STACK ENSILAGE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 230, 27 September 1911, Page 8

STACK ENSILAGE.

VAZ/tTABIiE HINTS. SOME OF ITS VIRTUES DESCRIBED. BEST METHODS TO EMPLOY AND THE CROPS TO USE. (From the "N.Z. Farmer.") Maize, several of the millets, tares, grasses and clovers were recommended for growth and subsequent conversion into ensilage. And now is the time to determine which paddocks are to be reserved for ensilage crops, which crops arc to be grown, .and what preparatory cultivation will be undertaken. On the second and third of these questions and ori other points (such as time of sowing, quantity of seed, and so oil) the information contained in the interview to which we have referred will be found helpful. "Of course the special benefit of ensilage," said Mr Dibblej "is its great value in winter when the pastures are bare, and in summer when the grass is dry. In both extremes of season it is a welcome 'food, for it ameliorates the winter suffering of the cow and checks the. summer lessening in the milk supply."

"What si/bout the silo?" asked the. "Farmer" representative. "For the present," was the reply, "it will be best to confine our energies to the conservation of grass and fodder plants in stacks. The silo with crops specially grown will no doubt be a feature of the future on many dairy farms. These special crops will be carefully ensilaged, and, with the addition of other foods, will supply a ration calculated to maintain the highest milk-yield. Such conditions will demand the housing of stock, and at least a feed-ing-stall for each animal. This is not yet in contemplation. No farms are at present so equipped, few farmers provide bails for more than a fourth of the herd, and in the race shed there are no means of feeding cattle. However, the practice of ensiling in stacks is at least claiming the attention of the farmer, particularly in districts where the dairy interests are intense. It has been so fully demonstrated that the cow appreciates and responds to a liberal ration of silage that it is astonishing that eo simple a method

. | of securing a. valuable addition to the ' resources of the farm is not in greater S favour." In pointing out the advantages and : facilities offered by the conservation by j ensiling of grass and fodder plants Mr I Dibble said: "The stack can bo built I anywhere on the farm, it can lie built j in the field where the crop is grown, and j often where it may be fed out to stock. | This avoids costly cartage of heavy green | grass or fodder plants to a ii.xed site oil the farm, that is so serious a limitation to the other advantages of the silo. The product is essentially green fodder conserved for use when otner succulent food is not obtainable; it can be kept in the stack from year to year. If not required from one season, it is available for the next. Jn winter it takes the place of roots, in summer that of grass. Silage with reasonable precautions can be fed to cows in milk. The precautions required are that the silage be sound, and that it contains no strongly flavoured plants. An excess of leguminous plants j is objectionable, although their flavour; is removed by pasteurisation. It is well' to remember, too, that the silage is, with! certain modifications, of t he value of the plants of which it is composed. The grass from ihedgc-rows or front plantations, or coarse growths from over ripened j plants and grasses, provides useful en-! silage which about takes the place of: rough hay or straw; it is also welcomed by the cows on dry pastures in summer;' 'but it must not be compared with silage front grass that, has been mown at its, periods of flowering, or that from oats; or maize ensilaged as the grain is pass- j ing from the milk stage in the oat, or as the grain of the maize is toughening." J "But," said the interviewer, "many; farmers seem to think that ensilage is : so hard to make!" —"Well, it is not,"l said Mr Dibble. "'Actually the silage ■ stack should be a less source of anxiety j than the ha.ystack. Greater experience | is required for the conservation of hay I than for silage. The hay maker is at j the merpy of the weather, the silagemaker is independent of those coiuli- j tions." In answer to a request for simple; directions how to make ensilage, the re-: ply was: "Select a level site. Set out; the stack more square than oblong, to; provide the greatest capacity with the 1 least; exposure to the atmosphere. It is at the. sides of the stack that waste Is experienced. The stack-bottom should "be firm. Erck:t the derrick or stacker. Cut sufficient grass, or other crop, to; provide sufficient material to make a layer of 6ft to Bft in thickness. Cart I the grass as soon as mown, and firm this as soon as possible, and remember that the usual process of stack-building is reversed in ensilage. The sides must foe higher and firmer than the centre. When the whole has settled, these sides should be as dense as the rest of the stack. With the. exclusion of air, waste is avoided. The following day this first layer will have heated to proba'biy 100 deg. Fahr., then a further quantity will be cut and stacked sufficient to add" a layer of about 3ft well firmed. The temperature will be carefully noted, and should be maintained between 125deg and 145deg. The thermometer can be passed into the centre through a pipe | inserted in the stack. The temperature can within limits 'be regulated by the thickness, and actually by the weight of the layer added from time to time. . If the temperature remains less than 125deg. allow an interval of a day until , an increase 13 shown, and if the temperature exceeds 140deg. add' a greater , weight by cutting and stacking a greater quantity; but a wide range is per- ] mitted without anxiety;. Jby experienced i

! J; silage-makers. In fact, some appear to "! dispense altogether with the thermome- | tor and ensiling is treated as haymaking, i The beginner, howeve:, should rely upon • the indications of the thermometer. The • 'builder must remember that the centre -' will look after itself : the sides of the j stack, the even spreading, and the even I firming of the material will claim the greatest attention. The heat softens the i grass and the hard parts of other crops, i and the subsidence is enormous. Un- ! | even building may result in the collapse ; J of the stack and the ruin of the silage, . jas it does not lend itself to rebuilding. [ The stacking should continue to a height .(of ISlt to 30ft; the top can then be . | levelled oIT, rough boards laid over, and •j around' the sides, and a fairly strong ■ framing with an upright edge of 20in. to .'24 in. should be provided. This edge or [jbo>: frame will retain the final loading . of earth, with which the top of the stack 'is loaded and weighted. The layer of ; ! earth should be from 20in. to 24in. in , I thickness. The actual purpose is to pro■l vide the pressure to preserve the upper 'part of the stack. The silage in a stack so furnished will remain sound for several years." "Would you care to say something (more about temperature?" "I would luce ; to emphasise it because temperature is the : first factor in making silage. The sweet green silage requires 130deg. to 140deg. Fahr.; at IGOdcg. Fahr. it will be sweet but brown, and at a greater heat it will .be burned and useless. At a temperai ture of less than 120deg. Fahr. to so . low as Sadeg. Fahr. it Kould be acid, but i still provide a relished and valuable raI tion. For feeding out in the field the i sweet green to brown silage is preferred, i This is secured' by allowing the tempera- • ture of the first stack to rise freely, and 1 controlling this heat by successive layj ers." ! "What about the cost of stacking?"— j "Well, the weight of ehe green crop is ; the most serious limitation of ensilage, 'both for the stack and for the silo. Un- ! less grass sweeps or sleighs, or specially ! low waggons with loaders, are provided. | and the mechanical stackers are availed ' of, the cost of forking on drays, cartage, " ; and of further forking on to stacks is ■ these appliances silage can be stacked j that in so many seasons attend the makfourth more than for nay. There is, however, the compensation of the abat a cost for actual work of about a •"icneo of delays from unsettled weather prohibitive, but with the assistance ot ; ing of hay." j •'And does the derrick or hoist cost 'much?" —"Xo, from £lO to £l2. I had an outfit mado for £lO 13/. Here are the particulars: Spider complete £3 3/, 200 feet steel rope £3, 7 pulleys at 5/ each £1 15/, 32-foot pole (Sin diameter at top, 4in at bottom) £1 5/, 20 foot boom (5 inches and 3 inches) 10/, total £lO 13/." "Having mado the ensilage," asked the interviewer in conclusion, "when is it ready 'for use?" : "Silage," replied Mr Dibble, "can be fed to the stock as soon as the temperature is even in the stack and the stack •has settled. This should be in about two months. A well-made stack will continue improving for months. It may be accepted that the conservation of green fodder in an eJiblc condition for stock is effected by the sufficient and continuous pressure that excludes air ' and light and so controls the action of ' certain organisms that effect changes in, , the cells of the plants forming the eil- . i age, and that during the maintenance .of . ! those conditions of exclusion of air and . light tho silage is preserved, from fur- j ther. changes,"' ~