w*5araHisB?s» 



^\)t iarmtr's illcintl)li) ibioitor. 



fm^mi^ssm^^ 



im 



a tail stalk of lif-ivls-riviss or titijolliy, iiieasiirin^ i 

 five H^t and tiiree incliesf; jiiowiiif; on a noil 

 (liadt! lifli iVoiii tli<; wnsli <it'(iirrii hiiililiiifrs. 'i'lie 

 product ol' the sajiic ^MOiiud iji Ifiii was live feet 

 jiiul tivo iiK'lws. 



(_»iir hands ai-e llii.s<l«y (Ao};. ),) inovviiij; hf5<ls- 

 giass (jnile as lall fls ihi; aliove^ gio^inf; out ol' 

 (lif clay-inaj-l uasiied Ijoin the tijundation bank 

 of ilie pine plain, on tliu easterly side oC tlie 

 MeriiHiai'k liver. 



dy" To Mr. Barrett, who lias removed from 

 Winner (o FranUliii, N. H., are \v(! tinlher iii- 

 <leiin'd lor two of llii>se jnipi'OVe<l i^i'y iIh^ Siicatlis 

 wliiili have neaijy l)i(ni;;hl ihe mower's art to 

 perleclion and rendered cdisolete the coilijilaint 

 ol loosened or bad banking scythes. 



From the Complete Krirmer. 

 15ARNS. It is a cotninoii practice, and with 

 mam a t;eueial rule, to bnilil a liirni-lioiise a<i- 

 jniiiinif, and |«'iba|)s in eoiitui i wiih the sheds, 

 liains, anil oiher oiithonses. When the bnild- 

 iii;;s are ibns all sitnaled in one clump, it' one 

 takes tire, the whole will, pr<d}alp|y, he consumed. 

 Besi<les, it is disaj^reeahle and luiu holesoine to 

 live loo near manure In'aps, aixl as it were in the 

 (iiidst of your herds of cattle ami s^viiie. The 

 limn shonid, llieretiire, be placed at a convenient 

 dislance iVom (he <lwellin^'-honse anil oilier build- 

 iiigs,l)iit as near as may be withont dandier ol" tire 

 or annoyance from the effluvia ot' manure heaps. 

 Too low ;i spot will be miry in spriiiff and (all. 

 Too bijib an iMiiineiu'i; will lie inconvenient foi' 

 drawing' iti loads, and on account cf savinj^ and 

 inakln;.' maiinre. ll' olber ciicum.stances permit, 

 it tn.iy he best to place a barn in such a manner 

 as to (lelend the dwelling-bonse liiim the force 

 of the coldest winds. 



The size of the barn should be proporiioimte 

 to the produce of the farm ; for in this country, 

 where huildin;: is not expensive, all the hay and 

 ^rain should be placed nndei- cover. It is a bad 

 praciice to leave bay in slacks, in the meadows 

 wheie it is cut, to be ihere foddered out to the 

 caitle ill the course oftbe winter. By this mode 

 of inalinjiement the mamire is almost lost. The 

 jirnimd under and iie.ir the slack receives some 

 beiietit Irom the droppini,'s ofllie cattle,the lillei', 

 liny-seeds, (Sec, of the stack. But this benefit is 

 Iriflinjr, as the sun, air, and rains soon exhale and 

 Wiisli away the muiime, which being left on the 

 surface of the soil, is soon given to the winds 

 and waters. 



The farmers of the older parts of Pennsylva- 

 nia, seneially, build very large barns, and to pre- 

 vent the bay or grain from healing in a large 

 now, four poles or pieces of timber are set up in 

 he iniddle, so as to form within ibeiu a square 

 spsice of about two feel. The poles are braced 

 ly cross pieces atceriain distances. Through toe 

 iperture thus made ibe extni moisiure in the hay 

 or grain has a chance to escape, so as to prevent 

 Is being mow-burnt. Their barns are usually 

 bnilt of stmie, and in the walls a large number 

 of small holes are made for the adniissiim of air. 

 riieir callle are chiiHy all housed, and their 

 lung is undercover, when thrown out of the 

 ^tables, lo prevent its being injured by the r.ains. 

 The roofs of Ibe barns are u-iually puinled, to 

 iireserve them against the weather. 



'The floor of the barn should be kept tight, so 

 hat the grain cannot tjdl through in ibre.-limg; 

 Old for this [lurpose it shonid have a layer of thin 

 loards under ll. It is most advisable also to have 

 I place set apart in the barn for the purpose of 

 ;loring away the grain after it is threshed. The 

 ins for the grain should be made id' hard plank, 

 o prevent the rals and mice from eating through 

 hem, and should have lids, which can be fast- 

 :ne<l down wUli padlocks.' 



The lollow'ing is a description of a large barn 

 mill in till' town of Hancock, I'erkshiie county, 

 lassachusetts, by the family of !?hakers located 

 n that place: 



The barn is built on ground inclining soutb- 

 vardly, in a perfect circle, and is ninety feet in 

 liairieter across it from side to side. The walls 

 re of stone, twenty-two feet in height, of a sui- 

 iible thickness, and laid in lime, and well poinl- 

 d on each side. Round the barn, on the inner 

 ide, are stables, finining a circle, the manger 

 within, and suitable places over it to throw or 

 ed down the hay; the stable and manger occii- 

 y about twelve leet, and are eight feet high; the 



stables open lo and from several dilfercm twirii 

 yard.s, in order to make as many and such <livis- 

 ions of .stock as they have ihoMght proper. The 

 covering of the stables liirms the harn fl<ior, 

 which also <;\tcnds i-tnind Ihe barn. Th<re is 

 but one large door-way for entrance with teams 

 and loads; this is from the norlliern sid<', from 

 un oft'set or causeway, eight feel alrove the base, 

 and of course fourteen It'ia below the eaves. The 

 cart or wagon that eiilers with « load ina(<es the 

 whole circuit of the Hour, jukI after unloailing 

 comes out at the same door ; thus eiyht or ten 

 team.s w lib their loads can occ<ipy the lioor tit one 

 time in nnloading, and not hinder each other. — 

 Within ibis circle of the stabler and barn lloor 

 is nn area or Aa(f, as it is usnally called, wliich is 

 filled with hay, (S,;c., w liich must be over sixty 

 feet in <liaiiieter. This is pitched in an<! on from 

 one side or place most convenient, or where 

 wanted. 



The roof comes to n point at the center, and 

 sheds ort the rain all round, something simikir to 

 an umbrella. It is sujipurled liom the itiner ('ir- 

 cleof the barn floor. The roof boards arc laid 

 up and (low n, which, by d transverse sawing of 

 the log, svere .all brought to a point, and then 

 shingled ifnind ill the usual mode. 



A writer for the New England Farmer, whose 

 coin.nnnicalion was published, vol. iii. p. 81, des- 

 cribes 'a barn vil'ordinary size, and ihe main part 

 of it bnilt in the usual shape, but u good deal 

 neater and tighter. The b;i\swere upon each 

 side of the niioi,and the bnltoms ofthemwere.-imk 

 eight feet below. This gave room Ima large ipiaii- 

 tityofhay below the floor. The large doors were 

 towards ihe soulli, to admit the sun, when nec- 

 essary, with a small door in one oftbe large ones 

 to enter at when the weather was windy, and 

 made it dan^'ero's lo open the large doors. Barns 

 ought always to have a small door lo use in the 

 winter, when yon must olieii be in and out. — 

 There were twelve srpiares of glass arranged 

 over the door, to admit the light when the large 

 doors svere siml ; besides a small w iiidow in lach 

 of the gable end.*, very near the ridge, fur the 

 same purpose. Under the floor was a conven- 

 ient cellar, in which were kept potatoes, iind all 

 kinds of vegetables for green fodder in the win- 

 ter. The cellar was a very warm one, and was 

 lighted with two windows. This cellar struck 

 me as being the most useful apartment in the 

 whole establishment, and I wimder that all farm- 

 ers do not have one. There you may k ep as 

 many luniips, cahb.iges, potatoes, &c., as you 

 please, and ihey are always handy to fodder out 

 ill the stable to your caille ; and the cattle scarce- 

 ly need go ootid the stable in a month. 



'The yard was well watered by an inpiediict, 

 and a trough on the sonlli side of the barn was 

 kept always full. Upon the north or hack side of 

 the barn were the stables: they were built in 

 one biiihimg. and joined to the main part, about 

 twenty-live feet in width, thirty liict long, and 

 twelve or fourteen feet high. A door led from 

 the barn into it, besides another from without 

 upon the east side, where the cattle were admit- 

 ted from the yard. A floor was laid overhead, at 

 the distance of seven feel from the lower one. — 

 The stalls were arraimed on each side of the 

 bllilding,so that the callle stood wiih their heads 

 towards the outside of the building, leaving a 

 space in ihe iniddle lo pas,«. 



'In foddering, the hay was pilched from the bay 

 ill the barn thiongh a window, over ihi; slables, 

 and then put down into rticks ; very lilile could 

 be wasted in this way, and the boys could be 

 trusted with the foddering. The manure made 

 in the stable was put down ibrongh lb.' floor inlo 

 another cellar, large enough to admit of a cart 

 and team to take it away ' 



A report of the committee on farms, in the 

 comity of Essex, lor the year lS2i, stiles, that 

 colonel Moses \ewliall iii West Newbury, 'has 

 lately built a barn, whicli for coiiveuii.-nce and 

 durahiliiy of constrnciion is worthy of much 

 praise. It is calculated heller for the farm- 

 er's use than any one we have seen. It is not 

 too much to say that during the hayinir season, 

 the most busy seas<m with the (iirmer, its supe- 

 rior conveniiMices will save at least the labm- td' 

 one man on the farm. It is about eighty feet 

 in length, ti,iriy-l"our feel in width, and twenty 

 feet post. Jl has two floois, one eight leet above 

 the other; on the upper of which the hay is car- 

 ried in. Mr. Newhall has liivored the commit- 



ei'. wirh a plan of it for Ihe benefit of tlx; society.?" 



Tl)e i*lnihers of Harvard, Ma>'.'arhf>sells, have 



built a barn-, whix-h is pmbiibly hirger >han any 



olbe/ srruclnre of the kind rn the. United Siales.- 



I'he flimfnsions, we ai'-; li-ld-Hi-i' „„» lutmlrtd niid' 

 fijhj J\et in Irrn-th, and forljl-fin in n-idlli. It is 

 hair s!ori*« rn bvig>rt,. srxl fhe fMlciilannn is to- 

 drive in on- the upper floor.'>, frrmi the hjll .side 

 and pjlrb rhi; hay down, llw«s reiwh:>in;^ iniich 

 hard hdiOT easy. 



BAR^f-yARI>S, Tlie foHowin* 'Rtmmks <m the- 

 Conslrwellon (inii Miinnu:cintnl »f' Catllc Iruvis.'are 

 from the pen oftl'ic laii' j.iii.'.ge lhrel,.i>f Albimy. 



V'egetnbfes, Hki^ ani-mals, i-iiiiMo! thrive ur sub- 

 sist wilhont food > and upon the (.piontitv and- 

 ipialily of this dcpentlti Vhf Iwallh .-slid vigor of" 

 the vegelabic, ».s well as of vhe annual. Boll* 

 subsist upon animai and vegeSible matter, both 

 may be siirfrited with e.xce.stt, bolh may be in- 

 jured by lood not adapted lo tliei* habits, their 

 appetites, or ibeir digestive p»'/>ers. .\ bug will, 

 receive no injury, but great beneliv, from Iree ac- 

 cess to a lie.Tp o) corH n-r wheal, where si horse 

 or cow will be a|it to destroy thenisKlves by ex- 

 cess. Tbegoa! will (hi i.vi;MpoM ihe boughs ainli 

 bark of trees, where the bog woi>lil starve. The 

 powerful, robust maize will rKpay.in iIk- increase 

 of its grain, (ijr a heavy dies-^ing td' strong dung', 

 lor which the more delicate wheal will ri'«|iiile 

 you with very little but straw. The potiiln feeds, 

 ravenously, .'iiid grows luxMiiiaiilly, upon ihe 

 coarsest litter; while many i>f the niwe under 

 exotics will thrive only on foot! upon which fer- 

 mentalion has exhausted its pewfrs. But here 

 the analogy stops: ("or while the food of the one 

 is consumed in a souisd, healthy, and generally 

 solid slate, the food ol" the o-ther, Iwliire it be- 

 comes aliment, must undergo Ihe process of pu- 

 tretjiclion m- decomposition, and be reduced ;o it 

 liipiid or irri(i)rm slate. 



I have gone into the analogy between animal* 

 and vegetables thus liir, to impress upon the 

 minds of our ("armers the iiiipoifianre of saving, 

 and of applying the food of their vegetables with 

 the same care and economy that Ihey do the (iiod 

 iif their animals How scriipixitisly careful is 

 the good liusbaiidnian of ihe produce iifhis farm 

 destined lo nourish and liitlen his animals ; and 

 yet how olieii careless of Ihc food which can a- 

 loiie nourish and mature his plains : while his 

 fields .ire gleaned, and his grain, bay, and roots 

 i'arel"(illy housed, and econooiically dispensed to 

 his aiiim,'ils, ihe food of his vegetables is siifl"ered 

 lo wasle on every part ot" his fuiii. Stercora- 

 ries we have none. The mine of the slock, 

 whicli constitutes a moiety of the nianiire o( ani- 

 mals, is all lost. The slovenly and wnslefiil prac- 

 tice of feeding at slacks in the fields, where the 

 sole of the grass is broken, the didder wasted, and 

 the dung of little pftt?cl,is still pursued, .^nd fin- 

 ally, the little manure which does accumulate in 

 the yards, is snflered to lie lill it has lost full half 

 of its fertilizing pro|)erlies, or rolled the sills of 

 the barn ; when it is injiiibciously applied, or the 

 barn removed to get clearol the nuisance. A- 

 gaiii ; none but a slolhlid liuuier will permit 

 Ihe flocks of his nciglihors to r<d) his own ol'lheir 

 food ; yet be olieii sees, but wilh feeble eflmis to 

 prevent it, his plants smolhereil by pesliferoiis 

 weeds, and plundered of the food which is es- 

 sential to iheir healili and viL'or. »J weed consumes 

 as much food as n iistful plant. Thi.s, to be sure, 

 is the dark side of the pii^lnre ; \etlbe original 

 may be found in every town, and in almost eve- 

 ry neighborhood. 



Is it surprising that under such management 

 oiir arable grounds should trrow poor, and refuse 

 to labor its accuslomed rew.ird-' Can it be cini- 

 sidered sir.ange, that those who thus neglect to 

 ("eed their plants .-hoidd leel the evil ol" light pur- 

 ses, as well as of light crops? Constant draining 

 or evaporation, wiihoul leimiiiiig (m)lliing would 

 ill lime exhaust the ocean of ils wnti'rs. .\ constant 

 cropping of Ihe soil wilhuiit retiuniiii; anyllihig 

 to it, will in like ni.inner exhaust it of ils vegetable 

 ((loil, and gradually induce sleriliiy. Neither 

 sand, clay, lime, or magnesia, v\liich are the ele- 

 ments of all soils, nor any combination o(" part 

 or all of them, is tiloiie capable ol" producing 

 heallhy plants. It is the animal and >egetablo 

 matter accumulated upon its bos.im, or which art 

 deposits there, will) the auxiliary aid of these 

 materials difl'used in the atmosphere, lliat eiiiibles 



