1 Frr., 1900.1 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 83 
Was about 15 dollars. The potatoes were put in the silo in the latter part of 
vember. When the silo was filled the material was 5} feet deep. Sixty-two 
ays later the silo was opened, and the mass had sunk to a little over 3 feet. 
_€ temperature of the silo when filled was 39 degrees Fahr., and when opened 
"Was 5U degrees. The ensiled potato pulp was white, but became blackened 
®n exposure to the air. Cattle ate this pulp greedily, alone or mixed with 
“otton-seed cake. : 
_ Experiments made at the Minnesota Station have shown that, while the 
digestibility of cooked and raw potatoes by pigs was about the same, pigs could 
€ induced to eat larger quantities of cooked potatoes. It was calculated that BY 
tation of 15 Ib. of potatoes and 4: lb. of shorts would furnish an amount of 
Protein sufficient for maintenance, leaving a margin for growth. , 
On the basis of cost comparisons were made of the value of potatoes and 
other feeding stuffs. In the investigator's opinion, with foods at the present 
Prices, it is doubtful whether it would be profitable to feed large amounts of 
potatoes to dairy stock, because cows require more protein than would be 
“upplied by a fattening ration similar in character to that mentioned above. 
Otatoes cannot be fed to young animals as safely as to more mature ones, 
Since if fed in too large quantities they have a tendency to prematurely fatten 
Ae animal, With mature animals, when the object is principally the addition 
oF fat to the body, potatoes may be fed to good advantage. in tia 
hen the crop of potatoes is large and prices low, a method of storing 
ceding potatoes to advantage is desirable. ; 
A method of preserving potatoes which at the same time cooks them 
Would seem worthy of trial, but it would doubtless be wise to experiment on a 
‘mall scale at present.—Bulletin No. 79 U.S. Department of Agriculture. 
'e experiments above noted would appear to be a revival of an account of 
®Xperiments made in 1896 by the French scientists, MM. Vauchez, Marchal, 
and de Monicault, not only with the potato, but also with the beetroot, with 
‘prisingly satisfactory results. 
From ‘the Journal of the Board of Agriculture (London, 1897) we learn. 
that, in these experiments, potatoes buried in a silo of Crimson Clover (Lrifolium 
‘earnata) acquired the characteristic colour of that plant, as well as the smell 
*veloped byfermentation. ‘The tuberswere much flattened by the heavy pressure 
to which they had been subjected; their cohesion also was greatly modified, and 
iT was quite easy to pull them to pieces. ‘The potatoes were examined 
eroscopically and chemically by M. Girard, who ascertained that they had 
*en cooked during the process. ‘Thus MM. Vauchez and Marchal appear to 
mee demonstrated the practicability of this method of cooking potatoesfor fodder. 
© temperature in a silo of green fodder plants rises to nearly 160 degrees 
ahr. ; the potato is automatically cooked, and acquires the pa eay of being 
‘uly digestible, which is requisite for its consumption by cattle. 
b hat a high temperature (about 160 degrees ahr.) is necessary, is shown 
J a0 experiment carried out by M. Mir, who, in order to determine whether 
zs in spite of its size, could be preserved without being cut up, placed 
‘tge quantities of the entire plant (stalks, leaves, and cobs) into a silo, and 
*nelosed also about a ton of potatoes in the centre. On opening the silo, the 
Maize and potatoes were both perfectly good. The tubers were flattened 
Sttnilar] y to those in the experiment already mentioned, but they were more 
“ohesive ; moreover, the cooking appeared to be less advanced, and upon 
{Lamination this proved to be the case. The reason of the difference was that 
© ‘Arge entire stalks and cobs of the maize necessarily diminished the tight 
Pressure, the temperature was not so high as in the compact mess of clover, 
aud “onsequently the potatoes were not so well cooked. 
Shemical analysis showed that the potatoes put into the clover silo had been 
é iccated than in the maize ; but the most striking differences were, on the 
at © hand, the quantity of matter rendered soluble by the fermentation of the 
vet, and, on the other, the high percentage of starch cooked in the silo, 
*USequenily rendering the potatoes easily assimilable. It may be noticed also 
‘ind f 
( 
less deg 
