Chemiccd Composition of some Samples of Heotcli Ensilarje. 477 



XLII. On the Chemical Composition of some Samples of Scotch 

 Ensilafje. By W. IvisoN Macadam, Esq., RC.S., F.I.C, 

 Lecturer on Chemistry, School of Medicine, and 

 Professor of Chemistry, New Veterinary College, 

 Edinburgh. 



(Read 18tli March 1885.) 



During the present agricultural depression any subject or 

 method which promises more or less to aid a hard-working 

 and, for some years past, heavy-losing class of men is looked 

 upon with special .interest. Should the first results of 

 experimental trials appear satisfactory, the tendency is to 

 cause other members of the same class to lay out capital in 

 plant, etc., and so endeavour by means of the new digression 

 to fill the already almost empty coffers. 



No subject has at the present moment greater interest to 

 the agriculturist than that of silage, or the means by which 

 Ireshly cut grass or grain may be retained for a longer or 

 shorter period in a state fit to be employed for feeding pur- 

 poses, without the labour employed in sun-drying or hay- 

 making. The subject becomes all the more important when 

 the uncertainty of weather and durability of sunshine are 

 taken into account. 



The process of silage requires a considerable outlay of 

 capital, because the grass or other material to be converted into 

 ensilage must be excluded from the air, and consequently 

 special buildings must be erected. These compartments are 

 known as silos. 



The most primitive and, at the same time, successful 

 method seems to be that long used by the German Landwehr 

 of digging a pit, in which the grass or other material is 

 placed, and afterwards covered with loose boards and an 

 outer layer of earth. 



More complex arrangements consist of buildings built 

 under ground and having apparatus attached for the after 

 loading or pressing into a semi-compact state of the ensilage. 



Attempts to utilise old farm buildings, such as barns, have 

 proved failures, until such time as the walls, roof, and floors 



