ENSILAGE MAKING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 291, 3 August 1932, Page 2

ENSILAGE MAKING

EXPERTS BESCRIBE THE LATEST MODERN METHODS. GUIDANCE FOR FARMERS. (Sp'ecially Written for the "Post" by Messrs. C. S. Dalgleish and H. W oodysar-Smith. ) The recent farmers' field competions in the Rotorua district have brought to light some very interesting points in the making of ensilage. They rnay be regarded as vital in the economies of fodder conservation and are well worthy of comment. The art of ensilage making has been known for many hundreds of years, but the practice was not followed for two reasons. No suitable machinery was available for the speedy, cheap handling of large quantities of heavy green material, and that which was put into silage was done so by such slow and laborious processes that it invariably became badly overheated and was spoilt. In these enlightened days we are fortunate in possessing not only a good choice of suitable machinery for handling the green material, thus creating a great saving in labour costs, but also new methods have been evolved to suit the changing conditions and it is now possible to quiekly and cheaply ensile the green material with even the very simplest of machinery. We can very well sympathise with farmers in days gone by, who had to content themselves with the seythe for mowing the green crop and raanual labour for handling, lifting and storing every pound of the material. For the up-to-date methods in ensilage making at present throughout New Zealand, farmers owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. J. W. Deem, the present Director of the Fields Division, Deyartment of Agriculture. Years ago, Mr. Detem fully realised the imporcant part that ensilage was destined to play in the farming history of this Dominion and has increasingly investigated and experimented with newer and better methods suitable for the work. Iiis findings and advice on these matters have been so eminently practical and sound that they have been immediately and most successfully put into practice by farmers throughout the country. In Taranaki, which, thanks to the foundation Mr. Deem laid years ago, we find possibly the hest ensilage made in New Zealand. Competitions on the work are h?ld year after year with ;ho rcsult that a great deal of most iseful information has been made xvailable to farmers throughout the jrovince. These ensilage competitions > jing conducted hy practical farmers md judged by the most competenc ruthorities available provide for us a very interesting objection lesson. in the judging, care is not only taken n determining such points as cover, fiiality and wast 3, but the actual praelical and economic effect of the different. classes of silage upon stock and production. Beneficial Food. tAs a result, it has been conclusively proved that the green fruity material is of the greatest value, for its influence on the condition of the stock vnd effect on production, but palata- ' bility as well. It has been found that ihe charred burnt material has no place for this condition means great losses in the feeding value of the product, and tends to, in some cases, cause serlous injury to stock. Many people still argue that the green fruity material is objectionable on account of its smell and, in the case of the dairy farmer, the flavour it imparts to the milk. Others claim that it is injurious as a stock food and will often cause disease and even death. Neither of the points have the slightest foundation in fact. The smell, as many farmers know, of well made green fruity silage is not unpleasant and the feed flavour in milk xS due to external contamination. Insufflcient washing of the hands after working with silage, clothes that have come into eontact with the gr >en ma.'erial and which are worn in the milk'ng shed, may easily he the cause of indescribable taints in the milk. Disease Not Caused. No disease in stock has ever been eaused through fteding good silage, the most serious complaint is due to the want of it usually. Doath of young stock, especially calves, through eating silage is easily explained. Very young anim'als cannot be expected to deal with the same class of fodder as matured stock and heavy feedings of silage to young calves is not a juitable ration, although small quantities are quite safe. Ilt may, therefore, easily be seen that the green, fruity, silage, while heing able to exercise the greatest good as a supplementary fodder, does not cause the ailments or had conditions attributed to it. Effective Methods. It is of interest to note that the principles underlying successful ensilage making consist of very simple yet safe and most effective methods. These are: — Cut the material at the right stage, > before it gets too woody or fibrous, the earlier the cutting the better. Put the material into the pit, trench or stack, as soon as possible. Weiglit the material immediately . after the storing has been completed. Further interesting developments have been brought to light by the by the work of research authQrities in Finland and Germany and the following is a summary of the treatment suggested by them in regard to cold silage. In giving this report we are , not suggesting that it has yet a place in Nevy Zealand conditions, but it goes a long way to porove the . worth of the green, fruity silage so widely made and advocated in this ' country. "The S'ilo Acid" Method. "During the past few years an infcensive campaign for popularising the use of ensilage has been in progress in several continental countries, and a number of important improvements in existing methods of preserving green forage have been suggested. The object of this movement is, of course, to make ensilage the staple

winter food for cattle and to ena'ble the farmer to dispense entirely, or in part, with the use of expensive concentrated foods. The silo movement has been particularly active in Bavaria and extensive investigations have been carried out at the Weihenstephan Agricultural College by Professosr von Kap'ff, who claims to have perfected a proeess which, while obviating the usual disadvantages of the ordinary methods, produces an excellent silage from grass, beet leaves, clover, vetches and potatoes. This is achieved by the use of Dr. von Kapff's "silo acid," which is poured over the green forage in the silo at the rate of 1 litre per cubic metre of forage, or 1 per cent. mixed with 25 to 30 litres of water. After extensive experiments made in 1926 a number of large^silos were erected in different parts of Bavaria.-First-class silage was obtained in every case by the cold fermentation method coupled with the use of silo acid.J The lactic acid content of the silage varied from 0.0 to 0.76 per cent. Advantages of Proeess.. The advantages claimed for th'e von Kapff silo acid method are as follows: 1. The raw material (chopped or unchopped) can be packed into the silo immediately after heing cut. 2. The silo can be filled gradually over a period of several months, a great advantage on small farms or where a number of different crops have to he used. 3. The silo acid kills the life of the plant. The forage collapses and is easily tramplsd or pressed down, thus preventing heating and loss of nutritive elements through respiration. 4. The silo acid immediately achieves the desired end, viz., the suppression of harmful acids and bacteria. 5. The small acid content of the silage producsd is good for animals. A larger silage ration can therefore be given. The addition of elutriated chalk to the food just before feeding is advisable. It is claimed that the use of silo acid ensures the production of preserved food which closely resembles the fresh green forage in nutritive value. The silage is of good appearance and is readily eaten by farm animals. The milk of dairy cows fed on this ensilage is reported to bs excellent in quality and suited for the feeding of infants."