1272 ' 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 24, 
THE SILO. 
Paints for the Silo. 
I HEAD the cob-house silo article on 
page 1071 with interest. I have a 
square silo built of rough boards not 
surfaced, some boards thicker than others, 
some shrunk, but practically airtight, ex¬ 
cept possibly in the corners. I am looking 
for a preparation to finish inside of same 
to make it absolutely airtight, fill cracks 
and make a smooth surface. Do you 
think gas tar will do this? If so how 
much time does it take for it to set? Sev¬ 
eral years ago before I was interested in 
silos I saw a barrel of something which 
looked like some kind of tar and rosin 
that was applied hot to the inside of silos 
and finished them up nicely. I cannot 
find anything like this on the market, 
and am hoping that you can direct me. 
If I use gas tar do you think sand and 
cement could be used with it in place of 
sawdust as a crack filler, as advised in 
the article? R. E. p. 
Nelson, Pa. 
From the description given, there does 
not seem to bo any serious difficulties to 
overcome, as the silo seems about “tight” 
to commence with. I think any of the 
waterproof paints would fill all cracks 
and make a smooth surface, the value of 
the latter is to prevent friction, or pre¬ 
venting perfect settling of the silage 
along the walls, and the rough, uneven 
surface might hold a little air if the silo 
was boarded horizontally. There are 
three paints, that I think would—any of 
them—fill the hill. One very cheap and 
simple one is skim-milk and Portland ce¬ 
ment made somewhat thick and put on 
liberally with a wide brush ; it would fill 
all cracks, make a smooth surface, dries 
quickly and would, I am sure, make the 
coi ners snug. The other is gas tar, mixed 
with gasoline to medium thickness and 
applied with a liberally filled brush, com¬ 
mencing at the top to paint. This is a 
great crack filler, quickly dries out, never 
peels or loses its hard shiny surface, as 
my old silo painted with it quite 25 
years ago, will testify. If the corners 
are too wide open, paint them liberally, 
then run up a narrow width of roofing 
paper in the corner, and nail in a three- 
cornered strip, and then put on more 
paint. You then will* have an air and 
moisture-proof lining to the silo. Of the 
composition of supposed tar and rosin 
you mention I have no knowledge, though 
it may he what is known as smokestack 
paint, and used also for coating tar-pa¬ 
per roofs, is cheap, dries quickly, and is a 
good filler. For large cracks the tar and 
sawdust is all right, but its use, as re¬ 
ferred to, was a “cement” to he used be¬ 
tween the layers of planks where the silo 
walls are made by spiking planks, one 
upon the other; some are still building 
that way, though very costly in lumber. 
JOHN GOUI.D. 
Who Should Build Silos ? 
V T is hard to estimate the value of the 
1 silo for the farmer on the corn belt 
farm who keeps any amount of live stock. 
Silage has long been proven and recog¬ 
nized as one of the best feeds obtainable 
for either Winter or Summer feeding. 
Some different crops may be advantage¬ 
ously siloed, hut the most commonly used, 
and perhaps one of the most satisfactory 
is Indian corn. Corn silage is by far the 
most generally used, but clover, Alfalfa, 
rye and oats have been siloed by many 
with good results. 
Silage is used for feeding beef and 
dairy cattle to a larger extent perhaps 
than any other live stock. Some feed it 
with good advantage to breeding sows, 
and say it invigorates and tones up the 
sow’s system, and keeps the bowels gent¬ 
ly loose, which is so essential before far¬ 
rowing time. Others insist that it is not 
a highly satisfactory feed for hogs be¬ 
cause too much fiber is necessarily eaten, 
which is hard to digest and of no partic¬ 
ular value. Other farmers feed it to 
horses in limited quantities with the best 
of results. However, the horse’s diges¬ 
tive apparatus is so different from that of 
the cow that if the greatest care is not 
exercised in feeding, serious cases of in¬ 
digestion may arise. The writer has fed 
silage in a very limited way to swine and 
horses, but has fed large quantities of 
it to cattle and sheep, and likes it for this 
purpose. From the fact that silage has 
been found such valuable feed for farm 
live stock, and since by siloing corn there 
is practically no waste of the corn plant, 
because the whole stalk is put into the 
silo from right above the ground, includ¬ 
ing the ear, the purchasing of a silo is 
worthy of serious deliberation for many 
farmers, but after all. is the silo a neces¬ 
sary asset for the average farmer in the 
corn belt? Several things must be taken 
into consideration before buying a silo. 
Many have the erroneous idea that be¬ 
cause the silo is a good investment for 
the average man who keeps a number of 
cattle or other live stock, it is desirable 
for the one keeping a limited number of 
live stock. Where only four or five cows, 
three or four horses, no sheep, and hogs 
not to exceed BO are kept, and it is ex¬ 
pected to add no more, a silo is not a good 
investment. 
The writer resides in one of the chief 
tobacco-growing regions of Ohio, but a 
large amount of live stock is kept by a 
great many farmers who have silos. The 
farmer who devotes most of his time and 
energies to tobacco or some other crop 
does not need a silo. Many farms are 
less than 100 acres, and tobacco is the 
main money crop, with only sufficient live 
stock to supply the wants of the home 
with beef, butter and milk ; with a por¬ 
tion of the products to sell. For men 
thus situated silos are not necessary, but 
to get the most out of this process the 
cattle need be fed a balanced ration out 
of a combination of clover, or Alfalfa, 
chop feed, oil or cottonseed meal. The 
horses can be fed clover or Timothy hay, 
corn stover, corn and oats, or a combin¬ 
ation of these. 
The farmer who is so situated that it 
is a difficult task to get sufficient help at 
filling time may find that the silo is not 
desirable for him. Here with us in the 
tobacco region silo filling, tobacco cutting 
and wheat sowing all come at practically 
the same time, and for this reason we 
have had to delay filling the silo several 
days on different occasions until we could 
get sufficient help. The corn was more 
matured than we would have liked to 
have it by this delay. If the hired help 
problem is a serious one, the silo may be 
an unnecessary equipment, hut for the 
farmer who has none of these undesirable 
conditions to meet and who retains suffi¬ 
cient live stock cannot make a better in¬ 
vestment than to erect one of standard 
makes of silos, and thereby conserve the 
corn crop and get the most possible ben¬ 
efit from the entire crop. 
IRA G. SHELLABABGER. 
Miami Co., Ohio. 
Fumes from Silo Kill Four. 
C OLUMBUS. O., Sept. 23.—Four men 
were killed at the hospital farm 
Saturday, according to a telegram 
sent by officials of the Athens State hos¬ 
pital to members of the State board of 
administration, the governing body. Two 
other persons were reported probably 
fatally injured. The men were overcome 
by noxious fumes generated in the silo. 
All the victims were patients in the State 
hospital. 
This report is printed in the daily pa¬ 
lters. Every year we have several re¬ 
ports of this sort. The “deadly fumes” 
come from carbonic acid gas. This is 
heavier than air, and settles at the bot¬ 
tom of silos, wells or cellars, or in large 
valleys where there is no chance for air 
drainage. In nearly every neighborhood 
there are records of death from going 
down into old wells which have not been 
used for some months. No one should 
go into a silo or a well testing the air. 
Lower down a lantern or a candle 
before entering. If the light goes out 
do not go down until the air has been 
well stirred up. By working the cutter 
or blower into the silo for a few mo¬ 
ments the danger will he removed. A 
chain and bucket pump in the well or a 
flat board or pan churned up and down 
at the end of a stick or rope will mix the 
air thoroughly. The average silo with 
the feeding gates left open is not likely 
to be dangerous as the heavy gas can 
drain out. 
S ILO PARTLY TTNDEROROUND— I 
expect to put up a silo right in the 
corner of the haymow in the barn. 
I wish to make it part underground, 
with a wooden silo on top. I have the 
room in the barn, and that is warm and 
handy always. If I can dig it I expect to 
go down about 15 feet, and eight feet 
wide. If I concrete the hole six or eight 
inches all around I think I shall have a 
substantial underground silo. They talk 
about the danger of suffocating in such 
a pit, but I think there is a way of over¬ 
coming that. I intend to remain about 
12 or 15 inches away from the wall so as 
to work around my top silo. I intend to 
salt the silage. Does that help to keep 
it in good shape? If any of your read¬ 
ers have any experience with such work 
I wish they would let me know. 
Berks Co., Penn. g. c. l. 
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