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ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN S ^S^CIATION. * ... 
tion, at a cost of one hundred to a hundred and fifty oanagB^per month 
for the latter, who finally built a silo and filled it with ens^|i^^and 
after having fed his milch cows and young stock for three mont'hs On 
nothing but the ensilage, says : “ My stock to-day are certainly in as 
good condition, if not better, as any winter in twenty years when I 
fed the grain and hay combined. The flow of milk is fully up to the 
standard of any period under the old system of feeding. 
In selecting location for your silo, choose that spot which will 
best suit the convenience,of your business, always striving to have 
both as near the barn as possible. Look closely to the drainage. If 
a gravel hill can be had, you have the best possible natural location ; 
if none such are at hand and you do not find gravel at the bottom of 
pit, dig a ditch one foot deep all around your walls and fill with cobble 
stones ; then lead same into a well or sink, also filled with stone. Be 
thorough in this as in all your operations connected with ensilage and 
silos, bearing in mind the governing principle, for the preservation of 
green foods, to be the exclusion of air, and if the work be so imperfect¬ 
ly done as to admit water into the silo, air will also be there, and 
where these exist decay takes place. 
Silos may be built from stone, brick, concrete or wood ; may be 
a ditch in the ground, an air-tight box, or any receptacle which will 
permit of a descending weighted cover and be air-tight. One man 
speaks of running a partition across one end of his basement, making 
it double with matched flooring, with building paper between, running 
the walls above floor of bay as high as desired, cementing the bottom 
and painting the joists inside. In this way a capacity of 200 tons was 
supplied, and at the trifling cost of $50 money out. I will not go 
further into detail of these cheap silos, as you may read ot them all in 
any one of the works devoted to ensilage. 
The entire cost of our own silo which, as before mentioned, was 
built of concrete and covered with a frame building, with side walls 
eight feet high, shingle roof, roller doors, and every requirement need¬ 
ed to make all first-class, may be stated as follows : 
Doing the excavating. $165 92 
Labor in building the walls, including putting up and tak¬ 
ing down scaffolds and staging, drawing 552 loads sand 
and gravel, and all the mason work. 729 34 
Paid for lumber and cement. 781 06 
$1,676 32 
This amount includes full pay for all time of men and teams of 
the firm at full wages, and painting silo, and in fact covers all outlays 
to date. 
In closing this paper, the writer would call the closest attention 
of any intending to build silos and plant for same, to the following . 
points, all of which are of vital import to the success of the undertak¬ 
ing : In building do not be afraid of a little outlay ; make the struc¬ 
ture strong and durable, bearing in mind that if imperfect, or partially 
preserved ensilage be good, perfect is better, and if your silo be made 
from stone, brick or concrete, you will have a permanent one, which 
