Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-08-25
silos On the Increase.

. IL SASC va sa.EA'
There Is perhaps no farm improve
more rapidly than the silo. In travel
ing over this region, new silos are
seen In nearly every ne~ighborhood.
There does not seem to be a FREEDOM
nance Of any particular kind Of silo,
which indicates that all kinds must be
good. In fact, there is perhaps but
n kind Of silo that will not enable
live stool to make greater profit-the
kind their owner has in his head.
The Kind of silo to Build.
Perhaps the first question that
when they have arrived at the con-
clusion that they should have q silo,
is What kind Of silo shall Ibutld?"
There Ia perhaps more time wasted in
discussing this than necessary, and
especially is there a great waste in
arguing the merits of the various
kinds of silos, many of which are SO
similar as to make very little differ
ence in any way.
be similar in many respects: that ts,
they must all embody the essential
features.
Essential Features of the Silo.
/. The Rsilo must exclude all air
from the silage which 1t contains.
Q. The wallis of the silo must be
smooth and perpendicular so as to
admit Of the silage settling in such a
way as to exclude air. The walls
must also be built Of such material,
or 80 supported, that they will stand
upon them by the silage. That is,
If the silo is made of lumber it should
be sufficiently supported so that no
cracks would open up, and admit air,
which would spoil the silage. II
brick, stone OF concrete is used they
should be sufficiently reinforced to
Withstand any pressure which may be
'exerted on them.
8. The silo should be Of such
pressure exerted from above, 80 that
the silage would settle SO as to force
out all air. The greater the pressure
the less air left in the silage, and
consequently the less loss. there
would be from fermentation.
A. The only form of silo which ID
now used to any extent is the round,
or octagonal silo. This FORM Is the
cheapest to construct, Is less apt TO
open up and admit air, and to pre-
serve the silage much better than any
form. The rectangular silo has
been used in ome cases, but not with
out great expense in building, or they
resulted in considerable loss OF silage.
s. The silo must also be economi-
cal in construction. and durable after
once constructed. The material of
which the silo is. ~constructed may be
determined largely by the availability
construction.
The location on the Silo.
The location Of the silo 10 a matter
that should be carefully studied
There is perhaps no building on tht
farm that will mean 80 much to con-
venience In its location, as the silo
Silage necessarily is heavy to handle
andEfor this reason provision should
be made for as little handling as pos
sible. In this region It is desirable
that, IL possible. the silo should be
protection, because of the fact thai
freezing is e very serious matter II
the siIo.
1t IS generally not considered ad'
visable to have the silo inside the
barn, although there Is no specia
reason why it should mot be. How.
ever; In dairy barns the Sodor from
the silaga frequently affects the milk
Also. the siIo would be occupying
for other purposes. The only occa-
sion when the silo might be located
within the barn is when the barn Is o.
a circular type. The siIo, when 10
lcated fnSthe center OF acircular barn
is certainly most convenient . feed
ling.
However. ae q general thing Thu
siIo had best be located at one end
or side or the barn. adjacent to tht
lbe carried from the allo to the stocI
with the 16ast pO9yitlo froubIa.