58 HOW TO BUILD A SILO. 



loss in feeding value is being sustained, and in such cases 

 the herd should be increased so that the losses may be 

 prevented by mcfre rapid feeding. (King.) 



Location of the Silo. 



The location of the silo is a matter of great impor- 

 tance, which has to be decided upon at the start. The feed- 

 ing of the silage is an every-day job during the whole 

 winter and spring, and twice a day at that. Other things 

 being equal, the nearest available place is therefore the 

 best. The silo should be as handy to get at from the barn 

 as possible. The condition of the ground must be con- 

 sidered. If the ground is dry outside the barn, the best 

 plan to follow is to build the silo there, in connection with 

 the barn, going four feet to six feet below the surface, and 

 providing for door opening directly into the barn. The bot- 

 tom of the silo should be on or below the level where the 

 cattle stand, and, if practicable, the silage should be moved 

 out and placed before the cows at a single handling. While 

 it is important to have the silo near at hand, it should be 

 so located, in case the silage is used for milk production, 

 that silage odors do not penetrate the whole stable, at 

 milking or other times. Milk is very sensitive to odors, 

 and unless care is taken to feed silage after milking, and 

 to have pure air, free from silage odor, in the stables at 

 the time of milking, there will be a silage flavor to the 

 milk. This will not be sufficiently pronounced to be noticed 

 by most people, and some people cannot notice it at all; 

 but when a person is suspicious, he can generally discover 

 it. So far as is known this odor is not discernable in either 

 butter or cheese made from silage-flavored milk, nor does 

 it seem to affect the keeping qualities of the milk in any 

 way. 



Different Types of Silo Structures. 



Silos may be built of wood, stone, brick or cement, or 

 partly of one and partly of another of these materials. 

 Wooden silos may be built of several layers of thin boards 



