VALUE OF ENSILAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18946, 18 February 1925, Page 14

VALUE OF ENSILAGE.

COMPARISON WITH ROOTS. ELECTRIC CONTROL METHOD. uses of; the silo- 41 Tito increasing difficulty of growing 'good crops of turnips, swedes, and other .roots, together with tho high price of .land and the need for making tho farm produce as big monetary returns as possible, should make tho ordinary farmer consider the possibilities of ensilage and ensilage-making. It has, however, to bo acknowledged that a very good case must be made for ensilage before New Zealand farmers can be asked to take it up as a frubstitute for fresh roots or fresh fodders. Ensilage is exceedingly valuable in countries which have a long and severe winter, and where hand-feeding must be resorted to during several months of th 3 year. Under such circumstances sum-mer-grown fodders must be preserved to serve as feed during a season of scarcity, when stock cannot graze in the open. When feeding is done in lyres or banns, there is nothing more effective or economical than a well-built silo placed in a convenient position near the stock houses. In New Zealand we are exceedingly fortunate in having such a mild winter that root crops or fodder crops can be grown and eaten off on the field through the few months when grass is scarce. Our stock do not need to be housed, nor do they need much hand-feeding, except in the supply of hay or such fodders and roots as are not eaten on tho ground. Growth of Itoo'e Crops* It is scarcely possible that any kind of ensilage can bo manufactured and served to stock at such a low monetary or labour cost as to compare with tho common New Zealand practice of growing roots and fodders and allowing the stock to feed upon them where they are grown, and, as such practice can be made to improve the soil and prepare the way for the renewal oi pasture on sound agricultural lines, it should be encouraged and extended wherever possible. The fact that, in some parts of New Zealand, the growing of root crops, and particularly of swedes and turnips, is not sis easy as it once was, is no reason for giving np their cultivation. The value of these crops is so great, and they play such an important part in the economy of stock feeding, that every effort should be made to find out what is the reason for various failures. This is work which the Agricultural Department should take in hand, and which fanners and farmers' organisations should encourage. New methods of cultivation might bo tried, new varieties, new artificial fertilisers, and it might even be worth while trying the effect of sprayings with soma chemical solutions where the young plants are threatened with fungoid or insect pests. Spraying is not such an expensive or difficult matter as some farmers imagine, and the orchardist has proved beyond all doubt that when properly done it is wonderfully effective. _ Although we recognise the vast importance of root and fodder-growing in New Zealand, and have consistently encouraged this class of farming, it has to be acknowledged that in certain districts ensilage could be extensively made and used with beneficial results. Abundant Supply o! Grass. For climatic reasons the silo is a much surer way of conserving surplus grass than the hay stack, and every year, in the early part of summer, there is usually such an abundant supply of grass that unlimita'ble quantities of silage could be made without interfering with grazing. We could go further than this, and say that practically every year sufficient grass is grown and wasted as would give all New Zealand an adequate supply of silage for its winter needs. Recent experiments in England and America have proved the value of ensilage over hay when combined with roots or more concentrated feeds for dairy cows, and, although neither English nor American experience can be taken as a guide to practice by New Zealanders in this respect, it can be made to show the folly of wasting a utsful and valuable class of food. On most farms where stock-raising and feeding is carried on the silo would prove a good investment. The development of cheap hydroelectric power is making the chaffing and elevation of silage crops a simple matter, and, moreover, recent experiments have shown that the electric current can be made to take a very striking part in the actual manufacture of the silage itself. Mr. If. E. Woodman, of the Animal Instruction Institute, Cambridge University, describes an invention by which the process of making ensilage is absolutely con trolled. The silo is fitted with a metal gridiron on its floor, and has a metal plate which fits lightly over the freshly-cut silage. Hie gridiron _ and plate act as poles, and tho silage itself acts as conductor. No particular type of electric current is required, and the electric energy is roughly one kilowatt hour per lewt. of crop. Ordinary grass or other material may be used without chaffing, but chaffing reduces electrical resistance. Principle of the Process. The principles underlying this process are two-fold. First, the heating of the material by electrical means; to a temperature of EOdeg. C. prohibits tho development of harmful bacteria, or those responsible for sour ensilage, and also those responsible for putrifactive changes; second, tho action of the current occasions the destruction of tho plant ceils and assists respiration at an early staue, and, since respiration of the plant cells is one of the chief causes of waste ensilage, this is an important feature. It is not necessary to go minutely into the details of this process, for it is sufficient to say that experts have declared it to be simple, effective, and cheap, and -where farmers possess the necessary power and plant the making of silage, sweet and nutritious in character becomes a matter of mere ordinary work. The cost of a silo and the cost of an electric plant is by no means excessive, and, in most cases where shingle and sand are convenient, a permanent concrete silo can be constructed at about the same cost as an ordinary barn used for the storage of hay. Tho stack, "or pit, style of silo, though crude and wasteful, has the merit of cheapness, and it is probable that the electric current might be used to great advantage even with this. Since, in the northern parts of New Zealand, supplies of electricity will soon be much more easy to procure than concrete, or even wooden silos, it should be worth while experimenting in this direction.