170 Animal Husbandry 
cold and damp, injuring the cattle and the like, it is nevertheless 
the most desirable material from which to construct floors for the 
cow stable. The gutters and mangers should likewise be laid in 
cement. Cement has two very great advantages over all other 
materials: it is easily kept clean, and if properly put down, is 
durable. If desired, plank may be laid over the cement where 
the cows stand. Cement may be made dry and fairly warm by 
placing a layer of some non-conducting material, such as building 
paper, an inch or so beneath the surface. 
282. The silo. — The silo has passed the experimental stage, and 
the economy as well as the practicability of preserving fodder in 
it has been fully demonstrated. Silage is a valuable food, and is 
relished by all classes of farm animals, but it is more particularly 
adapted to ruminating animals like cattle. 
The fundamental principle in the preservation of green forage 
placed in a silo, is the exclusion of air. To prevent the air 
from reaching the silage, the silo must be constructed with air- 
tight walls. These walls must be rigid enough to prevent spring- 
ing out of shape by the pressure of the silage, for in this case air 
will enter next to the wall. The pressure is greatest from the 
second to the sixth day after filling. The silage at this time 
begins to heat and settle, and if the walls are not sufficiently rigid 
to prevent any bulging, a considerable loss of silage is likely to 
result. The walls should be perpendicular, and the diameter the 
same from the bottom to the top. 
283. The size of the silo. — On being exposed to the air, silage 
spoils rapidly, and to avoid this it must be fed off at the rate of one 
and one-half to two inches daily in the winter, and three inches in 
the summer. A good plan i is to construct the silo so that the 
horizontal feeding area for each cow will be approximately six 
square feet daily. If we feed six square feet off the top and two. 
inches down, this means one cubic foot to the cow. The approxi- 
mate weight of a cubic foot of silage is forty pounds, though this 
varies much between the top and the bottom. 
