134 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



VOL. I. 



or meadow hay, in the cutting box, and mix it 

 with a light portion of shorts, bran or oat 

 meal, just enough for the cattle and horses to 

 eat it. In this way they consume every 

 thing. Nothing is lost ; for what they leave 

 is taken from the mangers and mixed over 

 again with the new mess. It is the exclusive 

 business of one man to cut the food, clean 

 the stables, and feed the cattle : and if he 

 needs assistance, he has it. By this means 

 he becomes acquainted with the appetite and 

 health of each animal, a matter altogether 

 important. If they be out of health, or need 

 extra nursing or attention, he knows it and 

 provides for them. A change of food is oc- 

 casionally given, and by this operation all is 

 relished and eaten perfectly clean. We now 

 feed about forty yoke of oxen, eight or ten 

 horses, a dozen cows, some sheep and young 

 stock, all in this manner, though not all in 

 one building, withoutany waste atall. Every 

 thing is saved. Every animal is tied up in 

 its place excepting the sheep, and each has 

 its own portion without fear or molestation. 

 I well know that they consume less food per 

 head by thirty per cent, than they did during 

 the last winter, when they were fed nearly, 

 if not quite equal to, the ordinary method 

 practised throughout the country. Our oxen, 

 I am satisfied, perform more labor, the cows 

 yield more milk, and all the animals consume 

 less food by being thus housed and attended. 

 But to the plan of the barn. It is here given. 

 Fig. 32.— Ground Plan, 

 g g 



Explanation. 



a, barn floor, 14 feet wide. 



b, 6, bays for hay and grain, 18 feet wide 

 and 92 feet long. 



c, c, stables for cattle and horses, 13 feet 

 wide in the clear. 



d, d, passages to stables, 4 feet wide. 



e, e, mangers for feeding, 2J feet wide. 

 /'/) great doors, 14 feet wide. 



g, g, stable doors, 5 feet wide, double. 

 Length of barn, 100 feet. 

 Width of do. 50 do. 

 Posts of do. 18 do. 

 Pitch of roof, 12i feet. 

 Height of leanto posts, 7 feet. 

 Pitch of stable roof, 8 feet. 

 Length of side leantos, 100 feet, 

 do. end do. 38 do. 





3. 



05 



5 



The barn is framed as if to stand alone, 

 omitting the lower girt at the ends on each 

 side of the large doors. The leantos are 

 then framed on to the barn in the simplest 

 manner — the passage being round the main 

 body of the barn, excepting at the ends, 

 where the passage is in the main barn, and 

 the leantos there only sixteen feet wide, and 

 the manger is fitted up to the main barn. 

 Only one passage is made to go into the short 

 stables at the ends. Stalls are made seven 

 and a half feet wide and broad between, and 

 each ox or cow is tied next to the partition 

 side of the stall, which prevents their getting 

 together, and saves much room. The doors 



g 



8 



