1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



3,55 



For the New England Farmer. 



FARM BUILDINGS. 



extracts from the records of the concord 

 farmers' club. 



F. G. Pratt said, the main object to be kept in 

 view, in erecting farm buildings was, to adapt them 

 as perfectly as possible to the uses for which they 

 are intended. * * He thought the Shaker barn 

 at Harvard a good pattern — one important feature 

 of which is that of the elevated drive-way for hay, 

 by which much of the hard labor of pitching up is 

 saved, as well as much time ; time, too, when the 

 minutes are precious. 



Charles B. Clark said he would prefer to have 

 the stable separate from the barn where the hay is 

 kept. 



W. D. Brown said he hadalwaysbeen accustomed 

 to a poor barn, but lived in hopes of a better. He 

 thought there was no necessity for so many build- 

 ings as we sometimes see on fiirms — one for stock, 

 one for tools, one for carriages, another for grain, 

 another for the pigs. He was glad to see that mod- 

 ern barns are becoming larger and more compre- 

 hensive in plan. There was great economy in large 

 barns, built so as to include all needed accommoda- 

 tions for cattle, carriages, grain, tools, &c. He 

 thought hay was often injured by gases rising from 

 the manure in the cellar. To prevent this, the 

 hay should not come down to the floor. He would 

 like to have his barn face to the south, and then 

 would arrange the interior thus : on the north side 

 he would tie his cows, on a floor 4 ft. 4 in. long ; 

 for oxen, 5 ft. or 5 ft. 2 in. ; would fasten cows 

 with stanchions, giving each cow a little more than 

 3 ft. of room — but oxen need more freedom to move, 

 and he would tie them with chains. There should be 

 a trench behind the cattle 4^ or 5 in. deep, and 12 

 or 13 in. wide, and a scuttle with hinges to let the 

 manure down. On the south side of the barn he 

 ■would have horse-stalls, carriage-room, tool-room 

 vinegar-room, &c. This arrangement would efl"ect 

 a complete cut-off between the cellar and the hay. 

 Under the horse-stalls he would keep his swine, 

 and feed from the floor of the stalls — the trough by 

 means of a pulley to be raised up for convenience of 

 cleaning, filling, &c, 



John Raynolds thought the trench behind cattle 

 should he 22 or 24 inches M'ide. With that width 

 the platform is kept dry and clean. 



J. B. Moore did not think a platform 4 ft. 4 in. 

 wide, long enough for large cows ; 4 ft. 6 in. wide 

 would be better ; and there should be a crack in 

 the trench to let ofl' the watei". 



John Raynolds expressed a decided preference 

 for keeping cows in a barn separate from that in 

 which hay is kept. Would build on to the hay- 

 barn an L for cows, and separate by a sliding door. 

 Would have the L, 36 ft. wide, well ventilated on 

 the roof, and the cows arranged on both sides. The 

 cellar should be ventilated by two chimneys lead- 

 ing up through the roof; the gases damage the 

 building as well as the hay. 



J. B. Moore has not found his hay damaged by 

 the manure in the cellar. No farmer can afford to 

 let the gases escape so freely — he should use proper 

 absorbents. He would not build with matched 

 boards — thought hay more likely to be injured, 

 than when the cracks are larger, and admit a freer 

 circulation of air to dry up the moisture. 



J. B. Farmer asked if hay was not full as likely 



to be damaged by vapors from the cow stalls as by 

 gases from the manure under the barn ? He thought, 

 if the floor was tight, the manure would not injure 

 hay that was well cured before it was housed. 



Jos. D. Brown did not think his hay had been 

 injured by manure in the cellar of his barn. He 

 thought it would injure the health of cattle to 

 crowd them into a small s])ace ; they need large 

 room and good air. He thought that Wm, D. 

 Brown's plan of tying cows on the north side of the 

 barn, might do for dry cows, but he would prefer 

 to have his milch cows on the south side. 



John Raynolds introduced to the meeting Mr. 

 Hammond, of Grafton, who has had much experi- 

 ence in the subject of Farm Buildings. 



Mr. Hammond said he had been engaged for a 

 number of years, in difterent towns and States, as 

 an architect for farm buildings. Has found great 

 difference of opinion as to the arrangement about 

 the barn — there was need of better models. His 

 own ex])erience was decidedly in favor of separating 

 the cattle-room and the hay barn ; is satisfied that 

 hay is injured by manure in the cellar under it. — 

 The gases injure the lower timbers ; had known 

 timl)ers in barn-cellars rotted in six yeai-s. Hay is 

 as likely to be injured as timber. Barn-cellars 

 should be thoroughly ventilated by pipes leading 

 up through the roof, and absorbents should also be 

 freely used to secure the ammonia. By actual ex- 

 periments it was proved to him that it was less la- 

 bor to feed cattle in a separate room, than in the 

 usual manner, when the cattle and hay were togeth- 

 er. He moves the hay to the cow-house on a 

 truck. He considers ventilation of the cattle barn 

 very important. Has windows every ten feet be- 

 hind the cows, with blinds, which, when the win- 

 dows are open, give the cool air an upward motion, 

 and thus prevent its blowing directly on the cows. 

 Over the pitch-holes in the upper scaffolding, he has 

 a ventilating sash in the roof by means of which he 

 can regulate the temperature of the barn, and keep 

 it a little alcove the freezing point. In his barn for 

 the last five years, it has not frozen five feet from 

 the door. Cows give more milk in this equable, 

 moderate temperature. He would not match the 

 boards for the walls of his hay-barn, but would have 

 a tight floor. If possible, would arrange the drive- 

 way sixteen feet above the lower floor, so as to 

 pitch the hay down, instead of up. In proof that 

 hay is injured by keejjingthe cattle and manure un- 

 der it. Mr. Hammond stated that four men under- 

 took to compare his hay with that of some of his 

 neighbors. They found his hay perfectly bright and 

 sweet, while that in four other barns examined, 

 built in common style, was all more or less dam- 

 aged — though a part of it was mowed and got in the 

 same day as that which was examined of his own, 

 and they estimated that his hay was worth three 

 dollars a ton more than the other lots. In well- 

 ventilated barns, in barns where there are cracks be- 

 tween the boards, hay will keep better, he said, than 

 in barns built with matched boards or clapboards. 

 If the barn is tight, the hay will be musty. 



Jos. 1). Brown asked if hay that was stacked in 

 the field in such a way as that no rain could get in- 

 to it, was better than that kept in tight barns ? He 

 did not believe it was ; and he thought hay would 

 keep as well in barns built with tight walls, as in 

 those built more openly — that the damj)ness which 

 is condensed on the walls, and sometimes shows in 

 frost on the roof, is caused by the stock. 



