504 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



in the process. May it not thus oe possible, not only to increase the 

 quantity of wool in very great measure, but also to improve the 

 quality at the same time ? 



May not ensilage extend the period of feeding upon succulent food 

 throughout the year, and thus assure the production of fine, long- 

 stapled wool of uniform quality ? On the other hand, the rich ma- 

 nure of sheep fed in part upon cotton-seed meal will keep the corn 

 land devoted to the ensilage crop in full heart. 



BOSTON, MASS. EDWARD ATKINSON. 



DR. VOELCKER'S REPORT. 



ANALYTICAL LABORATORY, 



11 Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, 

 LONDON, E. C., March 10, 1883. 



Dear Sir : The maize ensilage from Boston reached me in a per- 

 fectly sound condition. The rye ensilage was also sound, but here 

 and there I found a few bits which were slightly mouldy. On 

 exposure to the air the maize ensilage kept much freer from white 

 mould than the rye ensilage. Both were decidedly acid, the maize 

 ensilage much more so than the rye ensilage. 



My impression is that well-made maize ensilage may be taken out 

 of a silo and freely exposed to the air without becoming mouldy and 

 unfit for feeding purposes. Rye ensilage appears not to keep so 

 well when taken out of the silo ; should be consumed without much 

 delay. 



The fact that maize ensilage keeps sound and free from mouldiness 

 better than rye ensilage appears to me to be due to the circumstance 

 that maize contains more sugar than green rye. In the silo the 

 sugar in the green food enters into acid fermentation ; and the 

 organic acids formed^ from the sugar are, as you are aware, prevent- 

 ives of decay of organic vegetable matters. In the case of maize, 

 more acids, such as acetic, lactic, butyric and similar aromatic 

 organic acids, are generated than in the case of green rye, for the 

 latter is much poo.rer in sugar than maize, and this is no doubt the 

 reason why maize keeps better than green rye. 



The proportion of acids in ensilage I find varies a good deal, and 

 the nature of the organic acids in ensilage also is subject to consid- 

 erable variations. In some instances I have found the prevailing 

 acid in maize ensilage to be non-volatile lactic acid ; in other samples 



