THE SILOING PROCESS. 15 



free extract, which are soluble, or readily rendered sol- 

 uble, in the process of digestion. 



2. Losses in the Siloing Process. As compared with 

 the large losses in food materials in field-curing of Indian 

 corn there are but comparatively small losses in the silo, 

 caused by fermentation processes or decomposition- of the 

 living plant cells as they are dying off. The losses in this 

 case have been repeatedly determined by experiment 

 stations, and, among others, by those mentioned in the 

 preceding. The average losses of dry matter in the fod- 

 der corn during the siloing period of four seasons 

 (1887-'91) as determined by Prof. Wbll at the Wisconsin 

 Experiment Station was about 16 per cent. The silos 

 used in these trials, as in case of nearly all the early 

 experiments on this point, were small and shallow, how- 

 ever, only 14 feet deep, were rectangular in form, and 

 not always perfectly air-tight, a most important point 

 in silo construction, as we shall see, and a portion of the 

 silage therefore came out spoilt, thus increasing the 

 losses of food materials in the siloing process. The 

 losses reported were, therefore, too great, and there is 

 now an abundance of evidence at hand showing that the 

 figures given are higher than those found in actual prac- 

 tice, and the necessary loss in the silo comes consider- 

 ably below that found in the early experiments on this 

 point. There are plenty of cases on record showing 

 that ten per cent, represents the maximum loss of dry 

 matter in modern deep, well-built silos. The losses found 

 In siloing corn at a number of experiment stations dur- 

 ing the last ten years have come at or below this figure. 

 It is possible to reduce the loss still farther by avoid- 

 ing any spoilt silage on the surface, by beginning to feed 

 immediately after the filling of the silo, and by feeding 

 the silage out rather rapidly. Experiments conducted on 

 a small scale by Prof. King in 1894 gave losses of only 

 2 and 3 per cent, of dry matter, on the strength of which 

 results, amongst others, he believes that the necessary 

 loss of dry matter in the Silo need not exceed 5 per cent. 



