The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-06-03

about small fruits fully, which / will
do al the proper time. But l would
say that you can get a little bookie
on this subject that l prepared for
Mr.. w. F.. Allen, OF Salisbury, Mary
land, one of the largest plant grow
ers in this country. He will send YOU
this and his catalogue free. and the
book will tell You more than | could
write in half a dozen letters.
How to Built the Best and Cheapest
SiiO.
Years ago the late Peter Hender-
son, in association with a Long Is
land farmer got up a book which is
called How the Farm Pays MIR.
Henderson,, like all cultivators raised
under English conditions, was a great
believer in roots. such as beets, tur-
nips and mangels for stock, and his
associate was a great believer in them,
too, and in the forage crop of Canada
peas and oats, and neither OF them
had any faith in the silO. n they
predicted that the fad for silos would
play out and the ruins Of silos would
be found dotting the farms wei.
But the fallacy OF their judgment
has been proved year after year as
silos have multiplied all over the land.
until an intelligent stOckman would as
sOO leave out a barn as to be without
a SilO.
No system ever devised for using
h corn crop for stock has proved SO
valuable as the sifo, and the evo1u-
ton in the form and construction has
gone forward with many advocates
Of different materials for their con-
struction.
The first silos were made square in
form, and many were made under
ground. 1t was soon found tina the
underground silo was too trouble
some when it came to the hosting out
Of the feed, and the square form made
it difficult to pack the silage in the
corners so that air got in and much
spoiled silage was the result.
Then at first it was thought neces
Sary to weight down the ensilage, put
ting a v Of boards on top and
then p1ling rocks or sand-bags on to
press down h ensilage.
have been all through the ensi1-
age-making practice. and did for a
time cover with boards and pile on h
rocks. And l did this in an under
ground, concrete-wal1ed silo. Then
when the silo was opened I found
right under the obards a black, stink
ing mass nearly a foot thick, and | got
to thinking, and came to the conc1u-
sion that the cover and weighing
were all wrong. The next season
determined to change, and in filling
my silos, I merely finished off with a
foot cover Of cut straw, and no rocks.
l had also come to the conclusion
that we were cutting the corn in too
green a state and the resulting silage
was very acid, though the cattle ate
it greedily. I, therefore, let my corn
stand till well in the advanced roast
ing-ear stage. That season when the
siIo was opened l found hat l had
after removing thes omewhat mo1dy
cover of straw the sweetest and bes1
Silage that l had ever made.
Then as a further improvement
cut off the corners Of the silos with
board partitions and DUN this an i'm.
,~provement. But 1 still found that the
cold cement walls were constantly
causing a condensation Of the moisr
ture and I had a good deal Of dam.
aged silage along the walls.
About that time l had let
tiers from a mill man VIII,
had conceived the idea Of max
ing stave silos in a round tub shape
and I told him that l believed the,
would be better than the underground
ones. Subsequent experiences proved
, that this was right. In the construc
: ton of the wooden stave silos the frs
: plan was to use iron hoops. Then tn
= difficulty came that the constant ex
! pansion and shrinking OF the hoop
. caused the slaves to open whel
empty. and it was hard to tighten u
e al " " ACIOuC Liz AL. y l
= air is admitted at bottom and side
there will always be damage.
: How to make a stave silo that woul
= stay perfectly tight was the problem
= This was finally solved by the dairy
men of northern Ohio, who began t
: construct cheap silOs with woode
y hoops. Wood does not shrink end
= wise, and it was soon found that tn
y wooden hoops had solved the problem
Now, how shall l make a silO wit
wooden hoops? Determine first I'll
) size OF the proposed silo according t
- the number Of cows you intend t
- feed. I do not hin that any sill
should ever be made less than te
feet in diameter, and the heisf
should usually be about twice the d
ameter.
e To make a silo with wooden hoop
first build a concrete OF brick has
- with a wall about two feet high
set the silo on. Then, to make tt
:, hoops, lay-off the circle on a bar
- ~