1914. 
'1'1-IfcC KUKAL MFC W-VOK KKK 
67JJ 
SQUARE SILO. 
I would like to know more about the 
square silo mentioned in a recent num¬ 
ber, what mistakes is one likely to make? 
Nw York. c. t>. 
There are no mistakes to avoid if one 
uses good material, and good workman¬ 
ship in constructing. They are built in 
plan exactly as they were 20 years ago, 
the only special difference being the ex¬ 
tent of the elaboration the man may in¬ 
dulge in. One near me recently built 
cost something like $000, and holds no 
more, nor does it keep its silage any bet¬ 
ter than a more modest one nearby, that 
cost about a third as much. We here 
present another diagram of the girths 
made ready to go into the erection of the 
silo. If it is desired that the silo shall 
be 12x12 feet inside measurement, the 
girths should be 13 feet long and this 
proportion would hold good in any sized 
silo. 
Put these hard wood girths down to 
make a perfect square and spike at the 
( Ibound Pi.an of Square Silo. 
ends so to make true angles. After spik¬ 
ing, cut a corner length, and spike it 
across the angle, placing this cross-piece 
far enough in to cut off six inches of the 
sharp corner angle, of the girths. Make 
the foundation for the silo out of stone 
cement, brought up high enough above 
the surface so that it will be protected 
from surface water. Make this platform 
two feet larger all around, than the r ze 
of the building. Make the first girth 
double, spiking two of the 2xS together. 
Bed it into fresh cement, and bank up 
a little with it before it sets. Now cut 
12 pieces of 2x4, into 14 inch lengths, 
and toenail them onto the girths, four 
feet apart, sit flush with the inside edge 
of the girths. Have another frame made 
and lay it onto these spacers, and spike 
down through to these spacers, being sure 
that the girths are plumb to keep the 
inside walls a true perpendicular. Put 
on another row of spacers the same way, 
and so on up 12 feet, when they can be 
cut a little longer, until at the top yon, 
for tlie last, can use 30 inch spacer. True 
up the frame with braces, and go to lay¬ 
ing die siding for the inside face of the 
silo. Use throe inch wide lining, splice 
on the girths, drive up snug, and keep on 
round until within 20 inches from where 
you started. 
As you proceed with the erecting of the 
frame, you will soon discover that the 
girths can be put in place, and spiked to¬ 
gether on the frame quite as well as to 
first make them on the grouijd, and hoist 
them entire. Cot the door space plumb 
and of equal width all the way up and 
cut in 2x4s between girths for door 
jambs, setting each in an inch, so to 
make the doorway IS inches. Make as 
many short doors as spaces. Center each 
in the center of a girth, of course fitting 
them in on the inside, so the pressure of 
the silage holds them in place. Cover the 
•outside of the silo with any kind of sid¬ 
ing you choose. Hood roofing paper put 
on lip and down, answers all right if not 
molested. Put on any mod roof. A roof 
affords no protection to the silage, more 
than to keep out snow. With us, the 
silo is placed against the side f the dairy 
barn, and “tied” to it to make it secure 
against the winds. If the silo were to be 
made more than 12 feet square, better 
use 2xl0-ineh girths. In many silos the 
corner tie that does away with the angle, 
is made of a 2x42 and is concaved so that 
the corner is very nearly a circle, and 
avoids troible in turning when putting 
in the siding. In the cut below, A 
is outside of silo; B doorway; O inside 
lining; E doors; F 4x4 cut in between 
girths. jottn could. 
Silo for Three Cows. 
I have just read the answer to A. B. 
C., New Jersey, page 539, and do not 
agree that it takes 10 to 12 cows before 1 
. ( 
it is economical to build a silo. My 
father has had one for 10 years and has 
not had over three cows in this time, 
and mostly two, but he also fed some 
silage to horses. He had only two and 
three horses. When I went to farming 
I also erected a silo for three cows, and 
would uot think of doing without. Both 
silos are made practically the same, only 
mine is 7^4x24 feet, while my father's is 
8x30 feet. They are round, made by 
sawing elm %x3 inches and making five 
thickness forming hoops, spaced two feet 
at bottom to three feet at top, and 
sheathed with 1x4 yellow pine. I made 
mine all alone, except raising, which 
was done with a traction engine the day 
of silo filling, except about 30 minutes 
while the mistress of the house helped 
to space the hoops. v. b. m. 
Ohio. 
Imitation Silage. 
We have a small silo 8x20 feet on the 
place, but intend to keep but one or two 
cows. Of course it is impractical to fill 
a silo for one or two cows, but I hate to 
see the silo empty. How would it work 
to grow, say sweet corn and cure it in 
the shock, then when thoroughly cured 
cut and put into the silo? Would it be 
liable to heat or undergo decomposition? 
We have a number of horses that well- 
cured fodder might be fed to. bnt am 
afraid of silage as it spoils faster than 
we could use it. but thought perhaps by 
putting the well-cured fodder in the silo 
this difficulty might be overcome. 
Connecticut. R. c, b. 
R. N.-Y.—We doubt this plan of cut¬ 
ting dry sweet corn stalks into the silo 
for two cows. Our plan would be to 
grow a good variety of flint corn for 
grain. The stalks will make good feed 
for all the stock. For the cows, if you 
want an “imitation silage” you can cut 
these stalks into a hogshead or vat and 
pour over hot water, cover and let them 
steam. Add a small quantity of waste 
molasses and you will have a “fair sil¬ 
age.” By cutting in this way frequent¬ 
ly there will be much less loss than if yon 
cut the silo full. 
Venezuela Silos. —There is a demand 
for silos in Venezuela. At the present 
time it is said that there is not a single 
silo in that republic. At the present time 
there has been no rain for four months in 
Venezuela, and there will be two months 
more of drought. This means heavy loss 
from live stock. During the rainy sea¬ 
son there will be a tremendous growth 
of green fodder, and a good silo properly 
handled would carry it over and prove 
even more useful than 8. is in this 
country. 
“Mr. Brown’s started his garden. I saw 
him planting his seeds this morning.” 
“That reminds me. It’s time I turned 
the chickens loose.”—Detroit Free Press. 
Teacher: “Tommy, what is a boomer¬ 
ang?” Tommy: "I can’t describe it ex¬ 
actly, but 1 know it has a short tail and 
can climb trees.”—Birmingham Age- 
Herald. 
“Father, you took a science degree at 
college, didn’t you?” “Yes. my boy; I 
spent two years on science.” “When you 
look in a mirror the left side of your 
face appears to be the right side, and the 
right side seems to be the left. The 
looking-glass reverses it. doesn’t it?” 
“Yes, my lad.” “Then. why. papa, 
doesn’t it reverse the top and bottom of 
your face in the same way?”—Melbourne 
Australasian. 
Crazy About His 
7 The 
Sharpies Separator Co 
West Chester, Pa. 
Chicago Dallas Minneapolis 
Kansas City San Francisco 
Omaha Portland, Ore. 
Toronto, Winnipeg 
SHARPLES 
MILKER 
^pHAT is the way in 
which one user of the 
SHARPLES MILKER 
(name on request) ex¬ 
presses his enthusiasm. 
This man’s letter of en¬ 
dorsement was purely 
voluntary and was sent 
to a man in no way affili¬ 
ated with The Sharpies 
Company in answer to 
his request for a frank 
statement as to just what 
the SHARPLES 
MILKER would and 
would not do. The full 
text of his letter follows: 
“In reply to your inquiry re¬ 
garding- my milking machine, 
will say I have used the SHAK- 
PLES MILKEK several months 
and find it real practical. In 
fact. 1 would not do without it 
for the price of two. 
“In my opimou. it produces 
more milk than the ordinary 
hand miiker. My cows are 
not one breed- just select, good 
milkers. At present I have 21 
head. Their quarters are in 
better condition than they ever 
were when the cows were milked 
by hand. 
“I will conscientiously recom¬ 
mend the SHARPLES MILKEK 
to anyone needing a machine. 
If you have as many as 10 cows 
you should nave a milker. My 
S H A RPLES has not failed a 
milking so far. I am crazy 
about the machine and love to talk 
about it." 
We quote this unsolicited testimo¬ 
nial to the high qualities of the 
SHARPLES MILKER believing you 
dairy farmers appreciate the full 
significance of such a state¬ 
ment by one whose dairying- 
interests are identical with 
y your own. 
53 
* SHARPLES 
TUBULAR—CREAM 
SEPARATOR 
The progressive farmer 
couldn't get along without 
one any more than a mas¬ 
ter carpenter could do 
without a saw. 
May we send you Catalogs? 
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E 
Li 
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