THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



39 



ten inches square, and supported at proper distances with middle 

 posts, they will be large enough for any barn. The beginner 

 should, at the commencement of a job, give the foreman direc 

 tions to let the ends of every beam into the posts not less than 

 half an inch, so that the superincumbent pressure will not all 

 rest on the tenons. 



21. The sleepers or joists of the principal floor should be 

 stiff enough to sustain any team and load without bending ; and 

 they never should be placed more than three feet apart from 

 centre to centre, even when two inch plank is used for the floor. 

 Two inch basswood plank, thoroughly seasoned, with the edges 

 plowed with a half-inch plow, a half-inch deep, and a tongue 

 neatly fitted, like Fig. 1, will make v as neat a barn floor as any 



FIG. 1. 



MANNER OF UNITING BARN-FLOOR PLANK. 



one can desire. Fig. 2 represents the best manner of uniting the 



FIG. 2. 



MANNER OF 3IAK1NG END JOINTS TO FLOORING. 



ends of plank or floor boards. In the absence of good plankj a 

 double floor of inch boards will subserve a good purpose. In 

 this case, a good coating of tar, or lime and- tar, should be laid 

 between them for the purpose of excluding wire-worms and all 

 other insects, and for rendering the floor tight and firm. 



22. "When there are a number of different kinds of timber in 

 the frame, such as soft and hard wood, the proprietor should see 

 that the workmen have three or four different sizes of nails in 

 their boxes. Every good joiner knows that it is not always 

 practicable to drive ten or twelvepenny nails into seasoned, hard 

 2* 



