Commodious Barns 251 



crops, manures and im]3lements. The old cus- 

 tom of stacking the hay and grain, of allowing 

 the farm animals to toughen in the winter's 

 blast in field and barnyard, and the manures to 

 leach and bleach under the eaves of the build- 

 ing has, in part, been abandoned and better 

 methods substituted. These new methods re- 

 quire better, larger, and more commodious farm 

 barns. The modern and humane thought is, to 

 make all of the animals as comfortable, accord- 

 ing to their needs and conditions, as is their 

 owner in his well appointed house, and to pro- 

 tect everything that is worth protecting from the 

 storms. 



There are two fairly distinct methods of con- 

 structing farm buildings: the concentrated and 

 the distributive. The one aims to provide the 

 room needed by one or two large structures ; 

 the other by means of many detached small 

 buildings, each, where practicable, devoted to a 

 special purpose. The last method was the out- 

 growth of the conditions which usually prevailed 

 in a new country. First came the rude house 

 and the log stable. The stable was followed by 

 the modest barn, usually of the regulation size, 

 30 by 4:0 feet, with 12-, 14-, or, in rare cases, 

 16 -foot posts. As the arable land increased 

 another barn was built, then a shed, then a 

 wagon-house; followed by a corn-crib, a chicken- 



