COMPARATIVE DETERMINATIONS OF THE DIGES- 

 TIBILITY AND METABOLl SABLE ENERGY OF 

 GREEN OATS AND TARES, OAT AND TARE 

 HAY AND OAT AND TARE SILAGE. 



By HERBERT ERNEST WOODMAN, Ph.D., D.Sc. 



{From the Institule for the Study of Aninud Nutrition, 

 School of Agriculture, Cambridge University.) 



In a recent comnniiiicationi, the results of au investigation into the 

 digestibiUtv of oat and tare silage were recorded. The desirabihty, how- 

 ever, of extending the scope of this initial work was recognised, in view 

 of attempts which are being made to re-establish on a large scale the 

 practice of ensilage in this country. 



Before incurring the initial e.xpense involved in the setting up of a 

 silo, the farmer is justly entitled to ask and receive answers to such 

 questions as the following : 



(1) What are the precise conditions under which the production of 

 a palatable silage of good quahty can be guaranteed ? 



(2) What is the magnitude of the losses of nutrient matter sustained 

 by the crop when stored in the silo? Are such losses greater or smaller 

 than those which accompany storage in the haystack? 



(3) Does the green forage suffer any marked diminution in digesti- 

 bility and nutritive value during its conversion into silage, and what are 

 the relative merits of the silo and the haystack in this respect? 



(4) What are the best kinds of forage to be grown in this country for 

 the purposes of ensilage? 



In America, where the practice of ensilage has been well established 

 on a very large scale for many years, numerous trials have been carried 

 out at the various E.vperiment Stations with a view to throwing light on 

 these questions. The conditions obtaining in that country, however, are 

 markedly dilTerent from Enghsh conditions. The maize plant is the forage 

 which is widely grown in America for the production of silage, and it has 

 been found to be in every respect excellently adapted to this purpose. In 

 this country, however, httle success has so far attended the efforts to 



* Wood and Woodman, Joum. of Agric. i'ci. 11, 304, 1921. 



