silos 135 



tar paper, and complete the outside with a layer of 

 ordinary weather boarding- or shiplap placed horizon- 

 tally. Put on a conical or ordinary roof of shingles. 

 Provide doors as nearly air tight as possible. The silo 

 is then ready for filling. 



The ventilation of this kind of silo is very im- 

 portant. There must be a properly protected opening 

 through the roof from which the gaseous products of 

 fermentation may escape. The walls must also be 

 ventilated. On the outside near the bottom cut an 

 opening or bore auger holes in the exterior wall and 

 cover with wire netting. Do the same on the inside 

 near the top. Have at least half a dozen or so of 

 these ventilators in each silo, or better still one set 

 for each space between studs. Circulation of air will 

 be secured and the construction material will last better. 



Brick silos should be constructed with two or three 

 walls and air spaces of one to four inches between the 

 walls. The total thickness of the wall should not be 

 less than two feet. The inner walls can be made of 

 broken brick and thus reduce the cost. The bricks 

 should be laid in cement, and the interior of the silo 

 should be covered with a coating or two of good 

 cement. Have the masons leave a door three feet high 

 at the bottom of the silo, arching it over at the top. 

 Build up two or three feet, then leave another door, and 

 so on. A brick silo sixteen feet in diameter and 

 twenty-four feet deep will require about twenty-one 

 thousand brick. 



In building a stone silo, prepare the founda- 

 tion and bottom as for a wooden, then build up the 

 walls at least twenty-four inches thick. When the 

 building is completed, roof it over carefully and 

 give the interior a coating or two of cement so that 

 the surface will be as smooth and air tight as that of a 

 cistern. If the stone wall is properly constructed there 



