1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
595 
BEST WOOD FOR A SILO. 
One of our readers in Vermont says he 
wants to build a silo 16 by 22. He wants 
to know which timber would last the best, 
Canada or Michigan White pine, Louisiana 
cypress or the Short-leaf Yellow pine, the 
latter being the cheapest. Will you tell us 
just which of these lumbers you would pre¬ 
fer for building s*uch a silo, and if hem¬ 
lock or spruce would last as well? 
I do not know of anything radically 
new in silo construction. The stave silo 
built of pine is the most popular and gen¬ 
erally used silo in the East. They have 
not been as well received in the ’Vest, 
for two reasons, perhaps. The West be¬ 
gan building silos about the time eastern 
people were to some extent advising the 
very cheap unmatched stave silo, and so 
the\' came into disrepute, and again in the 
drier atmosphere they may not stand as 
well. Western bulletins like No. 102, 
from Urbana, Ill., and the silo bulle¬ 
tin from Madison, Wis., as well as King’s 
work, throw discredit on the stave silo. 
The so-called Gurler silo has many ad¬ 
vantages. They are built of 2 x 4 stuff 
lined up inside with 1^-inch siding, re¬ 
sawed, and then lathed with ordinary 
lath nailed solid to this siding. It has 
been advised that the lath should be 
either beveled at the back or furrowing 
strips used, but this does not seem nec¬ 
essary. A well-mixed mortar of Port¬ 
land one part, sand two parts, will hold. 
All that seems necessary is to fill up any 
cracks that may form with a whitewash 
of cement and sand finely sifted. The 
outside may be put on with thin stuff 
horizontally, like the inside, or hoops of 
'/>-inch stuff six inches wide. Three 
thicknesses may be put on about four 
feet apart, and then the ordinary barn 
sheeting put on perpendicularly. I would 
advise the questioner to send to the Illi¬ 
nois Experiment Station at Urbana and 
get bulletin No. J02. 
Spruce should not under any circum¬ 
stances be used. If one was' sure of all 
heart large timber stuff he would be safe, 
but he is not. Hemlock is better if 
sound and not shaky, but this is very diffi¬ 
cult to find. If one can get it the cost 
will approximate closely to pine. The 
Canada pine would be the cheapest and 
best, all things considered, for one in that 
location to use. The White cypress is a 
splendid timber, but more costly. It will 
not check, and will last indefinitely, but 
the pine of given protection will also be 
durable. Let me add here that many a 
silo now built that has commenced to de¬ 
cay and that will soon be useless may be 
made as good as new and perhaps better 
than the old one ever was by lathing and 
plastering. I know of silos built in the 
early days of common rough lumber that 
were plastered (with Portland) directly 
oil boards in the Summer, when they 
were shrunken so that cracks and open¬ 
ings were large and frequent, and the 
wall seems as solid as concrete. 
My own stave silo, which is the best 
stave silo I have ever seen, and previ¬ 
ously described in these columns, is still 
as perfect as when built, and has many 
decided good points. Pine staves 2)4 
inches thick, six inches wide, grooved 
and tongued, put together with white 
lead; hooped three feet apart with 54- 
inch steel tape; doors hung on the out¬ 
side and continuous, beveled in, like a 
refrigerator door, and secured with an 
ice-box fastener; cement foundation and 
an octagonal roof with box cornice, and 
finally, painted outside and inside with 
“carbolineutn.” It has stood six years, 
and the hoops have not been tightened 
since the first year. I have never heard 
it criticised by anyone who has examined 
it. H. E. COOK. 
In a general way we know that cypress 
is one of the most durable of woods, and 
for this reason is largely used in the 
manufacture of water tanks, and prob¬ 
ably will be among the very best for 
making silos. As between the Yellow- 
leaf pine and the White pine I have no 
knowledge of their lasting qualities. In 
1898 there was built on the Cornell Uni¬ 
versity farm a silo of the tub form. Part 
of the staves were of hemlock, part of 
Georgia pine, part of white pine and part 
of cypress. To-day I made an examina¬ 
tion, and find that it is still too early 
to judge between these woods. None of 
them has yet shown any marked indica¬ 
tion of decay. The fact is that a silo 
constructed in the form of a tub is not 
nearly so short-lived as was originally 
expected. If it is so situated that when 
empty it dries out thoroughly, it seems 
that the life is likely to be very long. 
It is the unfavorable surroundings and 
location that would cause decay, irrespec 
tive of the use as a silo, that probably has 
to be guarded against most of all. At 
any rate, it takes more than eight years’ 
observation to arrive at any conclusion 
as between the woods used in our silo. 
Cornell University. j. L. stone. 
Louisiana cypress will outlast any wood 
that we know of for silo purposes, but 
the price we have to pay for it up here in 
this northern country puts it almost out 
of reach of the ordinary farmer. If 
your Vermont reader can get good sound 
hemlock it will make a very satisfactory 
silo, and one that will last many years. 
Most of the silos here are built with 
spruce, and give good satisfaction, but, 
of course, will nob last as long as hem¬ 
lock or pine. It has often been demon¬ 
strated that the round silo is altogether 
the best to build. In this vicinity the 
stave silo has the preference. We would 
not paint the inside with tar or any other 
mixture, as it will last but a short time 
and is of no benefit. In our opinion the 
concrete silo will soon replace the wood¬ 
en ones, because when one is built as it 
should be we know that we shall always 
have a silo. o. smith & son. 
New York. 
Swifts 
Soluble 
Blood 
Flour 
— feeding Time 
Feeding time is made easy 
and profitable for the 
Feeder, and pleasant for 
the Calves when Swift’s 
Soluble Blood Flour is 
always part of the ration. 
Glossy Coats Tell The Story 
Calves fed Skim-milk usually show dry, harsh 
coats and suffer from digestive disorders. Not 
so when Swift’s Soluble Blood Flour is used. 
Then their digestion is perfect. Their appearance 
proves it. The daily feed costs less than 1/2 
cent per calf. Ask for literature and a sample. 
Swift & Company, U. S. A. 
Animal Food Department, Desk 3 
Union Stock Yards CHICAGO 
'ton ik». - ife 
IVT's I 
"‘bpsH-R-edL & 
. "^oi.uni.e" j; 
i BLOOD ri.ouR ' 
II MM»A*TlCO AMUil* . • i. 
*"OTC»* tr IV O" <A 
I. Woistuiie t • " ;•#! 
T MA*U*ACTIIHtO *Y * 
? SWIFTKGOIIPAfl'di} 
{!■- _ CHICAUO . “ 
■V RMiuscrrv jTtourt 
|." «. *T t**■ 
OMAHA rt 
Doubtless the Louisiana cypress would 
be the most durable of the timbers men¬ 
tioned in silo building. It is, however, 
more costly than either of the others. 
From the standpoint of the continued use 
of the silo, cypress would be preferred; 
from the standpoint of its cost, probably 
spruce. Hemlock is rather too coarse¬ 
grained a wood to work up into finished 
lumber to good advantage. I know of 
nothing new in silo building that is not 
contained, in the recent admirable bulle¬ 
tins put out by the Illinois and Wiscon¬ 
sin stations—both of these well illustrat¬ 
ed—discussing many different forms of 
silo. They should be in the hands of 
anyone who is contemplating silo build¬ 
ing. J. L. HILLS. 
Vermont Exp. Station. 
SHIPPING INCUBATED EGGS. 
I have never had much experience in 
hatching eggs partly, then letting them 
stand out, as I was very particular that 
they did not get a chance of that kind. It 
might work for 24 hours, or perhaps 
longer in real Summer weather, but I 
think if there was a sudden change in the 
weather it would be “all off.” I have left 
the incubator doors open all night by mis¬ 
take (in warm weather) and they have 
hatched full as well as ever, only a day 
or two late. A friend of mine told me 
yesterday that he had a hen 011 c Summer 
that was shut out from her nest from one 
morning until the following afternoon, but 
hatched 13 chicks from 15 eggs. I asked 
him how many days she sat, but he could 
not tell. I should hate to ship them any 
great distance, for fear that they would 
not hatch at all. J. e. mapes. 
New York. 
That Breeding Question.—M y experi¬ 
ence in breeding of native cows, or grades of 
other breeds to Holstein bulls, is that the 
resulting progeny is generally darker in 
color than the sire. Consequently, in se¬ 
lecting a hull for this purpose, I should 
select a light-colored animal, one at least 
three-fourths white. I may add, also, that 
in ease of cows of advanced age, (he sec¬ 
ond calf and subsequent ones are more likely 
to he like the sire than the first calf, or 
to bear the proportion of the white markings. 
A purebred hull of this breed will seldom 
or never mark his calf from native cows 
with black legs. A half-blood sire will do 
so in the majority of cases. 
Vermont. f, L. houghton. 
The International 
Is the only Silo with an Automatic Self Adjusting 
Hoop. Also has Continuous, Open Front, Air Tight, 
and Easy Operating Door, and a Permanent Ladner, 
always in Position. Made of Selected 2-inch Tank 
Pine. Matched, ready to set up. THE INTER¬ 
NATIONAL SILO CO., Box 91, Jefferson, O. 
SILOS 
The kind that "Uncle Sam’’uses. Contin¬ 
uous opening Front, Air-tight Doors, Per¬ 
manent Iron Ladder. Also Silo Filling 
Machinery, Manure Spreaders, Horse and 
Dog Powers, Threshers. 
HARDER MFG. CO., 
Box I I, Cobleskill, N. Y. 
. . . 
(•' ;:AN IMALS* 
••FRIEND 
KIIIh every fly It 
fttrlkcM, when either ol 
our patent sprayers is used ; 
keeps off the rest. The origi¬ 
nal stock protector, absolute¬ 
ly harmless to man or beast. 
Cures all sores, prevents con¬ 
tagious diseases; used by 
same dairymen since 1885, 
.‘AT. because it protects cows in 
^pasture from all insect pests 
longer than any imitation. 
Half cent’s worth saves 3 quarts milk and much flesh. 
No 1 Ice hi poultry houwc or anyplace it is sprayed. II 
dealer hasn't SHOO-FLY (made in Philadelphia) serd $1 
for Improved 3-tube Sprayer and enough SHOO-FLY to 
protect 200 cows. Name express office. 1 returned if 
cows not protected. Free Booklet describes Compressed 
Air Sprayer—sprays 50 cows in a few minutes. 
Shoo-Fly Mfg. £o. t 1018 Fairmount Ave^., Philadelphia 
4 750 000 IN USE 
PELAVAh 
SEPARATORS 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CD 
74 CORTLANDT ST. 
NEW YORK. 
RANDOLPH & CANAL. ST. 
CHICAGO. < 
No More Blind Horses Moon illindness and other 
soroeyes, BARRY CO,, Iowa City. Iowa, have a euro. 
$ 0 flto $ 50 
20 
of your money 
saved if you buy 
SIMPLE DAVIS 
Cream Separator 
Direct from our Factory at 
Factory Prices. 
It's the easy running, easy to clean a 
durablo cream separator that doubles 
profits, and cuts dairy work in two. 
Three-piece bowl is easily washed and 
never out of balance. We pay freight. 
I nvestigateby sending your name and 
a 'dress on a postal for our MONEY 
SAVING CATALOG NO. 140. IT’S 
FREE. Write today. 
Davis Cream Separator Co, 
•ISA N. Clinton Street, Chicago. III. 
^harpl« s 
Cl TUBULAR 
CREAM SEPARATORS 
We want you to know Tubular 
Cream Separators as they are 
Investigate the low can and enclosed gears. 
Tubulars have neither oil cups, tubes, nor 
holes—they oil themselves. They have 
bawl* without complicated Inside parts—hold the world’s record for clean 
skimming, durability, capacity, easy turning and easy washing— save half 
the work—greatly increase the amount and quality of butter—are wholly unlike all 
other separators. Write for catalog R-153 
THE SHAHPL.ES SEPARATOR CO., 
Toronto, Can. West Chester, Pa. Chicago, Ill. 
How About YOUR Ensilage? 
“OHIO” Ensilage Cutters cut two ways—cut and elevate the corn into 
silo at an amazing speed; and cut off huge slices from your ensilage expenses. 
How does it “cut” expenses? By its immense capacity, its self feed 
mechanism, its power-saving direct draft blower, its simply operated 
silage distributor, its minimum use of power for maximum results. 
Silage as a milk and beef producer is 
far superior to grain. Our book “Mod 
ern Silage Methods" (10c) tells all about it. 
Our Ensilage Cutter Catalog will easily con¬ 
vince the man who wants the best. Send 
for it. Manufactured only by 
The Silver Manufacturing Co., 
Salem, Ohio. 
