402 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
SILO QUESTIONS. 
I fun intending to build a round silo on 
my farm, and have planned to build one of 
cement about 14 by 20 feet, sinking it about 
eight feet below the barn cellar floor, and 
building it up through the barn floor. The 
top when finished will 1 m? about 10 feet 
above the stable floor. There will be no 
door and the silage will have to be hoisted 
up. Do you think silage will keep well in a 
cement silo? G. s. b. 
Rhode Island. 
1 contemplate' building a cement silo, 
say 10 by 24 feet, 1o be built alongside of 
driveway into north side of basement barn. 
Silo to extend eight feet above driveway 
and eight feet from top of driveway to 
floor of barn basement, and eight feet below 
basement floor, to be filled from top of 
driveway, using a fodder cutter without a 
blower. The cutter being 16 feet above 
bottom of silo, the fodder can be pushed 
off driveway into silo to fill first 16 feet. 
Foddi r will have to be pitched up to fill 
the top eight feet. When emptying silage 
will be dropped 16 feet to basement floor, 
and pitched up from remaining eight feet 
at bottom of silo. Is this plan practical? 
If so. I can fill silo with my own outfit 
of machinery. Will silage keep well in such 
silo? Will it be best to build square or 
round? What thickness of walls? IIow 
reinforced ? As I shall have fo dig a hole 
in ground about 12 feet deep how can 
banks be prevented from caving in? 
Plainwell, Mich. v. p. s. 
T 1 elieve there is no better silo lhan 
one of cement; no question that it will 
keep the silage and such a one is inde¬ 
structible. I would build it round, if 
I could get a frame properly con¬ 
structed to hold the concrete, above the 
ground; such a frame will cost more 
than a square one. You can build 
square, and cut off, or fill in the cor¬ 
ners, and it will he all right. Walls 
one foot will be thick enough. A good 
heavy wire run around every couple of 
feet, above the ground, should be suf¬ 
ficient reenforcement. Why not build 
of hollow cement blocks? You will 
then need no frame, and an eight- 
inch block will do the business, reen¬ 
forced every other course by a No. 9 
black wire. If you can get some one 
near you with a machine to make the 
blocks they will cost very little more 
than the solid concrete, probably no 
more if you take into consideration the 
frame to hold the concrete. 
The plan of V. P. S. is hardly prac¬ 
tical to go so deep in the ground. You 
can build it cheaper that way, but the 
difficult annual task of throwing the 
silage up will make it poor economy. 
I would not go down lower than five 
feet; this means only a little above the 
head of an ordinary man, and you can 
see how that would work for the last 
three feet if it was deeper. Still more 
impractical would it be to pitch the 
last eight feet in the top of silo. I 
had the same proposition in my first 
silo. It takes an extra man to shovel 
it down, and he must hustle, hut when 
you come to shovel it up and over a 
man’s head you will curse the day you 
attempted it. You would better get a 
short carrier and put o.i your cutter; 
this will not take much extra power 
and you can still use your own ma¬ 
chinery. Therefore build 11 feet in¬ 
stead of eight above chimney, and your 
plan will be all right. Except I would 
make it at least 12 feet across instead 
of 10, unless you have very little stock. 
If you build round dig the hole the 
same as you would for a cistern, or 
square, like a cellar wall, only dig out 
the space a foot wide for the wall 
first. Fill this with concrete and after 
it has set, throw out the center, thus 
you will need no frame for the ce¬ 
ment. If the earth is of such nature 
as to cave before you can fill in set 
hoards in either side, with braces set 
from bank to bank, and remove as you 
fill up. Write Atlas Portland Cement 
Co., 30 Broad street, New York City, 
for pamphlet on “Cement Construc¬ 
tion for Home and Farm,” also to De¬ 
April 24, 
partment of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C., for U. S. bulletin No. 235, on 
silo construction, and Iowa State Col¬ 
lege, Ames, Iowa, for bulletin No. 100, 
on cement silos. 
EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE. 
A SOUTHERN RANGE COW. 
One thing that strikes the northern 
visitor is the quality of the half-wild 
cattle found in the South. These cat¬ 
tle usually run on the public range or 
in the woods. The cows are not milked 
unless they are taken up as heifers 
and tamed. In Florida we have seen 
these cows as wild as hawks, ready 
to run or to fight at short notice. How 
they live on the coarse stuff that cov¬ 
ers the ground is a mystery to a stran¬ 
ger. The hard rustling and inbreeding 
seem to have given the cattle great 
powers of endurance. Now and then 
we see one that seems to carry a fair 
proportion of the blood of one of the 
recognized herds, but most of them 
are angular and dwarfish “scrubs.” 
Mrs. G. F. Fuller, of Baldwin Co., Ala., 
photographed such a cow, and the pic¬ 
ture is shown herewith. We would 
like to know from some of our South¬ 
ern cattle traders if these cows have 
any particular value for crossing with 
the purebred cattle—either dairy or 
beef. Mrs. Fuller says: 
“The picture shows a specimen cow 
and calf of the so-called “ Piney 
Woods” variety, though it is claimed 
by a former owner of them that they 
have some Jersey blood. As to that 
I cannot say, but they are somewhat 
better than some of the range cattle, 
though there are a number of them 
with more or less Jersey or Holstein 
blood. This cow gives very rich milk, 
and furnishes a family of four with 
butter and milk, besides milk for an¬ 
other family of two, and her calf is 
now 10 months old. Not a bad show¬ 
ing considering she has to “rustle” for 
most of her feed (and the range grass 
is frosted) at this time. The calf is 
not fed at all, and lives entirely on 
the range grass.” 
CATTLE FROM THE ALABAMA PINEY WOODS. 
A LITTLE TALK on DISCS 
We have often called attention to the fact that Tubular 
Cream Separators are entirely different from other cream 
separators, are in a different class, built on scientific principles ; 
built to wear; built to skim clean; built to give general satisfac¬ 
tion; which means built without discs, and without the wabbling 
disc bowl, the difficulties in keeping the bowl in balance and the 
uncleanable, cream tainting features of the common disc bowl. 
Tke Universal Prestige 
of Tubular Separators 
is largely due to the entire absence of the 
objectionable features common to all disc 
separators, and this in connection with per¬ 
fect mechanical construction, and exclusive 
conveniences found only in Tubular Separa¬ 
tors, is sufficient reason for the sale of Tubu¬ 
lars so far exceeding those of any two com¬ 
petitors. IT’S THE NATURAL RESULT. 
We Have Made This Statement Often 
All “bucket bowl” or “disc” separators built by our nu¬ 
merous competitors, old and new, are in the same class ; have the 
same characteristics, whether good or bad, and one is just about 
as bad as another. Now comes our old “disky” competitor and 
advertises a patent infringement suit against a catalogue house 
separator which has been built and sold fof a number of years. 
Our old friend seems to have just discovered that we were right 
when we said the catalogue house disc separators were just the 
same as his disc separator. He now admits that the catalogue 
house separator is identical with his disky construction and asks 
the United States Circuit Court to make the other fellow stop 
building them and his agents stop selling them. Our old friend 
is in bad straits ; he has worked every scheme imaginable to bol¬ 
ster up the reputation of his very common “disc” machine, he 
has gone the limit in questionable advertising, he has employed a 
small army of salesmen to bluff the game through, and now he 
has had to ask the Court to help him out of his trouble. The 
real trouble is that the farmer has found out what our disky friend 
now admits; the catalogue house separator is as good as the old 
disc separator and the farmer is wise enough to buy the one that 
he can buy the cheapest. Anybody can build a disc separator 
cheap, and if the farmer or dairyman is willing to endure the in¬ 
conveniences of a disc separator he should buy one that is sold 
cheap. Several of the new disc separators are more modern, 
more convenient, and more satisfactory than the much advertised 
“old original” and sell for half the price. No wonder our old 
friends need help. 
If a farmer or dairyman appreciates convenience, safety, 
economy, durability, perfect skimming, easy running and freedom 
from repair bills he should buy a Tubular, and that is what 
most farmers are doing. For full information write for 
catalogue No. 153. 
The Sharpies Separator Co. 
Toronto, Can. 
Winnipeg, Can. 
West Chester, Penna. Portland. Ore. 
Chicago, Ills. San Francisco, Cal. 
