640 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



or woody fiber of which the rags are composed has the same composi- 

 tion as starch, and thus its conversion into sugar corresponds to the 

 every-day proceedings described in No. 30. All that I have read and 

 seen in connection with the recent ensilage experiments on cattle-fod- 

 der indicates that it is a process of slow vegetable cookery, a digesting 

 or maceration of fibrous vegetables in their own juices which loosens 

 the fiber, renders it softer and more digestible, and not only does this, 

 but, to some extent, converts it into dextrin and sugar. 



I hereby recommend those gentlemen who have ensilage-pits and 

 are sufficiently enterprising to try bold experiments, to water the fod- 

 der, as it is being packed down, with dilute hydrochloric acid or acetic 

 acid, which, if I am not deluded by plausible theory, will materially 

 increase the sugar-forming action of the ensilage. The acid, if not 

 over-supplied, will find ammonia and other bases with which to neu- 

 tralize itself. 



Such ensilage will correspond to that which occurs when we gather 

 Jersey or other superlatively fine pears in autumn as soon as they are 

 full grown. They are then hard, woody, and acid, quite unfit for food, 

 but by simply storing them for a month, or two, or threCj they become 

 lusciously soft and sweet, the woody fibers are converted into sugar, 

 the acid neutralized, and all this by simply fulfilling the conditions of 

 ensilage, viz., close packing of the fiber, exclusion of air by the thick 

 rind of the fruit, plus the other condition which I have just suggested, 

 viz., the diffusion of acid among the well-packed fibers of the ensilage 

 material. 



In my experiments on the ensilage of human food I have encount- 

 ered the same difficulty as that which has troubled graziers in their 

 experiments, viz., that small-scale results do not fairly represent those 

 obtained with large quantities. There is, besides this, another element 

 of imperfection in my experiments respecting which I am bound to be 

 candid to my readers, viz., that the idea of thus extending the prin- 

 ciple was suggested in the course of writing this series, and, therefore, 

 a sufficient time has not yet elapsed to enable me (with much other 

 occupation) to do practical justice to the investigation. 



I find that oatmeal-porridge is greatly improved by being made 

 some days before it is required, then stored in a closed jar, brought 

 forth and heated for use. The change effected is just that which 

 theoretically may be expected, viz., a softening of the fibrous material, 

 and a sweetening due to the formation of sugar. This sweetening I 

 observed many years ago in some gruel that was partly eaten one 

 night and left standing until next morning, when I thought it tasted 

 sweeter, but, to be assured of this, I had it warmed again two nights 

 afterward, so that it might be tasted under the same conditions of 

 temperature, palate, etc., as at first. The sweetness was still more dis- 

 tinct, but the experiment was carried no further. 



I have lately learned that my ensilage notion is not absolutely new. 



