Tlie Straws 223 



practical application of their theory that the air be 

 excluded from the silo as rapidly as possible and only 

 mature corn be ensiled, because such tissue will die 

 sooner than immature, having less vitality. Their data 

 seem to prove conclusively, also, that the evolution of 

 much heat when a fodder is first ensiled is not essential 

 to the formation of first-class silage. The repeated 

 exposure of a loose upper stratum, which occurs with 

 slow, intermittent filling, must cause extensive loss 

 from portions of the silo. It must be held, in view of 

 the experimental data now at hand, that the more 

 promptly the air is excluded and expelled by the re- 

 duction of the contents of the silo to a condition of 

 maximum compactness, the less will be the fermenta- 

 tion losses. The term "sweet silage" means but little 

 as indicating completeness of preservation, for it may 

 even be the result of extensive fermentations, a condi- 

 tion expensively secured. Its significance is entirely 

 different when the sweetness is due to proper maturity 

 of the fodder plant. 



THE STRAWS 



When the grain plants which produce seeds val- 

 uable for cattle and human foods are threshed, 

 or in some way manipulated to remove the seeds, 

 the other parts of the plant constitute what we call 

 straw in the case of the cereal grains and le- 

 gumes, and stover in the case of maize. These fod- 

 ders differ from the same plants, when cut in a less 

 mature condition for hay or fodder, in being more tena- 



