402 



MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



earlh. Foods thus treated would remain succulent and palatable for a 

 year or more. 



Probably because of the labor attached to this method it had almost 

 ceased to be practiced, when M. Reihlen of Stuttgart, Germany, in the 

 middle of the nineteenth century, revived the practice among his people. 

 The greatest boom that the silo has probably ever had was started by a 

 French farmer, Auguste Gofifart, who, in 1877, published a little book, 

 giving the result of his 25 years of experience and observation in the 

 matter of ensiling green foods. In 1875 the Department of Agricul- 

 ture at Washington began to investigate the matter and published its 

 findings. 



It is claimed that the first silo built in the United States was put 

 up by Mr. F. Morris of Maryland in 1876. From that time on, the 

 silo grew in favor with great rapidity. In England, in 1882, there 

 were 6 silos; in 1884, 600; in 1886, 1,605, ^^^ ^^ 1887, 2,694. No later 

 statistics are available. The English farmers, as a class, are more con- 

 servative than their American cousins; therefore, it is probably not un- 



Flgrure 2. At tlie end of the barn Is frequently the most convenient place for a silo. 

 Note how close the cutter with blower stands to the silo. 



(Courtesy Silver Mfg. Co.) 



safe to say that the growth in number of silos in this country has been 

 fully as rapid as in England. The increase in this country is probably 



