138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



And wherever there is combustion or fermentation, there 

 must be consumption of fuel or destruction of material. Fer- 

 mentation is not a preservative, but is always a step towards 

 putrid decomposition and actual destruction. If allowed to 

 run its full course with any food product, fermentation pro- 

 duces disastrous results. How absurd, then, for our " sweet 

 ensilage" friends to advocate inducing an advanced stage of 

 fermentation, raising temperature to 130 or 150^ F. before 

 attempting to check the process. When the grain of green 

 corn is canned to preserve it, who thinks of starting an active 

 fermentation before shutting it up? On the contrary, the 

 air is expelled as thoroughly as possible and the can then im- 

 mediately closed and sealed. When we pit the green corn 

 fodder, we should follow the same course, as nearly as we can. 

 Ensilage is simply an addition to the long list of modern 

 " canned stuff!" The way to avoid bad fermentati(ms is to 

 endeavor to prevent any fermentation at all. But a silo of 

 size cannot be filled fast enough to avoid fermentation com- 

 mencing before it is closed. The fermentation, like the 

 combustion, must have the oxygen of the air to sustain it. 

 The looser the material lies in the silo, the more abundant 

 the supply of oxygen and the more active is fermentation. 

 Rapid filling and good packing alike tend to expel the air 

 and arrest fermentation. Stop the draught and the fire will 

 languish and die out, — live coals may be quickh' smothered. 

 Here we have additional reasons for quick filling and imme- 

 diate covering, with almndant pressure. I would endeavor to 

 prevent the temperature of the silo contents from rising 

 above 110° F. at any stage. 



But, with ever}^ precaution, some air remains in the silo and 

 more or less fermentation takes place. It is to the degree 

 of fermentation and the results, that great differences are 

 found in different silos and in ensilage of the same silo in 

 different seasons, where the operations and conditions seem 

 to be alike. This fermentation is at first of the simple 

 alcoholic character, involving the starch and sugar, and it 

 unquestionably results in a greater or less loss of the carbo- 

 hydrate elements of the material ensiloed. A table of 

 authentic analyses of ensilage material, fresh, of ensilage as 

 fed, and of standard roots, for comparison, is appended : — 



