164 FORAGE CROPS 



pack tightly, so as to prevent the ingress of air. 

 Many farmers recommend the thorough wetting 

 of the surface, a light covering of soil, and the 

 seeding of oats, as the cheapest and surest way 

 to make the silo tight. While there is consider- 

 able loss under the very best methods of handling 

 and packing the corn in the silo, chiefly falling on 

 the carbohydrate group, these losses have been 

 shown to be no greater than those which take place 

 in the common handling of the corn after it has 

 been cut and husked. The changes in the silo, 

 other than direct losses of carbohydrates, are due 

 chiefly to modifications in the nitrogenous nutri- 

 ents, the albuminoids being changed into other 

 forms, even though the feed value is not seriously 

 reduced. 



In the construction of the winter silo, the size 

 should be so adjusted to the number of cattle as to 

 allow a removal of about two inches of the surface 

 per day. In the summer silo there should be a re- 

 moval of three to four inches, otherwise the heat- 

 ing or fermentation which begins as soon as the 

 surface layer is removed, will result in consider- 

 able changes, and consequent reduction in the 

 food value of the silage. What is termed "sweet 

 silage" is possibly a misnomer, although there is 

 great difference in the composition of silage made 

 and used under the conditions here outlined. The 

 development of acid is very rapid, if the air is 



