On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 
487 
these dates was 140^ F., at a depth of 6 feet. In another silo 
filled with clover and rje-grass and meadow-grass between June 
30th and July 11th, after which the silo was weighted with 
sand, the recorded temperatures were, on July 7tb, 149° F., 
and on July 14th, 15S' F. The resulting silage was free from 
acidity, sweet, and of an agreeable fruity odour, much re- 
sembling that of good hay, and was eaten with apparent relish 
by cattle, sheep, and horses. 
In filling silos, most writers on ensilage give directions which 
are based on Liebig's chemical theory of fermentation ; they 
recommend the thorough consolidation of the green fodder as it 
is put in, the rapid filling of the silo, and the covering up and 
weighting of it at once, in order to prevent, as far as possible, 
the exposure of the fodder to the oxygen of the atmosphere, which 
is assumed to be the exciting cause of fermentation. Pasteur's 
recent investigations, however, have greatly enlarged our know- 
ledge of the conditions which favour fermentation. He has 
shown that oxygen itself is not directly concerned in the process , 
but that certain living ferments and germs, generating various 
kinds of bacteria of fermentation, greatly modify the character of 
the silage produced. 
It would appear that a temperature of about 125° is sufficiently 
high to kill the bacteria which produce acid fermentation, and if 
the bacteria are killed, and the silo is covered and weighted, the 
enclosed mass of green fodder will remain sweet, and be prac- 
tically preserved under the same conditions as fruits, vegetables, 
or meats are preserved when canned. If this be the case, it will 
be at once intelligible that by less packing of the fodder when 
put into the silo, and extending the time of filling until the 
temperature rises to a point which is fatal to the bacteria, the 
resulting silage will be sweet, and free from acidity ; while sour 
silage is produced by at once consolidating, covering up and 
weighting the green fodder, so as to prevent the temperature 
rising to the point fatal to the bacteria. 
3. Another sample of " sweet " silage was sent to me for 
analysis on the 24th of December, 1883, by Lord Middleton, 
Applecross, Ross-shire. It was made from oats cut green and 
chaffed. It had the following composition : — 
AVater 74-80 
* Albuminous compounds 2 '18 
Sugar and other carbo-hydrates soluble in water 2 • 78 
Crude vegetable fibre 18 '84: 
Mineral matter (ash) 1-40 
100-00 
* Containing nitrogen -35 
Volatile acids, calculated as acetic acid . . . . -07 
Non-volatile acids, calculated as lactic acid . . -01 
VOL. XX. — S. S. 2 K 
