farmers' institutes. 235 



ensilage capacity of about 22,600 tons, and we are expecting to carry 

 through the winter at least 500 cattle with ensilage as the main ration. 



We planted cow peas with corn this year, and will cut the corn 

 and cow peas together, and we will also put into the silos some soy beans, 

 mixing the same with alternate loads of corn. I am inclined to think 

 that ensilage made of one-half com and the other half soy beans or cow 

 peas will so properly balance the feed as to require very little, if any, 

 clover hay. Still, we shall expect to keep clover hay by our cattle all 

 the time. 



The silo we are now finishing is 36 feet inside diameter and 50 feet 

 in height, and is built of cement, the wall being 12 inches thick. We have 

 laid in the wall, 6 inches apart, ^l-^-inch wire hoops. The cost will not 

 exceed 80c per ton capacity, and the structure looks now as though it 

 would last forever. The wall is as hard as stone. The material we used 

 was Portland cement, sand and coarse gravel, the mixture being one 

 part cement three of sand, and five of gravel. Our ordinary farm labor 

 has erected the silo. 



In my judgment the time is at hand when more economical methods 

 of producing beef must be adopted, and the silo is, I think, the solution 

 of the question. Under the old method of fattening cattle on shock com 

 nearly one-half the value of crop is wasted, and by using a com ration 

 alone the full benefit of the other half is not obtained. 



The silo, clover and alfalfa, soy beans and cow peas, are, in my 



judgment, destined to work a revolution in methods of beef production. 



Yours truly, 



Humphrey Jones. 



Ohio. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SILO. 



Fifteen year's use of silos and silage in several states and imder va- 

 rious conditions of climate, has caused me to study both the construction 

 of the silo and its filling. I find today that the greatest drawback to the 

 adoption of the silo system is the supposed great cost of construction. I 

 have used silos that cost $4 per ton capacity to construct and have used 

 those that have cost 50 cents per ton capacity, and in one case content 

 cost w^s as low as 30 cents. The cheap silo kept the silage just as well 

 as those costing many times more money. 



When we consider what constitutes a good silo, we have only three 

 things to remember, good material, strength and, last, perfect exclusion 

 of air after silo is filled. The first named, that is, good material, does 

 not necessarily mean brick, stone, cedar, redwood or some other material 



