LOSS IN LUCERNE SILAGE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1612, 2 December 1912, Page 8

LOSS IN LUCERNE SILAGE.

IMPORTANT, EXPERIMENTS, In some careful experiments carried, out by the Victoria Department of Agriculture to. ascertain the ; changes. or losses iri forage during the prooess of ensiling, it was found, among other features, saysthe Sydney "Telegraph," that there was a loss t)f nearly 50 per cent, of the true protein in lucerne'in nine weeks. Fresh lucerne is particularly rich in the valuable protein constituent as compared with ordinary fodder. The experimenters,, as.a ■result of this test,, regard it' as a waste of protein to convert nicerne into silage. "Protein," they state,' "is the expensive constituent in. a fodder. .' In 'the.' case of ■maize or ordinary cereals there, is 50' to C 6 .per cent, less -protein to start' with.- ,'• These, therefore, are . crop's, which .seem more suitable for ensiling. They will lose less.protein because,they have less to lose. Ensilage has its advantages and its disadvantages. The' -drawbacks are, connected with an inevitable loss of food materials. But , the loss during ensiling falls more heavily upon, certain of the constituents' of foods than upon others. :From these experiments it seems to fall heavily upon the proteins. And, as lucerne is particularly rich in protein, it seems better that lucerne should be cured as hay rather than ensilage. Such hay forms'an admirable addition to silage made from less nitrogenous fodder, such as wheat, oats; or maize." '