BARxM. 



val has been sometimes filled up witli 

 stones or gravel, under the idea of 

 preventing the nestling of rats ; but 

 this is not a good practice. A free 

 current of air under the floor is the 

 only method of securing it from damp, 

 and consequent dry rot. This should 

 be provided by means of openings 

 through the walls or under the sills. 

 Iron gratings will keep out the rats ; 

 but even should they find their way 

 under the floor, they must be hunted 

 out and destroyed by dogs. 



The outer walls of barns are built 

 of stone or brick, or consist only of 

 wood. 



The roof of a barn should be con- 

 structed according to tlie approved 

 rules of carpentry, so as to produce 

 the greatest strength with the small- 

 est quantity of timber. This is a 

 point seldom attended to by country 

 carpenters, who imitate the old roofs, 

 in which strong beams, resting on 

 the walls horizontally, generally bear 

 the whole weight of the roof without 

 regard to the advantage gained by 

 proper trussing. Even in the most 

 temporary shed the strengtli may be 

 greatly increased by using the mate- 

 rials judiciously. It is usually shin- 

 gled. The common covering m Eng- 

 land is thatched straw, which has the 

 great inconvenience of affording shel- 

 ter for rats, who soon nestle in it, 

 and are not easily driven out. 



The more the air circulates the 

 better the corn is preserved. Barns 

 should, therefore, have numerous 

 openings, and the wheat, when put 



into them, should not be pressed 

 down close to the walls, as recom- 

 mended in many agricultural works, 

 but so placed as to allow the air. to 

 circulate freely. In this manner it 

 will keep well, without acquiring ttie 

 j close and musty smell which so much 

 I deteriorates that long kept in a barn. 

 Hay is now seldom put into a close 

 barn, experience having shown that 

 j it keeps much better in the open air 

 I in ricks. But where a considerable 

 I quantity of hay is tied up in trusses 

 I for the market, it is extremely useful 

 to have a building with a roof to pro- 

 tect them from the wet, and to load 

 the carts under shelter. For this 

 purpose, a kind of barn is contrived, 

 which some call a Dutch barn, but 

 which may very properly be called a 

 skeleton barn, being the frame of a 

 barn without the boarding. The an- 

 nexed figure will convey a better idea 

 of it than any description. At the 

 time of haymaking, this barn is ex- 

 tremely useful to draw a load of hay 

 in suddenly on the appearance of a 

 shower ; and hay put into either side 

 will be preserved as well as in a stack. 

 But for this purpose another building 

 is in use in Holland, to which the 

 name of Dutch barn is more appro- 

 priate, and of which we also annex a 

 figure. This consists of a roof sup- 

 ported by strong poles, like masts, 

 A A, on which it can be raised or 

 lowered at will. The usual form is 

 that of a pentagon ; the poles are at 

 the angles, and kept upright by means 

 of a strong still on a brick foundation, 



67 



