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Mr. Potter: "During the month of September, while Mr. 

 Gurler, of DeKalb, was filling his new and larger silo, I visited 

 him, and as he cannot be present I will try and give you a short 

 description of it. It was built on a gentle slope, entirely above 

 ground, and was constructed as follows: The lot was first 

 drained with four inch drain tile, laid about two feet deep around 

 and outside of the foundation. The size of the building was 

 60x60, 24 foot posts; but as a portion of it was used for stabling 

 and feeding cattle the silo proper was 28x60. This part had no 

 walls, or sills, but instead a trench was made, filled with grout- 

 ing, and on this 2x10 inch planks imbeded in water lime cement. 

 The studding were 2x10, placed 18 inches apart ? with girths 

 about six feet apart. It was first sheathed on the inside with 

 common boards surfaced to a thickness. On this was placed 

 tarred paper, then lined with fencing flooring. The outside 

 was sheated and sided with drop siding. There were no floors, 

 but the foundations, both outside and in, were cemented, and 

 should judge, eight or ten inches above the plank that served 

 as sills and against the sides to render them air and water tight. 

 The inside had two partitions running across it making three 

 compartments 20x28 each. The partitions were two inch 

 plank with two or three three-fourths inch iron rods running 

 through and bolted to the girths to 'prevent spreading when 

 under pressure. The ground was leveled off smooth and the 

 ensilage run onto that. His manner of covering and weighting 

 was simply to put tarred paper on top of it, then a layer of loose 

 boards, and on this oat straw, or any coarse fodder. He does 

 not consider it as essential to put heavy weights on it as many 

 do." 



Mr. Hostetter: "How does Mr. Gurler get his ensilage in 

 his long silo? Does he move his feed cutter from one end to 

 the other?" 



Mr. Potter: "No, sir. He has a door on one end up near 

 the gable about three feet by five feet. His horse power and 

 feed cutter were set about 25 feet from the building. A plat- 

 orm was built behind the cutter and the corn (which was 



