Molasses Added to Ensilage Removes Smell Objection

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1940, Page 21 (Supplement)

Molasses Added to Ensilage Removes Smell Objection

If molasses is added to the ensilage stack as it is being built it will remove any lingering fear a farmer may have that, because of its characteristic smell, it is not suitable for feeding valuable stock. Even in this modern age, many Taranaki farmers are prejudiced against ensilage for the simple reason that they cannot imagine anything choosing to eat the stuff. They handle it with distaste and feed it with reluctance. Molasses. ensilage should be a greyishgreen, pleasant-smelling substance. If care is taken in the making to see that all air is excluded and the molasses is applied in sufficient quantities, roughly 301bs to the ton, there is no danger of smell arising. Kept no Record. A Forfar defendant was fined £2 at Forfar Sheriff Court when he admitted : having on various dates between June 5 and July 10 moved 38 pigs and failed to keep a record.

pens to be a hasty and impatient man, then he should leave the handling, especially of young heifers, to someone else. Thought in feeding should be taken now when plans for the winter supply of fodder and the growing of supplementary crops for the autumn have to be made. Natural feeding is. of course, governed by Ihe seasons. The yield of the spring has to be conserved for the winter, and the scarcity of the autumn provided for in early ploughings. This is the month that decisions should be made respecting acerages for hay and paddocks for ensilage. Antieipations in this respect should not be over-optimis-tic, but should rather err on the side of libcral estimations, for it is much better to end the winter with a reserve still in hand ready for a sudden cold snap than to short-feed the stock to see them through. September is a vital month on the farm and the preparations now made will have an important bearing on the health of the young stock in the spring. Good management embraces the general treatment of stock. In the case of calves it includes the early feeding, the first allocations of feed other than milk, judicious housing and careful weaning. Good management extends to the nature and condition of the pasturage into which the weaners are turned. It includes the provision of good clean water and adequate shelter. Good management is just another word for the wisdom of experience, the keeping of an ever-watchful eye upon young animals, being ready to treat their ailments and anticipate their needs. Good management is really nothing but good farming.