38 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



to the top of them. But now that we have very efficient horse 

 elevators, out-buildings should be made much higher than they 

 formerly were. It costs but a trifle more to frame a post twenty- 

 four feet long than it costs to frame one fourteen feet long ; and 

 it requires no more rafters, and roof boards, and shingles, to 

 cover a high building than a low one. The posts of a large 

 barn may just as well be, and ought to be, twenty-four feet long, 

 as to be shorter. If such posts are eight inches square no one need 

 have any fears that they would ever prove too small ; providing 

 every one is well braced. Every additional brace gives addi 

 tional stiffness to a building ; and the young farmer should insist 

 on having the foot of every post braced, where they will not be 

 in the way, with as long braces as there is room for receiving ; 

 and each end should be well pinned. One brace at the foot of a 

 post, is more effectual in rendering a high building stiff, than two 

 braces at the top of it. The braces in a barn frame may face 

 with the inside of the posts ; and then they can cross the girts ; 

 and braces as long as can be received between the posts can be 

 used without interfering with the girts or studs. 



20. Jobbers will usually mutter and grumble when requested 

 to put in long braces on the inside of posts ; and will deny the 

 importance of having long braces, and of having the ends of 

 them well pinned. But these ideas have not been penned with 

 out knowing from experience how a building should be braced, 

 in order to render it as stiff as possible with a given quality and 

 form of materials. It is by no means the largest timbers that 

 can be worked into a building, which impart the greatest strength 

 and stiffness to the frame ; but it is the manner in which the framing 

 is performed. Every tenon, where it is possible, should pass 

 entirely through a sill or post ; and be well pinned with very 

 tough pins. The girts or girders should never be placed more 

 than four feet apart. If they are much farther apart, the outside 

 boards, which are nailed to them, will not be as firm as they 

 should be. The main beams should be not less than fourteen 

 feet from the floor ; so as to allow sufficient room for a load of 

 hay or grain to pass under them. If such beams are eight by 



