FACTS RELATING TO SILO CONSTRUCTION. 275 



each year during which silage is to be fed, and 

 also the settling of the silage after it has been put 

 into the silo. 



It should be remembered that if a silo is to be 

 filled quickly, the silage will settle to about one- 

 third of its entire depth. If material is added for 

 silage a second time and perhaps a third time, it may 

 be possible to have the settled silage fill the silo to at 

 least three-fourths of the entire hight of the same. 

 This, however, will vary with the hight of the silo. 

 The deeper the silo the less will be the unoccupied 

 space at the top when the silage has settled. The 

 capacity of the empty silo, therefore, will be about 

 twenty-five per cent, more than that of the filled silo, 

 and this fact should not be overlooked in determining 

 the size of the silo about to be built. Twenty-five 

 per cent, may be considered too large an allowance 

 for loss of space in the settling of the silage, but 

 something will have to be added for waste from 

 spoiled silage while curing, and from exposure in 

 feeding, hence, a silo should usually be built with at 

 least one-fourth greater capacity than would suffice 

 to supply the needs of the stock, could it be filled to 

 the top with good silage. 



The amount of silage that may be fed daily to 

 a dairy cow varies from, say thirty to fifty pounds 

 per day. Forty pounds per day may be set down as 

 average. The weight of a cubic foot of settled 

 silage varies with the depth of the silo and the part 

 from which it is taken and also with the amount of 

 moisture in the silage. The variation runs from 

 say thirty to fifty pounds. It would therefore be 

 at least approximately correct to say that a cubic 



