GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 1G3 



cover. The silo was filled in October, and opened for use in 

 the following March. To ascertain at the same time the 

 exact loss in organic matter which the above-stated beet-root 

 refuse would suffer in consequence of the fermentation in 

 the silo, a definite quantity of the contents of the latter was 

 cut out, and at once carefully packed tightly into a box, and 

 buried in the centre of the silo. The latter was closed in 

 October, and opened for use in March. Leaves and tops 

 had changed but little in color. The ensilage in the silo had 

 lost forty-nine per cent in weight, as compared with that of 

 the fresh green material. The contents of the box had lost 

 by slow fermentation nearly one-fifth (eighteen per cent) of 

 the dry matter contained in the green food. The fresh mate- 

 rial contained 10.54 per cent of dry matter, and the ensilage 

 only 8.44 per cent. These results demonstrate that juicy 

 plants in ordinary ditches may lose as high as fifty per cent 

 of their soluble constituents, and that, even in exceptionally 

 careful managed cases, a serious loss of their organic matter 

 is unavoidable. The process, on the other hand, had in- 

 creased the rate of the digestibility of the cellular matter, 

 and rendered the beet-refuse more palatable to cattle. (O. 

 Kellner.) 



Analysis of Dry Matter, of Fresh Green Leaves, and of the Ensilage of 



Beel-Leaves. 



The pulp of beet-roots, obtained from beet-sugar factories, 

 is treated in silos in a similar way. Frozen roots and pota- 

 toes are either crushed or sliced before they enter the silo, 

 and frequently receive previously an addition of one per 

 cent of salt. 



A few analytical statements in this connection may not 

 be without interest, as they conve}'- at least some approxi- 

 mate idea concerning the alteration which the sugar-beet 

 root usually suffers before its factory-refuse mass serves as 

 cattle-food, (llitthausen ; Voelcker.) 



