BACTERIOLOGY OF SILAGE 451 



cate an intimate relationship between the corn plant and this 

 group of aciduric bacilli. Juice expressed from corn cut a 

 few weeks prior to the time it was ready for the silo underwent 

 an acid fermentation, when kept in the laboratory, with the 

 production of a high degree of acidity and an aroma resembling 

 that of good silage. From this were then isolated cultures of 

 organisms similar to those obtained from silage. Sterile milk 

 inoculated with bits of corn stover, either from the leaves or 

 pith, always develops large amounts of acid and from it the 

 typical organisms may be obtained. On a sample of shredded 

 corn stover nearly a year and a half old the acid forming 

 bacilli were found in numbers approximating 1,000 per gram 

 as determined by dilutions in sterile milk. 



SUMMARY 



The data presented in this paper suggest the probable impor- 

 tance of a group of acid-tolerant, acid-producing bacilli in the 

 curing of corn silage. 



The organism concerned, while closely related to the B. hul- 

 garicus group of milk and the B. acidophilus group of the intes- 

 tines, appears to differ somewhat from the typical members 

 of these groups, notably by its comparatively abundant growth 

 on ordinary laboratory media. 



The microscopic examination of silage juice deraonstrates 

 the presence of immense numbers of bacterial cells (always 

 over one billion per cubic centimeter), most of which are bacilli 

 which resemble morphologically the high acid producing bacilli 

 described above. 



The aciduric bacilli of silage are constantly found in quite 

 large numbers on corn fodder, so that silage made from corn 

 is always amply seeded with these organisms. 



