The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1886-06-09
L
A Visit to Auguste Goffart, the Inventor
of the Silo.

When [ arrived in Paris | called
on Minister McLane, and informed
him that / visited France to buy
P%ercheron horses. He gave me
directions, and then suggested that
when | had finished my horse bust
$ | would find it worth while to
visit M. Auguste Goffart, the inven-
tor of the silo, whose farm is at
Burtin, not far from the home of the
Percherons. Now, [ confess that
u Minister knew more of silos than
l did, for to tell the truth, [ was
ignorant of who invented the system
that is in such worldwide favor.
But l thanked the gentleman from
Maryland, and one Saturday in
October | was driven oven a Sologne
road Of the Loiret plateau into Bur
tin. Woods alternating with hedged
fields and orchards, and rapid rivu-
lets watering green valleys gave
revelation Of a rich agricultural
country, healthy, beautiful, and
almOst-American-like.
[ found M. GOffart in one of his
fields experimenting the trimming
of a hedge by means of a machine.
The driver of the diligence had
pointed him out as we drove along
the road, and [ had been put down
at the nearest stile that [ might
cross the meadow to reach him. |
found him a short and heavy man,
wearing a blue blouse, white
breaches, and a large straw hat, and
carrying a cane. His greeting was
polite, and as he listened to my
errand an Enthusiastically proud look
came into his face.
Il dare say my silos and my
methods are old-tashioned to an
American eye he said, but added,
Il am willing to do myself the
honor of showing what [ have
He led the way toward his barns,
remarking as we walked:
Il do not claim the honor of being
an inventor. Necessity had long
compelled the pitting of beets, tur-
nips, cabbages and apple pomace,
and ! asked why maize could not be
treated in the same way
He did not scruple to speak of his
early experiments, which were re-
pIete with abortions and partial fail
ures, and which extended over a
period nearly thirty years, until
finally he learned that the key to
success was to be found in the abso-
lutte exclusion of air and exterior
moisture.
The silos are four in number, and
are we'll worth seeing. They are
built of brick, and the sides and
bottoms are made perfectly water
tight by the use of Portland cement.
Below the ground the walls are two
bricks thick, and one and One-halt
bricks thick above the surface. They
are sunk below the surface 7SI
inches. The height of the walls
above ground is 1873 inches, making
a total height from bottom to roof
of 193 feet. The silOs are planned
elliptically, and are about 49, feet
in width. A roof excludes rain and
snow. The cost was 1891, but the
figures of expense are not applicable
in the United States, as for example
it may be mentioned that the cost Of
reaping, carting, cutting, and filling
is only fifteen cents per ton Of the
ensilage.
The silos are twinned and tripled,
and all angles are avoided, the object
being to offer the least possible
resistance to the packing, and to
have the size as large as possible.
NJ. Goffart says a large silo costs
less per cubic contents than a small
one, and that it's percentage of pre-
servation is greater.
He entered largely into arguments
on the advantages to be gained from
green fodder in winter, but as this
is generally understood by your
readers, l need only to say that his
reasoning was presented very earn
estly, and in terms peculiar to a
F%renchman. Thanks to the Country
| Gentleman's active dissemination Of
information on the subject, tho
writer is spared the necessity Of
dwelling upon the many points of
interest which he brought out. 1t
NAV, however, be instructive to
refer to M. Goffart's careful culture
of corn for ensilage. Using a great
deal of phosphate as fertilizer, he
occupies the same fields with maize