CATTLE FOODS NATURAL PRODUCTS 237 



324. Cutting and shredding ensilage material. 

 Whether the material with which a silo is filled shall be 

 put in whole or after cutting or shredding depends to 

 quite an extent upon its degree of coarseness. It is prob- 

 able that clover, and even the smaller varieties of maize, 

 are often successfully preserved without cutting, but no 

 one professes that this can be done with the coarser 

 varieties of maize. It is generally admitted that, with 

 maize, cutting or shredding it increases the probability 

 of satisfactory preservation, because the finer mechanical 

 condition allows more uniform packing and prompter 

 and more uniform settling. The highest grade of silage 

 with the minimum loss is undoubtedly more surely made 

 from cut or shredded material. 



325. Rate of filling silo. In the early days of silos it 

 was taught that to insure the least possible waste by 

 fermentation, the silo should be filled with the maximum 

 rapidity and then promptly weighted. Following this 

 view was the conclusion on the part of some that very slow 

 filling with no packing other than that given by the weight 

 of the mass, was the proper way to make silage of the 

 highest quality. This method was advocated for produ- 

 cing sweet (?) silage. It allowed violent fermentation at 

 first with resulting high temperatures, by which means 

 bacteria were supposed to be killed and subsequent 

 fermentations prevented, a conclusion so far not sus- 

 tained by scientific observations. Moderately slow and 

 continuous filling, rather than very rapid, has been 

 advocated by leading authorities. Two advantages were 

 claimed for this method, one being that more material 

 can be stored in the silo and the other is that silage of a 

 higher quality is produced with a smaller loss of dry 

 matter. The first point must be conceded and the second 



