* * * I further believe that our present knowledge of the silo and the best methods of storing crops therein is not perfect, and that we will make great advancement in the future; but that we have reached a point where this method is within the possibilities of our average farmers, and it is this class most of all that needs this method. The time has come when we must produce more beef, butter, wool, and pork to the acre or sink beneath the wave of competition that is driving over our land. The silo seems to be a valuable and important means to this end.—Prof. W. A. Henry.
CONSTRUCTING THE SILO.—BY PROF. W. A. HENRY.
A 100-TON DOUBLE SILO.
“Silos are like houses, no two individuals can agree upon the same plan; for this reason I approach this branch of the subject with no expectation of pleasing all or of giving directions for making a perfect structure. I deem it best to give a description of one way in which a double silo may be built and leave it to the reader to introduce such modifications in the plan as may best meet his particular wants and circumstances. The drawing herewith presented shows an ideal two-room silo 16 feet wide, 32 feet long, and 16 feet to the eaves. Built as described each room would have a capacity of over 3,000 cubic feet which would contain about 50 tons of settled ensilage weighing 35 pounds to the cubic foot. We may say then that this figure represents a 100-ton silo. For the foundation of this structure either brick or stone may be used, going deep enough to avoid heaving by the frost and rising 6 inches or 1 foot above the surface of the level ground about it. Upon this wall a sill should be laid which had best be constructed of 2×10 inch plank. One of the difficulties in silo construction is to avoid spreading of the building, which sometimes occurs through lateral pressure of the contents when settling. For this reason the sills must be well tied together at the corners; instead of using square timbers, which are greatly weakened by cutting, plank may be substituted and the corners of the sill constructed as in Fig. [2]. If well spiked there will be no danger from spreading at the corners. The plank of which the sills are constructed should be at least 8 inches wide; 10 would be better. By using four of these, lying one on top of another, the sill will be 8 inches thick. Midway between the ends of the building a cross wall should be built, and on this a sill should be laid upon which to erect the partition which divides the silo into two compartments. This cross wall should be so worked into the side walls as to hold them securely, and thus prevent the silo from spreading on the sides. A little ingenuity will make the foundation and sills secure. If possible the sills should be as wide as the wall upon which it rests, but if this cannot be conveniently done the wall of stone or brick should be raised above the ground but a very few inches at most, as the ensilage in settling on the shoulder made by the jutting wall is almost certain to spoil at that point. Having laid the sill upon the wall in the manner described proceed to erect the building by standing 2×8 or 10-inch studding perpendicularly upon this sill, placing them not further apart than every 16 inches, so that a sheet of tarred building paper will lap two studding in each case. The reader is cautioned to measure the building paper carefully, before setting up the studding, as it is sometimes scant in width and trouble will occur when one attempts to tack on the paper. Double the studding at the corners. In the illustration of the building I have not placed the proper number of studding, but the reader can rest assured that once in 16 inches is not too often. Having placed our studding in position and secured them by a plate running around the top we are ready for the rafters. Fig. 3 shows how these rest upon the plates and how they are tied together so as to least interfere with the filling of the silo. For a cheap silo boards may be used, though probably shingles are the cheapest in the end. In the roof upon one side place a dormer window at [D] in the illustration; this window is immediately over the partition. It is intended that the ensilage carrier shall pass up through the window so that the ensilage will fall over the partition and can be deposited in either one of the two compartments by means of a slanting chute. If one does not wish to undergo the expense of the dormer window a scuttle in the roof is all that is necessary. The roof is the same as for any building.
FIG. 1.