Imperial Valley press., 1923-05-08
Expert Advice On
How to Build Am
Economical SilO
By e. I. aAKTHwArTE

wv fbNi' - ufHtfHrt ~ tdtfN men
Who fcaG ;ae article on Silage as a
dairy feed. which was sent Ia each
dairyman in the Valley last month,
would gladly build silo and use il
if they thought that il would moi
rosi too much. For that reason The
subject Of This article will be
What Will n Silo Cost. -
Thctypes Of silo which seem best
adopted 10 Imperial Valley coHdi
lions are concrete or cement stave
silos, wooden stave silos, wooden
hoop or resaw silos. and pit silos.
will discuss these types in the order
Of their cost.
pit silo is the cheapest practical
Silo which can be built in Imperial
county at the present time. ID can
he used however only where the
the surface. This depth is necessa-
~ in order to properly pack the
si.,ge In this type of silo con
crete curb about inches thick is
first built and allowed to harden.
Then the dirt is removed inside
this curb down to the desired
depth. The wall is then plastered
with cement. Two layers of cement
are usually applied which gives a
cement wall about / inch thick. a
wall about four feet above ground is
then built This can be built of
brick, reinforced concrete, concrete
blocks, hollow tile blocks, or lum-
her. The purpose of this wall is to
increase the capacity of the Silo
and TO prevent animals and persons
from falling into the silo. The cost
Of such silo should be about $500
per ton capacity. The cost, of course
varies considerably depending on the
methods used in removing the dirt
Pit Silos inexpensive
Silos above ground are more ex-
pensive than pit silos. The pres
ent high price of lumber makes the
price even higher than in former
years. The cheapest satisfactory
silos above ground are probably the
resaw silos and the wooden hoop ST
los. The resaw silo is made by nail
ing either or 8 LAYERS of thin lam
her inside a framework of two bv
fours. Building paper is placed be
tween the layers of thin lumber.
The wooden hoop silos consist of
wooder hoops made from number
of layers of thin lumber, inside
which matched flooring is nailed in
vertical position. This form Of
silo is sometimes called the farm bu
reau silo. Either or these types OF
silo his the advantage that IT can
be built from thin lumber and that
it is quite rigid and is affected very
little by the wind. The cost of
either of these silos will be about
S5 to So per ton capacity.
Wooden Stave silos
The next type of silo is the Or
dinary wooden stave silo. Many
dairymen in this valley have had
experience with these silos. They
are all agred that this type of silo
is not satisfactory unless the silo
is securely anchored and braeed
against the wind and the hoops are
kept tight. However where they
. are properly cared for they have
been quite satisfactory. This of
flee has no very recent flgures On
the cost of wooden stave silos, but
they should cost about the same per
ton capacity as the wooden hoop or
resaw silos.
Probably the most satisfactory
types of silos for above ground are
the concrete and cement stave silos.
They are the most expensive to
build but will ;lso last the longest.
The cost of either of these types
will probably be around $500 or
more per ton capacity. No attempt
has been made to secure exact cost
figures for the wooden stave, con
crete or cement stave silos for it
was felt that there would be little
if any demand for them. If, however
any one wishes these figures, the
farm advisor office viii be glad
TO get them. Also if more detailed
information as 10 methods of build
ing or cost of any type Of silo, is
desired, this office will be glad TO
secure this information for those
interested.