ENSILAGE REPLACES HAY-

Hawera Star, Volume L, 14 February 1931, Page 12

ENSILAGE REPLACES HAY-

A trip through the dairying districts of the North Island at the present time gives practical evidence oi one great change w hoc-ih, bats taken place in laming methods during the last few years says an exchange. This is in the- matter of fodder conservation.

It is not the- dairy farmer alone ensilage stack was an unusual sight; haymaking was almost universal. Perhaps as a result of a succession of wet summers when the liay crop was either destroyed in the making or secured in a damage condition, or partly through better recognition of the value of silage as a ration for dairy cows, ensilage making is now a recognised 'part of the routine on most well-run dairy farms. Here, again a change is taking place. At first nothing but the making of ensilage in the- stack was practised by 1 aimers. Now a great deal of fodder is conserved m pits and trenches, often concrete lined, thereby reducing the waste and providing a cheap storage receptacle into which the crop is, (handled and removed with ease. . t is not thed airy farmer alone i who is interested in the making of ensilage; the sheep breeder is looking to tnis means to carrying his tloeK through the winter in good shape, silos of various materials have been built in different parts of the country, and this i:s a development which will probably follow in greater strength as tanning .become more intensive and the value of ensilage for stock feeding even more generally recognised. it is admitted that some of the first silos built were ..unsatisfactory, but solid concrete structures are now favoured. There are over 100 of these modern concrete silos* in use in the Auckland Province, and the number is increasing year by year.