382 Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage. 
unpleasant to the taste. In the sample No. 2 on the list, I 
determined the percentage of alcohol, and found it to be present 
to the amount of 0 34 per cent. This quantity was arrived at 
by distilling the extract from a large quantity of the silage after 
neutralizing the acid present by means of caustic potash. The 
distillate was distinctly alkaline, but not with ammonia, from 
which I infer that a small portion of the albuminoids during 
fermentation are split up into amines, which distilled over. The 
distillate, after being acidified, was again distilled, and the 
alcohol weighed in a delicate specific gravity-apparatus. I 
took care to verify the presence of alcohol in this distillate. 
Only a part of the acid was present as acetic acid, part being 
present as butyric and part as lactic acid. It is also probable 
that other organic acids were formed, but these three are the 
chief. It is curious to note that as the silage approaches to the 
bottom, the percentage of acidity increases. The layer from the 
bottom was very wet, and too acid for cattle. 
I also examined partially a sample of the liquid which had 
drained away from this lower portion. 
It gave : — 
Water and volatile matter at 212° F 83 • 7G 
Non-volatile organic matters 13 "15 
Mineral matters 3 "09 
100-00 
The acidity calculated as acetic acid was .. -89 
In order to render the results of the analysis of the silage 
comparable with those obtained from the original grass, a deduc- 
tion must be made for the salt added during the preparation. If 
this be done, and the nitrogen calculated into percentages, figures 
are obtained which may be compared with those furnished by 
the analysis of the dried grass. Thus it will be found that 
the percentages of total nitrogen in the dried grass and in the 
three samples of dried silage from which the salt has been 
deducted, are as follows : — 
Id dried 
Grass. 
In Sample 
taken 
2 ft. & 1 ft. 6 in. 
from bottom. 
lu .Sample 
taken 
1 ft. 6 in. & 1 ft. 
from bottom. 
Bottom. 
1-60 
1-66 
l-(;7 
These figures show, in each instance, a slight increase in the 
percentage of total nitrogen ; and it may, therefore, be inferred 
that little or no loss of nitrogen has occurred during the process 
