XV. 



PRESJIR 1 'A Tli )N FOR STOCK FOOD 75 g 



the form of amides" {Henry, \). The albuminoids are usually chap. 

 insoluble in water, or may be rendered so by heat, while the 

 amides are soluble in water. This would suggest that the 

 amides might be more readily digestible than the albuminoids, 

 and in partial corroboration of this view we find that maize 

 silage will produce 12 -8 per cent more milk and 10-4 per cent 

 more butter-fat than maize fodder. 



Henry (1) says that " it is now fairly well established that 

 a large majority of the amides found in plants are nutrients 

 proper, that is, when fed they enter the system and are oxidized 

 in the same way as other food nutrients". " Asparagin, an 

 amide present in most young plants, has repeatedly been shown 

 to cause a gain of protein in the body when fed with a fodder 

 poor in protein." . . . "In some of their functions at least, 

 amides may replace albuminoids." ..." Equally good results 

 have been obtained where amides have been substituted for part 

 of the albuminoids in the ration for growing animals and milch 

 cows, as were obtained when albuminoids only were fed." 



732. Moisture-content of Maize Silage. — The moisture- 

 content of maize silage varies considerably, but not as much 

 as that of maize fodder, e.g. the variation is recorded as rang- 

 ing from 62'4 per cent to 877 per cent. A ton of silage con- 

 taining 62 '4 per cent water would, of course, contain more 

 than three times as much dry matter as that which contained 

 877 per cent water. Much of the silage in the United States 

 contains 70 per cent or less of water. The Wisconsin Station 

 (Rep. 1895) reports a case in which the water in the silage 

 increased 2*3 per cent after it was put into the silo ; Hunt (1) 

 concludes that "the loss of dry matter in silage is greater than 

 the loss of water ". 



733. Composition of Maize Silage Compared with that of 

 Green Maize Forage. — Analyses of green maize and of maize 

 silage by Feruglio and Mayer are reported in Table CXXXI. 



734. Popular Objections to Silage. — Objection is sometimes 

 raised to feeding dairy cows on silage for the reason that sil- 

 age is supposed to give an unpleasant smell and flavour to the 

 milk. When such is the case, it is because sufficient and 

 suitable care has not been taken with the feeding. Neither 

 the flavour nor the odour of the silage pass through the body 

 of the cow to the milk, but they may be acquired from bits of 



