The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1914-05-21
PIT SILO ONLY COSTS SIS EACH.
IA Yietor SchodelmnYer.l

Pit silos, as practical as any AID the
most inexpensive kind for the man
with small means. are being extensive
ly used by farmers and stockmen in
the vicinity Of Liberal, Kansas About
25 underground silos. most Of them ~
feet deep and 10 feet in diameter and
circular in shape are being built,
though some a.e four.sided and only
about half as deep. Several pit silos
are almost two years old and have been
giving satisfactory service Reports
that these pit silos were a failure
brought the writer TO Liberal for in
vestigation. Not one complaint
against them was heard from She own
ere. and those who had but one silo
were thinking Of constructing more
The average cost OF pit sllo in the
Libersl district Of about 10 tons capac.
itv was s2j, including cost OF labor and
materials. No other silo can hope to
compete with such a showing. In or
der to lower the cost. farmers exchanR-
ed work with one another. having to
pay only for the cement, which in
75-ton silo OF the pit variety only
amounted to about $40 or Si2, accord
ing to the thickness Of the application
Of the size OF the "collar" &C the top
Important lessons have been learned
by the pioneer pit silo builders at Lib
eral. chief Of which is TO let an exper-
fenced mason or concrete worker do
the plastering. Improper mixture Of
material has caused some trouble in
small way, but in every case the silos
are giving a maximum OF service. In
just one instance did the owner aban-
don pit silo. This one was bull. by
William f. Hubbard and was unpro-
tected at the top with collar to pre-
vent tho rain from eiTecting the plaster
and the snow and ice from getting be-
tween it and the soil Every winter
large slices OF the concrete caved in
and made the silo worthless. Mr..
Hubbard acknowledged frankly that
the fault was all his and not the silo's
Concrete Block Collar Helps
Proilting by the mistakes OF Others,
o. M. Nix built collar twelve inches
wide and three feet deep around the
top Of his pit silo.
He drew circle the size he wanted
the diameter OF his silo and then dug
a trench three feet deep and one foot
wide and filled It with concrete. He
was familiar with handling cement and
had no trouble in getting the proper
mixture. After this collar had hard
ened he and his men followed the in
side circle 10 depth OF % feet after
which the concrete was applied in thin
coats TO the dirt walls. When stock
came too close to the edge of the silo
the collar saved the rim from crumb-
ling. Also the concrete collar kept
the rains and SHOWS from having any
effect on the top Of the silo. At took
three men Just three days to dig the
silo and the plastering took two days.
The expenSe for materials was about
$l5. To increase the capacity OF the
silo Mr. Nix is adding an extension Of
8 feet above ground Steel lath and
concrete are being used TO build this
extension Mr.. Nix filled the sIlo with
kailir off of 20 acres and milo OFT the
same area and fed 1t 90 % head OF
cattle and horses which wiatered in
fine condition. This year he will fiji
the silo with kalllr, milo and broom
corn, Many farmers around Liberal
are putting broomcorn into their silos
Liberal is the largest broomcorn re-
ceiving market in the world aud the
stalks are considered of considerable
worth as feed after tho heads have
been sent to market.
The best equipped pit silo is owned
by A q. Morell near Liberal. His
was built at a total expense of exactly
$2j-s7 80 for cement blocks with
which the silo is reinforced at the top,
and 81 so for plasterer's hire TO give
the walls three-coat application OF
and $40 for cement, lie says
that had he known as much about pit
silos as he now does he could have
saved So or SO in constructing u con
crete collar before digging the
hole in the ground, The concrete
blocks were an after thought and
wholly unnecessary says Mr. Morell i'll
the collar had first been put in The
layers Of plaster in the Morell sllo are
about an inch thick, making the total
thickness of the walls at least three
inches. He says it is folly to make the
walls thinner than that il the concrete |
Is to stand the variations OF tempera-
ture and the rains From the silo to
his dairy barn a hay carrier running |