CONSTRUCTION OF A PIT SILO. 



A built silo is not a thing that can be constructed care- 

 lessly and prove satisfactory. It is a building which 

 will well repay the care which is taken in its plan- 

 ning and construction. A badly-built receptacle will be a 

 source of annoyance,, whereas a good one will, if intelli- 

 gently worked, be a source of both pleasure and profit. 

 Those who have not had practical experience with silos, or 

 who have never seen silage at all, cannot be expected to go 

 straight away to a considerable expense in constructing the 

 most approved style of silo. And, as we presume novices 

 constitute the majority of our readers, we propose to deal 

 first with the more inexpensive, but quite practical systems, 

 by which good stuff may be made, by the working of which 

 experience may be gained, and which will no doubt tend 

 to create a greater interest. 



The first is termed the Pit Silo. The choice of a suitable 

 site is important ; it should not be far from where the 

 stock are housed and fed, but at the same time it should 

 not be near to the dairy or place where milk is stored, as 

 when the silage is being taken out, there is sometimes an 

 unpleasant permeating smell. The pit may be dug under 

 an old outhouse, if the foundations are still intact. The 

 side of a slope has its advantages, but, whatever the site 

 chosen, the soil should be of sufficient depth to permit of 

 a free excavation to the depth of at least ten feet. The 

 dimensions of a pit, of course, depend upon the quantity of 

 silage required, or on the quantity of green stuff obtainable. 

 The weight of good silage which a full grown cow consumes 

 per day may be reckoned at 40 Ibs. Suppose we are to feed 

 artificially 180 days per annum; each cow will have to be pro- 

 vided with 7,200 Ibs. .of silage. A herd of ten cows will 

 require 72,000 Ibs. Now, the average weight per cubic foot 

 of mealie silage in a silo 20 feet deep with no weights on top 

 may be taken at 33 Ibs. We therefore require a pit having 

 a capacity of 2,182 feet. The dimensions for such a pit 

 should be, if possible, 20 by 11 by 10, or if Jt is impossible 

 to excavate as deep as 20 feet, and 10 feet is the most, then 

 as there will be less pressure on the lower layers by those 

 lying above, the average weight per cubic foot of silage will 

 be less, unless weights are applied. The average weight 

 per cubic foot in this instance will be about 26 Ibs., so that 

 to hold 72,000 Ibs. a pit having a capacity of 2,770 cubic 

 feet will be required. Measurements for which may be 10 

 feet deep by 17 by 17, or 10 by 35 by 8. In nearly every 

 ease the nature of the soil and subsoil will be such that, 



