EUEAL ENGINEERING. 591 



necessary, although two of the silos described have been plastered. The dura- 

 bility of this silo will depend directly upon the quality of the blocks. Soft 

 blocks which have not been properly burned should be guarded against. Curved 

 blocks are considered greatly sui)erior, the only si)oiled silage found near the 

 walls of one silo being a slight amount, not exceeding from 0.01 to 0.00 of 1 

 per cent of the total, found in the recesses of the w:ill, which was quite rough 

 due to the use of long, IG-in. straight blocks. 



The cost of the 13 silos described ranged from $215 to $403. Though the 

 original cost may be more than the stave and other varieties of wooden silos, 

 when properly constructed the block silo is practically free from any expense 

 for repairs. Full details are given for making the foundation, laying the blocks, 

 reinforcing the walls, and constructing the doors and roof. 



The principles of brooding. The improved New York State gasoline- 

 heated colony-house brooding system, J. E. Kice and C. A. Rogers (\rio York 

 Cornell Sta. Bui. 277, pp. 183-217, figs. 27).— This bulletin presents a method of 

 brooding which it is believed eliminates at least three-fourths of the labor re- 

 quired to brood chickens in small outdoor kerosene-heated brooders, and has 

 been thoroughly tried for the past 10 years. This method is recommended to 

 a poultryman who is rearing annually 200 or more pullets for laying and 

 breeding, and who desires to brood them during the natural season only and 

 uuder conditions conducive for the production of vigorous stock. 



The pi'inciples of brooding are discussed, and the details are given for con- 

 structing a gasoline heater, a summer house for cockerels, and both shed-roof 

 and A types of colony brooder houses costing from $20.50 up, and containing 

 64 sq. ft. of floor si)ace, or 0.32 sq. ft. of floor space and 1.3 cu. ft. of space per 

 head when 200 chicks are kept. Two large windows in front give about 1 sq. 

 ft. of glass to every 10 sq. ft. of floor area. The houses can be used the year 

 round and are convenient for doing the work. By the use of a connecting collar 

 2 or more houses can be brought together and used for the winter quarters of 

 a flock of 35 or more fowls. For convenience and economy in handling, pro- 

 yision may be made for moving the houses. By standing on sills 1 ft. high the 

 house furnishes desirable shade, and also adds to the size of the yard area. 



The cost of fuel for supplying heat to a given number of chickens is about 

 the same for both the gasoline and kerosene systems. There is less danger 

 from Are with gasoline than there is with kerosene, when the system is properly 

 understood. The gasoline-heated colony-brooder house fitted with heater, pip- 

 ing, and all attachments complete, including labor, and ready for rearing 

 chickens, cost in Ithaca, N. Y., $36.60 for 200 chickens, or 1S.3 cts. per chicken, 

 while the average price for outdoor brooders is about 24 cts. per chicken. 

 The brooding system here described provides for 3 different areas of tempera- 

 ture within the house, namely, a high temperature under the heater drum, an 

 ordinary living-room temperature between the drum area and the outside edge 

 of the hover, and a coop house tenqjerature outside the hover where the chickens 

 have an abundance of room to exercise in the cool air. In favorable weather 

 a fourth area is provided out-of-doors by a cloth fence enclosure, where the 

 chickens can get to the ground early in a sunny, sheltered spot. 



" Either top or bottom heat taken alone does not seem to furnish the best con- 

 ditions for successful artificial brooding. The system here described furnishes 

 heat mainly from above by radiation, slightly by air warmed before entering 

 the hover, and in a small degree from the floor by contact. . . . The chief field 

 of usefulness for the gasoline-heated colony-house brooding system is in the 

 rearing of chickens in nunil)ers all the year round in latitudes south of New 

 York State, and all the year except during the coldest winter months in New 

 York State and points farther north. For the rearing of winter broilers some 



