152 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



members, of old carts, wagous, sleds, and hencoops, lie 

 crumbling to decay ; worn-out stoves, stove-pipes, and tin- 

 ware ; rotting gate-posts ; and knotty " chunks " from the 

 wood-pile that won't split ; broken barrels, broken crockery, 

 hoops and hoop-skirts, " leach-tubs," iron kettles, ash-heaps, 

 bones, and old boots. "When into the midst of thcfc interest- 

 ing relics the outlet of the sink-drain is turned, with occa- 

 sional overflows from the barnyard, the pig-pen, and the 

 lien-house, the homestead can boast a veritable Slough of 

 Despond, unsightly, unsavory to the last degree, and an un- 

 failing source of tjphus-fever and diphtheria. 



This, however, is not architecture. 



A farm-barn has commonly a fourfold use, — the protection 

 of the live-stock against inclement weather, the storage of 

 food for the stock, the manufacture and preservation of fer- 

 tilizing material, and the storage of machinery, which, as the 

 school-books say, includes every thing from a shingle-nail 

 to a steam-engine, — shovels, hoes, and harrows; saddles, 

 bridles, and ox-yokes; wheelbarrows, mowing-machines, and 

 the family chariot. 



That part of the barn which shelters the stock should be 

 built accordingly. It should not only keep out the rain and 

 snow, it should keep out the wind and the cold as far as 

 possible. It should be light, thoroughly ventilated, and 

 always dry. 



Whatever materials are fit to build a farmhouse are also 

 fit for this part of the barn, and vice versa. 



It is not necessary that hay and grain should be wrapped 

 in blankets to keep them warm ; nor will it hurt the farm 

 implements to stand in a dark, cold room, provided they are 

 kept dry. 



Common sense would therefore suggest that a barn which 

 is to shelter stock may be an entirely different structure from 

 the mere storehouse ; and the usual mode of combiniuir the 

 two in one involves either a needless expenditure for the 

 storehouse, or incomplete protection for the stock. 



Ihe manufacture and preservation of fertilizing material I 

 put in the barn, because they belong to that department 

 rather than to the house : strictly they belong to neither. 



The elementary principles of economy have scarcely been 

 learned as yet in this matter. The old-fashioned farmers 



