EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII. 285 



Mr. Van Pelt : Paint on the outside like any other frame build- 

 ing; they should be kept well painted on the outside but I doubt 

 whether it is policy to treat the inside with any material. Some 

 firms send out material with which to treat the staves but as a 

 rule the better class of silos are not supposed to be treated with 

 anything, in fact the manufacturers advise not treating them. 



Member: What is the approximate cost of a good cement silo? 



Mr. Van Pelt : That differs very materially with the locality in 

 which you are located. If you are where you have access to plenty 

 of sand and gravel, the cost would not be nearly so great as though 

 you needed to buy it. However, where the gravel costs a dollar 

 a yard the expense runs up pretty high. For fifteen cows you 

 would need for two hundred forty days feeding seventy-two tons 

 and to contain that much silage you would need a silo 15 feet in 

 diameter and 24 feet deep. It is almost impossible to give figures 

 on the cost of a cement silo, in fact the different cement men will 

 give different prices and they differ greatly, but for a silo of that 

 size, made of cement with gravel at $1.00 a yard, the cost would 

 be between four and five hundred dollars, while the same silo of 

 good stave material could be bought for $300 or probably less. 



Question: Is it necessary to have a double layer of cement or 

 a dead air space? 



Mr. Van Pelt. No it is not necessary. Probably if there were 

 a dead air space it would be better but it is not necessary. Where 

 the silo is simply built of straight cement and then treated on the 

 inside with cement water it will do as well as with an air space. 



Question : How can a silo be kept from blowing over ? 



Mr. Van Pelt: If your foundation is right there will be no 

 danger of its blowing over ; but in case there is, a great many firms 

 send out anchors with guy wires. However, if the silo has the 

 proper diameter in proportion to the heighth I have never known 

 of any trouble with it blowing over. 



Member: What do you think about the silo advertised in the 

 Dairy Record, which does away with the wall? 



Prop. Van Pelt : We are trying an experiment in making silage 

 in that way at the present time at the college. Undoubtedly there 

 will be more waste for the reason that the outside of the pile of 

 corn will necessarily need to rot off. To those of you who do not 

 understand this method I might say the corn is simply cut and 



