1886.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 59 



the corn crop is, as has been shown on previous occasions, 

 the best adapted for the production of corn ensilage. The 

 corn contained : — 



Per Cent. 



Moisture at 100° C, 70.81 



Drj Matter, ■ . . . 29.19 



100.00 



Corn Ensilage. — Two silos of a corresponding size, five 

 by fourteen feet, inside measure, and eleven feet deep, were 

 used for the experiment. In both instances the corn was cut 

 into pieces from one and one-quarter to one and one-half 

 inches in size ; they were, however, filled in a different way. 



The silo on the west side was filled to a depth of from 

 eight to nine feet, as fast as the cut corn could be supplfed 

 and tramped down. As soon as the amount of corn assigned 

 for that silo (9.5 tons) was filled in, the surface was carefully 

 covered with tarred paper and tight-fitting boards, and at 

 once pressed down with twenty-five barrels of sand. A 

 maximum registering thermometer was safely buried at a 

 depth of about two feet in the mass, to record the highest 

 temperature which the latter would reach during the time of 

 keeping the silo closed. 



The silo on the east side was, September 4, loosely filled 

 to about two-thirds of its height, and the mass merely 

 levelled without treading it down. It was left in this con- 

 dition, without covering, until September 7, at 8 o'clock a.m. 

 At this time it had settled from eighteen to twenty-four 

 inches ; the odor of acetic acid became slightly perceptible, 

 and the pieces of cornstalk, although sweet to the taste, 

 showed an acid reaction to the litmus paper. 



Sept. 7, 8 A.M. Temperature at 6 inches depth, 132°, 144°, 138° - F. 



" 7,8 a.m. " " 12 " " 147°, 145°, 147° - F. 



" 7, 8 A.M. " " 18 " " 140°, - - - F. 



" 7,5 p.m. " " 6 " " 129°, 134°, 147°, 131° F. 



" 7,0 P.M. " -"12 " " 136°, 145°, 131°, 147° F. 



" 8,8 a.m. " " 6 " " 129°, 141°, 138°, 113° F. 



" 8,8 a.m. " "12 " " 141°, 145°, 145° - F. 



" 8, 8 A.M. " " 24 " " 136.5°, - - - F. 



" 8,8 A.M. " " 30 " " 114°, - - - F. 



" 8, 8 A.M. " " 36 " " 107°, - - - F. 



