CORN FOR SILAGE. 145 



seventy-five dollars. Most farmers will have no 

 difficulty in constructing a round stave silo. The 

 staves are cut generally two by six inches, the length 

 varying according to the height of the silo. For a 

 thirty-foot silo, use staves sixteen and fourteen feet 

 long, joined alternately, so that the joints will not 

 be opposite each other. The joints are made by 

 sawing a groove in the ends and fitting in a piece 

 of hoop iron. It is advisable to have a cement 

 floor in the silo. The hoops may be made of heavy 

 band iron (or three-quarter inch round), each hoop 

 in two sections, arranged so that they can be tight- 

 ened or loosened as required. In making connec- 

 tions, use a block of wood or casting. See III. 74. 

 Openings eighteen by twenty-four inches each, 

 three feet apart, can be cut after the silo is built, to 

 throw out the silage. Cut in a slant, so that they 

 will fit closely. The first door should be near the 

 bottom. A number of half -inch holes may be bored 

 to allow the surplus moisture to escape. The stave 

 silo has the advantage of being portable, so that a 

 farmer on a rented farm can take it with him at the 

 expiration of his lease. 



The stave silo, where permanently located, can 

 be improved very materially by bricking it up inside 

 four inches thick, the same as wells are bricked, and 

 plastering inside with cement. This makes the silo 

 air-tight and frost-proof, which are two very im- 

 portant factors necessary to secure and maintain a 

 good quality of silage. 



For a silo that is durable and satisfactory in 

 every respect, the cement silo can be recommended. 

 See III. 72. As a rule these are built round. Iron 

 rods can be built in the walls to bind the structure 

 together, so that an opening can be 'left from top to 

 bottom, instead of using doors through which to 



