SILAGE. 229 
too much moisture on the leaves is likely to be followed by the growth 
of mischievous microorganisms. Molds are the most common 
injurious organisms to appear under these conditions, but bacteria 
may also develop and produce disastrous results. From the time 
the tobacco begins to grow in the field until it has reached its final 
state as a completed product, it is subject to a considerable number 
of diseases. It is a very delicate plant, and slight changes in 
moisture or temperature are almost sure to bring about troubles of 
some kind that injure or ruin the crop. Of these troubles some are 
produced by molds or special fungi, and some by> bacteria. The 
consideration of these various troubles, whether bacteiial or of a 
different nature, concerns only the person interested in raising tobacco 
and is of no special interest to the agriculturist in general. We 
shall not, therefore, further consider them in this work. 
SILAGE. 
In the silo the agriculturist has devised a method of utilizing 
certain food products of which the soil yields large crops, but which 
contain so much water that they lose their value in great measure 
when dried. The silo not only enables him to preserve such food, 
but it impregnates it with new flavors which, in some respects, en- 
hance its value, for it makes a product especially relished by cattle. 
Preparation. -^In the preparation of silage the material to be 
used, most commonly corn not fully ripe, is cut into moderately 
small pieces and packed away firmly as a solid mass, in a tall, air- 
tight compartment. Sometimes the silo is filled quickly, and some- 
times more slowly, and the rapidity should depend upon the rapidity 
of fermentation. After the silo is filled it is closed at the top, and 
frequently subjected to considerable pressure. The contents are, 
thus, largely deprived of air. Air, of course, gets in around the 
top, but there is little or none around the sides or bottom, so that 
only the superficial layers are affected by it. 
Fermentation. After the packing important and profound 
changes take place in the silage. The first phenomenon to be 
noticed is a rapid rise in temperature, the primary fermentation. 
