IS ENSILAGE A SUCCESS? 121 



our present knowledge. This is quite a task, but as it was 

 probably the intention of the committee of the Board in pro- 

 pounding the original question, I will endeavor to go over 

 the entire field as far as is possible within reasonable limits. 



Based upon practical and considerate experience for six 

 years in England, twelve years in America, and more than 

 twice as long in France and Germany, this statement is fully 

 justified and lays the foundation of our subject : Any plant 

 or vegetable product or refuse, good for cattle food when 

 green or fresh, may be preserved as ensilage in an edible 

 and succulent condition throughout the year, or for several 

 years. 



Before proceeding to describe the best methods for accom- 

 plishing this result, a brief historical sketch may be permit- 

 ted, to show more in detail the experience which is relied 

 upon to substantiate the statement already made. 



The words silo and ensilage have come into use, adopted 

 from the French, in connection with a system of providing 

 green forage for domestic animals throughout the year. 

 The plain terms pit, pitting and pitted would better suit our 

 languajie and serve the purpose, but it seems too late to 

 make the change. We must therefore accept the term silo 

 for the receptacle, ensilo, ensiloing or ensiling for the verb, 

 and ensilage for the product or pitted material. As different 

 plants are preserved by this method, the word ensilage alone 

 is incomplete, and "ensilage of corn," "ensilage of clover," 

 etc., is necessary to a clear understanding of the article re- 

 ferred to. Yet custom already allows " ensilage " to be inter- 

 preted as pitted corn plants, maize being the crop used in 

 this connection so much more than all others. Silo means a 

 pit, and this word in different forms can be traced back 

 across Europe, through Rome, Greece and Egypt, into 

 Persia, in very ancient times. In the earliest agricultural 

 writings, the silo or siro is described as an underground ex- 

 cavation used for the storage of grain and of green crops 

 also. The requirements of the ancient siro were those 

 deemed essential to the modern silo, — protection of the 

 contents from contact with the sides of the pit (if of earth) , 

 dryness and perfect exclusion of air. A knowledge of this 

 method of preserving green forage came to the present agri- 



