Ensilage of Potatoes. 



39 



November 20th last, was opened on January 22nd (sixty-two 

 days later. The height of the silo at the time of erection 

 was 5^ feet, and on January 22nd it had sunk to a little over 

 3 feet. The temperature of the mass was 39/ Fahr. at the 

 commencement of the experiment, 42^ on December 1st, and 

 50 on January 22nd. On taking out the potato pulp it was 

 found to have retained its whiteness, but the parts exposed 

 to the air afterwards blackened slightly. Cattle ate this 

 potato pulp greedily, either alone or mixed with undecorti- 

 cated Egyptian cotton-cake. The experiments are to be 

 continued. 



M. Vogue read a third note on experiments made by 3VL 

 de Monicault, who placed beetroot and potatoes in a silo of 

 fodder-maize. On opening the silo neither beetroot nor 

 potatoes had changed their appearance, although the tubers 

 could be easily divided, as if they had been boiled in water. 

 Analysis showed 4.5 per cent, of sugar in the beetroot. 

 Distillation gave no trace of alcohol. As beetroot contains, 

 on an average 12 per cent, of crystallisable sugar it would 

 appear that two-thirds of the sugar had been lost in the 

 ensilage. No soluble starch, dextrine, glucose, or alcohol 

 were found in the potatoes, and ensilage thus appeared to 

 have caused the desiccation of the tuber without having 

 cooked it. 



