The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1916-04-08

| Thomas C. Wilson, a young farmer
with growing herd of grade Jerseys,
got the idea that he wanted a sllo.
| After looking through various catal-
| ogues and getting the prices on differ
ext makes of silos he found his fin
ances were too low to Justify him in
| buying one, for the time being at least
unless he could make one. Anyhow,
on account of this being new dairy
country, Mr.. Wilson thought silos
were too new a thing to justify him in
! going to so much expense for the size
| OF herd he then had.
Following the carpenter trade more
or less on the side with his farming,
| Mr.. Wilson decided to build a home
made silo of some type. Wanting
something durable and not too eXpen-
sive, he thought of a concrete block
type. Looking through various adver-
tisements he found he could buy a
could make the blocks for silo build
| ing. With an unlimited supply of
sand and gravel on the beach at
Lewes, which was only three miles
away and could be had for the cost of
| hauling, Mr.. Wilson decided to buy
the block making machine to make
this type of silo.
! At spare time through the summer
ard fail the necessary " loads Of
sand and gravel were naued. these
ingredients were already mixed in
about proper proportions when hauled
from the beach so it was only neces-
sary to mix in the cement to make a
proper mixture of concrete for the
! blocks. Mr.. Wilson and his l4-year-
old son in their spare time during the
| fail and winter made all $40 blocks
necessary for the construction of the
silo. + or his mixture he used l part
of cement to 3 parts of the mixture of
sand and gravel just as it came from
the beach. This made rich mixture.
Mr.. Wilson said if he We're building
again he would use little less cement.
lhese blocks were so strong that dur
ing the construction of the siIo one
fen from height of about rs feet and,
striking another block on the ground,
broke neither one. With the machine
and working steadily they could make
60 a day. These were kept wet for
four days in order that they would
harden properly.
! The size of the blocks is 8x10x16
inches. The center of each block was
followed making a partly dead air
space. The ends of them were made
dove tailed and when building the silo,
these ends We're tlled with cement in
order to hold them together and to
strengthen the silo. To still further
reinforce the silo a small groove was
made running lengthwise through the
center of the top of each block. A
double row of number nine wire was
imbedded in this groove around each
layer of blocks.
The silo when completed had an in
side diameter of 10 feet inches, and
a height including 10 inches in the
foundation of % feet 6 inches. Door
frames the height of three blocks and
ore and one-half blocks in width were
held in place by the reinforcement
wires imbedded in the blocks. The
following items show most of the cost
: except minor ones, and shows what
may be done by any farmer who has
! the raw materials, the time and the
inclination Cement required in max
! irg and laying Of blocks, $50; labor of
building (hired) $50; Mr.. Wilson's
own labor. S12; roof, $25; reinforcing
wires. $3.50; doors and door frames,
$3.50. Total $l45.-Hugh Fergus.