354 Old (Hid Tan SiL(((j< 



Such cases arc funiishod by bags 1 and '1 (silo 1) ami bag li (big silo). 

 The reasons for the large losses of moisture from these bags are twofold : 

 1 . The green fodder carried an appreciable amount of superficial moisture 

 owing to its having been rained on just previous to cutting. 2. The 

 oats and tares were cut in an immature condition and were as a conse- 

 quence exceedingly "sappy." No wilting was allowed to take place 

 befoie filling the material into the bags and the moisture content was 

 therefore mucli liigher than that of the material in bags 1, d, 7 and 8. 



It is clear that the relatively high losses of dry matter from bags 

 ] and 2, as compared with those from bags 1 and "j, are to be attributed 

 to the extra losses occasioned by drainage. It follows, therefore, that 

 whilst green "fruity" silage of an excellent quality was obtained by 

 preserving the unwilted, immature forage, yet the excessive drainage, 

 consequent on "sappiness," led to a needlessly high percentage loss of 

 dry matter. 



A study of the figures obtained for bags 4 and 5, which were filled 

 with wilted oats and tares and from which little or no juice was lost 

 by drainage, indicate that the actual fermentation losses need not 

 exceed 8 i) per cent, of the original dry matter present. 



The large loss of moisture which occurred in bag 3 has already been 

 referred to in an earlier section of the paper. The gain of moisture in 

 bag G is explained by the fact tliat the bag was placed in tiiu big silo 

 and was surrounded by material po.ssessing a higher moisture content. 

 The infiltration of juice has to somi^ extent augmented tlu- amount of 

 dry matter present in the bag, so that the net loss of dry matter as a 

 result of fermentation is low, namely 7 per cent. 



It is of interest to note the high percentage loss of dry matter which 

 occurred as a result of spoihng in bag 8, amounting to 16-5 per cent. 



II. Changes suffered 6// the nitroyvnuas constituents. 



It is obvious that during the conversion of the green crop into silage 

 a profound change takes place in the character of the nitrogenous con- 

 stituents, mainly resulting in the splitting up of a large proportion of 

 the true protein into simple soluble ])roducts of the amino acid type. 

 For example, only about i 1 i)er cent, of the crude protein in the bag I 

 silage was in the form of true protein, whereas the true protein in the 

 green oats and tares represented 7() per cent, of the total nitrogenous 

 constituents. The figures in this connection for the material in the 

 different bags are as follows: 



