THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 37 



barn, where a beam would be very much in the way, by fitting 

 a brace, without mortises, and bolting one end of it to the middle 

 post just below the plate, and the other end to the upper side of 

 the beam which supports the floor. Braces in such places, when 

 put in with tenon and mortise, almost always give way, and it is 

 not safe to rely upon them. 



18. When a roof is covered with wooden shingles, a little 

 care should be exercised in having the shingles three courses thick. 

 The distance which one course of shingles is laid above the 

 other, is called laying to the weather. If shingles are laid six 

 inches to the weather, and the greater part of them are a little 

 less than eighteen inches in length, the shingles will not be of 

 three thickness over the entire roof; but there will be many places 

 at the butts of each course, where the top end of the under 

 course does not extend far enough up the roof to receive the 

 water as it falls from the butts of the outside course. A new 

 roof often will leak because the shingles are laid more than one- 

 third of their length to the weather ; whereas, the courses should 

 be laid a little less than one-third the length of the shortest 

 shingles. 



OUT-BUILDINGS. 



19. Many farmers seem to prefer a lot of small detached barns 

 to one large one. But those who have ever had a cluster of 

 small barns, and afterwards came in possession of one larger one, 

 greatly prefer a large one to a lot of small ones. On the score 

 of economy, one large barn that will contain as much as three 

 or four small ones, will cost nearly one half less to erect it ; and 

 a number of small ones are never as convenient as one large one. 

 The young farmer, as a general rule, need have no apprehensions 

 that he will erect a barn larger than is necessary, for the com 

 plaint almost always is a want of barn room. Barn room usually 

 is all occupied ; and in most instances it pays a good interest ; 

 but so much redundant house room as is too frequently met with, 

 is a decided disadvantage to a farmer. A few years ago barns 

 were built with posts only twelve and fourteen feet in length ; 

 because it was so laborious and expensive pitching hay or grain 



