Aug. 15.1921 
Bacteriology ana Chemistry of Different Silages 
773 
From the results in Table I it can be noted that the oats and Canada 
field peas at the time of ensiling contained a large number of organisms. 
The acid-producing organisms were predominating. Organisms belong¬ 
ing to the bulgaricus group were present in veiy small numbers. Yeasts 
and organisms belonging to the colon group were present in large num¬ 
bers. There were few protein digesters present at the time of ensiling. 
As fermentation progressed the number of acid formers remained fairly 
constant for the first eight days and then slightly decreased. The 
bulgaricus group increased rapidly for the first four days; then there 
was a gradual decrease. The number of yeast and protein digesters 
did not decrease as they did in some of the later experiments. One 
reason, no doubt, was the fact that the silage material was cut very 
coarse so that the silage did not compact properly, and air pockets 
were formed. The count upon plain agar shows an increase, then a 
decrease. The number of organisms belonging to the colon group 
increased, disappeared on the eleventh day, and then increased. 
It is true that the changes which apparently took place in the silage 
might possibly be ascribed to variations in the samples of silage which 
were taken from different parts of the silo, but on account of the pro¬ 
gressive nature of the changes taking place as shown by the increase 
in numbers of bacteria and in the formation of chemical compounds it 
would seem probable that the changes were due to the agents causing 
the fermentation. 
EXPERIMENT II. CANADA FlEU> PEA AND OAT SILAGE, 1919 
The crop in 1919 was seeded earlier than in 1918 and was ready for 
the silo on July 3. The growing season was also very dry in 1919 until 
about two weeks before harvesting, and as a result the crop yield was 
low. The moisture content of the fresh green material was 73.8 per 
cent, or a little higher than that of the 1918 crop. The percentage of 
peas was also slightly higher, being 21.1 per cent in this investigation. 
A feeding test was conducted in which the silage was compared with 
ordinary com silage for milk production. It proved to be very good 
feed, and the cows consumed it in large quantities with very good results 
in milk production. 
Table II shows the bacteriological results obtained from this experi¬ 
ment. It can be noticed that the predominating group of organisms 
were the acid producers, of which a large percentage, no doubt, belonged 
to the bulgaricus group. After the first day of fermentation practically 
no organisms belonging to the colon group nor any yeasts were present. 
There were few protein digesters present. 
The chemical results given in Table III show a decided increase in 
the total acidity, volatile acidity, and amino nitrogen during the first 
few days of fermentation. This was then followed by a gradual increase 
until the twenty-ninth day, when analyses were stopped. Ammonia 
determination fluctuated but showed gradual increase. 
