DAIRY BARN AND OTHER BUILDINGS 167 



270. Relate the barn to the farm.— There is one other thing 

 worth while to bear in mind in planning a new building. It should 

 be in keeping with the farm. One should not build an expensive 

 barn on a cheap farm, nor a larger barn than the amount and 

 quality of the land justifies. Money so spent will by no means be 

 realized when the farm is sold. Even if it remains in the family, 

 the money invested in buildings out of proportion to the value of 

 the farm represents an over-capitalization which will give no 

 return. 



271. Remodeling old buildings.— The plan previously de- 

 scribed represents what could be done if an entire set of dairy 



Cross Section of Stable Showing Plan for Cement Work 



buildings were to be built. Of course, the building problem that 

 most face is one of remodeling or enlarging the dairy barn, or 

 adding some unit such as a silo or milk house. In rearranging or 

 adding to the farm buildings, a careful plan should be worked out 

 looking towards convenience and labor saving. In the past farm 

 buildings have been put up at different times, usually without 

 any definite plan. The farmer cannot tear down his buildings and 

 start over but he can go over his layout to see if there are not some 

 changes which can be made sufficiently cheap to be justified in 

 terms of labor saved. Further, he can work out a careful plan with 

 respect to any building or remodeling he may do in the future, so 

 that any further construction may correct, in so far as possible, the 

 mistakes of previous haphazard building. 



272. Aids to building. — The strongest suggestion we can 

 make is to build on paper before doing anything else. The manu- 

 facturers of barn equipment are very willing to help any farmer 



