Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/223

 for exactly the same result. Yet such has been the case. Most farmers will tell you that from two pounds to three pounds of seed is enough per acre, and possibly it may be sufficient to give a fairly good crop. But considering that it is the stems and not the leaves that hold the nourishment and fattening qualities it stands to reason that the thicker the plants the better, and therefore from six pounds to seven pounds of seed per acre is not too much to sow broadcast to ensure a good heavy crop. Believe me, the few pounds saved per acre is no economy; and when buying be careful to get the broad leaf winter rape, and not spring rape which is not nearly so good. Another thing do not be persuaded to buy cheap seed, which is, most probably, old and musty. Pay 5d. or 6d. per pound, and ensure having really good seed. Where a farmer keeps a small flock of sheep as merely an extra source of profit, and chiefly for his own consumption, he cannot do better than sow a small field of rape for their winter feed, as in most climates it is ready for cutting by June, and a good crop sown, as I have suggested, will feed from 25 to 35 sheep per acre.

It is a great mistake to imagine that silage cannot be made without an expensive silo. I believe it is this idea that prevents many small farmers from trying their hands at this very useful form of winter feed for their stock. Lately I saw a very simply made silo on a dairy farmer's small place, and though the silage did not look perhaps as appetising as it might, the cows did not notice it apparently, as they were most thoroughly enjoying it. The silo was merely a large square hole dug in the side of a ridge and boarded and lined with slabs. It was an experiment in the first instance, they told me; but it is an experiment any of my readers who keep cows might do well to try. The silo was filled with ordinary summer grass and also a couple of drayloads of thistle, wild vetches, &c., &c., from a field that had been ploughed and laid fallow for a year and so had become covered with weeds, thistles, &c., &c., this with the grass was put into the silo dry, and a square lid just fitting it put over and weighed down with heavy stones. Every three or four days more was added and a few pounds of coarse salt sprinkled through each time. When quite full and the stuff had sunk to the level of the silo, enough to allow the lid to cover it easily, the weight was applied with a lever, and finally roofed over with a few sheets of iron, and so left for very nearly six months; when requiring food for the milking cows it was opened, and proving a huge success, several more silos of the same primitive pattern have been made. In this way many of the small farmers would find themselves able to feed as many cows in