ORIGIN AND PROCESS OF ENSILAGE. 21 



to that which Goffart has developed, even in the minutest particulars, 

 if we substitute fine grass for finely-cut corn, that I could hardly 

 describe the French method better than by giving, as I do, the 

 extract in full. 



44 A curious mode of preserving grass for forage, instead of making; 

 it into hay, has been tried in Germany, in East Prussia; and it is 

 this : Pits are dug in the earth, ten feet or twelve feet square and as 

 many deep. They are puddled with clay, and lined with wood or 

 brick. Into these pits four or five hundred weight of grass, as it is 

 cut, are put in. a layer at a time, sprinkled with salt at the rate of 

 one pound to one hundred weight, and if the grass is dry. that is, 

 free of rain or dew, two or three quarts of water are sprinkled over 

 the layer. Each layer is trodden down by five or six men, and 

 rammed firm, especially round the edges, with wooden rammers, the 

 object of which is the exclusion of air. A little straw is then scat- 

 tered over the layer to mark its dimensions afterwards. Layer is 

 placed above layer till the pit is filled to the top, when the topmost 

 layer is well salted, and the pit covered with boards, or a well-fitted 

 lid. upon which is put a covering of earth of one and a half feet in 

 thickness. Such a pit will contain five layers of grass, and should be 

 filled in two days. The grass soon ferments, and in about six days 

 subsides to half its original bulk. The lid is examined every day, 

 and every crack in the earth filled up to exclude the air, which, if 

 allowed to enter, would promote the putrefactive fermentation in the 

 grass. When the first fermentation has ceased, the lid is taken off, 

 and fresh grass put in. trodden down, and salted as before. The pit 

 will now contain about ten tons of grass, equal to two or three tons 

 of hay. The pits should remain shut for six weeks before being 

 used, and then are used in succession. The grass thus treated has 

 the appearance of having been boiled, and its sharp acid taste is very 

 agreeable to cattle ; and twenty pounds a day with chopped straw 

 will keep a cow in good condition all winter, and twenty-eight pounds 

 will cause a cow to give a rich and well- tasted milk." 



After reading this passage we are almost tempted to exclaim with 

 Solomon, " Truly there is nothing new under the sun." It reads as 

 if freshly taken from the pages of Goffart. Here we have modifica- 

 tions and improvements only arrived at by the Frenchman after years 

 of patient experimentation. The dimensions of the pit, the impor- 

 tance of the thorough exclusion of air, the puddling with clay (almost 

 similar to cementing) in order to effect this, the use of soft, fresh 



