ENSILAGE.

Te Aroha News, Issue 4, 30 June 1883, Page 4

ENSILAGE.

At the invitation of Mr H. Hoare, a number of gentlemen farmers, and others interested in agriculture, recently (says the * Mark Lane Express ') visited Pagehouse Farm, about a mile and a half from Staplehurst Station, to witness the opening of a silo, and to examine the fodder prepared and stored under this system. The crop ensilaged consisted of trifolium, the produce of about three acres, the yield in the green state i being about fifty tons. It was estimated that the crop would have yielded eight tons of hay, whereas ensilaged it yielded ten tons of fodder. A number of questions were asked by those present, and the replies of Mr Hoare and his manager or farm bailiff may be briefly summarised thus : — The cattle take to the food at once ; they thrive upon it, and the yield j of milk is larger and better than upon ! the food formerly given to them. With the addition of some oil cake, varying j from 31b to 81b per head per day, their i condition improved materially. The cost of p-etting in the crop and ensilaging it was about equal to the cost of-making j it into hay under favourable conditions, but those present who understood farming thought that this cost could be very much diminished. Great stress was laid upon tie fact that under this system weather "was no object, as the crops can be stored green,, wet, or dry. Some butter was shown to and tasted by those present, and the preference ail round was for that made from the cows fed on the ensilaged fodder. The top layer of the fodder in the silo was ; slightly mouldy, and it showed signs of fermentation 1 , an evidence of insufficient covering and pressure ; but the deeped the cuts into, .thebody of the be^s thus' stored the better was the fqod; r . ' Are you perfectly

satisfied with the "experiment yourself, Mr Hoare ?' askod one of those present. 'Perfectly,' replied the owner of the farm ; and his bailiff concurred in that reply. Altogether the experiment was deemed very encouraging even by those who evinced a lingering preference for the "old methods of cropping, storing, and feeding so long in vogue. Furl Spencer having expressed a desire that the preserving of green fodder upon the system known as ensilage should be tried on the farm of the Albert Institution, Grlasnevin, Ireland? experiments were instituted there in the course of last Bummer by Professor Carrol, who says — It appears to me that the points to be determined by experiment are — 1. Is the system adapted to our climate and circumstances ? 2. Which of our cultivated plants are suited to the system, and- what forage plants may be advantageously introduced for the purpose ? 3. What are its comparative advantages over jroot feeding, and whether ensilaged fodder might not have been preserved more economically by the ordinary system of dry-In?, &c. ? 4. Its suitability for the various classes of farm stock, aud its effects upon their condition, health, &c. The experiments upon the Albert Farm during the year were as follow : — On the 25th July the fodder was cut. No, 1. Lucerne and straw chaffed and put into a silo about five feet deep, and lined with boards, so as to make it air-tight and water-tight. 2. Comfrey and lucerne chaffed, with a very small proportion of oat straw, and put into a similar silo. 3. Italian ryegrass, not chaffed, packed tightly into a silo. 4. Italian ryegrass, packed tightly into a silo, which was simply a pit dug in the ground without any protecting casing or lining. 5. Italian ryegrass packed tightly on the surface of the ground, and covered with about eighteen inches of earth in a manner similar to a 'potato pit.' On the 9th October the silos were opened, and the following was the result : — In Nos. 1, 3, and 4, the fodder had a temperature of about 75deg. Fahr. ; it was apparently in good condition, having a smell some-like fresh brewer's grains. The cows on pasture as well as those which were being home-fed, ate this food with avidity. In No. 2 the comfrey and lucerne were quite spoiled ; the colour had not been much altered, but the smell was most offensive, and the mass appeared to be quite putrid. No. 5, the Italian ryegrass, was quite dry, but mouldy and perfectly unfit for food. The points to be noted appear to be — 1. That plants having a succulent character are not suited to the system unless they are mixed with some dry substance in the silo. 2. That the silo must be perfectly air-tight and water-tight, and that the forage must be tightly compressed therein. This was made clear by the failure of No. 5 experiment, as well as wherever a small bulk of straw or dry matter got amongst the ryegrass, the fodder around the substance was quite spoiled by the air therein contained.