BUILDING THE SILO, 



301 



position they form a crude circle. One of these 

 circles should be toward the bottom of the silo, and 

 one toward the top, and in silos that are high there 

 should be a third circle similarly formed midway 

 between these. A stave is then set up erect and 

 plumb. It is held in iKisition by driving a short nail 

 through the hoop into the stave, but the nail 

 must not go thr(mgh the stave. Another stave 

 is similarly put up and fastened, and in the same way 

 all the staves are set up. As soon as the hoops are 

 put on they draw the nails in the temporary hoops 

 away fi'om the staA-es, so that the former are easily 

 removed. When in position the sta\"es may be flush 

 with the inside of the foundation, may stand in the 

 center of the same, or may rest against a shoulder 

 of the foundation as may be desired. In Bulletin 

 No. 167 of the Cornell university experiment station 

 it is recommended that in setting up the staves of a 

 silo, four staves shall be used on opposite sides of 

 the same ^^•hich shall be several inches thicker than 

 the other staves of the silo. The hoops of the silo 

 are carried through these uprights, which makes it 

 easily possible to tighten the hoops without the aid 

 of keys, but they add materially to the labor of con- 

 struction. It would seem to be at least questionable 

 if such uprights will come into common use. 



Splicing the Staves. — When it is necessary to 

 splice the staves in a silo, one of at least two methods 

 may be adopted. First, the ends may be cut squarely 

 and with precision in a miter box. In this way a 

 reasonably smooth joint is made. The joints where 

 the staves thus meet are broken, that is to say, in 

 one instance the short stave is put at the top of the 



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