18 SILOS, ENSILAGE AND SILAGE. 



CHAPTER III. 



HISTORICAL. SILOS FOB PRESERVING GREEN FODDER. 



The preservation of green fodder in closed chambers 

 or pits was practiced in Europe previous to the begin- 

 ning of the present century, but the early history of the 

 process is involved in obscurity. 



In his "Observations made in Italy on the use of 

 leaves in feeding cattle/' published in 1786, Prof. John 

 Symonds, of the University of Cambridge, says : 

 "Among the various kinds of winter food provided for 

 cattle in Italy, the use of leaves is not the least consider- 

 able. * * * To preserve the freshness and verdure 

 of the leaves requires a great deal of attention. To 

 effect this they gather them about the end of September, 

 or the beginning of October, at the time of day when 

 the heats are most piercing ; and spread them very thin 

 upon a pavement abroad, where they suffer them to lie 

 three or four -hours; after which they put them into 

 wooden casks, and press them down as closely as possi- 

 ble, and cover them entirely with sand. The very 

 moment after they have taken out the quantity which is 

 wanted, they stop up the casks, lest the leaves should 

 be exposed to the air ; by which method they are ena- 

 bled to keep them both fresh and tender during the 

 whole winter. It is customary for the peasants in some 

 parts of Italy to bury them in a pit, and to cover them 

 with straw, upon which they lay either clay or sand ; 

 and both are equally calculated to answer the purpose." * 



Green fodder was preserved in silos quite a number of 

 years ago in Germany and Hungary, in the form of 

 "sour," or "brown" hay, but we have no record of the 



* Young's Annals of Agriculture (1786), Vol. 1, pp. 207-9. 



