\ rt .// gift from Received 81 ; '^^&^K . , .- '.*- ' ' <*- ; ~ i\ \ y^vSi X;c? ... ?- . -^-: 1 N - > FWv %ppPf *Wy& $^3HB^i5^ ^^i^-^^K|^s 4W l ' it- ''->&\ v f si./* : V^5Kp ^FW t^| rV A ^'.._ m i&^rr^ ^M^1 N | m -::." a m 7^. /i' 'j.-'/J,^ ^ 'M! ^1?^ OfSr i#Mi M7y j - ' / * - J ,'^ V . / <:.- - . ^ ^\>le^ ^; ^-,^ : -VTb ^ : jp^ - \*; 'K^W : ii?fol T-^^>.> ; , -\ y'*- Srm-2to^F* J Si^ UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Agricultural Experiment Station BULLETIN No. 2. ENSILAGE. Reported by THOMAS J. HUNT, Assistant Agriculturist. Oharnpaign, August, 1888, The report herein detailed is a record such, for the most part, as any farmer having a silo might make; and, as such, it is published for the benefit of those who, having had no experience with ensilage, desire to obtain information concerning a material now so much discussed. THE SILO. The silo used consisted of a room n feet 8 inches x 16 feet x 9 feet high, in the basement of the South barn, on the University farm. One side wall was stone; the other walls were brick. One wall contained two windows three feet square, and the room had a door-way. These were made tight by means of boards. The walls of this room were raised five feet higher by means of studding and flooring, making the silo fourteen feet deep. The floor and the walls of stone and brick were cemented, and a tight joint was made with cement between these and the boards above. FILLING SILO. The filling the silo was practically continuous, and was done in three days, August 20-22, 1887, with 54,525 pounds, twenty-seven and a quarter tons, of green corn. About twenty tons of this consisted of a medium sized, fairly early yellow dent corn (Murdock), which had been planted May 4-6, in rows 3 feet 9 inches apart, with two to three kernels dropped every 9 to 12 inches in each row. At the time of cutting, the stalks had well formed 1 6 BULLETIN NO. 2. [AugUSf, but small ears, the kernels of which had largely passed the milk state, that is, the kernels were mostly glazed. The lower leaves were yellowish, and some had begun to dry. The growth, though not large, was thought satisfactory, considering the long continued and severe drought that had prevailed here. The yield was not more than seven tons of fresh fodder per acre. Seven tons consisted of a large, late maturing yellow dent corn (Learning), which had been planted May 28, 1887. The kernels were in the milk and the leaves were entirely green. No marked differ- ence was noted between the ensilage from this and that from the other corn. At the time of filling the silo, 1.07 acres of corn were cut and shocked. October i5th this dry corn-fodder weighed 4,665 pounds, two and one- sixth tons per acre. The fresh corn-fodder was drawn to the silo about as fast as cut, and was chopped into pieces one to two inches long by means of a No. 4 Belle City feed cutter, run by a J. I. Case two-horse tread-power. By this means two men with a team could cut two tons of green fodder an hour, although but about one ton an hour was cut on an average. Two men cut the fodder in the field; and two men, each with a team and wagon, hauled it to the barn, the round trip being three-quarters of a mile. One man distributed and packed the material in the silo. In unloading the fodder, a doubled rope was fastened to the sides of the rear end of the rack-bed and was laid on the bottom of the rack, the middle projecting over the front of the rack. Another rope was attached to a beam above the drive-way. When a load was drawn in, the suspended rope was hooked to the rope on the wagon and the wagon drawn ahead, rolling the load upon the floor. Care is necessary to prevent breaking the rack. This simple device, adopted from Mr. Cushman, formerly a manufacturer of sorghum syrup of this neighborhood, saves much heavy lifting. Practically, therefore, seven men and three teams in three days filled the silo with twenty-seven tons of corn ensilage. Each farmer may for himself calculate what it would cost him under similar circumstances to fill such a silo. The green fodder, as it came from the feed cutter, fell into the silo, was distributed and tramped with some care. But absolute evenness of distribution was not secured; for a large proportion of the heavier parts, as the corn, remained under the cutter, while the lighter parts, as the leaves, were distributed to the sides of the silo. This is not easily avoided; but care should be taken to prevent it, since it causes uneveness of settling, which seems to prevent the perfect keeping of the ensilage. CAPACITY OF SILO. Two days after the silo was filled the contents were covered with tarred building paper, this with two inch plank, and the whole weighted with barrels of sand and other convenient material to the amount, approx- imately, of fifty pounds to the square foot. Between this time and March 1888.] ENSILAGE. 17 10, 1888, when the silo was opened, the top sank three and one-half feet, or one-fourth the total height. When put in, twenty-one pounds of the green corn occupied a cubic foot. Not allowing for evaporation, the ensilage, when taken out, would weigh twenty-eight pounds to the cubic foot. As shown further on, forty-two pounds of corn ensilage were eaten daily by animals weighing on an average 895 pounds. A capacity of two cubic feet a day for each animal would make a silo sufficiently large, when such ani- mals are to be fed all the ensilage they will eat. If other food is to be given, a less capacity would suffice, no allowance being made for waste. Taking everything into consideration, probably a capacity of two cubic feet a day for each animal is the best basis for estimating the size of the silo. CONDITION OF THE ENSILAGE. The silo was opened March 10, 1888, six and one-half months after it was filled. The larger part of the ensilage was well preserved. It was of a brownish color, with here and there streaks and patches of white mould. It had a pleasant odor and an acid taste. The ensilage of the first foot and that of twelve to fourteen inches on the sides and somewhat more in the corners was rotten, except against the door and the windows above mentioned. Against these places about two inches were rotten. The ensilage was not rotten on the bottom. Particular attention is called to the fact of the better preservation next the boards. It has an important bearing on the construction of the silo, and would seem to indicate that boards are better adapted to this purpose than stone, brick, concrete, etc., apparently because boards are a better non-conductor of heat. When the ensilage comes into contact with the cement and the cemented surface of the stone and the brick, the heat generated by fermentation is conducted away so rapidly that the temperature does not rise to the height necessary to prevent the develop- ment of the organisms of putrefaction; that is, to prevent rotting; or, perhaps, the temperature does not rise to a height sufficient to cause the best development of the organisms of fermentation and to prevent thereby the development of the organisms of putrefaction. The successful preser- vation of ensilage may require the development of certain organisms which, by the very fact of their development, retard or prevent the growth of organisms which would be detrimental ; just as the successful growth of yeast, and the consequent changes produced in the materials used in the manufacture of beer, retards or prevents the growth of those organisms which would spoil the materials. By excluding the air (free oxygen) so far as possible, we produce conditions favorable to the growth of the organisms of fermentation and unfavorable to putrefaction or rotting. In other words, fermentation takes place in the absence, and putrefaction in the presence, of free oxygen. After the fermentative change has taken place, the resulting material, ensilage, will, when exposed to the open air, keep without rotting a much longer time than the fresh material. l8 BULLETIN NO. 2. \_Allgllst, The rotting at the top and sides was a serious loss. If it be assumed that there was a waste of one foot on the top and around the sides, which is below rather than above the quantity, the loss is 674 in 1,966 cubic feet, or more than one-third the entire amount. This was not total loss, for the corn was readily eaten by the hogs. So great a loss must be avoided before the silo can be economically used; and from this lim- ited experience, it would seem that if the silo were made of boards instead of stone or a like good conductor of heat, the loss would be largely avoided. Prof. Henry, of the Wisconsin Experiment Station, has also arrived at the same conclusion. In the Breeder 's Gazette, of June 13, 1888, he says: " Probably very few stone silos will be built in the future, as experi- ence shows that a stone wall chills the ensilage during the curing process and, if it does not seriously injure that portion next to it to a thickness of several inches, it renders it, at least, less palatable than ensilage nearer the middle of the silo. The reason, in my judgment, that the silo has not won more friends in the Eastern States is owing to the common use of stone in its construction. On our Experimental farm at Madison our first silo, built in 1881, was of stone, and our conclusions in regard to ensilage were made up from results obtained from this silo; had we put up a wooden structure, I am confident our results would have been worth vastly more to our people than they have been." FEEDING ENSILAGE. Feeding the ensilage was begun March 10, 1888, by mixing it with twice its bulk of dry cut corn-fodder, not corn-stover, which our stock had been chiefly fed during the winter. The cattle soon learned to like the ensilage, and after the first week it was fed without mixing with any other substance and was eaten rather better, on the whole, than corn-fod- der had been previously. Daily weights of ensilage fed to the stock were not taken. From what weighing was done, it is estimated that from March rjth to April 3 H NJ |> X 13 NAME. DATE OK BIRTH. ^ t pa - "0 "0 r g ON 50 M ^ 1 I^J P Os Kj K OJ ps O p r (jrace 7th Queen Mary I4th May 26, 1886 June 28, 1886 855 8ic 950 860 95 910 55 ^O Duchess of York 2ist July 1 6, 1886.. 880 7C rr2 Duchess of York 2Oth Bloom anthe 4th June 29, 1886 May 13, 1886 9 2 5 995 70 970 45 9 5 Average gain 71 It will be remembered that these heifers had been fed for a month before this experiment, on a moderate allowance of ensilage, about twenty pounds daily, and all the oat straw, of a good quality, they would eat. Obviously, then, at the end of the experiment, during which they had been fed ensilage alone, their stomach contents were unlike what they were at the beginning of the experiment. At the end of the fourteen days the heifers were weighed under the same conditions as at the beginning of the experiment (after morning feed and before watering), and were found to have made an average gain in weight of seventy-one pounds. They were allowed to go without their noon feed, and were 20 BULLETIN NO. 2. \_Altgltst, given on the following evening. and morning a moderate allowance of ensilage and what hay they would eat, and were then weighed again. This time the average weight was twenty-two pounds less than the pre- vious day, or the average weight was forty-nine pounds more May ist than April i6th. It is a comparatively easy matter to determine the gain in weight of an animal during a given time. It is quite another matter to determine how much an animal has gained in flesh and fat. Undoubt- edly the gain shown at the second weighing comes nearer the actual gain orf carcass. There is, doubtless, a grain of reason in the English farmer's objection to the use of scales and his insistance on judging from appear- ance. Improvement in general condition and appearance, as well as gain in weight, should be considered. Judged in this way the result was also very favorable to the ensilage. The improvement in the general condition of the animals was very decided. The patent facts of this experiment are that the heifers, after hav- ing been fed on a moderate allowance of corn ensilage and all the oat straw they would eat for about four weeks, when given a daily allowance of forty-eight pounds of corn ensilage, consumed about seven-eighths of it only, continued to thrive exceedingly well, and during the two weeks made a very satisfactory gain. COMPARATIVE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ENSILAGE AND CORN-FODDER. An analysis of the ensilage, together with analyses of corn-fodder, was made by H. S. Grindley, class of 1888, and the results presented in a thesis for the degree of bachelor of science in the College of Agricul- ture, University of Illinois. A summary of these results is here pre- sented. Samples, how taken. Upon opening the silo March 10, 1888, a sam- ple of ensilage several feet from the top (No. r, in the table below) was taken for analysis. A sample of corn-fodder (No. 2) made from similar corn in the same field, and cut at the same date, was taken November yth, in order to compare its chemical constituents with those of ensilage. A sample of corn-fodder of another variety of corn (No. 3), which was cut about a month later and remained in the shock for five months, was taken as soon as it came from the field. From a similar sample (No. 4) the corn was removed and the stover taken for analysis. Samples were taken by running a bundle through a feed cutter and mixing on a tight floor. Method of analysis. The method of analysis was the same in all cases. The several samples were passed through a drug mill and then through a coffee mill, until the material was sufficiently pulverized for analysis. SampJe No. 2, when taken from the mow in the barn, was very dry, and it was also pulverized in the laboratory before the amount of moist- ure was determined. In the other cases the amount of moisture was determined before they were pulverized, by taking 200 to 300 grams of the sample and drying in an air bath at 105 C., until the weight remained constant. XSILAGE Library of 2 :he substance at a low red heat, 1 888.] The ash was determined by cha exhausting the charred mass with water adding the ash to the residue from the ev; obtained above, drying the whole at 110 The ether extract was determined by substance and exhausting for eight hours with anhydrous tinuous extracting apparatus. The ether extract was then dried* in a current of carbonic acid, to a constant weight. ~r j The total nitrogen was determined by the Kjeldahl method. The/ albuminoid nitrogen was determined by taking one gram of the substance, adding 100 c. c. of water in a beaker, heating to boiling and adding a quantity of the cupric hydrate mixture, prepared according to Stutzer's method, containing .8 gram of the hydrate. The mixture was then stirred thoroughly, filtered when cold and washed with cold water; and, without drying, the filter and its contents w^re put into concentrated sulphuric acid for determination of the nitrogen by the Kjeldahl method. Crude fiber was determined by the Weende method; the nitrogen free extract by difference. Chemical composition. The following table gives the percentage of nutrients and acids contained in fresh and dry substance of fodders analyzed: No. i. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. ENSILAGE. CORN-FODDER CORN -FODDER CORN -STOVER 5> 5> $ :* 5 b jj b r b 5 b to OS 5> .> ^. Oi ^ j" to ^ ^ q Co * IS* 8 jpf K t__. s 3j (O <&. Jj ^ >- ^^ s- J a * 5 ^ ~- ^ 8 >* i *s >t s I* Water 64.42 7.12 24.85 w.6s Albuminoids 2.82 7.0,1 0.76 10. ?i 6.8^5 9 .00 ^ OI 4 47 Ether extract 1.58 4-4S } i 2.46 2.6; i 65 2. 2O l.iS 1.62 Nitrogen, free extract 22.24 t <*:> 62.1:2 >Q-QI 64.1:1 47.81 6^.62 10.47 45; 2S ( "rude fiber 7.18 20.20 1 6.^0 17. 6$ 14.^0 IO. I " 27.14 40 60 Ash 1.74 4. QO 4.74 4.68 4.48 e 07 1.74 j. oo Volatile acids .061; .182 Non-volatile acids .07* .098 Total nitrogen ,6oi I .()() 1 838 1.98 I ^2O I 77 coi; 7C Albuminoid nitroeen. . 1.268 1.681 1. 002 I.d.54. .A82 Se Samples No. i and No. 2 may be compared to determine the com- parative chemical composition of ensilage and corn-fodder. The analyses show a decrease in the total nitrogen of .29 per cent., or a loss of 14.6 per cent, of the total nitrogen in the fodder. There was a decrease of 2.58 per cent, of albuminods in the total solids, equivalent to a loss of 24.5 per cent, of the total albuminods put in the silo. It will be understood that the albuminoids are indispensable nutrients of any food ration, and are not replaceable by any other class of nutrients. The 22 BULLETIN NO. 2. [August, loss is in part due to their reduction into amids and other degraded nitrog- eneous compounds. Thus, while there was only .3 per cent, of non- albuminoid nitrogen in the corn-fodder, there was .4 per cent, in the ensilage. Of the total nitrogen in the corn-fodder, only 15.15 per cent, was in the form of non-albuminoid nitrogen, while in the ensilage there was 25.44 per cent. These degraded forms are supposed to have about the same feeding value as the soluble carbohydrates. The percentage of soluble carbohydrates (nitrogen, free extract) in the ensilage is less than in the corn-fodder by 2.01 per cent., while the crude fiber is greater by 2.25 per cent. The ether extract, which contains oil and other extractive matter, is 1.7 per cent, greater in the ensilage than in the corn fodder; or, in other words, the ensilage contains 1.6 times as much as the corn-fodder. This is in part due to the conversion of sugar (glucose) into organic acids which are soluble in ether, while the sugar fronf which they were formed is insoluble. The ensilage contains a slightly higher percentage of ash. This is to be expected where there is no drainage, for the fermentation decreases the organic matter. The fresh ensilage contains .1 per cent, of organic acids. Of this .065 was volatile, and .035 non-volatile. The former is considered acetic and the latter lactic acid. BIOLOGY OF ENSILAGE. A good deal has been published from time to time by various persons on the chemistry of ensilage; very little on its biology. Dr. Manly Miles has, however, called attention to this subject in an interesting discussion in the First Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Agricultural Experi- ment Station, pages 33 to 39. Not much more can be done here than to suggest the possibilities in this direction. By the help and guidance of Prof. T. J. Burrill, of this University, the writer was enabled to make a few observations of the organisms contained in ensilage. March 13, 1888, bits of ensilage were placed in sterilized bottles with the usual precautions incident to bacteriological investigation. At 3:30 p. m. a small piece of ensilage was put into a test tube containing a strong sterilized solution of commercial glucose. March 24th, 10 a. m., a pro- fuse growth of organisms was apparent. The fluid emitted a strong odor characteristic of ensilage. Slides were mounted and found to contain two bacterium forms, and possibly a third, closely resembling, if not identical with, Bacterium aceti and Bacterium lactis. The greater portion of the growth, however, was a Saccharomyces, probably S. Pastorianus, which is thus described by Prof. Burrill: "Cells various, from long cylindrical to roundish oval, more of the latter. The long ones are about 2.5 to 3 mikros, 10-100,000 to 12-100, ooo in. wide, and some of the joints reach 25. mikros 1-1,000 in. long. The oval cells average about 4 by 6 mikros, but vary from 4 to 8 mikros .] ENSILAGE. 23 in length and 2 to 6 mikros in width. The long ones often have 3 to 5 joints; the ovals, mostly single; sometimes in two. All often budding. " Another sterilized solution of commercial glucose was inoculated with a few drops from the above test tube. This again developed Bac- terium and Saccharomyces, although somewhat less vigorously than before. Another test tube containing glucose solution which had not been inoculated failed to develop any organism. March 24th some ensilage was again taken from the silo and placed in a sterilized test tubes plugged with cotton with the usual precautions. March 27th there had developed two or three round white masses on a piece of the ensilage. A portion of one of these masses was examined and found to consist of a Saccharomyces swarming with bacteria, appar- ently identical with those developed in the glucose solutions. Cell cultures were made in a drop of glucose solution. A growth of yeast cells was obtained. In this case some of the long jointed, mycelium-like cells were observed. This would indicate that there is a tendency to assume this form in the presence of free oxygen. From these observations it seems probable that these are the organ- isms which produce the fermentation in the ensilage, and that the two very distinct forms play an important part in the production of ensilage. The Saccharomyces, or yeast, in the absence of air (free oxygen) in the silo, abstracts oxygen from the glucose of the corn, from which alone, it is claimed, yeast can obtain intermolecular oxygen. This is fermentation. By the abstraction of oxygen from glucose it becomes alcohol. If the fermen- tation stopped here, the ensilage would be sweet; but at this point the bacteria take up the unfinished work and change by degrees the alcohol into acetic, lactic, and possibly other organic acids. It is in this acid, or sour, state that we almost universally find ensilage. At the same time these organisms require nitrogen for their development and in their growth; consequently they decompose nitrogeneous compounds and thus decrease the percentage of albuminoid nitrogen, as shown by chemical analysis. There is no reason to suppose, either from the known func- tions of these organisms or from chemical analysis, that indigestible material is made digestible by their action. SUMMARY. The conclusions and results of these experiments may be summarized as follows: 1. The yield was not more than seven tons per acre of green corn, or two and one-sixth tons of corn-fodder. 2. It required seven men and three teams three days to fill the silo with twenty-seven tons of green corn. 3. Difficulty was found in obtaining evenness of distribution in the silo and, consequently, evenness of settling. 4. Twenty-one pounds of green corn occupied a cubic foot when put into the silo and shrunk one-fourth in volume, weighted with fifty pounds to the square foot 24 BULLETIN NO. 2, ENSILAGE. 5. Size of silo desired may be approximated by allowing two cubic feet a day for each animal. 6. With a silo of stone, brick, and cement the ensilage rotted at the sides and top to the extent of one-third the entire amount. 7. There is evidence for believing that this loss could be consider- ably obviated by building the silo of wood. 8. Thirty-seven head of cattle, fed forty-five days on a moderate allowance of corn ensilage with other food, ate the ensilage somewhat better than corn-fodder and thrived very satisfactorily. 9. Five yearling Shorthorn heifers, averaging 895 pounds each, were given daily forty-eight pounds of corn ensilage each, ate about seven- eighths of it, and during fifteen days made an average gain of forty-nine pounds each. [See page 19.] 10. Analyses of corn ensilage and corn-fodder made from similar corn show' a loss in the ensilage of total nitrogen, albuminoid nitrogen, and soluble carbohydrates and an increased per cent, of non-albuminoid nitrogen, ether extract, crude fiber and ash. 11. The fresh ensilage contained .1 per cent, of organic acids, .065 volatile, and .035 non-volatile. 12. Ensilage was found to contain yeast and bacteria ferments. Neither from a chemical nor from a biological stand-point is there reason for believing that the ensilage is made more digestible by their action. SELIM H. PEABODY, President of Board of Direction. The bulletins of the Station will be sent free of all charges "to per- sons engaged in farming who may request that they be sent." All communications should be addressed to the AGRICULTURAL EX- PERIMENT STATION, CHAMPAIGN, ILL. ^ < - " cTO?=_^r\ / - ~:*s . i, & ', \^ v :x; &3P& ! r !i : w - jTfe ,:.--->./lfe:?i>J .-. , -A /i ~>? ' ^y^y^ itsR'N /?fe-^.*K.\>; -^pr^fvM^ %l $ -^- ^*^%^V^^K~>fe V^ *^ : >S^S^ ^ i^y^^'v^^ J 1 - > ^\-r^^f^^ '?v^ s "y^y^ ^ ^^" " : "^^v \!atf^ ^ N^' ^v 5 .jS^^ ^ ^ .j **- ^ '7^^^ i ""*"'' :^?<1 ^ ^'^^u^V<'- ^^/^V^ l^-fe