WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2652, 11 January 1905, Page 20

WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

As I premised in my last week's notes, 1 lave hunted up all my old Ensilage. statistics re ensilage, and have also paid a visit to Mr William Mills's, jf "Chelton," Levin, who is one of the Jdest dairymen on the Coast, and let m© add, also, one of the most progressive* An hour's chat with him is a real treat to anyone who takes an interest in either dairy-farming or agriculture in any of its branches. I may return to his views on general farming, but at present, I shall try to stick to my subject — ensilage. Although it was a holiday, I found him hard at. work hoeing mangels, or as he calk them wurzels, and 1 - which wefe looking very well, considering the season, and clear of weeds. Like all good farmers, he believes in stirring up the soil, even n there are not many weeds, and let me say that all his family were also hard at work on different parts of - the farm, showing what farmers have to do to kee> uj with the times. Although all business men and tradesmen were either at sports or races — or, at least not at'-.work — the farmer, who produces all the wealth we have in the colony, must keep pegging away — no holidays for him. Even Sunday is denied him if he is a dairyman. They earn all they get, being tied down, working early and late — rio 8 o'clock till son a farm, or weekly half-holiday in addition to Sunday. However, the 'majority of farmers, and also farm, labourers, are^" jolly and contented with their lot, and) whether they be Scotch or of any other nationality, they appear to live up to the old song. — Contented^wi^little, and canty wi'^air — Wfcate'er may gather wi' sorrow arid care.

May it long ontinue, but I fear the trail of the serpent of -discontent is being diffused with so much class legislation in this farmers' paradise of a country. However, neither Mr s <Mill9 nor his large family showed much dlisobntentment with their lot, and after our usual joke about whether the kettle had boiled 'dry— "which it had done on ajprevious visit, when I was about two years after my appointed time — he left the" mangels and gave me two or three hour 3of a very ■ interesting chat' on f arm topics, ensilage in particular.

After the necessary cup of tea, whicb> yo\j must have, it does not matter what time of day- it may be when you get there, we went to the cowsheds and silo, which are, very convenient, ."but," he said, "they are not what I would like them to be."

Having oeen built a bit at a time, like many, farm^ buildings on a bush farm, and .after '20 years' study of his requirements, fhey would naturally not be ,his model for a farm-steading if he had to start afresh. After' a long conversation, "he " said : "If ensilage is to_be made from grass, or weeds, such, as thistles or docks— though docks , make good 'fodder when cooked^ in 'a siloT" 1 andi it^ is a good) thing that they are found to be of some. value, for they grow to perfection all up +he Kiwatea Valley — the stack system is as good <as the' pit, and you save the expense of building the silo." His first trial .was with a stack, only a small .one, about * Bft x 10ft, which he built just like a hay stack, covered over with rushes', and loaded with logs, which were' /then plentiful-; fencing it in so that the cattle should! not get at it. After some time, when he looked at it, it seemed useless as fodder, and he considered it a failure,* so he did not try to see whether the cattle would eat it or not. By some means the fence was broken down, however, so that the cows could get at it, and they soon showed him that they were*; better judges Sof w"hat was good fodder than he was by eating the stuff, which he regarded as a muck-heap, and demonstrating that it -was of great value as a milk-producing ration. Every year since that he has made ensilage one of the chief parts of his stock of winter feed. Mr Mills says- making ensilage is x one of those jobs' that you can do to'inorrow, and therefore it should suit a lazy man, as ,you cannot "hurry, over it\ I*IB first day build your stack up six Or "seven feet "high, then leave, it fot'-three. days, until it get hot. His '-experience^ -ot— what the heat should be allowed to rise to is about 180degj but he likes tor see-it well cooked;" -he does not use a thermometer, but it should be: so hot that it cannot be handled with the. bare hands. Be.- - sure th»re is a good heart in the-''botto» r before putting more stuff m.~ Then, after an- interval of a day or ,twq, keep' adding a few feet more to the stack, af)d'> so on as, the" stuff 'keepsneating, put more.graes on; but if it- is expected to make a big show of a" stack, disappointment will be experienced, as it takes a long time to raise a silage stack 10ft. To give some idea what size to make the stacif, Mr Mills has weighed his ensilage, made^of maize, cut into chaff, and found the average in a pit 14ft deep. The weight is about 451b to the cubic foot; though the weight of grass would be ooneiaerabiv leas. Taking tfie weight at 351b to the foot, a- stack of ensilage 10ft x 12ft and 10ft high would ,, weigh nearly 20 tons. I only throw this out as a rough estimate as to what size to build, so that any one thinking of making ensilage, by estimating the weight of stuff they wish to stack, can make their stack to something near their There is no great art in making or building a stack of ensilage, it being necessary only to keep the walls perpendicular, as if swollen out as is usual with A 'haystack, all that hangs jver" the peirpendicular cannot receive any pressure, and will therefore be wasted. There is little : need to put on much weight, such as bags, of sand, etc., as if slowly built, there will be little waste. Cover up the top with I straw or rushes, so as to keep out the rain, although the water will not get far down after it has been erected a short time; still, it i 3 better not to leave it so that a small pond may form on top of the stack.

Mr Mills told me that one of his neighbours had got a silo press, and was fairly satisfied with it. When anyone wanted to make only a few tons a press might come in very useful, as in that case sufficient pressure oannot Be got from the small quantity of material being used; but with fgucing wire (the starid-by_ of the back

countryman), almost anything can be done. With a few lengths of wire and a strainer that works independent of a post, it is practicable to press together a few tons of grass and convert it into ensilege, or by putting stones or bags of .eartii on the little heap, the same result will be attained. I may say tha,^ personally I have never madle ensilage, but I have seen it made many times the last 20 years both in Australia and here, and I think it is only because fanners do not know the value of it that more of it is not produced. Mr Mills considers that it is more profitable to grow Indian corn or maize for ensilage, as its feeding properties are to much higher I than grass or weeds. Although if there is, as very often happens in the spring, more . grass than can be made use of, by all means ; make it into fodder. Of course it is not . every farmer who can grow "maize, as being , nearly a tropical plant, to get a heavy 'i crop a warn? sandy oi alluvial soil is ,v, v ■ necessary, and a moderately warm climate, j , I do not suppose there are many places i j where it would do much good in the south, i but anywhere north of the Manawatu there • is plenty of land that will grow maize. Oats or wheat, where they grow rank in straw, ; if cut m tho milky stage, will make cxi cellent ensilage. Mr Mills has about seven ! j acres of maize in, and it is now showing ! j a nice braird, from which he expects ' :,to cut about 20 tons to the acre. To convert this into fodder he has a silo 25ft by 20ft and 17ft high, being all above ground, and built, on to the end of hisi « cowshed. There is a light tramway down the -centre of the cowshed to convey theensilage to the feed-boxes. He imported an extra-strong chaffcutter with 12in mouth, with an elevator which carries the chaff right over tha wall of the silo through a hole in the roof. The power used was imported with the chaffcutter, and is a treadpower, in which he uses two horses, but I read of dairy farmers using the bull in such a power to churn an I saw firewood, and when they had a milking machine the bull did the milking. In <h* early day.- of small crops in Victoria they .yere laigcly used for threshing,, and with the small mills then in use it was wonderful the quantity of grain they could ge£ through. I have often thought that they might be more largely used by small farmers here, instead of having tfo employ % steam engine to come to cut a few tons of chaff, or for grinding peas or grain, and for otbei little jobs when a small power is wanted, as they are comparatively inexpensive, and there are few if any parts thai are likely to get out of order. In addition to this they are easily and quickly set to work on any part ' of the farm where they may be wanted; When he wants to fill his silo— that is, when his maize is fit to cvt — he sets up his ohaffcutter alongside the silo, so that the elevator rests on top of the wall, and ! oasts the maize to the machine, which cuts j it into |in chaff, and delivers it direct into the silo, so that the handling is reduced to the" minimum. '' He does not think that treading does "much good 1 : only see that the chaff is spread to an even depth, «, and trodden well into -the corners. After filling , it up '6ft -or 7ft, leave it for a_ day' or two until' the lieat rises.. This generally takes about "three days, then, put. in a few feet more, and have another spell until (the heat gets up again, and so continue until either the silo is. full or the supply of material is exhausted.'. cWhen finished, he puts weight .or outside . pressure on, only to save waste of "good fodder he' gets three loads of soft grass, and puts it also through - the -chaffcutter, and -spreads -it evenly over > the top of the maize. „, This, he tells me, j soon mats together from the ' heat -_ below, 1 and forms a crust that excludes the air, so '■ that little, if any, of the maize is wasted, I as a certain amount would be if exposed to ' , the air.

iue air. . i After the years of experience Mr,, Mills , has had he has found— what all intelligent men do — that he has still much to learn. I When he built the silo he had no idea ' I of the amount of pressure that the walls „ j had to bear,' and although he built it as : strong as -am ordinary/ house — that is, good") ■4x2 studs, coverd -with weatherboards out- ' ! side, and lined with" inch stuff -inside, — i when Jie came to fill his silo -jthe wall ,'eom- [ menoed to bulge out, so, naving plenty of i timbered! the farm, he got long posts, I 12in square, two against- each wall, let well ! into the ground, and 'Jong enough to stand I a foot over the top- of the vr%\T, so that the i posts were over. 20ft' long. /It is, of course, not every farm that -has such .timbers, on lit. and totara at that. '.Putting 'the posts opposite each other, he connected them together with another 12in tie-beam, across" r the top of the silo, and now it is at strong' 1 , room indeed. - Bufc^ to anyone- intending^ ti> i build a silo, . his^ advice is * not to make- it : "so large^ and - there is : great" objection to ' the r corners "in a square one, as - there is not"! the same amount- of pressure in? .the corners [ as there is in the centre. He therefore" ad.vises circular sides as the best. His idea *' is to build one in the form of a huge casksay 16ft in diameter and 15ft deep. Perhaps this is too large, its capacity being, about 45 tons ; but it all depends on the quantity of stuff to Be treated. It is,' better, however, to build! two medium-sized ! ones than one very large silo. Contract the. i diameter or square as much as is desired, but the height should be well kept up, as it is'from^that the pressure is. obtained. Mr Mills's' idea' of the cask silo is that he would gee 6in x '2in planks and hoop them with fencing wire, strained with one of the many patent wire-strainers on sale that strain between the posts. To make I a , good job the planks or staves should' be I dressed and bevelled like the ordinary staves of a cask, but with* no bend, or very little, in the middle. To set up such a cask would be an unwieldy task, and, thinking ojirer Mr Mills's idea.' I would suggest putting down a rim or circle of concrete of the desired diameter, with a groove, say, 6in deep by 2in. By standing the staves up in" that, and erecting a temporary scaffold inside, the planks could be got in position, and the top wire strained tight. It would 1 then stand alone, md afterwards as n any- wh-es could ba put in round to act as hoops as is desired. Instead of using wire, I should get strong hoop-iron, with bolls as clasps, the same, as" are used to secure the lagging on steam boilers. This form of silo is, in fact, just the lagging of a. boiler stood on end. As this is only an experiment, many improvements will suggest themselves. I estimate the price of this cask silo. 16ft in diameter, 15ft deep, 2in limu planfking, at £25, and it should hold nearly 50 tons of , ensilage, so that is not a very large out- ! lay, and, if kept well painted, and being careful to see that good timber is put in, ) it should last 20 yeaijs. ! The question has been asked whether silage is injurious to horses. I have read of horses dying through eating ensilage, and , I do npt think that I can dp" better than

quote a paragraph from the last Australasian, by "Bruni," re horses eating ensilage. He writes : "An American writer cays it may be fed to horses with probable advantage, but must be fed with extreme caution. If fed, it should be given in regular amounts not exceeding 101b to 151b a day. If fed in unlimited quantities, andi especially if the ensilage has been poorly made, it has proved) deadly in its effects.'* He regards ensilage as not a proper food for horses. "BruniV has only heard of one instance of horses neing fed freely on ensilage, and -chat was about a dozen years ago, in Riyerina. In tha ificase the ensilage was made in long pits scooped out with the earth-scoop. The material used was a rank growth of clover ; but, if I mistake not, aIJ i the horses died, though the cause of death' does not appear to be clearly known. In, the American case paralysis of the throat was one prominent symptom ; in another •case nervous spasms; and one "vet." as- { cribed death to hydrophobia. In the case • of the horses that died in Riverina, I didt ! not hear of any symptoms, but the horses ', all died within a short time after eating the ensilage. I asked Mr Mills about this, bt:t he tells me that he dees not remember, ever feeding his horses on ensilage, but, | from his reading, has ' always understood ifc j was dangerous. There is much to learn ! about ensilage, but having discussed 1 the 'matter with many dairy farmers the- lasfc few days, I have come to the conclusion that ir is one of the best rations a farmer j could provide for his cows, and some ra« • commend it for feeding pigs. ANTIQUA OVIS.