centre of the stack is between 120 and 130 degrees, the best ensilage being made between 120 and 140 degrees. The temperature having risen to the proper point, stacking may be continued from day to day, but if it is noticed that the stack is not settling or that the temperature is low give it a spell again for a day or two. 'The practice is this : if the temperature is getting too high more material, if too low refrain from adding material until it has reached the desired point. Experienced ensilage makers can tell from the feel and appearance of the stack if the temperature is right, but beginners will find it a great help if they use a thermometer. All that is necessary is a piece of iin or lin piping four to six feet long. Into one end of this a pointed stick should be placed and the pipe driven into the stack. The thermometer could then be attached to a piece of string and lowered down the pipe. An ordinary milk thermometer would be satisfactory. The thermometer may be pulled up from time to time as required to ascertain the temperature. When ready to start building again remove the pipe and thermometer, placing it in position again at the end of the day’s work. When building the stack take great care to see that the outside walls and corners are kept firm by tramping. The centre should be kept full, but not hearted up like a haystack, the idea being to keep the surface of the stack as nearly level as possible during building, with the walls hard and firm to exclude air. When finishing the stack is should be hearted up so that when earth is applied the centre will be a little

higher than the wall. During the process of building the stack should be frequently pulled hard and the material thrown into the centre. If while the stack is being built the wind is constantly from one quarter it will have a tendency to drive the heat to the lea side of the stack and cause uneven heating and settling, with the result that the stack sometimes topples over. To guard against this a sheet of some sort should be hung on the windy side while it is blowing. When the building of the stack is finished it must be weighted to cause even settling and control the temperature, and in most places earth is the most suitable for this. If the stack is hot and settling quickly the earth should be put on at once, but if the 'settling is slow it is best to wait a day or two before applying the soil, as by this time the height of the stack will be considerably reduced, and it will be seen if the settling is even. It is good practice to put a frame of some sort around the stack to hold the earth. This frame should go as near the edge as possible. The nearer the pressure can be got to the edge the less will be the wastage of material. Sometimes a frame of sawn timber two 6 by 1 lengthways supported by, 3 by 1 stays and braced lengthways and across with fencing wire is used, but the more common practice is to procure some poles, put them across the sides and ends, tying across with wire and placing earth inside these. Another useful method is to run a wire around the stack about two feet from the edge, tying it with cross wires, then fill old manure bags or benzine tins with soil and hang these to the wire to serve as a frame. Others again simply put the earth on and trust to luck in getting it as near the edge as possible. The fault of this system is that the loss around the stack is greater. The soil should be put on 9 to 10 inches along the sides, running to 15 or 18 inches in the centre. The stack should be watched for a week or two to see that it settles evenly, some of the earth being removed from place to place or more added if found necessary. The stack may be fed at any time, but it is better to stand for a month or two. When ready to feed open only a small area of the stack so that at least six inches of the whole area opened will be removed

they get ■used to it, gradually increasing up to 301 b or 401 b, which should be the maximum for ordinary purposes.

During the process of saving ensilage it is good policy to add salt, as it improves the quality of the

silage and is a good way of feeding salt to the stock. The poorer the material the more salt should be added. Use 41b to 61b per ton of green material. Stock feeding on silage to which salt has been added will require plenty of good water.