The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-08-26

We shall agree upon few fundamental
points. That the stone silo--except
under limited circumstances has had its
day, and has ceased to be written about
in silo literature. The lathed and
plastered silo is now seldom mentioned.
Its great advocate, Professor Cook, Of
Michigan, now is on record for the
woodon-lined silo, made durable with q
coat Of gas tar aud gasoline.
The contest is now between silo
with lining of two thicknesses of cheap,
sound lumber, single surfaced, not even
matched, put on with half lap, with
tarred paper between to make the walls
doubly air tight, and the silo with a
lining Of a single board, good flooring
matched, and not painted, the idea
being that the lumber dries out during
the summer, and when the silo is filed
the swelling forces the joints and seams
in the matching all close shut, and the
silo lasts for years, The problem is just
this; Will a silo made of one thickness
of high priced flooring be better than a
double lining of cheap lumber, but
soundl Will the single ceiling continue
to swell on demand, and always make a
close alright matching2
1t appears that ten or twelve inch
timber, well Seasoned and thoroughly
painted with gas tar, especially at the
ends, and sunk in trench, and bedded
in with lime cement, is, when no "build-
ing up" is necessary, and whtre there Is
good natural drainage, quite as good a
foundation as one needs for a silo. The
trench is just large enough to take In
the stills, and tho cement fiiis in between
the sills and the soil. The studding
should not be mortised in, but toenailed
with 16d-or2Od.wire nails. If fears are
entertained of surface water, two-inch
tile sunk in the outside corner of the
trench before putting in the sills will
remedy this. That q grouted floor, or
cement is necessary Is doubtful. Well
pounded down clay makes an admirable
floor. The only objection is that rats
como up from underneath sometimes.
The remedy for this is a good ferret for
an hour. If coat of gas tar and sand
is first used under the clay floor rats will
not mine the silage.
Fast filling is now, when help can be
obtained, generally recommended. Corn
thinly planted and cultivated very shall
low to induce caring, and allowed to
stand until "out of the milk" before
cutting, and then filed in without wilt
ing, seems the material out of which
sweet silagc is made. Filling with whole
fodder, now that some of the conditions
of that process are understood, has many
friends. Tho smaller kinds of corn must
be used, and the silo filled as the corn
begins to glaze. The corn fodder should
be laid all one way, tops and butts. The
tops along the wells should be broken
over, and in the corners green hay
should be occasionally put to keep them
full and air proof.
How to cover a silo is a matter upon
which few silo men agree. The success
full cover of last year is no better this
year than no cover. As a rule, cover as
we may, some of the surface silage will
spoil. The silage left without cover
rarely has more spoiled silage than the
one that has been protected with tight
fitting cover. Two of my silos the past
winter, covered alike and the same day,
gave different results. In one there was
about thirty bushels of loss, in the other
seventy-tiye bushels, while neighbor
who covered his silo with six inches of
green hay lost no silage but did lose the
hay. Seventy-fve bushels of silage
would have a value of seventy-five cents,
the half ton of hay was worth 50. For
the little loss of silage how much COM
pensation do we receive for the outlay of
material and labor2 What material has
proved best for silage is answered: Corn
every time. e.-American Agricultwist.