The Forrest City times., 1892-05-13
THE FARM AND HOME
gew TO SAFELY SHELTER HAY
 AT SMALL EXPENSE
The Great Waste in stseking-Deiiser- Ing Breeding Hoss for Bzcon-Farm Notes
 and Home Hints.
A Che.p Hay .helter.

My experience has forced me to the belief that the average farmer who depends on stacks for good stock hay loses enough in ten years to erect and maintain substantial barns for its pro- tection from the weather. l have for years cut large quantities of English hay. writes Hollisier Sage in the Country Gentleman and it has been a hard study with me how 10 stack or otherwise shelter 1t at the least ex- pense- Notwithstanding my best ei- forts at stacking doing the stack building personally. or personally su- perintending it after closely studying English methods the results have been far from satisfactory. A demand has now become widely imperat Te for shelter from rains and storms of sind, which often open the stack for tbe en- trance of moisture Farmers appre- ciate more than formerly the value oi fodder
 Knowing how much more barn room could be obtained with the same lumber in a cylindrical or octagonal structure. the thought long ago pre- sented itself 10 my mind that gigan- tic cylinder could be constructed for the shelter of hay at small expense compared with that of regular barn building. provided the difficulties of framing and erecting the orthodox circular or eight-sided skeleton could be avoided Such a building need not be light and warm as for cattle and floors and windows are super fuous With a bottom Of piles or even of poles laid deep enough to keep the hay from earth and water a stack could be built up within a light frame and 1t would exert little or no lateral pressure
 In recent printed discussion on cheap construction oi the silo I see the Wisconsin experiment station has made one as follows: The frame is merely circle of ? by studs sixteen inches apart on suitable foundation. and lined with a double covering of 6-inch boards with paper between The boards readily spring to the stud ding being put on horizontally. They completely and firmly hoop" this great cylinder their ends run ming by one another so that no two end on the same stud. The silo has proved a success although containing a much heavier material than hay and one more likely to exert a lateral pressure.
 The question arises why cannot storage barns for fodder be erected on the same principle leaving of the expense of double lining with tar paper. between. and depending on the covering entirely for both .hooplng'' and protection2 In the case of Wis consin silo half-inch lum Der was used. Let inch boards be put on around the structure one tapping over the next one below it like clapboards and in creased strength and lessened expense will result for abundant inch or sey- en-eighths hemlock can be bought at ss to Sl2 per thousand. Good eight penny nails are preferable to wire nails for the work because they will | not draw out The studs in this case might be further apart than Is inches. Solid posts set in the earth and saved 1 of IS inches high then halYed 6 | inches down. 10 receive the studs will serve good foundation purpose. I mention cheap lumber instead of other protectors have used like oil coth | paper. tin etc. because it is much more durable and costs only a triae more in the beginning The hay will settle perfectly sliding down the bare i studs inside without obstruction. | For filling such building. track for hay-sling or horse-fork can be arranged across its top projectin 2 | over where the load is to drive up. Or the structure can be erected on a hillside so that the teams can draw the loads to the upper edge To root it is simple; 4 conical roof is pre- ferred as it possesses both strength and beauty. Numerous stringers across the top of the cylinder will be needed to strengthen il. The conical roof framed and covered with rough boards. may be shingled or papered. When the hay. straw or stalks is removed for feeding or selling it is taken out by openings two feet high by three feet wide left in the siding. but never one directly above another. With the studs but IS inches apart a piece two feet long will have to be removed wherever an opening is made. These windows are closed by vertical boards two and half feet long cleated together. As the hay is in these are set in the openings with their upper edge inside and their lower edge outside the siding that ali the drip from above and all the beat. ing rain may be caught and thrown outside the clapboards so that the hay will not be wet Such shelter will cost sl to S2.5 50 per ton Of capa- city. according to price of lumber and | kind of roof