Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-03-10
Farm ing in the thM {
FOR MORE AND BETTER SlLUS
EIGHTH sHo A-sTICLE-cnnaete Blocks, Brick and ston1sdos, Etc.
By j, G. Hauey. ,Agr. Exten. Dept. International Harvester 90.

inch or more In thickness, by repeated
coats. and IL the structure Is well
badly effected by wind, which may
crack the plssterins on the inside.
such silos have roven very sat!sfact-
DRY. a good quality of metal lafh
should be used. 1t ts.we)1 to put one
coat Of cement on the back side OF
the lath. This prevents tire lath fro.-,
rusting and it will undoubtsdly pro.
long the life of the stlo.'#
In building the combined plaster
and wood silos, such aS described.
care should be taken to have n
foundation up well from the ground,
so that there would not be any undue
rotting Of the %studding, as this would
probah b.: be the greatest point Of
weakness in such a Ei,o,
What They Think Of the S~i,o--Sur1e3
in Scott County, Iowa.
By G. r. Bliss, Agent L. S, pept, OF
Agri., Davenport. Iowa
VIC have made a careful investi-
CATION Of $50 silos i'm Scott County be-
longing to- 100 different men. will
I give YOU our summaries.
II find that 2? out Of 100 stata
that the silc PAYS. One man re-
) marked that he did not fill his last
year because of the large amount OF
clover hay Crown. The average time
these siios have been III uee is four
and one-half weary. Se~venty-three OF
them are made Of wooden slaves. otc
cement Etave; twclltT-six hollow clay
blocks: three brick; concrete and
ono galvanized iron. When asked as
TO their present preference, the men
replied as follows: Fifty-one would
use the hollow clay blocks thirty
three would VS. the wood; six would
use ce,nent stave: five would use con
crete: one would use brick and min
were undecided. The average cost OF
~'i1esc silos is s:3A.oo: the average
dimensions arc IA feet by EST feet
high.
Siiagc Worth $3.50 Ter Ton.
II find that sixty-one Of these men
use water in filling their silos. and
thirty,nine do not. Il takes on the
average about nine acres Of corn to
fill These silos, at an average cost OF
$1.14 per ton to produce the sllaEe
The silo, The average estimate as to
the value OF the sllaee is $3.50, An
average Of two and four-tenttls inches
Of sllaE sc is fed off per day. Most of
the men only feed from SIX to eight
months during the year, Although
some feed throughout the entire
year.
All LNellEe OIL 4l.u: animals aIS
fed from each silo. These consist
approximately cf sixteen dairy COWS.
twenty-five beef, or young animals.
one and one-halt horses, one and
sever-terths ST, eep. Twenty men feed
horses. ten feed hogs Inc six feed
sheep: forty-six OF these men report
that silage is most valuable for dairy
cows; five for beef cattle: twenty
1.-TWO for all kinds OF cattle; six for
/ all Ejn6c rf Sfr1Is trrarf1p f4,- 1-NI1TO
cattle, and one for sheep. Eigthy-two
Of the me report very little loss from
freezing and eighteen state that they
had more or less loss. Twenty-one Of
the men report practically no loss,
except a little on top from spelling.
Se%vcntS-nine report losses verving
from, one per cent up to forty or fifty
per cent. Eighty-seven OF the men
report no bad results from feeding
silage and three state that they have
had some cases where bad results fol-
lowed either from bloatins, securing
or something else. Out OF the 4,439
animals fed. three are reported to
ila We died from, eating too much silaEe.
Essential Points of a SiIo.
The average capacity of these sila5
is III tons.
:, You will note from this summary
that We have some excellent. results
following the use of Silaee. l re-
gard the silo as n Of the two most
valuable factors in making farming
on higl1priced land pay, the other I
regard the growing of alfalfa. We
do not have any pit silos in this coun-
try. There are quite a number in the
western part of the state however.
, The essential points of a good
silo. as I regard them, are that it be
alright, that it be permanent, and
that it be very smooth and even on
the inside,
The hollow block or vtrified brick
silos seem to have the preference in
this country. There are nearly $50
s,los in the country. III I haven't az
yet been able to get reports from all
of them.
: Il cannot state definitely the
amount of milk which an acre of
{ corn will produce as .silaee. as com
pared with fodder. but think fully
I twice as much. I believe il will pro
, duce one-third to onc-half more beef.
The average farmer, under condi-
; tons which have prevailed. within the
i, past five years. can pay, for A silo in
, ltwo seasons.>provided Il is well put
UP and properly filled. T know OF
E some men who have paid for their
$ silos in ono season.
I The wood stavc and other form are
ITO be discussed in a succeeding articls