Problems involved in the cultivation of maize for fodder and ensilage. I. The choice of variety

Abstract

Since the introduction of silos and associated techniques of ensilage production in the late 1870's, maize has been the principal silage crop in the United States. Many British authorities agree that maize is a ‘splendid silage crop, highly nutritious, heavy yielding and easy to cut and handle’ (Bond, 1948, see also Watson & Smith, 1956; Woodman & Amos, 1944) but, nevertheless, it is very rarely grown in Britain for silage. In this country, as in most countries of Western Europe, the predominant aim of maize cultivation has been to produce succulent green fodder for direct feeding to animals during time of drought and consequent grass shortage. The acreage grown in England is small, but in Western Germany in 1955 there were about 100,000 acres of fodder maize (Becker, 1956), while in France, in 1954, the acreage exceeded 500,000 (Desroches, 1955). Recently in Western Europe considerable interest has been shown in the possibilities of maize as a silage crop, and within the past few years preliminary results have been reported from Holland (Becker, 1956; Anon. 1954, 1955); Denmark (Bagge & Hansen, 1956); Belgium (Lacroix, 1955; Ledent, 1955); Germany (Jungehulsing, 1955; Schell, 1954); France (Desroches, 1955), and Switzerland (Bachmann, 1952).