14 THE POLK SYSTEM 



History of the Silo 



ALONG time ago, even before man had become accustomed 

 to settled agricultural life, the primitive farmers were 

 guessing at the secret of the silo. A "pit" was first used as a 

 receptacle for dry grain. The Greeks called such a pit "siros" 

 and the Spanish have a word "ensilar" meaning to store grain m 

 a pit. From these two words comes our term "ensilage." The 

 Roman farmers stored green forage in air-tight pits and fed the 

 "silage" to their stock. That was two-thousand years ago. 



In 1786 we have our first authentic record of the actual prep- 

 aration of stock food by the "silage" method when Symonds wrote 

 of Italians preserving fresh leaves for cattle in casks and pits in 

 the ground. In 1843 an Englishman named Johnston who had 

 been observing Germans store green clover, grass, or vetches in 

 pits, published an article giving his views on such a method for 

 treating food. These pits the Germans used were ten or twelve 

 feet square and about as many feet deep. The floor was of 

 packed clay and the sides were lined with wood. The green food 

 was well salted as it was thrown into the pit and the top was 

 given an extra thick layer of salt and then a close-fitting cover of 

 boards was put over it. Then enough dirt to make the pit air- 

 tight was thrown over the top of the boards and the "silage" was 

 allowed to ferment and settle for a few days. Then more green 

 stuff was added to fill the crude silo, and the board and dirt cover 

 was again added. The grass thus treated had the appearance of 

 being boiled, was sharply acid, and was much enjoyed by the cat- 

 tle. Between 1860 and 1870 Samuel Jones in England experi- 

 mented extensively with tares or rye. He cut it green, chopped 

 it up, and then allowed it to ferment in air-tight vats. 



To Adolph Reihlen, a sugar manufacturer of Germany, belongs 

 the credit for first storing green maize in pits. He had lived a 

 number of years in the United States and had taken back to the 

 old country with him some large dent corn. Since the crop did 

 not always mature in that climate he conceived the idea of treat- 



"They are not built of pieces, and they 

 cannot go to pieces. 



