FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 1917, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

ENSILAGE. A striking example of the success of stack ensilage may be found at Mr. trail Meuli's farm, near Okaiawa, says Mr. W. Dibble, Acting-Fields Inspector, lor years past lie hits followed the simplest methods in making stack ensilage, and says that he has'always had excellent results.

Last week a 20-acre paddock presented a picturesque and animate scene, as sledges, reapers and stackers were all hard at v.ovk. A Manitoba stacker had been placed in the middle of a paddock of oats and barley—eight acres in Algerian oats and twelve in Cape barley—and just here it might be mentioned that the crop was an unusually heavy one, having been disced in following a crop of swedes. The stacker was placed in position to work a stack 30ft long and 33ft wide, and tjie reapers were then put into the crop. As quickly as five sledges could bring the green stuff along it was stacked and salt added at various stages. Asked how he regulated the temperature, Mr. Meuli said lie never bothered about it. He put on each day as much as tliey could get in with the plant they had been working; the whole job took five or six days, and thou it was capped with about one foot of earth all over. The. temperature was allowed to look after itself, but Mr. Meuli said they never had a failure so far; on the contrary, the ensilage had always turned out first-class. This was the iirst year they had, tried oats and barley exclusively—generally it had been oats and grass—and the barley was allowed to rcaoh the stage when the grain was in a milk condition. The stack, when completed, will have a measurement of 3ft by 33 and 10 to 12 feet high, so that it would contain a great quantity of very valuable winter fce,d for cattle. Mr. Meuli's method is simplicity itself, and one that farmers could very profitably follow.