NITROGEN AND OTHER LOSSES IN ENSILING CORN. 5 
The maize was cut green. In some seasons the dry matter was 
as high as 20 per cent and in cold, wet seasons as low as 13 per 
cent. They find practically no loss in crude fiber, but a very great 
loss in nitrogen- free extract, from which the sugar is shown by direct 
test to disappear almost entirely. The pentosans and protein suffer 
considerably. They state that the bags in the top half of the silo lost 
an average of 32 per cent of their original content of ether extract 
and 17 per cent of their soluble ash constituents, while the bags in 
the lower half gained over the original amounts 6 per cent in ether 
extract and 2 per cent in soluble ash constituents. They make note 
of a downward wash of soluble acids and ash. In a table stating 
an average of all losses and gains in original constituents present in 
the green material during the ensiling of maize during the seasons 
of 1904 and 1905, they give the losses as follows: Dry matter 36 per 
cent; ether extract, 16 per cent; nitrogen-free extract, 55 per cent; 
fiber, 8 per cent; total nitrogen, 26 per cent; protein nitrogen, 55 
per cent; ash, 14 per cent; furfurol, 32 per cent; and gains, non- 
protein nitrogen, 83 per cent. 
Feruglio and Mayer (19) claim to find a loss of only 5 per cent in 
the food material during the ensiling of maize. They state that 
this loss falls somewhat on the pure protein and albuminoids, but 
most strongly on the sugars and pentosans. On the other hand, 
they find an increase in ether extract and total acidity. 
THE EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 
The silo used was a cylindrical concrete silo 42 feet high by 14 feet 
in diameter inside, holding approximately 150 tons, and located at 
the Dairy Division Experiment Farm, Beltsville, Md. The floor of 
the silo was 4 feet below the lowest door, and the silo up to this door 
was water-tight. The work was carried on for two seasons, 1914^15 
and 1915-16. During both seasons the silo used was completely filled 
with corn. The depth of the silage after settling was approximately 
38 feet. 
MANNER OF PLACING AND REMOVING SAMPLES. 
Samples of silage in cheesecloth sacks were buried at various depths 
and positions in the silo. The silo was divided into 8 levels the first 
season and 6 levels the second season. The first level was near the 
bottom of the silo and the last one near the top. The distance be- 
tween levels was approximately the same. When a level was reached 
in the regular course of filling the silo a sack of the carefully sampled 
cut corn was weighed and buried at about the center. At the same 
time another sample was taken for chemical analysis. The sacks 
were numbered according to the level at which they were buried. 
