TWELFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 487 



vating and harvesting time, they will be taking the first step in the 

 purpose of their creation — the pursuit of peace and happiness — and we 

 will hear less about the high price of living. Tuberculosis wi'.l receive a 

 shock, and morals will be increased one-third. Now, do not think you 

 need to be near a large town to do this. In fact, a large town is always 

 a poor market. I get more than twice as much for my melons than I 

 could have received had I been near Des Moines or a larger place. A 

 town of 2,000 is large enovgh for several men engTged in th's work, and 

 the time is fast coming when we must do more intense farming. "We 

 must have a greater income and a less expense; greater happiness and 

 purer lives. 



CEMENT SILO CONSTRUCTION. 



BY M. L. KIXG, IOWA STATE COLLEGE. 



The masonry silo is an established success. Perhaps the largest factor 

 in establishing the success of th's type has been the use of concrete in its 

 construction. Such construction is atsolutely permanent and economical 

 from any standpoint. In many cases the first cost is as cheap as any ct^er 

 form of construction. Even though it should cost twice as much as wood 

 the difference in the cost of maintenance of masonry and wood silos 

 would more than pay the interest on the extra investment. The most 

 ssricus handicaps of the unlimited use of masonry silcs today is the 

 scarcity of mechanics acquainted with this work and the amount of 

 equipmnet necessary. 



There is one strcng competitor to be considered seriously by the cement 

 silo builder. This is the clay block silo. It cannot be passed by lightly. 

 It is here to stay, and when built of first-class materials is permanent. 

 It was originally des'gred as a substitute for concrete where the necessary 

 aggregate for the concrete could not be gotten for a reasonable cost, and 

 the following features have brought it into direct competition with con- 

 crete in a broader way than was first considered possible. 



It requires less equipment and there is less hauling for the farmer 

 to do. I might add one thing here to clear up some misunderstandings 

 which have been more or less widely circulated. Even thorgh the Iowa 

 Experiment Staticn did design the mcst widely used clay block silo, 

 known as the Icwa silo, we do net consider it the only mascnry silo, but 

 do advise that the choice between the clay products and concrete where 

 a good quality of each is available should depend entirely on the cost of 

 the construction. The features of each are enough different to furn'sh 

 talking points for advocates of each, but they are so evenly balanced 

 that we consider the price should be the deciding feature. 



It is claimed that masonry silos burst but this is not true. Properly 

 reinforced mascnry silcs do not burst and never did. It is claimed that 

 large amounts of mould occur near the wall. This may happen in any 

 silo that is not properly filled. However, if the masonry silo wall is 

 smooth, vertical and impervious, mould is no more liable to occur against 



