32 HOW TO BUILD A SILO. 



The Kind of Woods for Silos. Conclusions drawn from Bulletin 

 No. 100, Iowa State College, place the merits of woods for silo 

 use as follows: 1, Redwood; 2, Cypress; 3, Oregon Fir; 4, Tam- 

 arack; 5, White Pine; 6, Long-leaf Yellow Pine. 



The following description of the King silo is taken from Bul- 

 letins Nos. 83 and 125 of the Wisconsin Station: 



The Foundation. There should be a good, substantial cement 

 foundation for all forms of wood silos, and the woodwork should 

 everywhere be at least 12 inches above the earth, to prevent decay 

 from dampness. There are few conditions where it will not be 

 desirable to have the bottom of the silo 3 feet or more below the 

 feeding floor of the stable, and this will require not less than 4 

 to 6 feet of stone, brick, or concrete wall. For a silo 30 feet deep 

 the foundation wall of stone should be 1.5 to 2 feet thick. 



Bottom of the Silo. After the silo has been completed the 

 ground forming the bottom should be thoroughly tamped so as to 

 be solid, and then covered with two or three inches of good con- 

 crete made of 1 of cement to 3 or 4 of sand or gravel. The 

 amount of silage which will spoil on a hard clay floor will not be 

 large, but enough to pay a good interest on the money invested 

 in the cement floor. If the bottom of the silo is in dry sand or 

 gravel the cement bottom is imperative to shut out the soil air. 



The Superstructure. The wood superstructure of the King silo 

 has a wall 5 or 6 inches thick, whereas the foundation wall is 

 18 to 24 inches thick; it is evident, therefore, that there must be 

 a shoulder of the wall 12 to 19 inches wide that must project 

 either into the silo pit or outward beyond the sill. 



How to Place the Frame on the Foundation. Figure 1 illus- 

 trates two methods of placing the frame on the foundation. A 

 -is the right way. B is the wrong way. In B Fig. 1 the shoulder 

 of the foundation wall projects into the silo pit. This method is 

 permissible when the silo floor is not more than 1 foot below the 

 top of the wall. If the floor of the silo is three feet or more below 

 the top of the wall as in B Fig. 1, then this shoulder interferes 

 with the proper settling of the silage and the silage moulds or 

 rots just above the shoulder next to the silo and usually below 

 the shoulder also. This rotting is commonly ascribed to the loosen- 

 ing of the sill or the foundation allowing air to enter. In most 

 cases, however, it is plainly not due to this cause, but is due to the 

 projecting shoulder which interferes with the settling of the 



