52 
The Colorado Experiment Station. 
ter was setting. We mixed the plaster one of cement to three of 
sand. We would plaster three or four yards and then go over it 
with the second coat. This is in effect two-coat work, but by putting 
both coats on at once it makes better work. When the plaster is 
hard enough so it will not be marred by the brush we gave it a 
brush coat of pure cement and water mixed about as thick as paint. 
This was applied with a whitewash brush. The brush coat should 
be applied before the plaster is too hard to absorb the water from 
the cement. The particles of cement are thus drawn into the pores 
of the plaster and makes a much stronger plaster, besides being 
much more impervious to 1 water or air. The plaster should not be 
allowed to dry for several days. If it dries too soon it will not be 
so hard and is liable to crack. 
Pig. III. Pit silo in El Paso county, showing the concrete ring and a 
smooth wall ready for the plaster. (Photo by Lauck.) 
The adobe portion should be thoroughly dried before the plaster 
is applied, otherwise it will crack. If the walls of the silos are dry 
it is best to sprinkle them before plastering. In cold weather the 
silos should be covered to prevent the fresh plaster from freezing. 
A few very cold nights we put an oil heater in our silos when plas¬ 
ter was green. We did not plaster bottoms of silos. 
Removing Ensilage .—For removing the ensilage from silos we 
attached a windlass to the same crane we used for hoisting dirt. We 
have the crane so placed so that the arm will swing over any of the 
four silos. We made an ensilage cart with a sheet-iron box in 
which to hoist the ensilage. This cart will hold over five hundred 
pounds of ensilage or sufficient to feed twelve or fourteen cows 
a full day’s feed. We lower this cart into the silos, fill it, and then 
draw it up by means of the windlass. On the cement feed-way, it is 
