Studies on Silage-Making. : VI. The Effects of Glucose as an Additive(1).

The authors1)2) have already published a few reports on silage-making with some additives. In this paper the effects of glucose have been investigated using the following materials: (a)with addition of 2 % glucose to the ensiled materials, chinese milk-vetch and Italian ryegrass and (b)without any additive(control). The changes during the storage were carefully observed and the quality was investigated by estimation of odour, taste, color, tactile, palatability and chemical composition of the silage made. Moreover the digestibilities of these samples were respectively determined by using goats and rabbits. The results obtained are summarized as follows: (1)The glucose-silage was generally superior to the control-silage in quality, the former showing less loss during the storage than the latter. Namely the properties of glucose-silage and the control-silage of chinese milk-vetch were 4.13, 4.46 respectively in pH value, 4.70, 3.10 % respectively in lactic acid content and 0, 0.35 % respectively in butyric acid content. (2)The glucose added silage seemed to be the most palatable feed to various animals(cf. Tables 6 and 17). (3)The digestibilities of the glucose-silage were higher than those of the control-silage. Average digestibilities of the glucose-silage and the control-silage of Italian ryegrass, given to 2 goats, 2 kg daily per head as the only feed for 14 days, were 60, 48 in organic matter, 48, 37 in crude protein, 61, 54 in crude fat, 57, 34 in N-free extract, and 66, 61 per cent in crude fibre respectively. (4) The conservation of pro-vitamin A during the storage was better in the glucose-silage than in the control-silage. Pro-vitamin A content was 3.41 mg/100 g in the glucose-silage and 2.51 mg/100 g in the control-silage of chinese milk-vetch. The conservation of pro-vitamin A in the glucose-silage was 92 % while that in the control-silage 64 per cent. (5)The average composition of dry matter of the chinese milk-vetch silage and the Italian ryegrass silage was 17.2, 3.0 % respectively in digestible crude protein and 57.3, 43.1 % respectively in total digestible nutrients. Furthermore the investigation is being carried out on the application of silose(a mixture of glucose and rice bran or wheat bran) to the farmers' silos, determining the proper amount of glucose, and its economical advantages