at Home and Abroad. 
133 
" A method has lately been tried in Germany, which, by the aid of a little 
salt, seems in a great measure to attain this object.* Pits are dug in the 
earth from 10 to 12 feet square, and as many deep ; these are lined with wood, 
and puddled below and at the sides with clay. They may obviously be made 
of any other suitable dimensions, and may be lined with brick. Into this pit 
the green crop of grass, clover, or vetches is put just as it is cut. Four or 
5 cwts. are introduced at a time, sprinkled with salt, at the rate of 1 lb. to each 
cwt., and if the weather, and consequently the crop, be dry, two or three 
quarts of water to each cwt. should be sprinkled over every successive layer. 
It is only when rain or a heavy dew has fallen before mowing that, in East 
Prussia, this watering is considered unnecessary. Much, however, must de- 
pend upon the succulency of the crop. Each layer of 4 or 5 cwts. is spread 
evenly over the bottom, is well trodden down by five or six men, and, 
especially, is rammed as close as possible at the sides with the aid of wooden 
rammers. Each layer is thus salted, watered if necessary, and trodden in 
succession till the pit is perfectly full. Much depends upon the perfect treading 
of the grass for the exclusion of the air, and, therefore, for a pit of 10 feet 
square, 4 cwts. are as much as ought to be put in for each layer. Between 
each layer may be strewed a few handfuls of straw, in order that, when 
emptying the pit afterwards for the daily consumption of the stock, the 
quantity taken out maj' be known without the necessity of a second 
weighing. When the pit is full, the topmost layer is well salted, the whole 
then covered with boards or a well-fitting lid, and upon these a foot and a 
half of earth, for the more perfect exclusion of the air. A pit 10 feet 
square, and as many deep, will hold about 5 tons of fresh grass, and each pit 
should, if possible, be filled in not less than two days. 
" When covered up, the grass speedily heats and ferments, and after the 
lapse of about six days, when the fermentation has ceased, the whole has 
sunk to about one-half of its original bulk. The lid must be examined 
during the fermentation at least once a day, and the earth, as it sinks, care- 
fully replaced wherever crevices appear; for, if the air be allowed to gain 
admission, a putrefactive fermentation will come on, which will impart a 
disagreeable odour to the fodder, though it will not prevent it from being 
readily eaten by the stock. When the first fermentation has' ceased, the lid 
may be removed, the pit again filled with fresh grass, trodden in, salted, and 
covered as before. A pit 10 feet square, when perfectly full of this fermented 
grass, will contain nearly 10 tons — equal to 2 or 3 tons of dry hay. The 
grass, when thus fermented, has the appearance of having been boiled, has a 
sharp acid taste, and is greedily eaten by the cattle. The pits should be kept 
covered for at least six weeks, after which they may be opened successively 
as they are required, and may be kept open till their contents are consumed 
by the cattle without suffering any injury from the contact of the atmospheric 
air. Of the feeding qualities of this salted fodder, 'one experimenter says that, 
by giving only 20 lbs. a day of it, along with chopped straw, he kept his 
cows in condition during the whole winter. His green crop was vetches, and 
the twenty pounds of salted fodder were equal to or would have made less than 
four pounds of vetch hay. Another experimenter says that on a daily allow- 
ance of 28 lbs. of his salted fodder his cows gave a rich and well-tasted milk. 
lation of the passage is given in Stevens's largo work, ' The Farmer's Guide,' 
which appeared in 18.51." The fact is that Professor Johnston obtained some, at 
least, of his information from the ' Transactions of the Baltic Society for the 
promotion of Agriculture,' published at Greifswald in 1842. An extract from 
his article was published in Stephens's ' Book of the Farm,' First Edition, 
vol. iii. p. 978, published in 1844, and in the edition of 1871, in vol. ii. p. 216. 
* To preserve the feeding properties of grass more completely than by the 
process of haymaking. 
