FARM BUILDINGS. 643 



In a large portion of the country it will be necessary to build barns in a manner to secure 

 warmth; hence, they must be tightly covered and the floors well laid, that the cold air may 

 not blow in upon the animals. At the same time, good ventilation must be maintained. 

 &quot;While warmth is essential in a barn for the comfort and thrift of the animals, it is better 

 that the barn be cold, and good ventilation secured by air blowing through the cracks and 

 about windows, rather than that the. animals be made to constantly breathe the offensive and 

 tainted atmosphere of an ill-ventilated building. Many of the diseases to which cattle and 

 horses, as well as other domestic animals, are subject, are due to overcrowding and the breath 

 ing of the poisoned atmosphere of badly- ventilated stables. Cattle kept in such enclosures 

 cannot be healthy, and are totally unfit to become food for mankind. 



Location of Barns. The barn should be located at a convenient distance from the 

 farm-house, but sufficiently removed to prevent all contamination of air and water. It should 

 never be placed upon ground higher than the house, in such a manner that the drainage from 

 it, either on the surface or in the soil, will be able to reach the cellar, well, or the surroiind- 

 ings. Unless on a level, with the house, the barn should be placed on a lower level, if prac 

 ticable. The location should also be so chosen that the drainage from the barn-yard shall 

 flow upon the farm lands, that they may receive and absorb all the fertilizing elements that 

 may be washed from the yards in heavy storms, etc. &quot;We have frequently seen barns built 

 upon a road side, with a slope towards the highway into which all the wash from the yard 

 is carried, year after year. By this means much of the fertility that might be derived from this 

 source is lost to the farm. This may seem a small matter to those farmers who till the 

 prairie soil, possessing such a wealth of fertility that it requires no fertilizer in addition, for 

 the production of vast crops; but to the farmer whose soil is of such quality that it necessi 

 tates such a large supply of plant-food applied every year to render it productive, that it is 

 difficult to preserve, or secure the requisite amount, it means considerable. 



Other important considerations are involved in the location of a barn, such as the health 

 and comfort of the animals to be stabled in it; consequently dry land should be chosen, and 

 damp localities avoided;- also cold, bleak sites, or those that are inconvenient of access in 

 hauling loads to and from it. The old-fashioned custom of building a house on one side of 

 the highway and the barn on the other, nearly opposite, should also be regarded as obsolete, 

 and a better one substituted in its place. Frequently a locality will be found admitting of a 

 basement partly under ground, which will furnish the best facilities for a root-cellar, as well 

 as for other purposes. 



Plans for Barns. &quot;We shall not attempt to furnish plans that will meet in all 

 respects the wants of the builder, as this would be an impossibility, since the ideas, wants, 

 and tastes of each individual farmer differs so materially in this respect; but rather to give a 

 few general plans that may serve as suggestions and hints to the farmer in better determin 

 ing his own wants, and in carrying out such ideas in practice as shall subserve to fully meet 

 those wants in the most convenient and economic manner. While some of the plans of 

 model barns that have been inserted may prove quite too expensive for the ordinary farmer 

 to follow in detail, they may serve to suggest in certain respects what might be done on a 

 smaller scale, and but little or no more expense involved, than in the construction of many 

 of the inconvenient, uncomfortable, and uncouth structures called barns, that we so fre 

 quently see. 



Utility is one of the main considerations in constructing a building, and those are the 

 best that are best adapted to the purposes for which they are to be appropriated, whether 

 they cost much or little. Expense does not necessarily imply utility. We have seen barns 

 costing several thousand dollars that would not afford room enough for more than half a 

 dozen cows and three or four horses. These barns were highly ornamental in finish, with 



