164 FORAGH CROPS 
pack tightly, so as to prevent the ingress of air. 
Many farmers recommend the thorough wetting 
of the surface, a light covering of soil, and the 
seeding of oats, as the cheapest and surest way 
to make the silo tight. While there is consider- 
able loss under the very best methods of handling 
and packing the corn in the silo, chiefly falling on 
the carbohydrate group, these losses have been 
shown to be no greater than those which take place 
in the common handling of the corn after it has 
been cut and husked. The changes in the silo, 
other than direct losses of carbohydrates, are due 
chiefly to modifications in the nitrogenous nutri- 
ents, the albuminoids being changed into other 
forms, even though the feed value is not seriously 
reduced. 
In the construction of the winter silo, the size 
should be so adjusted to the number of cattle as to 
allow a removal of about two inches of the surface 
per day. In the summer silo there should be a re- 
moval of three to four inches, otherwise the heat- 
ing or fermentation which begins as soon as the 
surface layer is removed, will result in consider- 
able changes, and consequent reduction in the 
food value of the silage. What is termed “sweet 
silage” is possibly a misnomer, although there is 
great difference in the composition of silage made 
and used under the conditions here outlined. The 
development of acid is very rapid, if the air is 
