FACTS CONCERNING ENSILAGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 7

FACTS CONCERNING ENSILAGE.

As tne subject of enellage has attracted some attention' from time to time In our columnF, the following remarks by Mr H. E. Stock bridge, 3aß.i Amherst, Massachusetts, fo/ which we are indebted to Farm and Garden an American publication, will no doubt h r ,ad with interest :— The farmers' council Beason is at hand— in Btitutesand other gatherings of agriculturist will Boon become the order of the day. Man} siloa have been filled with the products of tbBummor'a labours, to be discuaeed dunog tb winter*! leisure, , Ensilage mtnt Inevitably, and juatly, agai oome prominently before the interested public .Here, then, ere excitement or enthusiasm h». again supplanted, and for a time blinded au criminating judgment, is the time to examin< this subject by the light of a few definite and scientifically practioal factor. Let; xa calmly and without bias assure our selves as to just what the process af ensilage U, how it, affects the material treated, and what from the precise and unadorned faotp, may b, expected from the introduction of this ' nev dispwa»tion.* Ensilage is any perishable food, preserved u> green condition for any length of time througi the exclusion of air, and the pressure applied i simply for the purpose of completing this isola tion. The silo is nothing more or less than the air. light receptacle fop containing the material fo> preservation. Daring the process it undergo*' fermentation. Let us examine this phenoim non, and the ohantrea it produces in .the fodder There are fire, different and distinct, forms oi this transformation, of wbioh the so called alcoholic fermentation la the most common, and this it is which first occurs in the silo. I only takes place in substances containing gin oose in solution. This substance, consisting^ Og, Hj, O«; is decomposed Into alcohol, O«, 84,B 4 , 0, and contains acid, C. OJf0 Jf and to' the pre senc6 of this gas, which Is more than two an< a half times heavier than air; Is due the txolu eion of the latter. After the first, or alcoholic fermentation, is ended, a second, known as th< acetic fermentation, sets in. This is simply »> higher oxidation of the alcohol, and its, pro duct, aoetio acid, C 3,C 3 , H«, O a , causes the soui tMte so characteristic of ensilage. Ghemicß action In .the silo now ceases, and the foddei remains fresh so long as the air is excluded. Now. in what manner has the feeding value of the fodder been affected by the transform* ton ocourringfln the material? 1 Analysis of the corn— for to oorn ensilage w* will confine ourselves— shows that an averag. specimen of the ensilaged food contains 1 per oent.leea water than did the green plant, 34 per cent, more nitrogen, a gain of '08 per cent of fat, '02 per cent, of sogar, I*Bl per cent, of non-nitrogenous matter, 22 per cent, of acid, 1 80 per cent, ash, and a gala of I*l3 per cent. of cellulose. It is, then, perfectly apparen 1 that,' with the exception of, the change in th. amount of nitrogenous and nonnitrogenouf matter, the variation changes in every cas slightly in favour of the ensilage, are so email as to immaterially affect the nutritive value of the food. The gain in these two substances iv equal to a gain of 4 per cent, in nutrition, by tba process of ensilage. But another faot here demands attention. Ensilage is a speoiea of condensation, and herein lies the apparent percentage (tain. Tht The average shrinkage in the bIIo Is 25 per cent, of the entire material, of which analysis Bhowt but 1 per c*nt. to have been water, leaving a real loss 1 of 24 per cent. The percentage gain in value was 4 per cent., and the difference between this nutritive gain and the 24 per cent, low in substance gives- no a direct total loss of 20 per oent. of all tht material placed in the silo ) that is, every ton of corn loses 20 per cent, of its nutriment by passing through the process of ensilage, and contains 20 per cent, less nutriment after that before being siloed. What, then, do these facts show ? Simply this: however valuable corn fodder in it° nataral condition may be, It becomes one-fifth less valuable by being made into ensilage. The question for farmers to ask themselves is t Can we afford to lose 20 per cent, of the nutriment of our oorn, in addition to the expense of building the silo and preparing the food for use ? That ensilage forms valuable food for the ' winter feeding ef some classes of animals, there can be no gainsaying ; that, like other sour food, it injures the quality of the milk and butter, can be demonstrated to its staunch cflt defet^4rs by a single microscopic examination. ■>* That it has been for more than a score of years known and appreciated at its fall value in Europe, is fully demonstrated, yet it has never come into extended and general use, and European agriculture has not been materially affected by its introduction. Farmers will do well to remember that while enthusiasms, is of Invaluable service when used In conjunction with a thorough consideration of facts, without such consideration ahe leads us a dangerous path.