50 BULLETIN 981, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
(6) the acids, sugars, and alcohols present in pe silage were also 
determined. 
In 1917 Sudan grass was stored in a steel silo 25 feet high and 9 
feet in diameter, having an approximate capacity of 75 tons. Be- 
cause the grass was somewhat dry when placed in the silo it was 
found necessary to run considerable water in with it. Under these 
conditions the resulting spoilage of 10 per cent does not seem exces- 
sive. Sheep seemed to relish the silage less than they did corn 
silage, but ate it fully as well as the silage made from grain sorghums. 
TaBLeE XVII.—Composition of Sudan grass and corn silage compared on a water-free 
basis. 
Constituents. 
Kind of silage. | eve Nitrogen 
|. Ash. extract. | Protein.| Fiber. | free ex- 
aia et tract. 
| Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. 
Sudanjerass: (fresh) 25 2 sce sccm ne eee ae | 7.21 2. 33 9.38 30. 55 50. 53 
Corn (iresh))® Sts aise es Seb ee eae 6. 58 2.16 8. 39 23. 39 59. 48 
Sudan grass (near top, 122 days)......--------------- 5. 60 PAF 8. 20 33. 53 50. 50 
Corn (near top, L48idays)* ie eee ee ee eee 6. 80 2. 60 9. 56 23. 62 57. 42 
Sudan grass (from middle, 140 GBYyS) i sje eee ee 6. 51 PATE 10. 36 33. 57 46. 79 
Corn (from middle, 182 days) a NER Fes EE Pe ee 6. 20 2. 95 8. 85 22. 84 | 59.15 
It appears from Table XVII that the composition of Sudan grass 
. silage is practically the same as that of corn silage. The experiments 
in 1918 showed that the density of the former was only 54 per cent 
of that of the latter. Notwithstanding the fact that the grass silage 
always seemed fluffier than corn silage, the spoilage was not unrea- 
sonably great in either year. 
The silo used in the experiments in 1918 was a cylindrical iron . 
structure 4 by 9 feet. The acidity of Sudan grass silage, as deter- 
mined by the average of two samples, one taken near_the top and 
the other near the bottom of the silo 245 days after it was filled, was 
as follows: Lactic acid, 1:16; acetic acid, 0.39; propionic acid, 0.03; 
total acids, 1.58 per cent. As determined at the Kansas Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station, the acidity of corn silage was 2.03; sorgo 
silage, 1.46; and kafir silage, 1.43 percent. It will be seen, therefore, 
that Sudan-grass silage is less acid than corn silage but shghtly more 
acid than sorgo or kafir silage. The Sudan grass silage made in 1918 
was fed to cattle, and they-seemed to relish it very much, eating it 
much more freely than they did the Sudan grass hay. 
The feeding value of Sudan grass silage was compared with that of 
corn silage at the California Agricultural Experiment Station in a 
test with 21 dairy cows (28, pp. 33-36). The experiment covered 
three periods of four weeks each, the test period in every case being 
preceded by a preliminary feeding period of one week. In addition © 
to silage, the cows were fed alfalfa hay and a grain mixture of dried- 
