228 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



minimum number are to be fed, the capacity of the silo should 

 be increased by increasing* the height rather than by increasing 

 the diameter. 



Where a large number of animals are to be fed from a silo it 

 is always better to build two silos of a smaller diameter than one 

 of an extremely large diameter. This is especially true of stave 

 silos. The shell of a large stave silo is no thicker than the shell 

 of a small silo, but its sides are more nearly flat. Hence, it will 

 not resist the wind pressure nearly so well as a small silo. 



An Analysis of the Weights of Silage Put Into Silos on the University 



Farm 



In 1910 it was decided to weigh the silage at the University 

 Farm and, if possible, check King's tables of weights. The 

 variation found in that year was so interesting that weighing the 

 silage has continued each year since. 



There were but three silos on the Farm in 19 10. During 

 the summer of 19 11, one of these was blown down and a larger 

 one erected in its place. A new one was built at another barn, 

 making four. Weights were not obtained in 19 12, and in 19 13 

 conditions for filling silos were so unfavorable that the weights 

 from only two silos were saved. In 19 14 another silo was added 

 and weights obtained from all five. The weighing carried on in 

 1 91 4 was repeated in 191 5. In 1916 the silos were not all com- 

 pletely emptied, and the weights from only three could be used. 



Data gathered during these years led to the belief that 

 King's table of weights w^ill not prove correct for silos of small 

 diameters. A silo twelve feet in diameter has been added to the 

 battery of silos at the University Farm, and during the three 

 years that weights have been kept on it, the average weight per 

 cubic foot has been much lower than that shown by the Nebraska 

 or King tables and curves. 



Results of the observations made during these years are 

 illustrated in the accompanying diagrams. 



The department of Animal Husbandry furnishes the fol- 

 lowing table as an approximate guide for the amount of silage 

 to be fed daily under average conditions to the various ages and 

 kinds of stock. 



