THE CONSERVATION OF GRASS IN SEALED METAL AND PLASTIC CONTAINERS, WITH AND WITHOUT GROUND BARLEY MEAL

Two experiments are described in which ground harley meal was added to freshly-cut grass hefore ensiling it in small air-tight metal containers and polythene containers. The mean DM loss from the air-tight metal containers was 1 % and from the polythene containers 18.8%. The silages were all of satisfactory fermentation quality, as assessed hy pH, voladle acids, lactic-acid and Tolatile-hase content. The addition of the harley meal significantly improved the nutritive content of the ensiled material, and the resulting silage in the air-tight metal containers. Sheep were used to measure the voluntary intakes of the silages conserved in the polythene containers.