The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1914-09-18

cause air spaces between the sllage |
and the walls. Furthermore, the walls |
should be capable of standing consid-
cradle lateral strain without cracking |
or bullying. This is one reason why |
rectangular silos are so frequently un-
successful.
3. The silo must be deep enough so
that the pressure from above will
thoroughly pack the silage and force
out the air. The greater the pressure
the less air is left in the silo and the
less will be the loss of silage by fer
mentation.
4. The only form of silo to be recon-
mended is one which is round. This
form is generally the cheapest, ca
pacity considered, and the walls are
more rigid than those of the rectangu-
lar or octagonal forms. The round
form results In more perfect preserva-
ton of the silage.
Location Of the SIlo.
The silo should be placed outside
rather than inside the barn. AS a
silo ordinarily does not need the pro-
lection of a barn, 1t is not economical
to use barn space for this purpose. An
exception to this rule may be made in
the case of the round barn. A silo in
the middle of a round barn serves to
support the superstructure as we'll as
to place the silage in position for con-
venient feeding. A silo so placed,
however, is liable to be very incon-
venient to fill. The most popular To-
cation is few feet from the barn and
opening into separate feeding-room.
The door of the barn can then be
closed and the silage odors kept out
of the stable at milking time.
The diameter of the silo will depend
upon the amount of silage to be fed
daily. The silage should be removed
from the top at the rate of one and
one-half inches per day, depending
upon climatic conditions. The warmer
the weather the more silage must be
removed from the surface daily in or
der to prevent spelling. For the win
ter feeding season 1t is safer to figure
upon removing two inches daily than
upon a smaller amount. A common
error in building is to make the diam
eter too large for the size of the herd.
The practice of using silage to sup
plement pastures during the summer
droughts and in the early fall, instead
Of soiling crops, is becoming more
general, and it should be encouraged.
For such feeding the daily ration per
COW may be as low as ten pounds
depending upon the amount and quail
ity of pasture or other succulent feeds
available. For the same herd the silo
| for summer feeding should be of
smaller diameter than the one used
! for winter feeding, since three inches
instead of two are to be removed
summer feeding an additional silo of
smaller diameter should be con-
| structed.
The foundation of the silo should
receive special consideration, since a
large proportion of the silage as we'll
as the weight of the walls must be
supported by the foundation. 1t has
always been assumed that the founda-
ton supports only the walls of the
silo, but recent investigations have
shown this idea to be erroneous. The
foundation should have its base on
firm soil, and it should extend below
frost line.
If the earth in the bottom of the
silo is firm and comparatively dry, no
provision need be made for drainage,
and a floor is unnecessary. Still, a
concrete floor will make the silo cas-
Ter to clean and make 1t impossible
for rats to burrow underneath the
foundation wall and gain access to the
silage. If, however, the earth in the
bottom of the silo is inclined to be
seepy, a tile drain should be laid in II
and a concrete floor laid above the
tile. The thing should open into the
floor in the center and the floor
should be made to drain to it. The
thing should extend beyond the silC
wall and have it's outlet lower than
the floor The entrance of the tile
drain should be stopped with a loose
wooden plug when the silo is about to
be filled and should be opened when
the silo is empty. The drain will
carry off the water which tends tc
seep in as well as any rain water that
may collect on the floor, in case the
silo has no roof,
The doorways should be of such a
size as to permit the ready entrance
of man, and they should be close
enough together so that the silage will
not have to be lifted any considerable
height when it is being removed. The
usual size is about twenty inches wide
and 80 inches high, and the space be-
tween the doors two and one-half to
three feet. The lowest door should
not be more than five feet above the
bottom of the silo; less than this is de-
cirable,