The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-04-09
Time To Be Think
ing Of Silo Building

Make Preparations Now and
Have the silo Built in Time
tp Be Filled This Fall
The question of which is the
best silo, is keeping many farm
ers from having any. The big
question is not, which is the best
silo, but, have you a siloY A
man without a silo cannot af-
ford to waste valuable time try
ing to decide which is the best,
any more than a drowning man
can afford to refuse help from
a red-haired man because he
wants to be saved by "a black
haired one. The more we study
silos the more convinced we are
that there is no best silo. They
all have their good and bad
points.
Out of fortyodd silos visited
the past year, we find seven diff
ferent types. Only three out Of
the forty owners want to change.
The wcod-ktave silos are like
the light autos, in that there
are more of them and every one
who has no silo or has some
other make is finding fault with
them. The fac, is that wood
staVe silos have made good with
most owners. Other makes have
also made good, 30 there is little
if any cause to complain. Cement.
silos are very good when proper
ly constructed. There is no
truth in the idea that silage eats
cement. Cement will chip or
peel where moisture gets into it
and freezes, but properly made
cement foundations and silos
will not be affected in that way.
Men who are afraid Of cement
silos usually have cement founda-
tions under their silos, whatever
type they may be. If the cement
in the foundation is all right;
cement will do in the rest Of the
llo. Clay tile silos are doing
all that was expected Of them,
except that they were supposed
to keep out the frost.
The frost proposition is not
settled by any make Of silo yet
invented. Out of the forty
silos reporting, the frost varied
from two to twenty -four inches.
The average for the seven diff
ferent types is about the same.
The silos having one:!inch walls
were, in some cases, frozen less
than the heevy air-spaced and
insulated silos. One man hav-
ing two silos found one frozen
about fifteen inches and the
other not frozen at all. The diff
ference, however, was due to the
corn being more mature in one
than in the other, and the silo
with the ripe corn not being OPP
ened until after the cold weather
was over. Two silos Of the
same nuke with about the same
conditions showed q difference
in frozen si'age Of nearly twelve
inches. The silo with the most
frost had been filled first, using
green corn, no effort had been
made to keep the center Of the
alage highest or to keep the
frozen silage cut away from the
walls. The silo having only three
inches Of frost had been filled
with ripe corn and kept level,
leaving no silage ON the walls.
Thin-walled cement silos seem
to have one advantage, as in
mild weather the silage will fall
off the walls.
Some Of the thin-walled cemelt
silos showed remarkably little
frost. Probably the instructions
furnished the owners by the silo
company accounts for this. The
company instructs their men to
keep the slage level, the doors
alage on top after throwing out
what is needed each time. There
is no doubt but that the same
instructions followed. out would
help to make other types of silOs
more popular in regard to the
frost question.
The cheap homemade silos are
doing remarkably we'll. Most
homemade silos are Of y inch
lumber bent, inside Of studdings
placed twelve inches apart. Two
Ithicknesses Of lumber with pa
per interlining make up the wall.
The first cost is small, being
about 5000 for l4x30 alo. While
they are. well worth the money,
there are some good arguments
for putting up more permanent
types. as a more permanent silO