654 



Journal of Agrkidtiire, Victoria. [ii Nov., 191 2. 



parcel. One of us was present at all weighings on the farm to check the 

 results. 



The silage was of a brownish-green colour and had a somewhat pungent 

 smell suggesting the presence of butyric acid. The dairy herd at the farm 

 ate it readily. There was no mould of any sort on it and the farmer was 

 well pleased with the general appearance of the material and the way it 

 was turned out. 



Table I. gives the percentage composition of the silage and dried chaff, 

 and also of the original green lucerne as calculated from the dried chaff 

 it produced. The items in the upper portion of the table are those ordi- 

 narily determined in stock food analysis, and they were determined in the 

 ordinary way. In the lower division of the table the true protein was 

 estimated by Stutzer's method, and the amides, &c., w^ere then found by 

 difference from the crude protein. Each of these represents nitrogen x 6.25. 

 Sugar was determined by the gravimetric copper method. Furfurol was 

 obtained by distillation with hydrochloric acid and subsequently precipi- 

 tated by phloroglucin. Furfurol represents the pentosans and less 

 resistant celluloses (oxy-celluloses) of the fodders, the latter being of most 

 importance. The analys^es werq made by Mr. V. Deschamp, who has 

 long experience of this class of work. 



Tablk I. 



Water 



Ether Extract . . 

 Crude Protein . . 

 Sol. Carbohydrates 

 Woody Fibre 

 Ash . . 



Protein 

 Amides, &c. 

 Sugar . . 

 Furfurol obtained 



Lucerne Silage. 



Per cent. 



75-00 

 1-29 

 3-66 



10-43 

 6-90 

 2-72 



100-00 



2-19 



1-47 



-02 



3-28 



The percentage composition of the fodders indicates that chemically 

 any one of them may be a useful feed for ruminants, but weight for weight 

 they vary in the nutrients supplied. Comparing the green lucerne with the 

 silage the latter contained less crude protein and considerably less true 

 protein, while it contained a larger amount of amide or non-protein nitro- 

 gen. The silage had also somewhat less carbohydrates, and of the sugar 

 which belongs to this group it had practically none while the furfurol shows 

 that the more digestible cellulose w^as diminished. The silage had some- 

 what more fibre. It had more ether extract. Not much importance, 

 however, should be credited to the ether extract in rough fodders of the 

 kinds under review. While the ether extract of concentrated foods such 

 as corn or linseed consists almost entirely of true fats which are wholly 

 digestible and have a high value in feeding, the ether extract of rough 

 fodders generally contains about 50 per cent, of chlorophyll and waxes 

 which are^ indigestible. In silage it contains in addition a number of 

 organic acids, such as lactic and butyric acid which have a low heat value 

 and are in no way comparable to fats. The water in the silage happens to 



