178 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 



Good clover ensilage has succulency and palatability in its favour, besides pos- 

 sessing, as we have said, a large proportion of the more valuable nutrients. Investi- 

 gations, therefore, that seek to ascertain the best possible conditions of its preparation 

 are worthy of our attention. Such investigations are being carried on by the Agricul- 

 turist of the Central Experimental Farm, and it is in connection with them that the 

 analytical data about to be given have been obtained. 



Mention has been made of the presence of a large percentage of nitrogenous com- 

 pounds in clover, and it is in this fact that we find one difficulty in ensiling this crop. 

 Nitrogenous substances are particularly susceptible to decomposition, especially in the 

 presence of moisture and warmth. It was principally in order to trace the extent to 

 which these substances had been altered by fermentation in the silo that analyses were 

 made of the clover as put into the silo and of the ensilage taken from various parts of 

 the silo some months later. There are and always will be certain losses in food value 

 by ensiling, but these can be minimized to a large extent provided the clover is in the 

 right condition and properly packed in the silo.* 



The fermentative changes that take place in the silo affect both the non-nitro- 

 genous compounds (starch, sugar, &c), and the nitrogenous bodies. The former, to 

 an extent depending on the degree of fermentation, are converted principally into 

 carbonic acid and water — elements of no food value — and the latter into amides, com- 

 pounds of much less value than the albuminoids. Since fermentation is kept in check 

 by the exclusion of air, the construction of the silo and the close packing of the 

 fresh material are matters of the greatest importance. With this outline account of 

 the changes that take place in the silo we may proceed to consider the composition of 

 the clover with that of its resulting ensilage, as depicted in table I. 



Table I. — Analysis of Clover before and after Ensiling. 



Constituents. 



Moisture 



Dry matter . . . . 



Crude protein (nitrogen x 625) 



Fat (ether extract) 



Carbohydrates (starch, sugar, etc. ) . 



Fibre 



Ash 



Nitrogenous compounds — 



Albuminoids 



Non-albuminoids 



Clover 

 as put in the 



Silo 

 Aug. 31, 1900. 



76 



23 



3 



7 

 9 

 2 



2 

 



47 

 53 

 56 

 15 

 95 

 71 

 16 



88 

 08 



Clover 



Ensilage 



from centre of 



Silo 



Feb. 4, 1901. 



82 



17 



2 



60 

 40 

 94 

 18 

 44 

 98 

 86 



53 

 41 



Clover 



Ensilage 



from bottom of 



Silo 

 April 11, 1901. 



77-98 

 22 02 



2 96 

 •21 



630 

 10 15 



2 40 



208 

 0-88 



The experimental round silo in which the clover was preserved has the following 

 dimensions : Height, 22 feet ; diameter, 9 feet. 



The clover was in full bloom at the date of cutting, August 31, 1900. The filling 

 was made on three consecutive days, so that there would be but little difference in com- 

 position of the clover throughout the silo. After the ensilage had settled it filled the 

 6ilo to a height of 15 feet. 



* Woll, in summing up the evidence as to the relative losses in curing and ensiling clover, says : 

 Clover silage is superior to clover hay on account of its sucoulency and greater palatability, as well as its 

 higher feeding value. The last mentioned point is mainly due to the fact that all the parts of the clover 

 plant are preserved in the silo, with a small unavoidable loss in fermentation, while in hay making, leaves 

 and tedder part, which contain about two- thirds of the protein compounds, are easily lost by abrasion. 



