558 DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



brush prairie, and the remaining two hundred and five acres 

 hi"li, rolling prairie. My great idea when selecting Gov- 

 ernment hind was, if possible, to get all the natural conven- 

 iences, nameljs wood, water, stone, meadow, and prairie, 

 within the compass of a half section, for the purpose of run- 

 ning a farm devoted to mixed husbandry. I did not expect at 

 that time, Aprils 185G, to obtain the advantages of the mar- 

 ket created by the junction of two great railroads. Having 

 begun thus early in the settlement of the State, on account of 

 the distance to market, with the idea of feeding on the farm 

 all the hay and coarse grain that could be raised and handled 

 in good season, and finding it profitable, I have continued in 

 the same old, and I think advisable rut, until the present 

 time. 



IMPROVEMENTS. 



All of the improvements on this farm have been made 

 with the same view of mixed husbandry. The buildings con- 

 sist of the following: A two-story stone house, tliirty-four feet 

 square, ^itli a kitchen twenty-one by thirty feet, and one and 

 one-hajf story wood-shed, with a cellar under the whole 

 of the large part, divided by a partition in order to have a 

 place to keep the products of the cow away from the vegeta- 

 bles and otlier articles usually kept in a cellar (see plan of 

 house) , a barn, forty-eight by sixty-four feet, with posts 

 twenty-eight feet, and cellar nine feet deep, devoted to cattle 

 and horses and the manure that is not scattered between May 

 and September , a one and a half story granary, wagon shed, tool 

 house, hennery, pig-pen, and sheep shed, all included under 

 one roof, thirty-four feet by fift3'-two, divided as follows : for 

 storing and cleaning grain, twenty-two by twenty-four feet ; 

 for Avagons, eight by thirty-four feet ; for tools, twelve by six- 

 teen feet ; for hens, eight by twelve feet , for sheep, twelve by 

 forty-four feet , a pig-pen fourteen by sixteen feet, and an ice 

 house twelve by twelve feet. 



BARN. 



The barn is built on a slope, so that on the west side, which 

 stands parallel to the public road, the sill is nearly level with 



