2 BULLBTIlSr 953^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



depths in a small earth pit silo. Calculating on the basis of the 

 author's tables, one notes losses as high as 74 per cent of the water 

 content and 28 per cent of the crude protein of the original maize 

 in the pit at a depth of 42 centimeters, but at a depth of ITO centi- 

 meters only a 3 per cent loss of water and a 7 per cent loss of the 

 crude protein. His tables indicate a larger loss of nitrogen-free 

 extract in the upper than in the lower layers and a gain in crude 

 fat in the lower layers. The loss in crude fiber is small except in 

 one sample. The change in ash content varies over a wide range. 



Weiske and Schulze (2) report experiments in which they ensiled 

 maize containing only 12 per cent dry matter. They used two water- 

 tight vats holding 125 kilos and 110 kilos, respectively. The first 

 one, containing maize well packed in, lost 26.1 per cent of its dry 

 matter and 37.8 per cent of its crude protein in 112 days. The 

 second one, containing maize loosely thrown in, lost 35.8 per cent 

 of its dry matter and 54.2 per cent of its crude protein in 115 days. 

 Both tub silos lost heavily in crude fiber and nitrogen-free extract, 

 but gained very markedly in ether extract. 



Jordan (3) states that in the course of three years' work, using a 

 stone-basement root cellar as a silo, he found only a 5.18 per cent to 

 11.82 per cent loss of organic matter, which appeared to be almost 

 wholly in the carbohydrates other than crude fiber. He notes ap- 

 parent gains in crude fiber in two out of three cases and losses of 

 from. per cent to 0.77 per cent in the crude protein present at 

 ensiling. He bases his calculations on the assumption that there is 

 no loss of ash during ensiling. 



Several years later, at the Pennsylvania Experiment Station, 

 Armsby and Caldwell (4) , in connection with a comparative feeding 

 experiment, using silage and dry corn fodder, found a loss of 10.76 

 per cent of the total dry matter ensiled. Their tables show a large 

 loss in the ash and in the albuminoids, a small loss in crude fiber, 

 and a large loss in the nitrogen-free extract, with a large gain in 

 nonalbuminoids and in the crude fat. 



Henry and WoU (5) , at the Wisconsin Experiment Station, studied 

 the losses in ensiling green corn by using three different varieties of 

 corn in three square, wooden bay silos, holding from 8^ to 12 tons 

 each. They report 22 and 24 per cent losses of the total dry matter 

 ensiled in two of the silos and 31.8 per cent loss in the remaining 

 one, which broke and let in air. They find the largest losses to be in 

 nitrogen-free extract, crude protein, and crude fiber. There was a 

 large gain in ether extract in two of the silos. They also find a 

 small gain of ash in one silo with a large loss in the others, which is 

 explained as a translocation of the mineral matter caused by pressure 

 of the upper layers on the lower ones, by movement of the juices of 

 green fodder or by diffusion. 



