Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-03-02
The Kind Of silo to Build.

comes into the minds OF eve1So'o'
! when they have arrived at the con
~iclusion that they should have q SLY;
IL What kind Of silo shall l oulia
There is perhaps more time Wassea and
discussing this than necessary: anu
~especially is there q great waste tn ar
Euing the merits of the various KINGS
Of silos, many Of which are 80 similar
as to make very little difference !"
any way.
1t may be said that all silos must
! be similar in many respects; tnat rs,
they must all embody' the essent'a
features.
Essential Features Of the silo.
J.. The silo must exclude all air
from the silage which 1t contains:
2. The walls Of the silo must be
smooth and perpendicular so as to ad-
nit Of the silage settling in such a
L. way as to exclude air. The walls
must also be built of such material.
or so supported. that they will stand
the pressure which may be exerted
upon them by the silage: That IS. II
the silo Is made Of lumber 1t should
be sufficiently supported so that no
cracks would open up. and admit air,
which would spoil the silage. If brick.
stone or concrete is used they should
be sufficiently reinforced to with
stand any pressure which may be ex-
erted on them.
8. The silo should be Of such depth
that there would be sufficient press
ure asserted from above. so that the
silage would settle SO as to force out
all air. The grfater the pressure the
less air left In the silage, and mi
from fermentation.
The only firm Of ai10 which iS
now used. to any extent Is the round
OF octogonal silo. This form is the
cheapest to construct. Is less apt to
open UP and admit air, and they pre-
serve the silage much better than any
other form. The rectangular silo has
been used, in some cases, but not
without great expense in building, or
they resulted in considerable loss ot
silage.
s.. fhe silo must also be economic
al in construction, and durable after
which the silo Is constructed may be
determined largely by the availability
of such material as are used in silo
construction.
The Location of the Silo.
The location of the silo is a matter
that should be carefully studied.
. 46 PCA Nv -pOA&AAli6 oh AS
farm that will mean so much to con
venience in its location, as the silo.
Silage necessarily is heavy to handle,
and for this reason provision should
be made for as little handling as pos
sible. In this region il Is desirable
that, IL possible. the silo should be
located where 1t would have some
protection. because Of the fact that
freezing is a. very serious matter in
the silo.
1t is generally not considered adj
visable to have the silo inside the
barn. although there is no special
ever. in dairy barns the odor from
the silage frequently affects the milk.
Then, the silo would be occupying
space in the barn that might be used
for other purposes. The only occa-
sion when the silo might be located
within the barn Is when the barn is
of q circular g. The silo, when 10.
Gated In the center Of a circular barn,
Is certainly most convenient for feed
However, as a general thing the
silo had best be located at one end
of the barn. adjacent to the feeding
ried from the silo to the stock with
the least possible trouble.
IT is, also advisable, when possible.
to Sc build the silo that it will be
connected to, and be supported by the
barn. Thi 8 is especially advisable
when the wooden silo is built in UNI
protected regions, where winds are
apt to damage the silo during the
summer. while it is empty.
In this region, where it may be ad-
visable to have as much Of the silo
as possible underground. the location
may be determined somewhat by the
conditions Of the soil. That is, along
the coulee banks. or banks Of streams,
there is less apt to be trouble with
water in the silo than there would be
back some distance from the banks.
The size Of the silo should be de-