228 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



In order to successfully establish this plant in many 

 sections it is necessary to inoculate the soil with the bac- 

 terium that sustains a symbiotic relation with this 

 legume, and coapply some form of lime when the soil 

 has a high degree of acidity. 



It should be stated that the relative feeding value of 

 alfalfa has been overestimated as compared with other 

 legumes, such as the clovers. It is doubtful whether 

 alfalfa hay cut and cured under the best of conditions is 

 superior in quality to the best quaUty of clover hay. 



SILAGE 



About forty years ago a new process for preserv- 

 ing crops in a green condition was introduced into the 

 United States, viz., ensilage. This consists in storing 

 green material in receptacles called silos, in masses 

 sufficiently large to insiu-e certain essential conditions. 

 Within a brief period after maize or other green material 

 is packed in a silo the mass becomes perceptibly warm, 

 and in the course of two or three days it reaches its maxi- 

 mum temperature, which is much above the average heat 

 outside. This rise in temperature is due to chemical 

 changes which involve the consumption of more or less 

 oxygen and the production of compounds not previously 

 existing in the fresh material. 



313. Nature of the changes in the silo. — ^These changes 

 are very complex. They have been regarded as due to 

 the activity of a variety of ferments, principally those 

 which are believed to cause the formation of alcohol 

 and acetic, lactic, and other acids. Whether the oxida- 

 tions occurring in the silo are wholly induced by ferment 

 action or in part at least are the result of oxidations 



