1 Juz, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 419 
timber for this would cost in Brisbane about £12, and in timber districts where 
saw mills are established much less. Hardwood is to be understood. 
Make the wall-plates and ground-plates of 8-inch by 2-inch hardwood. The 
9-inch plates are to avoid the necessity for mortices and tenons, which lead to 
decay. Make the studding of the same dimensions. Now set a bottom plate 
on edge, and the corresponding wall plate, also on edge, opposite to it. Fit your 
studs, which should be 13 feet 8 inches long, and spike them through the top 
and bottom plates with strong spikes. The plates should be 15 feet 4 inches 
long, so as to overlap each other at the corners. 
Observe, that there are no corner posts in the building. The studs nearest 
the corners are to be fitted exactly an mch away from the corner, so as to let 
every second lining-board through and be nailed to the broad side of the stud, 
and thus form a kind of dove-tail. 
When you have fitted the studs and spiked them as directed to the plates, 
put the frame for each wall in place, upright, and fit them together and then 
spike the plates together, both top and bottom. The studs must not be more 
than 20 inches apart from centre to centre. If a little less, all the better. On 
one side under the gable put one pair of studs 2 feet apart in the clear. This 
is for the emptying or feeding-out door. 
The Sketch A attached shows the sills, the position of all the corner 
studs, of the studs along one side, and of the feeding-out door studs a. 
Now the framework of the silo is complete. What about foundation and 
floor? The foundation may be anything solid and level—blocks of wood, 
pricks, concrete, or stone, if handy. The floor may be of earth, ant-bed, or, if 
you like, aephale or concrete. Earth or clay well rammed will do very well, 
especially if covered with a layer of ant-bed. The site should in any case be 
free from springs or wet. 
The lining consists of one layer of hardwood, tongued and grooved. As 
this timber shrinks a good deal, it should be well seasoned. 
The chief thing is to have the building as air-tight as possible. Hach 
lining-board should be 14: feet 7inches. The first board should reach from the 
outer edge of the stud at b.to edge of stud at ¢, the second from d to e, the 
third from f'to g, and the fourth from h to /, thus making one complete round 
of the silo. They should each be so fitted as to cover the 2-inch sill as well as 
1 inches of the studs, and be nailed to both sill and studs. Hach board to be 
nailed firmly to all the studs inside the building that it touches, and to the 
broad face of the corner stud from which it starts. The second round of 
lining-boards begins at m, and goes round the opposite way. In this way every 
alternate board is fixed like a dovetail to the studs near the corners, and the 
building is made so strong there that it would take a great earthquake, to burst 
it open. 
I recommend 4-inch by 1-inch hardwood tongued and grooved lining-boards. 
They cannot shrink much. ae 
In fixing the boards put the groove uppermost. This is not the usual 
way. When the first round of boards is finished, fill the groove with boiling 
tar. Put the next row of boards in position and force the tongue down into 
the tarred groove, using a clamp for the purpose. Do not drive them down 
with a hammer or mallet, or you will send the tar flying out in your face. 
When you have put in all the lining-boards, give the whole of the inside ‘a 
good coating of boiled tar. The tar should be well boiled; it can be done in 
a kerosene tin if care be take to prevent it from catching fire. 
The coating of tar will not hurt the ensilage; on the contrary, it will 
‘check moulding, preserve the wood, check its shrinkage, and improve its 
quality as a non-conductor ef heat or cold. ‘Tar is cheap, and need not be 
sparingly used. 5 oe gl 
~~ Puta 2-inch or 3-inch fillet in the corners well coated with the tar. o 
It is not necessary to enter into details of roof. Any roof that will zee 
out heavy rain will do; but a door must be left in the gable above the wall- 
