FARM BUILDINGS 201 



About a year after I came to Cornell the Presi- 

 dent asked me if I would not like to have a new 

 barn. I said I was not ready for that; I did not 

 want to duplicate the mistakes of my predecessor 

 and I was not yet sure what branches of farm 

 activities should be most emphasized. It was not 

 until 1880 that the "model barn" was erected; 

 by that time the University authorities had become 

 very anxious to get the old barn removed from 

 the Campus and so their response to my request 

 for a new barn was prompt and cordial. The 

 Building Committee of the Trustees located it, but 

 after that they left me to plan and build it accord- 

 ing to my own judgment. 



The barn was an L-shaped structure and, as I 

 remember, 128 feet long and 120 feet broad 

 when the piggery was added later, 140 feet broad 

 and like the Dutchman's horse, " the biggest 

 the way you measured it last." The lower story 

 was devoted to the dairy animals and from their 

 feet to the top of the metal cow surmounting the 

 lightning rod which projected about four feet 

 above the cupola, was just one hundred feet. The 

 basement also contained a covered yard, an engine 

 and boiler, an ice house, a root cellar and a milk 

 delivery room. The horses, wagons, granaries 



