42 
CONCRETE SILOS 
the average of 62 cents obtained in the investigation conducted by this 
Company. 
The same elements which determine the cost of filHng the silo, deter- 
mine the total cost of the silage, with additional items including cost of the 
Total Cost ^^^^ of tillage and interest on investment. Farmers ' Bulletin 
of Silage ^'^ states that "In the writer's experience in the Central West 
the cost on high-priced land has been about $1.50 per ton. F. S. 
Peer, in a recent book which treats of silos and silage, gives the cost in his 
experience as $1.20 per ton. Professor Wall of Wisconsin places it at 
$1.00 per ton to $1.50 per ton, including cost of seed, preparation of land, 
interest on investment, cultivation of the crop, cutting and filling the silo. 
King, when studying this subject in Wisconsin, found that for a number 
of farms in that State, the cost averaged 733^ cents per ton." 
Silage is always taken from the top of the silo, as obviously any 
opening in the bottom would admit air and cause the silage to spoil. 
The farmer, after filling his silo for the first time, will be 
the Silage astonished to see the amount of shrinkage; and the odor which 
greets him from the spoiled top layer may temporarily be dis- 
couraging. This layer of spoiled silage is unavoidable, even though salt 
is used in sealing, or whether oats or other grains are sprouted. The air 
will penetrate to a depth of a few inches if the silage is tightly packed and 
a couple of feet if loosely packed. That is why silage should be well 
Concrete Silo at St. Charles, Illinois, Boys' School; erected by boys between the ages of ten and sixteen 
years. 
