4 WISCONSIN BULLETIN 266 



The high price of materials and the too often extravagant 

 use of them in building, has caused the majority of farmers 

 to reduce the amount of wood used in constructing their 

 barns and to make a judicious selection in order to secure 

 the best kind of wood. 



In the past, barn framing has been done by "rule of 

 thumb." In order to save material and to insure the neces- 

 sary rigidity of the structure, more attention is now being 

 given to the strength of materials and to matters of design. 



BUILD TO MEET FUTURE NEEDS 



A barn should not be built just large enough to accommo- 

 date the stock on the farm at the time of its building. A 

 good manager considers his farm as a factory and expects to 

 work his "plant" to its maximum economic capacity. The 

 barn is an important part of the farm factory plant and 

 should be large enough to accommodate all the animals the 

 manager can care for efficiently. The size can be determined 

 only after a careful study of the number of acres in the farm 

 and the quality of stock. 



Over capitalization is perhaps as poor a policy as under 

 capitalization. But the dairy farmer, especially, can afford 

 to -have a substantial, well arranged, well lighted, and well 

 ventilated building. 



BUILD ON WELL DRAINED SITE 



The first essential of a barn site is proper drainage. With 

 basement barns, which are the most common in Wisconsin, 

 it is difficult to obtain perfect drainage. The chief object in 

 building a basement barn is, as a rule, to provide an easy 

 driveway into the second floor; but as hay and grain can be 

 elevated easily or a bridge built leading to the second floor, 

 light and drainage should not be sacrificed for the doubtful 

 advantage of having a basement. 



A driveway can be built to the second floor that will not 

 shut out indirect light. In order to do this a concrete wall 

 needs to be built about eight feet from the barn and either a 

 reinforced concrete bridge or a wooden bridge should connect 

 the drive with the barn. The driveway in the barn should be 

 from 12 to 14 feet wide, and the drive approaching the barn 



