662 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



suppose an impossibility. It is true, pigs are able to live and grow in such places until they 

 are large enough to kill, but it must be remembered that most of them are killed before they 

 are a year old, not giving time for the disease, caused by ill ventilation and darkness, to 

 mature sufficiently to cause death, but it will generally mature enough to make the animal 

 unhealthy, and thus render the pork an undesirable food. 



The farmer loses in more than one direction by keeping his animals in an unhealthy 

 place. In the first place, he loses by not getting as much flesh for a bushel of meal, and in 

 the second place, he loses by feeding his family on the flesh of unhealthy animals. It may 

 not create immediate sickness, but the constant eating of unhealthy food undermines and 

 breaks down the most robust constitution, and renders it a mere wreck, often without the 

 cause being suspected. 



The farmer should ever keep in mind the fact, that, if he would keep his family 

 healthy, he must keep the animals, the flesh of which they are to eat, in a healthy, thriving 

 condition, and he should also remember that he can do this only by giving them good food, 

 and keeping them where they can have plenty of pure air and bright sunshine.&quot; 



It is no wonder that mankind are subject to so many diseases, when the first principles 

 of sanitary laws with respect to the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, 

 are so utterly disregarded. 



Doors, Scaffolds, etc. The doors of tho main floor of the barn should be wide and 

 high. Narrow or low doors will prove a great inconvenience, and should never be made in 

 any building, especially a barn. Sliding doors set on rollers are generally preferred to hinges. 

 Where the latter are used, the hinges should be strong, and hooks arranged to fasten them 

 open when desired. Stable-doors should also be of good size. 



Means should be provided for safely locking all the barn-doors, in order to keep out 

 intruders. Windows can scarcely be too numerous in a barn. Light is essential to the health 

 and comfort of animals, as well as mankind; besides, it is much more convenient to have suffi 

 cient light in the barn while performing tho necessary work there. Good stairs leading to 

 the scaffolds are much more desirable than the ladders commonly used by farmers. These 

 can frequently be so arranged as to be fastened up out of the way when desired, as in the 

 barn first described in this department. A portable step-ladder will also prove a great con 

 venience for occasional use. 



All the bays should have tight floors, and be elevated at least from two to three feet 

 from the ground. The loose floors of scaffolds so commonly seen in barns are very objection 

 able, as the hay-seed and dust are liable to sift down into the stables. In order to obviate 

 this difficulty, the floors of the scaffolds that are over the stables should be lined and made 

 perfectly tight. For the safety of the crops, comfort of the animals, and the prevention of 

 injury to the building, the roof should be kept in good repair, and all leakage prevented. 

 The walls under the barn should be made tight in the main, but there should be openings 

 left for ventilation on opposite sides. The main floor should be smooth and well laid, and 

 the floors of the stables made of heavy plank, and of the most substantial character. 



Eave troughs should be provided for the barn and adjoining sheds, in order to prevent 

 the large quantity of water that falls upon the roof from washing into the yard. By this 

 method a , supply of water could be furnished for the stock, if no better means of watering 

 were provided. Lightning-rods are also a great protection. Some arrangement should be 

 made for protecting the manure from being washed by the rains, and evaporated by the heat 

 of the sun, when not stored in cellars, or carted directly from the stables on to the land. The 

 barn-yards should be so located that the drainage from them will flow upon the farm lands, 

 and also so as to receive water from no other source. It is a good plan to make them a little 

 lower in the center than at the outer limits, in the form of a shallow dish. By this means, 

 the drainage is retained, which may be absorbed by the use of loam or dry muck, and add 



