On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 
491 
maize silage, which he had received from a correspondent, 
Mr. Edward Atkinson, of Boston. 
On opening the barrels 1 found the maize-silage from Boston 
perfectly sound. The rye-silage also was in a good condition, 
with the exception of a few bits on the top of the barrel, which 
were slightly mouldy. On exposure to the air, the maize-silage 
kept much longer free from mould than the rje-silage. 
Both were decidedly acid, the maize more so than the rye- 
silage. 
The proportion of organic acids in silage varies a good deal 
in different samples of even the same green fodder, and the 
nature of the organic acids which are generated in the process 
of ensilage also varies greatly in different samples. In some 
cases of well-made silage of excellent keeping qualities, the 
prevailing acid is non-volatile lactic acid ; in other samples 
which have kept equally well, volatile and aromatic-smelling 
acids, such as butyric and acetic acids, were present in pro- 
portions preponderating over the amount of non-volatile lactic 
acid. In the present state of our knowledge of the chemical 
changes which green fodder undergoes in the silo, I am not 
prepared to assign any greater or more marked influence on the 
keeping qualities of silage to the volatile than to the non- 
volatile organic acids. The fact that the maize-silage could be 
taken from the pits, packed into a cask, and sent to England in 
good condition, and on subsequent exposure to the air kept 
better and longer sound and free from mould than the rye-silage, 
was probably due to the circumstance that the green maize was 
richer in sugar than the rye. In most cases the greater part of 
the sugar in green fodder is converted in the silo into various 
kinds of organic acids, some of which possess strongly marked 
preservative properties. In the case of well-matured green 
maize, the amount of sugar in the sweet stems, it can hardly be 
doubted, must be much more considerable than in the over-ripe 
rye. Much of the success in preserving green fodder in silos, 
I am persuaded, depends upon its proper state of maturity. 
Green rye, maize, clover, meadow-grass, and, in fact, all kinds 
of succulent vegetable produce, should be cut down neither too 
immature nor over-ripe, but just a little before it arrives at full 
maturity, and when it is sweet to the taste and rich in sugar. 
Fairly mature green fodder, I find, makes more nutritious silage, 
and keeps better when removed from the silo and exposed to 
the air, than silage made from immature green fodder or such 
food in over-ripe condition. 
The following are the results which I obtained by careful and 
detailed analyses of average samples, drawn from the two barrels 
from Boston, Mass. : — 
