DISADVANTAGES OF CURING BY DESICCATION. 15 



ous attention on the part of those who are interested in 

 agricultural affairs. 



" Rains, and even dews, add immensely to the dete- 

 rioration inseparable to a process of curing by dessica- 

 tion. What agriculturist has not seen a hundred times 

 his hay, notwithstanding the utmost care, injured by rain, 

 deprived of its richest and most assimilative elements? 

 If these things occur to the common fodder-crops, 

 timothy, orchard-grass, clover, &c., what would (or 

 rather, what does) happen when the saving of fodder- 

 crops of high growth and great yield, such as maize and 

 sorgho, or even Hungarian grass or millet, is attempted 

 by desiccation ? never in our temperate climate could 

 we obtain for these a sufficient desiccation by the sun " 

 when raised on a large scale. I have seen a neighboring 

 farmer working nearly three weeks to cure about an acre 

 of millet, and then it was very imperfectly preserved. 



M. Aguste Goffart, whom not only all agriculturists, 

 but the whole world ought to honor as it has no other 

 man, commenced his experiments in preserving fodder 

 by other means than drying, nearly or quite thirty years 

 ago. It is reasonable to suppose that he met with fail- 

 ure after failure ; but not discouraged he persevered ; and 

 during the last four years has so improved upon his 

 earlier methods, that the preservation of any and all 

 green crops, with all their valuable attributes unimpaired, 

 is no longer an experiment. 



I will not take space to describe M. Goffart's Silos and 

 methods ; but would recommend all those who wish to 

 investigate the French system to send to J. B. Brown, 

 Esq., No. 55 Beekman Street, New York (the trans- 

 lator of M. Goffart's treatise) for a copy of " Ensilage 

 of Maize," and study it. 



