EXPLANATIONS WHY ENSILAGE MUST KEEP. 57 



or not, I am unable to say. One thing is certain : they 

 were silenced for once. 



Now, my explanation why it keeps, and why it is some- 

 what sour, is this : 



When it is cut ever so fine, and trodden down ever so 

 vigorously, still there is some air left in the little spaces 

 between the pieces of the stalks ; and the dried leaves, if 

 there are any, are full of air which has taken the place of 

 the sap which has evaporated. Large stalks, after being 

 cut four-tenths of an inch long, are finer than small ones ; 

 which is one reason among several why the corn which 

 grows the largest is the best for Ensilage. The oxygen 

 in this amount of air be it greater or smaller im- 

 mediately starts a fermentation. Fermentation, mould, 

 decay, rot, and fire are all identical. The only difference 

 is in the degree of speed with which the combustion 

 goes on. They all alike depend upon the presence of 

 oxygen, and cease when this active agent of destruction 

 is removed. The process of combustion, whether slow 

 or rapid, consumes oxygen, and gives out carbonic acid 

 gas. 



This fermentation consumes the small amount of oxy- 

 gen which is contained in the mass of Ensilage, and 

 liberates an amount of carbonic acid gas which takes the 

 place of the oxygen. The fermentation in its incipient 

 stage is arrested for want of oxygen. None can get in 

 from the top ; for the compression which is constantly 

 going on is all the time forcing the gases out, and where 

 there is ever so slight a flow out, none can possibly flow 

 in. Then, as the carbonic acid gas is heavier than the 

 atmosphere, the sides and bottom of the Silo being tight, 

 and as the carbonic acid gas cannot leak out, the air 

 cannot get down into the space occupied by the carbonic 

 acid gas, any more than air can get down into a jug filled 



