150 agriculture; oi^' maine. 



That is, at the depth of twenty feet the outward pressure of 

 the silage while settling is about 220 pounds to the square foot. 

 I speak of this point to draw your attention to the importance 

 of good material going into the silo, the importance of numer- 

 ous hoops, and hoops of adequate size. You will find silos 

 constructed throughout the State of Maine, and in other states, 

 where the first two hoops around the bottom are two feet or 

 more apart. Then this distance will be increased a foot at a 

 time in some instances, until the distance is four feet between 

 hoops. You will find a good many times after the first year, 

 or possibly the very first year, that the silage fed from these 

 silos is unsatisfactory. The owners say that their silos are 

 tight, that the silage is good, but the cattle do not like it. It 

 is almost impossible to make a silo tight where the hoops are 

 such a distance apart, and the fact that air has been allowed to 

 enter between the sprung staves makes this silage unpalatable, 

 and that is why the cattle do not like it. Bring the hoops at 

 the base closer together. Put on the first hoop, two or three 

 inches above the foundation, the next one six inches above that, 

 and then increase that distance six inches with each hoop until 

 you get to a distance of 33^ feet between the hoops, and main- 

 tain that distance for the remainder of the height of the silo. 

 In that way you have a large number of hoops at the base of 

 the silo where the greatest pressure is, and where, with ^-inch 

 iron hoops, it is impossible for the staves to spring enough to 

 allow the admission of air at any time. Then those who have 

 condemned certain crops as silage crops will find that their 

 troubles have ceased, and these crops make good silage. 



There cannot be too much stress put upon the point of having 

 enough hoops on your silo to keep it in place. Silos should 

 have perpendicular, smooth walls, so that the silage will settle 

 uniformly, filling the entire structure and excluding all the air. 



COST OF SILOS. 



In an investigation- of the cost of silos recently made, there 

 were fourteen round, stave silos which had an average capacity 

 of 149 tons. These silos were inside the barns, and built simi- 

 lar to those to which I have referred, with perhaps a little less 

 sub-structure. Their average cost per ton capacity, as given 

 by their owners, was 65 cents. These were round, stave silos. 



