THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 275 



than that of a stave silo, but it is believed to be more durable. 

 Like the King silo, provision must be made for ventilation by 

 allowing air to enter the bottom of the wall from the outside, 

 passing up through the wall into the silo at the top of the wall 

 and out through a ventilator in the roof, in order to prevent rot- 

 ting of studding and board lining. Neither the King nor the 

 Gurler silos can well be built of less diameter than 14 feet owing 

 to the difficulty in bending the material. 



The Minneapolis Silo. 



This silo is constructed differently from other patent 

 wooden silos and for this reason needs a separate descrip- 

 tion from the stave silos. Short pieces of 6-inch plank tongued 

 and grooved on the side and beveled on the ends, are inserted 

 horizontally between 4x4 studding placed two feet apart, and 

 in such manner as to form a smooth wall on the inside. The 

 whole is held tightly together by hoops or bands. 



Some of the advantages claimed by the manufacturers are 

 as follows : Lumber shrinks very little endwise of the grain, 

 therefore, the work of the necessary tightening and loosening 

 of the hoops on these silos is considerably less than is neces- 

 sary with the average stave silo. Defective portions of the 

 material can be rejected with less loss than from long lumber. 

 If a section of the wall proves defective after it has been used 

 for a time, it may be cut out, the sections above driven down 

 and a new piece inserted at the top. The roof as usually con- 

 structed would interfere with this change of planks. It is also 

 to be noticed that a large number of the joints permit the 

 juices to reach the end grain of the lumber and perhaps hasten 

 their decay. The cost of this silo made of white pine is about 

 equal to that of the best stave silos. 



A steel silo which was visited a year ago had only been filled 

 once and did not furnish sufficient basis for an opinion. There 

 seemed to be little doubt but what it would preserve the silage 

 satisfactory other than more trouble was incurred from freezing 

 than usual. This silo was small, being only 10 by 20, and it 



