Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-08-25
silo Profitable for Iowa.

QUILT my hrSt SilO In 1895. II
was oblong, and not deep enough
In the use of this l found there was
no feed as cheap as ensilage, if the
loss was not 100 great by spelling
l concluded TO try again, and visited
the dairy districts of Wisconsin, where
silos are about as numerous as corn
scrib in Iowa. | found they were
nearly all round; and, after getting
all the pointer possible, | made my
old one over into barn below, bran
and feed room above, and built a new
one circular in form. The dimensions
are as follows: Diameter, 25 feet
depth, 80 feet. l am wintering 125
head of Holstein-Friesians. The mat
ter of size and capacity of silo mus,
be regulated by the amount of feed
required, and size Of herd. AS the
feeding is done from the top, arrange
the size of your silo 70 take off from
one to two inches per day.
The location of my silo is at the
side of barn-about six feet from
same-with a building connecting il
with barn. The foundation is of good
stone, six feet high, eighteen inches
thick. Two feet of this wall is above
the ground, the excavation being %
feet in diameter. The stone is LAID
in Louisville cement The bottom is
in clay, well tamped and covered with
two inches of grout, and a good coat
of Portland cement put on bottom ana
sides UP to woodwork. The wall a,
top on inside is fat for width of six
inches, the building being put on
flush with inside of wall. The foot
width of wall to the outside slopes
about two inches, and is covered with
Portland cement. The sill is formed
by cutting 2x6s in three foot lengths,
hewing or saving to radius of the
building, laying on two layers OF
these, break joints, spiked together
For studding used 2x4, fourteen feet,
Tapped eighteen inches, and spiked to-
gether TO get proper height, set on
Sill one foot apart from center to
center, toe nailed at bottom. In
ordering studding get them sized
The plate at top is same as sill at the
bottom. The studding where doors
come should be double. Four doors
are used for taking out silage. They
are 21s feet wide by 31a feet high. l
used 2x4s cut to circle on inside. laid
on top of each other to fill the space
in place of doors and in filling lay
tarred paper against these on the in
side. The silage will mold it there.
ii you will put in few carpet tacks
to hold in place while filling.
Inside lining use No. l dressed
dencing resawed and split and sized.
BY ordering the fencing resawed quite
a saving will be made, as this charge
is about 81 or $3.50 a thousand. In
putting this on rip first board to get
a three inch piece so as to break
joints, spring to circle of stuiding.
nail on with Sd nails. Garry up for
a ways, then put on layer of three
ply acid and waterproof paper This
is much better than common tarred
paper. After this put on another
layer of lumber, then paint the inside
with coal tar. know some do not
advise this, but my experience shows
me that it is a presefvative. For out.
side, use one layer of same sheeting
as used inside, one coat of buildina
paper, cover with white pine, C siding
rabbeted. In putting on botn inner
and outer lining and siding break
joint as often as possible by starting
on alternate studs. All these boards
act as hoops, and this is where the
round silo gets its strength and why
1t is better than any other kind. II
silo Is less than twenty feet in
diameter the layer of half inch stuff
under siding may be dispensed with.
Use conical shingle roof, with good
ventilator, the diameter of which
should be at least one-fifth that of the
silo. A dormer window should be put
in roof above plat for filling. Do
not cut away the top plate to get this
window in, as the plate helps brace
the top. | use window sash for the
upper half of this to let in light. The
lower part is door hinged at the top
The opening, including door and win
dow, is shout feet s inches by 5 feet.
Rates are found of silage, and this
is the reason the bottom should be
and the foundation come
above the ground foot or more. II
am aware that some stave silos have
been found fairly satisfactory, but on
account of the shrinkage in drying out
in the spring the hoops get loose and
the wind is apt to rack or blow them
down. One of the important things is
to get the silo as deep as possible in
to the diameter. The |
deeper the silo the greater the pres
sure and the smaller the feeding
surface exposed. A silo 20 feet in
diameter and % feet deep will hold
about 107 tons. If you will add 10 feet
to the depth you will about double It's
capacity, or have PA tons. My silo
will hold $50 tons, and cost to build
in 1901 $3.50
The silage keeps perfectly. There
is practically no loss What shall we
put in our silo? Where corn can be
grown abundantly as in Iowa We