The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-04-26
VOLUME XVIII.---NO, Al.
able to find them in these their crops

are stored away"
Now, the word .jruyes, which occurs ia
this passage, and also in the one from
Tacitus quoted above, is a much broader
term than Jrun,entunl, the word used by
Farro and Piny, and .tructus, the one
employed by Columella. The classical
writers (Varro, for example, in Liber w
OF his Le Lingua LATINA carefully dis
tinguish between these terms. Accord
ing to the best authorities, f,.un,cntun.
signifies grain (halm fruit,) while
Jr"cfu. denotes more particularly stree
iruit,'. and .Truges the "fruits of the
earth" or the produce of the fields"
sc.
Again, Ansonius Popma, an accurate
grammarian and scholar Of the sixteenth
century, in his treatise on Farm Imple-
ments, tDe Instrumento FundD work
which treats of the instruments Of ancient
husbandry, in referring to the subject of
granaries and citing authorities. appeam
to use the term trugcs advisedy. In
Chapter XIV he writes "Instead ofthese,
| (granaries above ground) in some prov.
inces siros are used, excavated after the
manner OF caves or wells, for receiving
and preserving the crops"
think it may be safely affirmed that
| the passages above quoted make it abun.
dainty evident that grain and other farm
products were in the earliest times stored
| away in underground excavations, in
order to protect them from the rayapes
OF war, aud that the perfect preservation
OF the crops thus saved caused the prac.
tice to be generally adopted and contin.
ued in more peaceful times"
In preceding, nezt, 20 glance at
TiB MODERN HISTORY or ENsILAGE.
ii should be first remarked that the writ.
ings of Pompa Quoted above) and other
scholars and grammarians show that the
knowled &c of this process was preserved
during the middle ages. For example,
Casaubon, French critic born in 1869,
in commenting upon the Greek siros,
describes 1t as email pit excavated for
granary or storehouse. Hesychius of
Alexandria Ga. ID. 300) interprets the
same word as wine vat, (pithon) "be.
cause other things besides wine are pre-
served in wine jars" Freinsheim, born
in 1908 and professor at Heidelberg, not
only refers to the siro, but declares that
"in his time it was in common use in
Hungary for preserving wine and grain"
The word siio was known to French
husbandry long before the days of Gof-
fart. 1t is frequently mentioned by
LeConteax, (See Traitc Elementaire de /
Agriculture du Department dc Ia Seine,
Paris, lS40, page 67,) Casanova, lies
!1en'iers Pas dams = agriculture, page
l12,) and Other writer's. The process has
been long used in Spain for preserving
maise and even the leaves Of trees and
vines. A writer stated in 1876, that it
had oeen employed in Austro. Hungary
for seventy years and for ten years in
Germany, "but In less elaborate form
than in France" Grieswald, in 1854.
gave detailed description of the East.
Prussian method of preserving grass,
aud the r:::egge is translated in Ste
phen's large work. The Farmers Guide,
published in 1851, the year before Gof-
fart began his experiments. The process
as therein described is almost identical
with the one perfected by the French
man. Goffart and his friends assert
however, that he was the first to employ
the process for the preservation of maize
or Indian corn.
In opposition TO such claims it is dis.
tinctly stated that the proprietor of
beet.sugar manufactory near Studtgard,
NJ. Adolph Reichlen, was the first who
applied the process, which he had previ-
ously employed with success for the pre-
servation of sugar beet-pulp, "lo very
large crop Of maize, fallen Unexpectedly
to him." Goffart has, however, certainly
done much, perhaps more than any other
man, to develop and perfect the 'ensilage
Of maize." and his merits have been
generally recognized in his own country.
He has received the decoration Of the
Legion of Honor, and his true claims to
fame have been we'll set forth in report
of committee appointed by the Central
Agricultural Society of France: "The
world is so old, necessity has so long
compelled the efforts Of human beings,
that we find precedents in every line of
improvement. But all experienced men
who know the great difference which
separates happy suggestion, or even q
successful attempt, from practice well
enough confirmed to become the basis of
regular business, will admit that these
precedents do not destroy the merit of
any MAR who ike Monsieur A. Gofiart,
has accomplished continued success.'
1t is generally believed that Col. Fran
CHS Morris, of Oakland Manor, Howard
County, Maryland, was the first farmer
who tried the process in this country.
His silos were built in the summer of
1876.
J. NJ. MCBRYnE.