CHAPTER XVIII 

 SILAGE 



Silage consists of finely cut plants, harvested before 

 maturity while they still contain considerable water, and 

 compressed compactly in a silo and allowed to ferment. 

 During the fermentation a part of the sugars in the plant 

 are broken down, with the formation of organic acids, such 

 as lactic, acetic, and butyric acids and carbon dioxide gas. 

 After a certain amount of these acids have been formed, 

 they act as an antiseptic and prevent further fermentation. 

 The resulting product is a succulent, palatable, nutritious, 

 and cheap feed which may be used to advantage for nearly 

 all classes of livestock. 



Silos are of various types. They may be made of wooden 

 staves, of lath and plaster, of brick, of stone, of concrete, of 

 concrete blocks, of concrete staves, of steel, and of vitrified 

 tile. In semiarid parts of the country, a pit is dug in the 

 ground and used as a silo. It is not within the province of 

 this book to discuss the relative merits of the different 

 types of silos. There are, however, three essential features 

 which a good silo should have. (1) The walls of the silo 

 should be impervious to moisture and air. The fundamental 

 principle in the preservation of silage is the retention of 

 moisture within the silage and the exclusion of air. For 

 this reason, the silo wall must be non-porous. Moisture 

 must be prevented from passing out and air from passing 



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