398 



Rural Architecture. 



will come. It is best also to dig tlir pit for the silo large 

 enough so as to have plenty of room outside of the finished 



wall to permit the earth 

 filled in behind to be very 

 thoroughly tamped so a> 

 to act as a strong backing 

 for the wall. This is 

 urged because a large per 

 cent, of the stone founda- 

 tions of wood silos have 

 cracked more or less from 

 one cause or another ^and 

 these cracks lead to the 

 spoiling of silage. 



Flat quarry rock, like 

 limestone, will make the 

 strongest silo wall, be- 

 cause they bond much 

 better than boulders do, 

 and when built of lime- 

 stone they will not need 

 to be reinforced much 

 with iron rods. It will be 



FIG. 197 Shows the method of jacketing a best even in this Case, 

 stone silo to protect it against frost: the. 



heavy black squares are blocks bedded into however, to USO the iron 

 the stone wall to which girts or studs may . n \ 



be nailed to carry the siding. tie rods between the lower 



two doors. 



495. Plastering. The inner face of the silo wall should 

 be plastered with a thin coat of rich cement not leaner than 

 1 of cement to 1.5 or 2 of clean sharp sand. If the mortal 

 vs not rich and troweled smooth, the acids of the silage will 

 act upon it much more rapidly, dissolving out the lime and 

 leaving it open and porous. 



It will usually be prudent also to whitewash these linings 

 every two or three years, especially the lower portion where 

 :the silage is longest in contact with the cement, in order to 

 prevent softening, using cement to make the -whitewash. 



