SILOS 131 



have been previously prepared and with lugs draw 

 together tightly. The staves when in position should 

 be flush with the inside of foundation. The hoops will 

 be either flat iron bands or iron rods. Iron rods when 

 used as hoops are usually about five-eighths inch in 

 diameter. The lugs make it possible to take up the 

 slack as the silage and silo shrink. 



The number of hoops required will depend upon the 

 size of the silo. For one sixteen feet in diameter place 

 a hoop within a few inches of the base of the staves, 

 then let the next one be two feet above. The others 

 may be placed in position, increasing the space with 

 each additional hoop at least six inches until four feet 

 is reached, which should be the limit. 



The doors should be provided from the bottom to 

 the top of the silo, and made to fit so as to prevent 

 entrance of air. It is best to cut these out after the 

 staves have been put in place. The edges should be 

 beveled and these bevels should be covered with strips 

 of tarred paper. Before sawing out the door, nail on 

 two cleats, a trifle shorter than the width of the door, 

 so that wiien the boards are cut out they will remain 

 in the form of a door. The roof for a circular silo 

 may be either conical or of the ordinary form. The 

 conical roof is more difficult to construct, and while it 

 looks better it is in reality of no great advantage. 



The size of the silo will depend largely upon the 

 number of animals to be fed. It is not desirable to 

 have a silo less than twenty-four feet deep and sixteen 

 feet in diameter. A silo of that capacity will hold 

 approximately eighty-seven tons. If the silo is thirty 

 feet deep and sixteen feet in diameter, it will hold one 

 hundred and nineteen tons; if thirty feet deep and 

 twenty-four feet in diameter it will hold two hundred 

 and sixty-nine tons. A cow consumes about forty 

 pounds of silage per day, and estimating that she is 



