132 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage, 
to us iafinitely preferable to the granary, for the latter is open to the outer 
air, and exposed to all variations of temperature. Xow, air introduces a 
means of fermentation of the grain as well as a means of life for insects, while 
variations of temperature favour the chemical phenomena of which the 
grain becomes the seat. The underground silo in masonry offers this great 
advantage over the granary : that of preserving a low and constant tempera- 
ture ; but it is not completely inaccessible to the air, and it is impossible to 
render it impervious to humidity. As a set-off to these two last inconve- 
niences, DovERE proposed employing metals. His system of construction 
consisted of some very thin sheets of iron, preserved exteriorly from oxydation 
by an impermeable covering, and enveloped in concrete, which sustains the 
whole weight. The sheet of iron, he says, only plays the part of an imjier- 
vious and indestructible varnish. It offers, besides, the advantage of supply- 
ing holes which can be shut up hermetically. Finally, a silo of 500 hesto- 
litres, constructed according to this system at Paris, with a sheet of iron of a 
mean thickness of 3 millimetres, and made at a cost of 21. the cwt. (1 fr. 
per kilo.), has only cost, including the asphalte covering, 2250 francs (90?.), 
or 4 fr. 50 c. per hectolitre (Is. 4(i. per bushel). Therefore it is seen that 
instead of being led into error by ruinous experiments on the faith of theories, 
either preconceived, or else deduced from facts wrongly interpreted, it is simply 
SI question of appropriating for our climate the means consecrated by the 
experience of centuries in aU warm countries. — Dictionnaire Frangais illustre 
et Encydopedie Universelle. Par B. Dcpixey de Vobepiebbe. Tome 1", 
page 503. Paris. Michel Levy freres. 1867. 
I have given these details as to the origin of ensilage partly 
as a matter of history, and partly on account of their bearing 
on the whole question of ensilage ; but chiefly because it may 
possibly be found useful in some of our colonies to adopt the 
ancient method of storing grain. It is due to my excellent 
friends MM. Laverriere and Lesage, the former librarian to the 
" Societe Xationale d'Agriculture de France," and the latter to 
the French Ministry of War, to state that it is entirely owing to 
their kindness that I have been able to place this portion of 
the subject so clearly before the readers of the ' Journal.' 
Leaving now the ensilage of cereals, I proceed to sketch the 
modern history of the application of the system to the preserva- 
tion of green crops for winter use. 
If British farmers have not until the last two or three years 
attempted to preserve their fodder-crops in silos, it is not 
because the system has not been previously brought under their 
notice. So far back as 1843, Professor J. F. W. Johnston 
described the German system clearly and in detail in the 
' Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society ' (New 
Series, vol. ix. p. 57). It seems to me useful to reproduce an 
extract from this paper, as most members of the Royal Agri- 
cultural Society are unable to obtain access to that excellent 
contribution to our knowledge of the subject.* 
* Mr. H. R. Stevens ('Silos and Ensilacre,' p. 20) makes the following ciirioui 
statement : — " This process is fully described by Grieawald (1842) ; and a trans- 
