222 The Feeding of Animals 



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. At the present time 

 moderately slow and continuous filling, rather than 

 very rapid, is -advocated by leading authorities. Two 

 advantages are 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 claim may be true, although 

 in part it lacks proof. It is hard to understand why slow 

 filling, especially if intermittent, should not increase 

 rather than decrease the losses of food compounds. 

 Certainly the less compact the mass the more intense 

 the oxidation and the higher the temperature, the latter 

 condition indicating with certainty the extent of the 

 combustion. This point is illustrated by results reached 

 at the Pennsylvania State College when the chemical 

 changes in two large tubs of sorghum silage were 

 studied, one of which Avas compactly filled and Aveighted 

 at once and the other loosely filled and weighted after 

 five days. The temperature rose seventeen degrees 

 higher in the latter than in the former, with a loss of 

 two and one -half times as much organic matter from 

 the loosely filled tub. It follows from the theory of' 

 Babcock and Russell, previously noted, that the less 

 the oxygen available in the air spaces and the quicker 

 the plant tissue dies the less will be the combustion or 

 loss of organic matter. These authors suggest as a 



