coonie minnie
Well-known Member
There have been numerous posts lately about silos and the history of silage, etc.
If the image comes through, this is a picture of an early square silo near me. In our neighborhood were around a dozen square silos such as this, with many still in existence. As I mentioned in a previous post, two of Wisconsin's first documented silos were built within a few miles of this one. Most were like this one- stone construction, square, often with twin silos side by side. In some cases, the original silo was rectangular, and a wall was built in the center later on so that the "face" of the exposed silage was smaller and didn't spoil so much.
Several of the ones in my neighborhood were like this one in the fact that they were added on to at some point with a poured concrete top addition. This has sort of assured their survival, as no one wants to knock them down, as they fear the stone wall crumbling and the large concrete chunk coming down in one piece and killing someone. The height added significant capacity, as the feed would pack more, and silage is a lot more dense at the bottom of a tall silo. This also reduced spoilage.
All of them that I know of were originally covered in wood, and either part of a barn or attached to one. This one was next to a barn that fell into disrepair in the 1980's. The barn collapsed perhaps 10 years ago, and the foundation bulldozed recently. All that remains is this "monument".
A few of these in the neighborhood were filled into the early 70's.
I hope some of you find this interesting...
If the image comes through, this is a picture of an early square silo near me. In our neighborhood were around a dozen square silos such as this, with many still in existence. As I mentioned in a previous post, two of Wisconsin's first documented silos were built within a few miles of this one. Most were like this one- stone construction, square, often with twin silos side by side. In some cases, the original silo was rectangular, and a wall was built in the center later on so that the "face" of the exposed silage was smaller and didn't spoil so much.
Several of the ones in my neighborhood were like this one in the fact that they were added on to at some point with a poured concrete top addition. This has sort of assured their survival, as no one wants to knock them down, as they fear the stone wall crumbling and the large concrete chunk coming down in one piece and killing someone. The height added significant capacity, as the feed would pack more, and silage is a lot more dense at the bottom of a tall silo. This also reduced spoilage.
All of them that I know of were originally covered in wood, and either part of a barn or attached to one. This one was next to a barn that fell into disrepair in the 1980's. The barn collapsed perhaps 10 years ago, and the foundation bulldozed recently. All that remains is this "monument".
A few of these in the neighborhood were filled into the early 70's.
I hope some of you find this interesting...