50 



BULLETIN 981, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



(6) the acids, sugars, and alcohols present in the silage were also 

 determined. 



In 1917 Sudan grass was stored in a steel silo 25 feet high and 9 

 feet in diameter, having an approximate capacity of 75 tons. Be- 

 cause the grass was somewhat dry when placed in the silo it was 

 found necessary to run considerable water in with it. Under these 

 conditions the resulting spoilage of 10 per cent does not seem exces- 

 sive. Sheep seemed to relish the silage less than they did corn 

 silage, but ate it fully as well as the silage made from grain sorghums. 



Table XVII. — Composition of Sudan grass and corn silage compared on a water-free 



basis. 



Kind of silage. 



Constituents. 



Ash. 



Ether 

 extract. 



Protein. 



Fiber. 



Nitrogen 

 free ex- 

 tract. 



Sudan grass (fresh) 



Corn (fresh) 



Sudan grass (near top, 122 days) 



Corn (near top, 148 days) 



Sudan grass (from middle, 110 days) 

 Corn (from middle, 1S2 days) 



Per cent. 

 7.21 

 6.58 

 5.60 

 6.80 

 6.51 

 6.20 



Per cent. 

 2.33 

 2.16 

 2.17 

 2.60 

 2.77 

 2.9o 



Per cent. 

 9.38 

 8.39 

 8.20 

 9.56 

 10.36 

 8.85 



Per cent. 

 30.55 

 23.39 

 33.53 

 23.62 

 33.57 

 22.84 



Per cent. 

 50.53 

 59.48 

 50.50 

 57.42 

 46.79 

 59.15 



It appears from Table XVII that the composition of Sudan grass 

 silage is practically the same as that of corn silage. The experiments 

 in 1918 showed that the density of the former was only 54 per cent 

 of that of the latter. Notwithstanding the fact that the grass silage 

 always seemed fluffier than corn silage, the spoilage was not unrea- 

 sonably great in either year. 



The silo used in the experiments in 1918 was a cylindrical iron 

 structure 4 by 9 feet. The acidity of Sudan grass silage, as deter- 

 mined by the average of two samples, one taken near the top and 

 the other near the bottom of the silo 245 days after it was filled, was 

 as follows: Lactic acid, 1.16; acetic acid, 0.39; propionic acid, 0.03; 

 total acids, 1.58 per cent. As determined at the Kansas Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, the acidity of corn silage was 2.03; sorgo 

 silage, 1.46; and kafir silage, 1.43 per cent. It will be seen, therefore, 

 that Sudan-grass silage is less acid than corn silage but slightly more 

 acid than sorgo or kafir silage. The Sudan grass silage made in 1918 

 was fed to cattle, and they seemed to relish it very much, eating it 

 much more freely than they did the Sudan grass hay. 



The feeding value of Sudan grass silage was compared with that of 

 corn silage at the California Agricultural Experiment Station in a 

 test with 21 dairy cows (28, pp. 33-36). The experiment covered 

 three periods of four weeks each, the test period in every case being 

 preceded by a preliminary feeding period of one week. In addition 

 to silage, the cows were fed alfalfa hay and a grain mixture of dried- 



