THE POLK SYSTEM 23 



Concrete in Silo Construction 



THE REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD SILO 



HPHE man who has owned the wrong kind of a silo generally knows 

 1 more about the requirements of a good one than anybody 

 else does. Our broad experience in the silo business, our acquaint- 

 ance with hundreds of users of silos, and our careful research in 

 the results of experiments in the best agricultural schools in the 

 land have put us in a position to know what the qualities of a good 

 silo are. The Silo makes six cardinal demands before it allows the 

 adjective "GOOD" to be coupled with it. 



I. THE GOOD SILO MUST BE DURABLE AND PERMANENT. A 

 temporary silo has only one thingto recommend it it demonstrates 

 the value of feeding silage. Otherwise it is a poor investment. Rap- 

 id depreciation of value is one thing the seller of any kind of a 

 non-permanent silo says nothing about. Since there are silos 

 that last forever, no silo is good that does not. 



II. THE GOOD SILO MUST BE FREE FROM THE NEED OF REP AIRS. 

 This is merely corollary to the first requirement. Anything that 

 is truly permanent never needs repairs. Any farmer knows how 

 much bigger his bank balance would be if he never had to spend 

 anything for "repairs" on his house, his barn, his thresher, his 

 binder, his mower, and his other implements. Just think of own- 

 ing one thing on the farm that never calls for repairs! 



III. THE GOOD SILO MUST BE FIREPROOF. Insurance with ex- 

 tra high rates is the bug-a-boo of the American farmer. The farm 

 building that gets on fire generally burns down. Of course the 

 insurance companies have to protect themselves by making their 

 rates higher. A silo that contains six months or more valuable 

 food supply that is absolutely safe from the fire demon certainly 

 deserves the honor of being called good. 



IV. THE GOOD SILO MUST BE AIR-TIGHT AND WATER-TIGHT. Si- 

 los that allow air or water freely to pass through them are value- 



"They are not built of pieces and they 

 cannot go to pieces. ' ' 



