404 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Cheap Silos. 
D. D. BISHOP. 
Undoubtedly, many farmers would avail 
themselves of ensilage, if they felt that they 
could afford the expense of a silo. Most of 
the plans given are beyond the means of the 
average farmer, both as to expense of mate¬ 
rials. and the cost of the skilled labor to build 
them. In Bohemia, where ensilage has long 
been used, no brick wall is thought neces¬ 
sary, the cement being laid directly upon 
the earth ; and I am convinced that there is 
hardly a situation in this country (certainly 
not unless it be a bad quicksand) where the 
same method cannot be successfully prac¬ 
tised. In any place where a good cistern can 
be made by plastering directly upon the 
•earth, a good, practical silo can also be built 
by the exercise of a little ingenuity. There 
are thousands of places where, with a sub¬ 
stratum of red or grey rock, clay, hard-pan, or 
firm gravel, the building of brick walls or 
any other walls would be so much expense 
thrown away. Nothing more is needed than 
the cement and the sand with which to mix it. 
Set the scantlings with which you expect 
to build the frame, in the corners and sides. 
Brace across, to keep the boards from spring¬ 
ing in, and then place planks outside the up¬ 
rights. Cement against the planks for a face, 
Fig. 2.—PLAN OP SILO AND BUILDING. 
down the sides, and all the holes and crevices 
tight. On many farms some kind of stone 
may be had, when nothing more than com¬ 
mon stone-mason's work is needed to produce 
the best results. The floor inside the shed 
should be very firm. Some would prefer to 
frame timbers of some size around the edge, 
to protect from breakage during the work of 
filling or removing the contents. A liberal 
margin should be allowed on all sides of the 
pit to hold plank, weight-boxes, 
etc., for convenience of working, 
and especially for room upon one 
side, to bring in a large box (or 
car) upon wheels in which to trans¬ 
port the ensilage to the mangers. 
Another objection in the way of 
a general use of silos has been the 
difficulty in handling plank and 
weights without two men’s hands. 
With a common iron staple towards 
one end of the plank, and some sort 
of handles on the weight boxes, one 
man can cover and uncover the silo 
by means of a shnple tackle. The 
point of economy is in the depth of 
the pit. The deeper the better every way. You 
more than double the capacity, and the proba¬ 
bility of perfect ensilage, by doubling the 
depth. A silo of this kind can be built in a barn 
cellar, or inside or under any existing building 
or shed, therebysaving the expense of covering. 
It is supposed that one end of this is against 
the stable, for convenience in feeding. Some¬ 
times it may be best to build alongside the 
present barn, making a lean-to roof. It is 
best to plan so as to make no waste in cutting 
the lengths of lumber usually to be had. 
With ordinary mechanical skill the pit may 
be built (counting thirty cents per cubic yard 
for excavating) 
for twenty to 
twenty-five cents 
per square yard 
of inside surface. 
For capacity of 
pit and conveni¬ 
ence of working, 
I do not think 
that true economy 
would be exer¬ 
cised iu trying to 
make one smaller 
than I have suggested. Another advantage 
is, that the capacity can be increased at any 
time by lengthening the shed if all works 
satisfactorily. The roof is of 18-foot stuff, 
with 3-inch battens-: about 1,400 square feet. 
Sides and ends, 6 feet to eaves—about 550 
square feet. Covering, includingwindows and 
fixtures, $45. The pit itself can be made as 
tight as a cistern, strong and perfect, for $80. 
Fixtures, weight-boxes, plank for cover, sills, 
frame, etc., will reach $125. With an ordi¬ 
nary Indian summer this season, this silo can 
Fig. 3.—WALL AND BOTTOM 
OF SILO. 
and back upon the outside by grouting cement 
mixed with broken stones, or by pounding the 
earth solid behind the wall. Thus lay the 
width (hight) of one plank at a time all 
around. When the walls are set, knock out 
the timber and finish the face. They should 
be made as in figure 2, for strength, filled in 
with stone at the corners (cobbles or broken 
stone) if possible. 
Other things may be as you like, but the 
walls of the silo must be tight. Put the bottom 
in last, strengthened as in figure 3, and fin¬ 
ish the inside with clear cement washed on 
with a brush, until it is perfectly true up and 
be built and filled before freezing weather. 
Wheat and dies-.—The annual series 
of letters on this subject, begins with one 
from “B. E.,” Moravia. No State is given, 
and the post-mark being, as usual, quite 
blind, we do not know in which of several 
Moravias our friend resides. However, he 
has done better than the majority of those 
who write us about wheat turning to chess, 
for he sends a specimen to illustrate his re¬ 
marks, He writes : “ I send by this mail, a 
specimen of wheat and chess coming from 
the same root. I think that in this, nature 
has solved the much mooted question— does 
wheat turn to chess?” He states that the 
specimen came from a field where the ground 
was wet, and the wheat mostly killed by frost 
during the winter, where there are distinct 
stools of wheat and of chess, “ and numerous 
specimens like the one sent.” We asked our 
associate to accompany us to the basement 
of the office, where there is an abundant sup¬ 
ply of water, taking the specimen with us. 
This had a few knocks to free the roots from 
the adhering loose earth, and was then placed 
under the tap, until the roots were washed 
perfectly clean. We gave our friend the 
wheat tops of the specimen, while we took 
the chess stems, asking him to pull gently, 
and to stop if he felt the breaking of the 
smallest rootlet. We pulled gently, and in a 
short time, each of us had, the one, a com¬ 
plete wheat plant, and the other, a 
complete chess plant, separated with¬ 
out breaking a fibre as large as a silk-worm's 
thread. A grain of wheat and one of chess 
had fallen close together, and there germi¬ 
nated ; the plants grew up with intertwisted 
root fibres, but there was no more real con¬ 
nection between them, than if they had 
grown in different fields, or in separate coun¬ 
ties. We have made an examination of a 
great number of chess and wheat specimens, 
and the result has always been the same. 
With a careful manipulation, the roots read¬ 
ily separated, without breaking a fibre. 
A Brush Puller. 
Mr. J. W. Phillips, Essex Co., N. Y., sends 
us a sketch and description of a brush puller 
which he has used and likes so well that he 
thinks it would pay any person to build one, 
who has brush to clear from land. It is also 
handy to hoist out old stumps, logs, and even 
stones that lie near the surface. The beam 
is made from a 4 by 6|-in. hard-wood tim¬ 
ber, 5 ft. 2 in. long, hewed down at each end 
to 4 in. ; the grapple irons, a, are 19 in. long, 
made of 3 by 5 /e-in. tire iron. They are fast¬ 
ened to the beam 16 in. from the back end 
with a large 3 /,-in. gripe which goes through 
the beam at b. The handles fasten on the 
top of the beam at c by means of a strap of 
iron 2 in. wide, bent over and bolted through 
the beam. The handles pass under this strap 
and are pinned. They are braced up at d with 
a T-shaped standard which holds them 6 in. 
above the beam at that place. The cross-piece, 
e, which is notched at the end, to receive the 
handles, is 12 in. long. The handles are held 
in the notches by an iron rod at g. There is 
another strap of iron at /, through which 
runs a lever, to lift on as the team draws. 
The grapple iron pitches forward 2‘/ 4 in. from 
the perpendicular. It took him a half day to 
make the puller, and at a cost of about $1.50. 
