280 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



the adjoining stave. Each stave in the wall should be securely 

 toe-nailed to a sill formed of two layers of inch lumber sawed 

 to conform to the circle and nailed together breaking joints. 

 The hoops are in sections extending through 4 by 6 pieces, three 

 to five of which are placed in the wall, flush with the inside. The 

 hoops are spaced 30 inches apart. The wall is built solid, and 

 the doors are sawed out beveled at the top and at the bottom so 

 that the bevel will retain the door when pressed outward by the 

 silage. This bevel is about 45 degrees. Curved cleats can be 

 fitted and nailed to the pieces sawed out to form the door. An- 

 other way is to nail the cleats in place before the door is sawed 

 out and then by ripping a stave on each side of the door a bevel 

 may be secured all the way around which will fit without any 

 dressing. 



This is a cheap, serviceable silo, but in many respects it 

 seems advisable to pay a company equipped for building first- 

 class silos a reasonable price for a silo ready to erect, with staves 

 beveled, tongued and grooved, and fitted with convenient doors. 



The Patent Stave Silo. 



A large number of patent stave silos were either reported 

 or visited and all were, in general, quite satisfactory. They all 

 have the same fundamental features. They are all of various 

 heights and diameters, use very much the same amount of 

 steel for hoops, the staves are tongued and grooved, and either 

 full length or well spliced. Full length staves properly beveled 

 are, of course, preferable. There are at least two methods of 

 splicing short staves. The steel splice should project a trifle 

 beyond the edges of the stave to be spliced in order that it will 

 be pressed into each neighboring stave making a tight joint. 

 The steel lasts well and is very satisfactory. The second meth- 

 od is used only by the Indiana Silo Company. This is also a 

 very satisfactory method. In this connection it is well to remem- 

 ber that any racking or twisting of the silo will open up either 

 of these joints permitting access of air and consequently the 

 loss of silage. The silo is sold with or without a roof, with 



