Construction of Stave Silos. 419 



other forms of silos. Two of the fourteen out-of-door silos 

 visited had been blown down; one of these was abandoned 

 and the hoops sold to another farmer; the other was set up 

 again at the expense of a day's drive for new staves and get- 

 ting the carpenters to set it up, the accident happening just 

 as they were ready to fill the silo. 



A third silo of the fourteen out-of-doors we visited had 

 moved on the foundation so much that I could put my arm 

 up through between the stone wall and the outside of the 

 staves. This silo had been stayed to the end of the barn, 

 using fence wire for guy rods. 



Three others of the fourteen out-of-door stave silos had 

 been found so unsatisfactory that they were subsequently 

 lined on the inside to prevent the silage from spoiling, and 

 in two of these three the inner lining has rotted out on ac- 

 count of the dampness which the outside staves confines. 



2. There is great danger of the hoops being broken by 

 the intense pressure of the silage increased by the swelling 

 of the staves. In one of the silos visited eight out of ten 

 hoops on one side of the silo and six out of ten on the oppo- 

 site side had sheared in two the 2x4's used lor lugs; but, by 

 a fortunate coincidence, two of the ten hoops remained 

 intact to hold the silo up, assisted by some half-inch boards 

 which had been bent around the inside of the silo at the top 

 to prevent the staves from falling in. 



In another silo where 4x4 oak pieces had been used as 

 lugs, the 2-inch iron washers had been crushed their full 

 depth of one-half inch into the hard wood and two of the 

 pieces of wood had been badly injured by the severe strain 

 upon them. 



In a fourth silo where the hoops were provided with iron 

 lugs the staves on one side had been thrown into the silo by 

 the swelling of the wood. 



It is urged by the advocates of these silos that with a 

 little care and judgment the nuts of the hoops may be 

 tightened or loosened as needed and such accidents averted. 

 There is enough truth in this statement to induce many 

 .farmers with limited means to take the risk, but life is too 



