25O SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



doubtless to the great labor involved in curing green 

 food by the method then practiced. 



The Earlier Silos. The earlier silos used by 

 the people of France, Germany and some other 

 countries in Europe were simply pits or trenches 

 dug in the ground. The material was spread in 

 these in uniform layers and was trodden or other- 

 wise compressed so as to lie compactly. The green 

 food was put into those pits by successive stages as 

 for instance day by day or at intervals more pro- 

 longed. The amount put in at one time was limited 

 to not much more probably than one foot in depth. 

 The object sought by filling thus gradually was to 

 secure a more perfect settling of the mass through 

 the fermentation engendered. 



When the pit was full it was common to cover 

 the green food with a layer of straw or some other 

 dry porous substance. Boards were then laid over 

 the straw and a pressure applied which was not less 

 than one hundred pounds to the square foot. The 

 pressure w r as commonly secured through weighting 

 with some heavy substance, as by placing stones on 

 the boards or by covering them with earth. The 

 earth thus used was distributed over the pit to the 

 depth of one to two feet. 



In some instances the sides and floor of the 

 pits were puddled with clay, and sometimes the sides 

 were lined with boards. During the later years of 

 siloing on this plan the trenches were occasionally 

 cemented but this was not until a considerable period 

 had elapsed subsequently to the more general intro- 

 duction of this method of siloing. Such were the 

 first silos made in the United States. They were 



