PLANNING THE SILO 45 



from the surface each day. In calculating the height, one 

 must remember that the height should be such as to furnish 

 the feed capacity for the maximum size of the herd during 

 the required feeding season. 



The feeding season will vary. In many cases the silo is 

 not opened until Christmas time, and silage is fed as needed 

 until grass, which is usually early in May. Oftentimes it is 

 desirable to feed silage from filling time, the middle of Sep- 

 tember, until May 1. In many cases silage is fed every day 

 in the year, and in most every case it is desirable to have 

 silage to depend upon during the dry summer weather in 

 August and September. Thus the feeding season varies 

 from 130 to 365 days, and since at least 2 inches should be fed 

 per day, for a 130-day season 22 feet or more (usually more) 

 of silage will be consumed. The silage will settle at least one- 

 sixth, or approximately 16 per cent, depending upon the time 

 spent in filling. This indicates that a silo should seldom, 

 if ever, be built less than 30 feet in height. If any silage is 

 not used at the end of the winter season, no harm is done, as it 

 will keep and will be found very advantageous during the 

 dry summer months. In case the herd is larger than usual 

 or the feeding season longer, a silo 40 feet in height above the 

 ground is not too large. Blowers of the ordinary kinds will 

 handle corn for silos 40 or 50 feet in height without any 

 difficulty. 



The amount to be fed daily from the surface will vary 

 somewhat with the condition of the silage and the time of 

 year. The point is that no silage should be left exposed to 

 the air long enough to permit the growth of mold. The air 

 penetrates dry and poorly packed silage more rapidly than 

 more moist and well packed silage. During the summer 

 mold grows more rapidly than during the winter, so that the 

 summer silo should be made small in diameter. In addition 



