Dec. i6, 1918 



Bacteriological Studies on Alfalfa Silage 



583 



TabIvE II. — Microbial content of various kinds of silage — Experiments of igiS — Contd. 



AIvFALPA AND RYE 



Days. 



Number of microorganisias per gram of silage. 



Total. 



Total acid 

 producers. 



Bulgarian 

 group. 



Gelatin 



liquefiers. 



Colon type. 



Yeasts. 



June I 



Jtine 2 



Jime4 



June 7 



June 9 



June II 



June 14 



June 18 



July 2 



August 6 . . . 

 August 28. . 

 October 16. . 

 December 20 



137 

 202 



50,000, 



400,000, 



1,000,000, 



300,000, 



60,000, 



240,000, 



45,000, 



20,000, 



15,000, 



10,000, 



2,000, 



3,000, 



2,000, 



1,000, 



100,000, 



I , ooo, 000, 



10, 000,000, 



100,000, 



100,000, 



10,000, 



10,000, 



100,000, 



1. 000, 



1,000, 



1,000, 



1,000, 



210.000 



40,000,000 



1,000,000,000 



270,000,000 



50,000,000 



60,000,000 



10,000,000 



10,000,000 



5,000,000 



I , 000, 000 



100,000 



250,000 



200,000 



,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 ,000 

 .000 

 ,000 

 ,000 



100,000 



10,000,000 



1,000,000 



1,000 



o 



100 



100 



100,000 



10,000,000 



1,000,000 



1,000 



1,000 



100 



RYE 



The microbial curve of development is similar to that noted in 1914, 

 but is more pronounced and conforms more nearly to the results one may 

 expect from normal-silage fermentation. The variations which occurred 

 are attributed to the experimental error of the method of sampling. 



No apparent differences were found that will account for the varia- 

 tions in the quality of silage. Stained preparations, made direct from the 

 silage, appeared to agree with the cultural findings. In fact, if the 

 smears were used as a basis of judging the quality of the silage, all would 

 be considered high grade. 



The offensive odors characteristic of the alfalfa silage is attributed to 

 protein digestion. The number of gelatin liquefiers were determined in 

 in each silo, with the hope of showing a possible difference between the 

 types of silage. Some of the silage exhibited a slight increase in gelatin 

 liquefiers, but this appears to be of little importance. In all probability 

 the majority of liquefiers are spore-producing types which find unfavor- 

 able conditions for growth in the silage. Their numbers in all the silage 

 remained fairly constant throughout the experiment. The slight 

 increase noted in some cases is attributed to experimental error rather 

 than to any actual increase of this type of organism. 



