176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ference if the silo was as big as this building, and filled full, 

 if there was a piece of decaying matter as large as my fist 

 in it, it would produce decay in the whole mass eventually. 

 The entire exclusion of atmospheric air will prevent that. 

 But do we exclude atmospheric air from our silos ? I do 

 not believe it has ever been done. We fill the silo, and the 

 matter we put in is loaded with atmospheric air. As it goes 

 in, atmospheric air goes in with it. We put our plank on top 

 of it, we weight it down, and we put earth on top in order 

 to exclude the atmospheric air. But we have all the atmos- 

 pheric air in the silo that was in the material we put in, 

 and, when we compress that, we simply condense the at- 

 mospheric air that is in there, and, by condensing it, we 

 render it moro efficient to prevent fermentation. Is not that 

 so? 



Professor Goessmann. Oh, yes, sir ! It is only a matter 

 of degree. It is practically impossible to exclude air abso- 

 lutely. The simple question is, practically, Can we, with a 

 moderate expenditure of time and labor, preserve our fodder 

 in that exceptional way? If a simple mode of operation will 

 not do it, the whole thing is not worth having ; but, if a sim- 

 ple mode will accomplish it, it is. There is a partial loss 

 which is inevitable. 



Dr. Sturtevant. In the changes which are taking place, 

 there is a production of carbonic acid gas, which excludes 

 the air to a certain degree. In some cases, certainly, where 

 an opening is cut down into the silo, and a lighted candle 

 dropped in, the candle will be extinguished. This carbonic 

 acid gas in some silos certainly expels the atmospheric air 

 to a certain extent, occupies its place, and stops putrefactive 

 change. 



Professor Goessmann. There are two processes in oper- 

 ation in fermentation which we have to keep in mind : one 

 is the action of air, and the other is the action of living 

 germs. The exhaustion of the air amounts to very little, as 

 you will understand when you know that one pound of sugar 

 will dispose of all the oxj-gen in that silo, and leave nitro- 

 gen behind. Nitrogen takes its place. The presence of 

 nitrogen excludes air. As Dr. Sturtevant mentioned, if you 

 put a light into the silo, it will go out as quickly as in 

 carbonic acid. Therefore tliere are two causes which will 



