126 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



all strains of holding its entire cubic capacity, rated at fifty 

 pounds to the cubic foot. In converting a hay bay into a 

 silo, it must be recollected that there is no loss of storage 

 room. The cubic space required for one ton of hay will 

 hold eight tons of ensilage, although the latter contains but 

 little more than twice as much dry food material as a ton of 

 hay. As to the cost of a silo, the range is from fifty cents, 

 or even less, to five dollars, for every ton of capacity ; from 

 two dollars to two and a half dollars per ton is a fair esti- 

 mate. A forty-ton masonry silo can be built under an 

 existing shelter for $100. One of 80 tons capacity, of 

 wood, has been built in the corner of a barn, at a total cost 

 of $50. I have in mind an excellent concrete silo, built 

 some years ago, and as solid to-day as a single block of 

 stone, which holds 165 tons, and cost |500, or about $3 

 per ton. The cost of labor and materials and other local 

 conditions vary so as to make closer estimates impossible. 

 But enough has been said to show that any person who 

 wishes to try making ensilage for a year or two, to satisfy 

 himself in regard to it, need not be prevented by the 

 first cost of a temporary but efficient silo of moderate 

 size. 



Brief but sufficient directions are added for making cheap 

 silos : — 



Tlie Earthen Silo. — If the location is high enough to 

 prevent water rising in the bottom, and the soil is stiff 

 enough to prevent caving of the walls, this form of silo is 

 the simplest and cheapest. It is nothing more than a pit 

 dug in the earth, with smooth, vertical or inclined sides and 

 preferably with a shelter over it. As ensilage when filled 

 in rapidly shrinks about one-third, it is well to extend the 

 walls above ground by means of plank, so as to use the 

 entire depth of the pit. This can be done by nailing rough 

 inch-plank edge to edge on the inside of 4 in. by 4 in. posts, 

 set four to six feet apart, the lower ends being let into 

 the bottom six to eight inches, and the posts themselves 

 counter-sunk in the walls one inch below their surface — 

 this inch being filled out with plank nailed over the post. 

 In this way the plank and clay portions of the walls are 

 made flush with each other. 



