574 



J oitnial 0] Agriculture , Victoria. [lo Aug., 191 i. 



REINFORCED BRICK SILOS. 



R. T . Archer, Senior Dairy Inspector. 



For durability, silos constructed of concrete or brick will, no doubt, 

 be the most satisfactory. The former type, which is described elsewhere in 

 this issue, may be relied on to give good results wherever suitable gravel 

 is obtainable. Tn some districts, however, where clay is available and 

 good bricks may be burnt on the ground, it will be more economical to 

 build a brick silo. In others, too, where the roads are in a satisfactory 

 condition and the farm is not too far from a railway station, the necessary 

 bricks may be delivered cheaply. 



The most economical type of brick silo is that of 4| in. work rein- 

 forced with galvanized wire. One has been built by Mr. W. C. Greaves, 



\iVA\ I uKl.:iil 



MONOMEITH. 



of Monomeith, who is highly pleased with the results obtained. The 

 principle has also been adopted in the construction of overground water 

 tanks on a large scale in the Ballarat district for some years past. 



In constructing the silo at Monomeith, an excavation 6 ft. deep was 

 made; and round the outside of it, was a trench 7 ft. deep and 2 ft. 

 wide, to receive a good well-rammed concrete foundation. The floor of 

 the silo was also covered with concrete to the depth of about 6 in. The 

 brickwork was then started, with the bricks (hollow upwards) laid in 

 cement ; 4I in. work. When the surface of the ground was reached, 

 No. 8 galvanized wire was placed between every second layer of bricks, 

 to reinforce. It would not cost much more tO' run the wire in right from 

 the start, and thereby considerably add to the strength of the structure 

 The wire was run half way round the silo and then raided to the next 

 tier, taken round the other half and then to the next tier, and so on. 

 It would be preferable to run the wire round every tier. 



The port holes, 3 ft. 6 in. high x 2 ft. wide, open into the shed. 

 One is immediatclv abo\e the ground level (flnnr of the shcil). The 



