NoveMBER 1, 1906 
tures above 160 degrees an inferior, dark- 
coloured, or even black, “ burnt’”’ product 
is obtained. 
TuaprRATURE av warcn Actps Form. 
Tn asilo filled with well-matured fodder- 
sorn, it is possible to reduce the amount 
of fermentation and the heat of fermen- 
tation to very low terms by cutting the 
corn stalks fine, filling the silo rapidly, 
treading the material thoroughly, and 
“weighting it heavily. . Many ob- 
servers have noticod, and especially as 
regards immature corn fodder and other 
kinds of crops, that when the heat of 
fermentation is low, large quantities of 
acids are formed than is the case at higher 
temperatures, Tho English chemist 
Voelcker has even gone so far as to admit 
that ensilage produced at temperatures 
lower than 122 degrees is always more or 
less sour. ‘This fact is so generally recog- 
nised that the terms “sweet” ensilage 
and “sower” ensilege are not infrequently 
used to characterise products obtained 
under such conditions that the heat of 
fermentation has risen 125 degrees or 140 
degrees, or more, or has been less than 120 
degrees. 
In order the more readily to obtain 
tompratures of 122 degrees to 125 degrees 
or more, the fodder put in on the first 
day is not levelled at once, but allowed to 
yemain in a loose pile in the middle of the 
- silo until it is well heated and the fodder 
for next layer is ready to be putin, Tho 
hot ensilage is levelled and packed at 
the corners, and immediately covered with 
fresh fodder of the next layer. With a 
similar purpose in view, the last load or 
two of the fodder of each layer is left ina 
pile in the middle of the silo until ready 
to fill in the next layer. 
It ig said to be well to crown up the 
material somewhat at the middle in order 
to ensure a constant pressure against the 
side walls while the mass is settling. 
Finally, a covering of cut straw or coarse 
hay and tarred paper is added. The cover 
should be wall packed at the sides and 
corners, and a few loose boards may bo 
laid on to keep it in place. . There 
is a common impression that—hbarring the 
inevitable waste of material—the quick 
hot-fermentation of maize ensilage is 
favorable for sweetness. The character 
of any given sample of ensilage depends 
‘on the amount of pressure which has been 
put on the materials at first, 
Loss oF MareriaL IN SrLos, 
Generally speaking, it is not at the sur- 
face of the silo nor through mouldiness 
that the chief waste occurs. On the con- 
trary, the loss of material in converting 
forage to ensilage is caused, for the most 
port, by fermentations due to imperfect 
exclusion of air at the beginning of the 
process. A loss of 50 per cent. has 
been noticed in the case of lupines, and 27 
per cent. in that of lucerne, 31 per cent. 
in the case of some mown clover that had 
been heavily rained upon, As regards 
Indian corn, losses amounting to 33 per 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER, 5 
i 
cent. and 35 per cent. have been observed, 
though, when proper care is exercised, the 
oss from corn ensilage need not be more 
than half as large as these amounts. 
Usk of GERMICIDES IN THE SILO. 
Tt was customary in Germany, long ago 
to strew salt between the layers of ensilage 
as it was put into the crude earth-pits of 
those days, and good results were obtained 
and experiments were made of putting 
slacked lime upon beet-pulp in_ silos. 
There can be no doubt that this idea of 
checking fermentation by means of chemi- 
cals may have real merit in some cases. 
Professor Storer here cites a case in which 
a highly successful experiment was made 
in Sweden by Alex. Miller, who employed 
bi-sulphide of carbon as the germicide 
agent. A lot of mown grass, which, 
through foul weather, had begun to decay 
as it lay on the ground, was thrown up 
into a heap or stack, together with a 
quantity of buckwheat and _ sunflower 
plants, of the leaves of cabbages, the 
tops of beets, and some small roots, and 
straw chaff. The several layers of the 
heap were sprinkled with bi-sulphide of 
carbon during the process of building it. 
When the stack came to be opened, the 
fodder was found to be a compact, well- 
preserved mass, which was readily and 
greedily eaten by cattle. 
OPENING THE SILos. 
It is well not to begin to feed out the 
contents of a silo until six or eight weeks 
after the materials have been stored, or 
until fermentation has ceased. As a 
matter of course, it usually happens that 
several months elapse after the filling of a 
silo beforo it is opened. As regards Indian 
corn at least, it is known that silos may 
be left unopened for two or three yeas 
without any serious loss or waste other 
lhan the interest on the capitallying dead 
Indeed, it is accounted one great merit of 
corn ensilage that reservoirs of it may be 
kept during long periods, to be opened 
only in times of dearth 
When a silo is opened, it is important 
not to take out from it at any one time 
more of the ensilage than can be fed out 
in the course of the day, least the loose 
material suffer harm through fermentation 
Moreover, in removing ensilage from a 
silo, care must be taken to proceed in 
such wise that no large surface of the 
matter left in the silo shall long be ex- 
posed to the action of the air. Tf ensilage 
were to be left uncovered for several days 
moulds would grow upon it, and the sur- 
face layer might decay. Itis said to be 
well to build the silo of such shape and 
size—as related to the number of animals 
to be fed—that a fresh layer, several in- 
ches in thickness, will need to be taken 
off fevery time the animals are fed. In 
this point of view, several small silos will 
be found to be more convenient than a 
single large one. 
Maize ENstace. 
In regions where Indian corn can be 
grown readily there are several strong 
incentives for saying this crop in the 
form of ensilage. It is easy to grow enor- 
mous quantities of fodder corn on com- 
paratively small areas, and methodically 
to store the crop in silos in the short days 
of autumn, andin dull and threatening 
weather, and this advantage is particularly 
marked in regions where the climate is 
normally unfavorable for the curing of 
fodder corn in autumn. 
The hauling and handling of the large 
quantities of water (80 to 90 percent.) in 
green stalks at the time of pitting themi 
of course a great disadvantage, though i§ 
appears to be more than off-set by the fact 
that this labour admits of being metho- 
dised, and that it can be applied with 
comparatively little reference to weather. 
The rehandling of the ensilage, when it is 
fed out, is not specially laborious, because 
no very large a.nount of material is moved 
at any one time; and there is no little 
advantage in haying a succulent material 
so palatable as ensilage is to give variety 
to winter food of cattle. 
At the moment of filling the silo it is 
customary to cut the corn plants to lengths 
of an inch, or three-quarters of an inch, 
or half an inch—some say two inches 
though Goflart has urged that it is well to 
cut the stalks to lengths of one-third of 
an inch. When the fodder is thus cut, 
even in two inch lengths, the materiol is 
easily handled, it packs closely, and the 
air which would naturally remain in the 
space between the corn stalks can be 
pretty thoroughly expelled. But the cut- 
ting is not absolutely necessary, and not 
a few farmers havo dispensed with it, 
although it is known to be highly advan- 
tageous in that the cut material lies closer 
in the silo, takes up less room, is more 
easily stowed away and compressed, and 
much more readily handled when it comes 
to be removed. Everyone admits, more- 
over, that when long corn stalks are 
packed in a silo they must be trodden 
down very firmly, and that care must be 
taken to avoid air space between the 
stalks least the ensilage should become 
mouldy around these spots of air, 
American experience has taught very 
decidely that it is best, as a general rule, 
to allow the corn plants to become toler- 
ably mature before putting them into the 
sigo. There are, in fact, very good reasons 
why mature plants should be preferred, 
for it is known that there is an enormous 
accumulation of useful carbonydrates in 
the corn plant during the latter stages of 
its growth Practically, it has been found 
that the more mature the grain is, while 
the stalks remain green, the better and 
_ gweoter the ensilage will be, and it is now 
a common practice as regards flint-corn 
not to cut the stalks until the grain has 
begun. to glaze, or has just passed the 
glazing stage, while dent-corn 1s allowed 
to stand until the kernels are dented 
On the other hand, it is not well that 
the crop should be allowed to get so ma~ 
ture that the stalks have become some- 
