By Donald A. Windsor
Deputy Historian, Chenango County
When Dan Noble showed me the stone foundation of an octagonal silo (Souvenirs July 12), my first reaction was to find an intact one still standing. Fortunately, Dan told me where to find one.
There it is in the photo. It is located on the north side of County Road 21, just east of the intersection with Cole Road, in the southeast corner of the Town of Smyrna. This weather-beaten wood structure is as sturdy as it is stately. The owner once tried to pull it down with a tractor but could not. I am glad. I implored him to conserve it, because it is so rare. I suggested he sell it, so if a potential buyer is interested, let me know.
The top portion is constructed with a board and batten pattern, a style from the early 1900s. The bottom is simply planks. That diagonal line separating the top from the bottom is metal flashing left from the barn roof. Apparently, the top was outside and the bottom was inside the barn, which has since been razed. The silo is about 30 feet tall and 16 feet across. Its double walls are separated by 8-inch horizontal boards. I could not inspect it very closely because a hyperactive swarm of busy bees resented trespass. The peaked roof is square and the original wood shingles are partially covered with rusted metal. The chute encloses a ladder up to that window on top.
According to Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick in his 1933 book, “A History of Agriculture in the State of New York”, page 365, silos have been in use since antiquity, usually as pits in the ground. However, above ground silos are a rather recent invention. In 1875, Manley Miles of the Michigan Agricultural College wrote an influential book on silos and silage. In 1882, only 92 farmers in the whole United States had above ground silos (hereafter just called silos). By the early 1900s, nearly every dairy farm had one.
Silos were built of wood, tile, concrete, stone, and glass. Currently, raised beds and plastic wraps are being used instead. Silos are round so that silage will not get stuck in the corners and spoil. Silos have smooth sides, so that the silage will settle evenly. The two forces driving silo construction are keeping the air out, to foster fermentation while preventing rotting, and having enough height to compress the silage, driving out even more air. Silage is fermented vegetable matter, such as hay or chopped up corn stalks, kept in a succulent state.
Locally, the silo business was pioneered by William Craine, who built his first triple-wall silo in 1901. It had an inner wall of thick wood staves, a middle layer of acid-proof felt, and an outer layer of thin wood sheathing. According to the 1919 Norwich Directory, the Craine Silo Company was located at 27 Sheldon Street.
The first wooden silos were square or rectangular and built inside the barns. However, the wood soon rotted, especially in the corners. The round silo built outside substantially reduced the rotting. I assume that the octagonal silo was a compromise between the round silo and the square one, where 90 degree corners were splayed out to 135 degrees. I suppose that other designs may have been tried, such as pentagonal and hexagonal.
An article by Sandra Freeman in the February-March 2003 issue of “Farm & Ranch” magazine reports an octagonal silo in North Dakota that has the date “March 21, 1916” scribed in its concrete foundation. Its outer boards run horizontally. Chances are that the specimen in my photo was built in the same time frame, early 1900s.
The big question I had upon embarking on this silo kick was how the silage is removed, from the top or from the bottom. (Hey, give me a break; I am a city boy!) It turns out that both ends are used, depending on the silo type. Originally, silage was heaved off the top with a multi-tined silage fork. This must have been a hazardous ordeal. Now mechanical unloaders rake the top layers with a revolving contraption, so a round silo works best. I have been told that those blue steel silos, lined with glass, have unloaders at the bottom.
Exactly how rare octagonal silos are around here I do not know. However, since I photographed this one, I have noticed several others. Perhaps there are about a dozen or so in the county. Most old silos are on private property and not close enough to the road for me to see them clearly.
Even round silos are on their way out. Once they start leaning, they either fall down on their own or get pulled down as a safety precaution. Every year some more barns collapse and take their silos with them. Alas, the older I get, the more I empathize with these aging, weather-beaten structures. In a few decades, no more silos may remain for future generations to see. So as long as they are not bothering anybody, I urge that they be left standing. Silos are an important part of our history and a notable fixture of our rural landscape.