Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1881-07-21
The Chemistry Of Ensilage.

Why is green, succulcnt matter preserved
from heating and rotting when stored in q
silol This question is often asked, but
seldom is an intelligent answer given. 1t
is claimed that this is effected by excluding
the air on the same principle that VIC save
fruit by canning it; but no person with even
an elementary knowledge of tho science OF
pneumatlcs will pretend to form q vacuum
with wood, or brick and mortar, however
we'll it may be packed with clay. All writers
on ensilage, from Augusta Goffart, who in.
vented the silo, down to tho last newspaper
correspondent, speak of the peculiar
"vnous odor" of tho provcuder when taken
from the pit, and writer 10 tho Mcw Eng.
tand Farmer, while commending the sio
cautions people about going into a newly
opened pit, from the dangerous nccumula-
ton OF carbonic acid that is always present
Add to these the fact that the analysis of
Prof. Goesmann shows losa of starch and
sugar in the fodder thus preserved, and we
have in oil these facts the mode Of preser-
vation clearly indicated. Shortly after
being packed an incipient fermentation sets
10, aud the sugar 10 the green fodder is
de.omposed and equal equivalents Of CAR
bonic acid urc formed. Tho former, being
gas, slowly escapes through the covering
OF the silo, while tho alcohol combines with,
or is dissolved in, the water present. This
gives the characteristic "vinous oder"
spoken of. With this fermentation begins
at once the conversion Of starch into sugar;
but special property Of alcohol is to rctard
or entirely arrest chemical changes in or
ganic substances. Tho partial exclusion of
the air, tho low temperature and tho accu
mulating quantity Of alcohol fiuaIly arrest
chemical action till the forage is exposed
to tho air and higher temperature, when
the acetic fermentation begins the alcohol
is rapidly converted into vinegar and the
whole is soon q mass of decay.
Alcohol and low temperature arc tho
agents that preserve green vegetable matter
in silo. The sugar and starch, which
wcrc converted into carbonio acid and
alcohol, were important food elements, and
it is not probable that any one at all
acquainted with animal physiology will
contend that these resultant compounds can
supply their place as food.
1t is claimed that dairy COWS fed on en-
silage give an increased quantity of milk,
and stalled animals futten on it randy.
A~"e' "a epS"o o'"i"o aiC ptOUuDIy iOuDQCu
in fact. That dilute alcohol, no in beer,
has the property of increasing the secretion
of milk has been long known, but while tho
quantity is increased tho quality is CORES :
pondingIy impaired. It is but few years
since it was claimed that the slops from
distillery possessed as much fattening power
os did the corn before it was distilled; ard
the claim was sustained by practical tests.
But tho pork packers soon dissipatcd this
illusion by discarding still-fed FORK us on
unhealthy product. Fat, butter, and cheese
produced under tho influence Of alcohol,
whether fed in stil slops or ensilage, arc
not normal products. They arc results Of
On effort to dispose Of waste material that
in normal or healthy condition should have
been consumed by respiration. 1t is also
claimed that this alcoholic fermentation
renders the food moro digcs.ibIo. But
digestion is chemical change and docs that
which rctards change in the sio promote it
in the stomacb?-Indtana Farmer.
. T..