26 SILOS, ENSILAGE AXD SILAGE. 



sample of well-harvested wheat straw which was neither 

 under nor over ripe,"* with the following results : 



{ FERMENTED WHEAT STRAW- 

 ! STRAW CHAFF. 



tContaiiiing nitrogen, .67 .47 



In his remarks on these analyses Dr. Voelcker says, 

 "The addition of the green stuff causes the straw-chaff 

 mixture to heat ; the volatile and odoriferous principles 

 produced by the fermentation are retained by the straw- 

 chaff, itself undergoing a kind of slow cooking process, 

 and they impregnate the whole mass with an extremely 

 pleasant flavour, scarcely inferior to that which charac- 

 terizes well made hay. " * * * The fermentation 



to which the straw is submitted in Mr. Jonas' plan thus 

 has the effect of rendering the hard and dry substance 

 which constitutes the bulk of the straw more soluble 

 and digestible than it is in its natural condition. But 

 useful as is the effect of the slow and moist heat, 

 developed in the mixture of straw-chaff with green rye 

 or cut tares, no doubt is in rendering the fibre of the 

 chaff more digestible, this is not the only recommenda- 

 tion of Mr. Jonas' admirable plan of preparing a really 

 very nutritive and important food for stock. 



"Another recommendation is the extremely delicate 

 flavour and the palatable condition which is conferred 

 upon the straw in the process of fermentation. 



"The prepared straw-chaff, kindly sent by Mr. Jonas, 

 had all the agreeable smell which characterizes good green 

 meadow-hay, and a hot infusion with hot water produced 



* Jour. Roy. Agr'l Society, 1871, p. 85. 



