46 
CONCRETE SILOS 
Fireproof Construction 
The farmer, of all people, is at the mercy of fire. Let a blaze once 
start in or about his barns and the chances are small for saving any of the 
surrounding structures. Fire fighting apparatus is out of the question, 
the water supply is generally limited, and in nine cases out of ten, help can- 
not be summoned until the flames are beyond control. 
Silo fires usually cause great loss because the feeder of silage is entirely 
dependent upon his silo all through the feeding season, which covers the 
greater part of and sometimes the entire year. The loss of the silo fre- 
quently means that the cattle have to be sold off, always at considerable 
sacrifice. Concrete silos of either the monolithic or block type are ab- 
solutely fireproof — of such a construction that they might be used for 
chimneys. If equipped with a concrete chute the concrete silo will protect 
the silage perfectly, and in the event of a fire not a pound need be lost. 
During the winter of 1910 fire destroyed the barn of George Pulling, 
near Parma, Michigan, adjacent to which was Mr. Pulling 's new 85-ton 
monolithic silo, erected at an expense of $300. This silo, one of a 
George large number of similar ones put up in that part of the country 
stlo'"^ ^ Charles Nobles, of Kalamazoo, came through the fire 
in good shape, with silage in perfect condition. At the time of the 
Concrete Silos on Dunham Farm, Wayne, Illinois, which successfully resisted a disastrous fire which 
destroyed the adjoining dairy barn in the summer of 1913. 
