68 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 
75° to 80° C., 58.7 per cent, and after drying at 125° to 130° C., 
41.1 per cent. ‘The author found the digestion coefficient for protein 
in old-process linseed meal by artificial digestion to be 94.3. per 
cent, and for new-process meal, in the manufacture of which higher 
temperatures are used, 84.1 per cent.° The average coefficients 
for the two kinds of oil meal obtained in American digestion 
trials with ruminants are 89 and 85 per cent, respectively. A similar 
depression in the digestibility of protein in feeding stuffs resulting 
from application of heat has been observed in digestion trials on 
farm animals for meadow hay, corn silage, vetch silage; wheat bran, 
and dried beet pulp, and in artificial digestion trials with many 
human foods as well as with cattle feeds. 
The Siloing Process.—From what has already been said, we 
should not expect that the siloing process will appreciably affect the 
digestibility of feeding stuffs, since the heat generated in the silo 
fermentation will rarely exceed 50° C. (122° F.). The following 
average digestion coefficients for three kinds of silage will show the 
influence of the siloing process as regards digestibility : 
Digestion Coefficients for Green Fodders and Corresponding Silage, in Per Cent 
D F F Nitrogen- 
ination Protein Fiber : Bee Fat 
Corn fodder, dent, mature 72 54 59 75 75 
Corn silage, dent, mature 70 51 65 71 82 
Clover, green............ 61 65 53 72 63 
Clover silage ............ 45 35 48 45 45 
Soybeans............... 67 78 45 7 55 
Soybean silage.......... 67 66 53 65 57 
Only a few determinations of the digestibility of the last two 
feeds have been made so far, and the decrease in the digestibility of 
these crops in the silo may be found less important than now shown, 
when as much work has been done with them as with corn silage. It 
is evident, however, that no improvement in digestibility can be 
expected in siloing feeding stuffs; the favorable results obtained in 
feeding silage as compared with dried forage must, therefore, be due 
to the relatively small losses of feed materials occurring in the silo- 
ing process as compared with the curing of fodder or hay, and to the 
palatability and beneficial effects of silage on the health of the 
animals. 
* Wisconsin Report, 1895, p. 76, 
