The year is nearing the end and it soon will be 2013 so I figured I would start an ‘old’ week to finish out the old year. And since I rarely post pictures of people, I won’t post a picture of myself for the old week.

An article in the December 1924 edition of The Wisconsin Magazine of History stated “Little notice, however, was given to the silo, which has played an important role in the dairy industry. The fact that one-fifth of the entire silo-using population of the United States is in Wisconsin testifies to the economic importance of the silo. At the time of the advent of the silo in this state, land was increasing in value and feed was becoming high-priced. Under these conditions many of out farmers were unwilling to carry a herd of cows through the winter, finding it was not profitable to do so. Many would sell in the fall and buy again in the spring, this being able to pasture the herd and throwing the wintering losses on others. The silo greatly reduced the cost of wintering cows and thereby introduced a fundamental improvement in the business of dairying.”

The first trench type silo built in Wisconsin was in Fort Atkinson in 1877 by Levi Gilbert and the first above ground silo built in the state was erected in Oconomowoc during the summer of 1880. The next years brought experimenting with foliage rates the cows would eat and silo designs. Professor F. H. King, of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, introduced the round silo in 1891 which reduced the spoiling that was found in the corners of square silos. In 1904, there were a reported 716 silos in Wisconsin and by 1923, there were 100,060.

Driving on the back roads, one can see various designs of the older silos but this is the only one I have spotted so far which looks it has a spool on the top.

Spool Top Silo