Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. ^^'* 



joints, thus making a strong six-inch hoop 1^ inches thick. 

 Seven of these were placed around the silo between the doors to 

 miake a continuous even surface on which to nail the sheeting. 

 The silo was sheeted up and down with common 1x12 barn 

 boards 14 and 16 feet long, and the cracks were covered with 

 common three-inch battens. 



Some silos are sheeted on the outside with the same half- 

 inch lumber as is used on the inside, having the edges cut to a 

 bevel so that the cracks slant outward and downward. The same 

 difficulties are encountered here, however, as were mentioned 

 above, and such siding is not perfectly water-tight, as the rain 

 may drive in between the cracks. When the siding is put on 

 horizontally it should be carried up as fast as the ceiling inside, 

 thus obviating the necessity of building staging on the outside. 



After the silo wall was completed a conical shingled roof 

 was put on, a chute built over the doors through which the silage 

 is thrown down, and the small space between the silo and the barn 

 roofed over, connecting the two. The silo was then completed 

 ready for painting. ^ ^'^ 



The silo has been filled twice, and both years the silage has 

 kept perfectly from the bottom to the top, even next the wall and 

 against the doors. As before mentioned the top of the brick wall 

 cracked, as it was not reinforced, and the silage spoiled slightly 

 at this place, but this can easily be remedied another year. 



In the spring of 1904, when the cows were turned out to 

 pasture, about seven feet of silage remained in the silo. The 

 small silo for summer feeding was then opened and the rotten 

 silage from the top of the small silo was distributed over the good 

 silage in the large silo to the depth of about six inches. This was 

 thoroughly soaked and tramped firmly. When ready to fill again 

 in the fall there were about eight inches of rotten silage to re- 

 move, only two inches of the good silage having spoiled. Fresh 

 corn was run on the top of this and the whole kept perfectly. 

 When feeding out, scarcely any trace of spoiled silage was to be 

 found at the union of the silag-e of the different years. 



The cost of this silo, which was 20 feet in diameter and 34'/2 feet 

 deep, holding 228 tons, was $383,00 or $1.68 per ton capacity. 



