268 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Basing the calculations on the average composition of molasses and 

 beet pulp, it is found that the molasses pulp is made by drying molasses 

 with an equal quantity of dried pulp or about 9 times its quantity of 

 wet pulp. — f. w. WOLL. 



Hay of Norwegian fodder plants, F. H. Werenskiold (Tidskr. 

 norske Landbr., 3 (1896), pp. 328-332). — This includes analysis of the 

 following Norwegian fodder plants: Timothy, Bromus arvensis, B. 

 inermis, Dactylis glomerata, Festuca elatior, Agrostis dispar, A. vulgaris, 

 Alopecurus pratensis, Avena elatior, Tri folium pratense, T. hybridum, 

 Anthyllis vulneraria, and Astragalus bromoides. The sample of the 

 last mentioned plant, cut in full bloom, showed a remarkably high 

 protein content, its composition in air-dry condition being as follows: 

 Water 14.22 per cent, total protein 24.38 per cent (digestible albumi- 

 noids 10.04, amids 11.04, and indigestible albuminoids 3.30 percent), fat 

 2.24 per cent, nitrogen-free extract 31.72 per cent, crude fiber 22.03 per 

 cent, and ash 5.21 per cent. The coefficient of digestibility of the crude 

 protein compounds, as found by the Kiihn-Kellner method of artificial 

 digestion, was 86.5 per cent. — f. w. woll. 



The ensilage of potatoes (Jour. Bd. Agr. [London], 4, No. 1, pp. 

 37-39). — A brief summary is given of experiments on the ensiling 

 of potatoes published in a recent number of Bulletin des Seances de 

 la Societe Rationale d > Agriculture de France. 



Girard, Vauchez, and Marchal made experiments to ascertain whether 

 the heat due to fermentation of fodder plants in silos could be utilized 

 for cooking and preserving potatoes. The potatoes were buried in a 

 silo filled with crimson clover. They acquired the characteristic color 

 of the plant and the odor developed in fermentation. The tubers were 

 flattened by the heavy pressure to which they had been subjected. 

 When removed from the silo they were comparatively soft. They were 

 examined microscopically and chemically, and it was found that they 

 had been cooked by the heat of fermentation, and that they were ren- 

 dered more digestible by the process. 



That a high temperature (about 160° F.) was necessary to cook the 

 potatoes was shown in an experiment by Mir made to determine whether 

 corn could be preserved in a silo without cutting it up. A silo was filled 

 by surrounding about a ton of potatoes with corn (whole plant). Upon 

 opening, the corn and potatoes were both found in good condition. The 

 tubers were somewhat flattened, as in the previous experiment, but 

 were more cohesive. The cooking was found to be less advanced. The 

 reason assigned was that the large size of the stalks and cobs of the 

 corn diminished the pressure and consequently the temperature. 

 Chemical analysis showed that the potatoes ensiled with the crimson 

 clover had lost less water than those ensiled with the corn. The most 

 striking difference, however, was the high percentages of cooked starch 

 and of matter rendered soluble by fermentation, or in other words, the 

 increased assimilability of the potatoes ensiled with clover. Traces of 

 dextrin and soluble starch were found in the potatoes ensiled with the 



