SOUR FODDER 203 



are impracticable or disadvantageous. To this advantage must be added, in many 

 cases, an improvement in composition effected by the process, e.g. the reduction of 

 the percentage of (purgative) oxalic acid in beet-leaves, observed by 0. Kellner. 

 Numerous researches on this subject have been published, and the reader may 

 be referred for further information to the summary of these investigations which 

 appears in a useful treatise by JULIUS KUHN (I.), dealing with the matter from 

 the Agricultural Chemist's point of view. 



Granting that the sacrifice of a certain portion of the given substance, in order 

 to retain the rest, is inherent in this process, it by no means follows that the 

 extent of the said sacrifice cannot be reduced. The great fluctuations exhibited 

 by the foregoing figures, referring to the amount of loss experienced, permit the 

 assumption that an excellent sour fodder can be prepared with a smaller pro- 

 portion of loss than the existing average. This opens up to the Fermentation 

 Physiologist a new and valuable field of work, still unexplored. The fermentative 

 nature of the souring process being acknowledged, it follows that the next object 

 in view is the attainment of a clear insight into the physiology of this fermenta- 

 tion ; which knowledge will then facilitate the cultivation of the ferments 

 combining maximum efficiency with minimum consumption of material, and 

 consequently capable of yielding the greatest proportion of best quality sour 

 fodder. Attention should be directed to the artificial inoculation of the silos with 

 selected ferments, since the resulting improvements are of great pecuniary value 

 to the agricultural interest. (The author estimates them as represented by an 

 annual sum for Germany alone of several millions of marks, i.e. shillings.) 

 These researches should also be extended so as to include the kindred process of 

 sauerkraut fermentation, the preparation of which important food-stuff, on lines 

 practised from time immemorial, formed the prototype for the production of sour 

 fodder. Little is known of the physiology of this method, the literature of the 

 subject being restricted to a couple of brief reports which ascribe the chief 

 agency in the process to the lactic acid bacteria. 



