28 H. E. STEVENS ON ENSILAGE. 



themselves : if they hire the walls plastered with cement, it would 

 give them a good silo at a very low price. After the walls are fin- 

 ished, then level the bottom of the silo, giving a coating of coarse 

 gravel, then take the same mixture of cement, sand, and gravel, mix 

 it well in a mortar-bed, then add the water, mixing it well to the 

 consistency to spread well, evenly, two or three inches thick : smooth 

 it as you spread it, give it plenty of time to harden and dry. You 

 will have a solid bottom that will last for years, and no water will 

 ever get through it. Leave an opening in the upper part of wall, of 

 suitable size for a door, to take out ensilage to feed to your cows. 

 Have matched boards or plank to fill this opening : while filling your 

 silo let these boards bear on the inside of the wall ; as you place 

 them, have cement or mortar to bed them against the wall. The 

 ensilage bearing upon will keep them in place. By so doing, your 

 ensilage will be all right about the door. 



If your silo is not under cover, you will want a roof over it. Have 

 it tight, to keep out all rain and snow ; any kind of a roof that will 

 shed water will answer. 



A good silo will cost from seventy-five cents to $1.25 per ton. 

 Much depends upon the location and the convenience of getting ma- 

 terial to build the silo. Build a good silo, or none : it will pay to do 

 so, if you are obliged to borrow money to build. 



Silos will have to be built many times to conform to the location ; 

 but, where the location and surroundings will admit, they should be 

 built rectangular in form, the annexed diagram giving the size and 

 form, which is twenty-five feet long, eleven feet wide, and fifteen feet 

 deep. This will hold one hundred and three tons, allowing forty 

 cubic feet to the ton ; which is the correct weight of a cubic foot 

 after the ensilage has settled in the silo. 



