IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE METHOD OF. PRESERVING GRASSES, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SILOS, OR INSULATORS AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Cowley and John Makin at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th September 1883.
WILLIAM COWLEY and JOHN MAKIN, both of the City of Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE METHOD OF.
PRESERVING GRASSES, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SILOS, OR INSULATORS AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH
"
Our Invention has for its object to provide a means of preserving grasses and
other vegetable substances in a green and fresh state and in such form and bulk
that the silos which contain them are portable and easily handled and insulate the
ensillage from the action of the atmosphere. Our Invention also provides for a
special construction of the silo and for an apparatus for charging the silo under
pressure.
The method which we employ to preserve grasses and other vegetable substances
in a green, or fresh state in the form of ensillage, consists in packing under pressure
the green grasses into portable silos consisting of boxes, or cases (which may be
made of light boarding, or other suitable material) in the form of a packing case,
having strong corner pieces, a closed bottom and an open top, a convenient size
being three feet from top to bottom by twenty one inches by twenty one inches,
for the sides, a loose cover being provided which is applied as hereafter mentioned.
The silo so formed is placed with its open end uppermost in a box press preferably
the press hereafter spoken of, the silo exactly fitting into the box of the press.
The material is then pressed into the silo by the follower of the press which may
be a screw press, a hydraulic, or other press. After the material has been pressed
into the silo the cover is nailed, or fastened on over the open end of the silo, which
is then removed from the press, and the compressed green grasses contained in the
silo are practically insulated and will keep in their green, or fresh state for a
considerable length of time so that such grasses so pressed and insulated in summer
will be in a fresh condition for use in winter, at the same time, the silos are
portable and are of easy and cheap construction.
The apparatus according to our Invention which we use for charging the silo
under pressure consists of a screw press having a press box (mounted on a bed
plate) from two sides of which extend a frame, or bridge for carrying the screw

page_text: which works through a female screw in the boss of the frame. The other two
sides of the box are loose and are arranged so that they are secured at the bottom
by fitting into grooves in the bed plate and are held together at the top by clamps
which span the box from side to side The follower of the press is worked by the
screw before spoken of and is made to fit the inside of the silo, which as before
mentioned consists of an oblong box made to fit the inside of the press box. After
the green material has been pressed into the silo, the cover of the silo is nailed on,
the sides of the press box are removed, and then the silo is taken out of the press
box and replaced by an empty one, which is filled under pressure as before.
The advantages gained by the use of our Invention are that a light, portable and
handy apparatus is provided by the use of which unskilled labour can pack green
fodder as it is cut, into portable silos, which will preserve the fodder in a green
state for winter use. The silos being of comparatively small bulk, the ensillage
they contain can be used when opened, whereas the generality of silos as at present
constructed allow the air to get into the silo each time ensillage is removed there-
from.