132 Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xv. no. a 



SUMMARY 



(i) In this paper have been presented the results of making determina- 

 tions both by the colorimetric and electrometric methods in the water 

 and alcohoHc extracts of silage made from alfalfa alone, from sweet clover 

 alone, and from sweet clover plus corn meal. These extracts were also 

 used for the determinations of nitrogen in amino form by the colorimetric 

 and electrometric methods. Total nitrogen and albuminoid, orStutzer's 

 nitrogen, were also determined on these extracts. Quart milk bottles 

 were used as containers for the silage. A number of bottles of each kind 

 of silage were made and these were opened at increasingly longer intervals 

 of time. In this way the progressive chemical changes were traced. 



(2) The weight of the bottles just after filling and when opened showed 

 that the .losses were approximately i per cent. 



(3) The acidity of the alcoholic extracts of the three kinds of silage wag 

 greater than that of the water extract when the titration was made to the 

 point of color change for phenolphthalein. When the electrometric 

 method was used and the titration was made to a hydrogen-ion concen- 

 tration of Ph8.3, the point of color change for phenolphthalein, there 

 was no significant difference between the results obtained on the water 

 extract and that of the alcohohc extract. The greater values obtained 

 on the alcoholic extracts with the colorimetric method are probably due 

 to the highly colored material extracted by the alcohol. These mask the 

 end point. 



(4) Most of the acidity is developed in the first 15 days. 



(5) Adding corn meal to sweet clover increases the amount of acidity 

 in the resulting silage. 



(6) The amount of amino nitrogen is practically the same in the water 

 and the alcoholic extracts. The amount of amino nitrogen in silage made 

 from alfalfa alone is notably larger than that made from sweet clover alone. 

 The addition of corn meal to sweet clover has no influence on the amount 

 of amino nitrogen developed. 



(7) The amount of nitrogen in amid form as determined by Stutzer's 

 method was a httle larger than the amount of nitrogen in amino form as 

 determined by the formaldehyde method, but the differences were not 

 large. The nitrogen in amid form was approximately one-half of the 

 total. 



(8) Approximately two-thirds of the total nitrogen in silage is soluble 

 in water and 50 per cent alcohol, the solvent action of the two being nearly 

 the same. 



(9) From the various data presented, it appears that silage can be 

 made from sweet clover alone with less difficulty than from alfalfa 

 alone. 



