| Show SILOS especially ADAPTED TO DAIRIES y T wooden form for concrete silo silo construction has haa und undergone ergon a a great change changa since the uret ones were built all tho the early ones being built in the ground while the modern silos olios me aio constructed almost entirely above ground besides Ke eldes tho the first silos allos were comparatively shallow structures which resulted in a large amount of 0 spoiled silage on oil account of the lack of sufficient pressure says farmers Fan ners bulletin ot of tile the united states stales dopart department part ment of agriculture silos have increased rapidly in ili number until now they are extensively used especially in those regions devoted to the dairy industry so useful have they become that many farmers consider them indispensable the silo Is ili adapted to all parts of the united states where corn or the sorghums sorg hums can be successfully grown its use at present is confined principally to farms where cattle are kept although silage la is a good and cheap teed food for both sheep and horses some danger however attends its use for horses ns as it Is essential that silage fed to horses be made from fairly mature corn properly stored in the silo and that it be not moldy or frozen dairy farmers especially have appreciated the value of silage as a milk producer to make the silo a profitable investment however the farmer should havi at least ten cows or tho the equivalent in other stock A well constructed concrete fillo ailo will last indefinitely and there Is no danger of its blowing over or burning rotting out or being attacked by vermin its first cost Is as a rule greater than 1 I T complete silo with chute it homemade home made stave or wisconsin typo type silo but after it to is once built little attention la Is required to keep it in good c condition ondi tion tho the stave or tub silo has become very popular in late years because of the cheapness ease and quickness with which it can be built generally speaking tile the stave silo excels in these three particulars although there may be sections of the country where sand and gravel can be obtained at a nominal cost and where the price of lumber is prohibitive under such conditions the concrete silo allo may be cheaper stave silos ellos last tor for from five 0 o fifteen years depending upon the kind of material used and the care i given them unless well anchored or guyed they are apt to be blown down when empty the average cost tor for a con concrete creto silo of tons cia city Is from one to two dundr d tons in capi capacity city the average cost of the modified wisconsin silo of about one hundred tons capacity is and that of the stave type of tons or less the cost of course varies with the local cost of labor and material there are some features which are essential assent lal to the construction ot of all I 1 vilos and without which silage cannot he Q kept in perfect condition I 1 I 1 the walls walla should be airtight air tight once ance the successful keeping of silage I 1 depends upon the exclusion of air large larga knots in the lumber should be avoided and the lumber should bo be well matched in concrete silos a wash oti oa the inside with cement and water or with raw coal tar thinned bilth gasoline is effective in making the he walls impervious to air the tar treatment Is also advisable for stave olios as it preserves the wood care should be taken that the doors fit losely into their thair frames 2 the walls wall should be smooth and plumb so BO that the silage will not ad beret to thorn them in settling bottling and thus causo air spaces between the silage and the walls alls furthermore i the wal walla Is should be capable of 0 standing conald clayo lateral strain without cracking or bulging this la is ono one renson reason why rectangular bilos are so frequently un successful 3 tho the silo must bo be deep enough so BO that tho the pressure from above will thoroughly pack tho the silage and force out the air tho the greater tho the pressure pres suro tile the less air Is loft left in tho the silo ello and tile the less will ft be the loss lose of silage by for fer inen tation 4 tile tho only forgot form 0 silo allo to bo be recommended Is ono one which Is round this form is ili generally gone rally tho the cheapest capacity considered and the walls are more rigid than those of the rectangular angil or octagonal forms the round form results in ili more perfect pro preservation sorval of the silage Ln location catlon of the silo tho the silo should be placed aute oute outside tide rather than inside the barn As a silo ordinarily does not need the protection of a barn it to la not economical to use barn space for this purpose an exception to this rule may bo be made in the case of the round barn A silo in the middle of a round barn serves to lo support the superstructure as well as to place the silage in position for con lenient feeding A silo ello so BO placed however is liable to bo be very inconvenient to till fill the most popular location is a tow few feet from the barn and opening into a separate feeding room the door of the barn can then be closed and the silage odors kept out of the stable at milking time the diameter of the silo will depend upon the amount of silage to be f fed ed dally daily the silage should be hemr ved from the top at the rate of ono one and one halt half riches inches per day depending upon climatic conditions the tha warmer the weather the more aldage must bo be removed from abb surface dally daily in order to prevent spoiling for the winter vinter feeding season it is safer to figure figura upon removing two inches dally daily than upon a smaller amount A common error in building to in to make inake the diameter too large tor for the size of the herd the practice of using silage to supplement UP pastures during the summer droughts and in the early fall instead ot of soiling selling crops Is becoming more general and it should be encouraged for such auch feeding the dally daily ration per cow may be as low as ten pounds depending upon the amount and quality of pasture or other succulent feeds available for the same herd the silo ello for summer cummer feeding should bo be of smaller diameter than the one used for winter feeding since three inches instead of two are to be removed dally daily in order to provide for this summer cummer beeding an additional silo of smal smaller lei diameter should be constructed ted the foundation of the ello should receive special consideration since a large proportion of the silage as well as aa the weight of the walls walla must be supported by the foundation it has bas always been assumed that the foundation supports only the walls walla of this tha silo but recent investigations have shown this idea to be erroneous the foundation should havo have its baso base on ferrn soil eoll and it should extend below frost line it if the earth in the bottom of tho the silo la is firm and comparatively dry no provision need bo be made for drainage and a floor Is unnecessary still a concrete floor will make the silo easter easier to clean and make it for rats rata to burrow underneath the tha foundation wall and gain access to the tha silage it if however the earth in the bottom of the silo Is inclined to bo be a tile drain should be laid in it and ia A concrete floor laid above the tile the tiling should open into the floor in the center and the floor should be made to drain to lt it the tiling should extend beyond the silo wall and have its outlet lower than the floor tho the entrance of the tile drain should be stopped with a loose wooden plug when the silo to Is about to be filled an ania should be opened when the silo Is empty the drain will carry off the water which tends lends to seep in as well as any rain water that may collect on the floor in case the silo has no roof the doorways should be of suc such h ft a size as aa to permit the ready entrance of a man and they should bo be clo close be enough together BO an that the silage will not have to be ba lifted any considerable height when it la Is being removed tho the usual size la is about twenty inches wide and 0 0 inches high and the space between tho the doors two and one halt half to three feet tho the lowest door should not be more than five feet above the bottom of tho tha less than this is do d erable cu er able ablo |
