276 REPORT ON THE DENEHOLE EXPLORATION,
been observed, and it appears to have been turned to account,
for M. Reneaume says that in his time a croute was artificially
formed in great warehouses and granaries in France by damping
the corn, and he expresses his opinion that it is the best form
of preserving. Certainly it was no new discovery, for we have
Varro telling of a similar process. After describing the lofty and
airy granaries in Italy in his day, he continues, "Some sprinkle
amurca over the wheat, others sprinkle something else, as chalcidian,
or carian chalk, or absinthium"; and he also tells us that "amurca
is a watery fluid pressed from the olive." Therefore it is clear that
when the corn is in large quantities, a somewhat damp cave might
not be disadvantageous, provided that there was no actual water
in it.21
The pits in some parts of Spain are occasionally opened to purify
the interior, where straw, which rots away, is employed to ward off
or arrest the damp. French and Spanish writers say that it is an
essential matter that the corn should all be emptied out of a pit
at once (tout a la fois) and consumed at once. Varro tells us
that "those who keep their corn underground in pits, take the
corn out some time after they are opened, as getting into them
is attended with danger when they are first opened, from the
confined air in them." And in the present day, it is the practice
to let a certain period elapse before a descent is made into a newly-
opened silo.
The following works are especially valuable as sources of informa-
tion on the above subject:—
Jourdain, "Annales de l'Agriculture Francaise," 2 serie, tome vii.,
page 325.
Lasteyric, Count C.P., "Des fosses propres a la Conservation des
Grains."
Reneaume, "Mem. de l'Academie des Sciences" for 1708.
Doyere, L., "Conservation des Grains."
Rollet, A., "Memoir sur la Meunerie."
Many books and references are cited in a paper on deneholes by
F. C. J. Spurrell in the "Archaeological Journal" for 1882.
21 And it is evident that the larger the cave and the quantity of corn in it, the less would be
the comparative waste from the formation of the croute.—Ed.