ENSILAGE MATERIAL.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XX, Issue 239, 27 September 1930, Page 12

ENSILAGE MATERIAL.

Almost any succulent greenstuff will make valuable ensilage, but naturally the most nourishing grasses and clovers will make the most nourishing ensilage. Ensilage made from mixed pasture grass should bo cut and put in the pit while the growth is still very sappy, and before the seed stalks and leaves of the most advanced species of grass have become fibrous and woody. When cut sufficiently early this mixed pasture ensilage is hard to better, but if allowed to become too ripe stock seldom either appreciate or do well on it. Clovers and lucerne make almost ideal ensilage because of their high protein and mineral content. These features add considerably to their value for winter feeding when both are usually low in pasture. PREPARE NOW FOR ENSILAGE. There is still time to prepare for and save ensilage this season, and he will be a wise farmer who stores the surplus growth which wo may now reasonably expect, instead of allowing it to cumber the ground. To get the best results, paddocks to be reserved for ensiling should now be thoroughly harrowed, given a surface sowing of about two pounds of suckling clover or other quick-growing annual clover, per acre, and be heavily top-dressed with superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia. Two hundred pounds of each per acre applied within the next two weeks should result in a luxurious growth for ensilage. With the ground fairly soft, as in. most districts at present, there should not bo much difficulty in putting in the pits or trench to accommodate the crop, while a very little time spent in constructing suitable sledges will put the farmer in the way of making and harvesting his ensilage with a minimum of labour.