ENSILAGE FROM GOAT’S-RUE?

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XIII, Issue 3, 20 September 1916, Page 230

ENSILAGE FROM GOAT’S-RUE?

W. DIBBLE,

Fields Inspector.

In the past season a stack of goat’s-rue ensilage was made on Mr. A. Buchanan’s estate, near Ashhurst (Manawatu). The material was stacked between the 6th and 13th January, 1916, and by the Ist August it was being fed to dairy stock. It is brown in colour, and the aroma is all that can be desired.. The temperature in the making ranged from 130° to 140° F. The size of the stack when made was 20 ft. by 20 ft. by 10 ft.,' but when the weight was applied the material settled down considerably. Owing to the succulent nature of goat’s-rue I would recommend that grass be mixed with it to withstand the pressure.

At the time of a visit made by the writer to Mr. Buchanan’s place a dray loaded with goat’s-rue ensilage was being served out to the dairy herd, and the cows ate it quite greedily. The stock had been grazing on good pasture, and had also been fed on the ensilage for some considerable time with apparently no ill effects.

It is not ; recommended to grow goat’s-rue except for special purposes, such as sowing the seed and letting the growth accumulate to make humus on poor soil, and then leaving it to gather nitrogen for a few years. But where goat’s-rue is growing wild and has to be cut, in order to compensate the farmer for his outlay in cutting it may be gathered and mixed with a crop of grass and clover that is being made into ensilage at that particular time. If growing in sufficient quantity, however, it can be made into ensilage by itself, as was done in the instance under notice. Care must be taken to cut the goat’s-rue when in its early stages —about 2 ft. 6 in. in heightand the stuff cut must be practically free from dead stalks of the preceding year’s growth.

It is worth noting that on a property adjoining Mr. Buchanan’s estate, divided from it only by a post-and-wire fence, there is no goat’s-rue, although at the time of writing the goat’s-rue is about 2 ft. in height in close proximity to the wire fence on ■ the one side. It appears that the plant is killed or kept down by heavily stocking with sheep during the early spring months. The illustration shows part of the boundary-line between the two properties.

. -* A description and general account of goat’s-rue (Galega officinalis) was given in the Journal for February, 1916, page 125. . '