246 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Mat 



I: 



sweet. Stone is preferable for a basement. But 

 where hay comes against stone it Avill become mus- 

 ty. To prevent this, a board partition is requisite, 

 with a space for air to circulate between. The best 

 form for a barn is that of nearly a square. A barn 

 fifty by sixty feet will permit the packing of hay so 

 as to hold as much as a barn forty by one hundred. 

 It costs about one-third more to build a stone wall 

 with mortar than to build with wood. 



Mr. Wetherell thought that wood was the best 

 material. Farmers do not agree as to the close- 

 ness of covering. Some put on the boards double, 

 while others prefer to have a chance for the air to 

 pass in. It is probable that hay will heat more in a 

 close barn than in one more open. He thought 

 hay could be kept about as well in the stack as in 

 barns ; but it was more convenient to feed from a 

 barn. Considerable has been said about two barns 

 in different sections of the State — one in the west, 

 and one in the east. One in the western part cost, 

 he believed, $40,000. But he thought a model barn, 

 that costs from $600 to $1000, would be worth 

 much more to the farms of Massachusetts. He 

 spoke of the importance of housing tools, and then 

 went on to refer to what he thought practicable, and 

 which he expected to see accomplished ; namely, 

 the cutting of hay by a machine, having it pitched 

 on to the cart by machinery, and then when in the 

 barn, raised up by machinery and placed on the 

 mow. 



Mr. Barber, of Gloucester, said that so far as 

 he was acquainted, there were few farmers who 

 could afford to put up a barn worth even six hun- 

 dred dollars. As to housing tools, it was very ne- 

 cessary in Massachusetts to do it, especially here, 

 near the shore ; because any iron tool left out ex- 

 posed over night, will be covered with rust in the 

 morning. 



Mr. Ward, of Orange, thought the question of 

 building of wood or stone would depend on the 

 convenience of procuring the materials. If houses 

 are built of brick, with two distinct walls, the inner 

 wall will be dry. But in most places there is too 

 much expense in transporting stone to make build- 

 ings of that material economical. He would build 

 a barn as tight as possible. He had had a barn as 

 loose as any man, and the hay was injured by ex- 

 posure to air and moisture. Now he had built a 

 barn as tight as he could, with double boards. His 

 cattle and hay both are much better kept. He 

 agreed that the vapor over stalls would injure hay ; 

 and to obviate that, he fed the hay from the scaf- 

 fold over the stalls first. He preferred to have 

 doors so that he could drive through the barn. 

 He would have the doors on rollers, so as to slide to 

 the right or left. He found such doors a great 

 convenience. To obviate the injury to tools from 

 the sun, paint was very important, a coat of which 

 should always be kept on them when possible. 



Mr. Hammond again spoke of building with 

 concrete. He built a house last year, in the early 

 part of the season, of poor cobble stones, and it be- 

 came very compact and did not crack at all ; and 

 is now very firm. When built in spring, so as to 

 give sufficient time to harden, he thought it an ex- 

 cellent and cheap material. 



The Chairman said that the idea had been sug- 

 gested that boards on a barn would last much longer 

 when put on up and down rather than horizontally, 

 and he wished gentlemen would state their expe- 

 rience on that point, if they had any, and also give 

 the reason, if it were so. 



Mr. Bax^'ARD, of Buckland, was called up, and 

 spoke of his expense of money and time previous to 

 building a barn for the purpose of getting a good 

 m.odel ; in his search he found better barns in Ver- 

 mont and New York than any he saw in Massa- 

 chusetts. He would have no stables on a floor 

 even with the mows. They should be below. His 

 barn was forty-two by sixty. The second floor is 

 an open space on each side of the drive-way, sixty 

 feet long. He had a double floor over the manure 

 cellar, one being the barn floor, made with two 

 thicknesses, another ten inches below. He had no 

 ventilation in the top of his barn, and did not want 

 one. He thought a barn for hay could not be 

 kept too close. He would keep the doors as close 

 as he would the doors of the granary when the 

 hens were around. If the barn is open he thought 

 the heat of the mow was forced to the centre ; but 

 if close, the heat was distributed. Simply oiling 

 tools he thought better to preserve them than a 

 coat of paint. 



Mr. Wetherell suggested the reason why 

 boards would last longer when placed upright than 

 the other way, was because the water courses over 

 the board with the grain of the wood instead of 

 across it. He had no doubt of the fact, and had 

 heard the same stated by men of experience. 



Mr. W. J. Buckminster thought we ought to 

 discountenance the laying out of great and extrav- 

 agant sums for barns, or for the sake of having 

 very handsome ones. The tendency is bad, as it 

 affects the interests of young farmers, who have too 

 little capital to employ it in such a way. 



The subject for the discussion of the next meet- 

 ing will be, "Insects as injurious or benejicial to veg' 

 etation." 



Chinese Sugar Cane. — At a late meeting of 

 the Boston Historical Society, says the Traveller, 

 Dr. Jackson, in reply to a question, stated that 

 the Chinese sugar cane raised in the vicinity of 

 Boston, would not yield crystalline sugar in- quan- 

 tities to warrant its cultivation. A small quantity 

 could be obtained from the plant, but a syrup 

 which was suitable for food or distillation was rea- 

 dily obtained. The farther south the cane is raised, 

 the more sugar it yields. 



