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Show THE HISTORY OF THE SILO On up-to-date American farms silos are extensively used as places for storing and preserving succulent feeds for dairy and other cattle, horses, hogs etc. The silo is essentially essen-tially a water-tight, air-tight tank which preserves the green fodder stored in it by shutting out air and water and holding in check the action ac-tion of bacteria. Green corn, clover, millet, oats, alfalfa or other green forage may be ue-ed as ensilage, providing pro-viding a substltue for green feed during dur-ing the winter. Fermentation always al-ways takes place but normally the heat generated checks it before it goes too far. This fermentation makes the forage better for feeding purposes, pur-poses, bringing about chemical changes which render it easier of digestion. di-gestion. The original silo, according to a writer in the American Journal of Agronomy, was simply a pit used for the storage of grain in the dry Mediterranean Medi-terranean countries before the Christian Chris-tian era. From this comes the name applied to the modern structure for preserving green forage. The modern mo-dern practice is traced directly to Germany and Hungary and is sup-' posed to be the application of the principle of preserving saurkraut. The fact that the Germans used salt in making their first ensilage lends weight to this opinion. At first, silos for the storage of green forage were simply pits dug in the ground, larger at the top than at the bottom. Into these green grass was packed and tramped down by a number of men. Salt was mixed in at the rate of one pound to each 100 pounds of grasE: The first attempt to ensile corn was made by a German sugar manufacturer in 1861. After this various similar attempts were made by Germans and Frenchmen with varying degrees of success. A Frenchman through his investigations- earned the Legion of Honor award and the popular name "father of ensilage." Introduction into America came through articles In agricultural journals jour-nals and the annual report of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. In 1891 Prof. F. H. King of the Wisconsin Wis-consin agricultural experiment station sta-tion began the study of the whole subject of silo construction and ensiling. en-siling. No man has done more than he to make the silo a success. His tables for determining the tonnage in a silo are now classics. Silos are now usually built in the form of towers, made of wood staves, concrete, tile, etc. In the South they are being made to some extent in the ground the pit being lined with concrete and roofed over. Care has to be taken not to go into the pit when it is full of ga9 from the fermenting fer-menting ensilage, as this gas will asphyxiate as-phyxiate a person. |