136 
Report on the Practice of Ensilage, 
employed in the autumn as draught animals, and then require 
concentrated and very nourishing food. The beetroot-leaves 
must therefore be used wastefully in autumn, or altogether 
wasted without use, unless they can be preserved for mixture 
with other food in the winter, when the cattle are in the stalls. 
This is the explanation which M. Reihlen gave in 1862 for his 
first attempt at preserving green food in silos,* and he stated 
that he preserved in a dozen silos, each from 5 to 6 feet deep, 
the leaves and collars of beetroots off about 400 acres. Al- 
though the experiment was a new one, it succeeded perfectly, 
and led Herr Reihlen to develop the system. He had travelled 
in America, and had attempted the cultivation of maize ; but in 
the climate of Wiirttemberg he found that the grain did not 
always ripen, and that the stalks were difficult to be utilised. 
Therefore he tried the preservation in silos of the maize, both 
green and ripe, with and without the cobs, and both alone and 
mixed with beetroot-pulp. His success was so great, that when> 
M. Vilmorin-Andrieux wrote in 1870, Herr Reihlen was in 
the habit of filling each year silos having a total length of 
three-fifths of a mile, a depth of 10 feet, and a width at the top 
of about 15 feet, slightly tapering downwards. 
The original article in the French ' Journal d' Agriculture 
Pratique ' of June 23rd, 1870, in which M. Vilmorin-Andrieux 
called the attention of French farmers to the process of ensilage 
as practised by Herr Reihlen, is headed " La secheresse et les 
fourrages.'' In fact, it was the abnormally dry season of that 
year which forced the system upon the attention of French 
agriculturists. This is not a little curious when we remember 
that the moving force with us has been a succession of wet 
seasons, which have rendered haymaking almost impossible in 
some localities. 
It must not be forgotten, however, that in 1867, Count 
Roederer, a well-known agriculturist and breeder of thorough- 
bred horses, living at Bois-Roussel, in the Department of the 
Orne, began to preserve green maize in silos for winter use by 
chopping it and mixing it with cut straw and oat-cavings.. 
This method of procedure he described briefly in a letter dated 
June 18th, 1870, and addressed to the editor of the ' Journal 
d'Agriculture Progressive,' who published it the following week. 
It is also stated on the authority of M. Bella, in his report to the 
" Societe Nationale d'Agriculture de France," presented in April 
1875, and republished in M. Goffart's own book (4th edition, 
p. 122), that M. Moreul, of La Grignonniere, had, since 1870, 
used the system of ensilage for the preservation of unchopped,, 
but salted, maize with great success. 
* VhJc 'Journal cl'AgrictiUuic pratique,' July 7, 1870, p. 10. 
