ABOVE-GROUND BUILT SILOS. 



Hitherto we have described methods of making silage 

 which have been practised for many years and at present 

 are to be found in countries not very far advanced in the 

 arts of large and economical production. The methods 

 already given require the outlay of only a small amount of 

 capital for their construction. But the time cannot be very 

 far distant when, the advantages of ensiling having been 

 generally accepted, and the special necessity for it recog- 

 nised, it will be the desire of the more enlightened and 

 moneyed farmers amongst us to adopt methods of preserv- 

 ing green fodder which, although requiring a considerably 

 larger outlay of capital at first, will in the long run prove 

 much more handy and thrifty. The Americans have led 

 the way in finding out such methods, and from the records 

 of their enterprise in this direction we propose to take a 

 few hints as to the lines which would appear to be best 

 suited for our South African conditions. In doing so it 

 may be mentioned that in Australia, a country to which 

 vve all look and we think rightly for evidence, where 

 hitherto the pit and stack silo have been in use, several 

 improved silos on the principle which we will now describe 

 have lately been constructed, and are being highly spoken 

 of. 



It will be remembered that, when dealing with pit silos, 

 it was said that the depth of the silo was a most important 

 consideration, for the reason that a silo 10 feet deep will 

 hold more than twice as much silage by weight as a silo the 

 same length and breadth only five feet deep, because the 

 weight of the upper layers exerts a very considerable pres- 

 sure on the lower, thereby consolidating them. Also the 

 lateral pressure is increased, and the mass is pressed firmly 

 against the walls, so that air is totally excluded and there 

 is no spoiling of the sides. 



But it is inconvenient and expensive to make very deep 

 excavations into the ground, also, during the process of 



