824 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



should be easy of access, so that it can be filled with a mini- 

 mum of labor; corivenient to the stable, so as to avoid unneces- 

 sary labor in feeding. If partly or wholly below ground, it 

 must be so arranged that no water can enter it. There should 

 be but one door to the silo, and this should be at the point most 

 convenient to the stable, and it must be closed and made double 

 and packed like the other walls, until the ensilage has settled 

 and is fit for use. This door may be on a level with the bot- 

 tom of the silo, as in feeding there is no necessity of taking 

 out the ensilage from the top, but it can be cut down in 

 sections from the top to the bottom as it is needed for feed- 

 ing, and when ready for use, it will be packed so closely that no 

 air can penetrate it, and a double door will not be necessary. It 

 is advisable, for several reasons, that the silo, if large, should be 

 partitioned off into smaller ones. The advantages are: 1st, 

 A small silo can be filled more rapidly and sealed sooner than a 

 large one, and, when uncovered, less ensilage is exposed ; 2d, 

 With several small silos, one can put in a crop at any time 

 through the summer; 3d, If a drought occurs during the sum- 

 mer, and the stock need it, a small silo can be fed out, when it 

 would not be economical to open a large one. 



To show how cheaply an experimental silo can be made, I 

 give a description of one which can be easily understood. In 

 the report for 1882 of the experiments at the university farm, 

 at Madison, Wisconsin, Professsor Henry describes his silo, con- 

 structed for experiment, as follows : 



"About the buildings of the experimental farm the land is 

 comparatively level, but in one place not far from the barns, 

 there is an embankment about seven feet in height. An exca- 

 vation was made in the face of this embankment, extending 

 back fifteen feet and having a width of twelve feet. The bot- 

 tom of the excavation was on a level with the ground at the 

 foot of the embankment. About the sides of this excavation 

 two by four scantlings, ten feet in length, were placed upright 

 as studding (narrow-ways) against the earth wall, and also at 

 the open front. Upon the inside of these, studding boards were 

 nailed. These boards were carried up to the top of the stud- 



