16 



Silo Construction in Nebraska 



homemade machine for making cement blocks. There are two 

 types of this machine, one for making a two-piece block, which 

 makes an almost continuous air-space between the inside and out- 

 side walls of the silo, and the other machine (fig. 5), which 

 makes a one-piece hollow block similar to the commercial block 

 excepting that it is so constructed that the inside face of the 

 block is troweled. By troweling the face of this block it is made 

 waterproof and smooth; hence the silo will not need to be washed 

 with cement, nor will it need to be plastered on the inside. 



This machine can also be used for making foundations for 

 barns and houses, or for making hog houses, poultry houses, or 

 anything in the cement block line that is needed. 



SCAFFOLD. 



The scaffold for block silos can be built on either the inside 

 or the outside of the silo. If it is built on the inside, it should 

 be constructed with four posts and a platform, the platform being 

 one which will move up and down at the discretion of the 

 operator, a good grade of wire stretcher being used to raise the 

 platform. This type of scaffold was devised by the Agricultural 

 Engineering department of the Iowa State College and used by 

 them extensively and has proved very successful. It has also 

 been used in erecting several silos in Nebraska, and has proved 



verv efficient. 



ROOFS. 



Cement block silos as well as clay block silos and solid concrete 

 silos should have concrete roofs. A concrete roof is much more 

 durable than a shingle roof, is generally tighter, and prevents 

 the freezing of the silage to a great extent, and is no more ex- 

 pensive than a good shingle roof. 



COST OF CONCRETE BLOCK SILOS. 



