at Home and Abroad. 
201 
construction and arrangement of the whole. Under other 
circumstances the cost of the apparatus would have been much 
increased, some people say almost doubled, Mr. Johnson has 
been so good as to furnish me with tracings, from which the 
preceding illustrations have been taken. 
The total cost of building the new silo, calculated to hold 
80 tons, with brick and an internal layer of cement, as well as 
a slated roof, but only a round-log, or " corduroy," floor, 
including the weighting apparatus, Mr. Johnson has himself 
given as 150/. The fodder was all pitted long, and its quality 
was generally excellent, but some layers were not so good as 
others. In fact, the quality of the silage varied with that of 
the original material, most of which had been bought. Not- 
withstanding the heavy pressure — 200 lbs. to the square foot — 
very little juice had been expressed. 
33. Mr. S. U. Stocks, Cleckheaton, near Normanton. — My wooden jwrtable 
silos are specially desigued and adapted as tenants' fixtures, and are intended 
to be placed in any existing barn or shed. They can be constructed of any 
size, but one capable of holding 25 or 30 tons is the size recommended. 
It has for some time been felt that the method heretofore adopted for 
pressing the contents of the silo, viz., the use of blocks of stone or other 
heavy weights, which had to be lifted or craned off and on, was cumbrous, 
and involved far too great an expenditure of time and labour; and various 
methods have accordingly been tried with the view of effecting a saving in 
these respects, but the great difEculty has been the want of an evenly 
distributed and continuous pressure. 
A careful consideration of tliis difficulty has, after many experiments, led 
to the invention of the patent press. By this simple and eiiective contrivance 
(the chief features of which are the screw and spiral springs) — see drawings — 
a continuous pressure equal to 150 lbs. to the square foot (or more, if neces- 
sary) can be evenly distributed over the whole surface of the silo. 
When the silo has been filled to the top, the press can be applied and the 
contents reduced at once, at the same time forcing out the air, which is the 
most important element in producing good silage, and the process of filling 
can be proceeded with immediately. This i^ress can easily be applied to 
existing silos. 
In farms of large extent, portable carbonated iron silos are recommended, 
as they can be placed on any part of the farm contiguous to where the stock 
is kept, and if found desirable, they can be partly sunk in the ground ; a light 
roof can be erected over them at a trifling cost. 
The advantages claimed for these silos over existing ones are : — 
1st. — They are constnicted at much less cost. 
2nd. — They are portable, and can easily be taken to pieces and removed, 
if it is found expedient to do so. 
3rd. — The contents of the silo can be pressed more effectively, there 
being continual and even pressure. 
4th. — No ramming is required when filling, thereby saving labour and 
preventing the forage from being bruised. 
5th. — The covers, or any part of them, are easily and readily removed 
and replaced when using or filling, so that no portion of the silage 
need be exposed except what is being cut away. 
