The Composition of Green Maize and of the Silage produced therefrom

Abstract

The process of making silage is an ancient one and the scientific investigations date back at least to 1873, when Weiske, at the Proskau experiment station, showed that there was a loss of carbohydrate, fibre and protein in making silage from sainfoin and other crops. It was, however, by no means general till after the publication in 1875 of Goffart's remarkable success with maize silage at Burtin, in the barren district of Sologne (Loire-et-Cher). Both Grandeau and Barral analysed Goffart's silage, the former noted the production of volatile and non-volatile acids and labelled them acetic and lactic acids respectively, in which practice he has been followed by most later analysts. Five years later Kellner demonstrated by careful quantitative measurements that the decrease in protein was accompanied by an increase in the amount of ‘amide’ nitrogen. In his experiments about 28 per cent. of the nitrogen was lost, but in a subsequent paper this was traced to volatilisation of ammonia during manipulation of the sample. Kellner considered, and probably correctly, that no nitrogen is lost in the free state from the silo.