PLAN OP A BARN. 33 



the ground without mortar, and tossed about by the frosts. The 

 siding was of unmatched coarse boards, put on with particular 

 reference to ventilation. The size was thirty feet by forty, or 

 forty by fifty, as the size of the farm demanded. The " big 

 doors " opened upon a threshing floor which ran transversely 

 through the building, giving stable room on one side and a mow 

 on the other. A shed on one side of the barnyard gave some 

 shelter to the young stock at night, but during the day the cattle 

 were generally at liberty to roam and browse where they pleased, 

 and find water where best they could, generally at some neigh- 

 boring brook. We have known some of these barns so located 

 that a brook ran through the barnyard, which is certainly very 

 convenient for the cattle to drink, and also saves the hauling of 

 some manure. We are glad to say that these rude structures 

 are very generally giving place to more convenient and com- 

 fortable farm buildings. 



In the opinion of your Committee the four principal ends in 

 the construction of a barn are : commodious storage for the 

 crops, comfortable quarters for the stock, economical saving of 

 manure, and convenient performance of labor. We are not so 

 vain as to suppose that we have perfectly accomplished all these 

 ends in the plan submitted for your consideration. We have 

 aimed at them, but may not have hit the mark. The building 

 we propose is 150 feet by 50, with a barn floor running longi- 

 tudinally, stabling for horses and cattle on one side of the main 

 floor, and a granary and mows on the other ; a cellar under the 

 whole, in which there are stables for cattle at the ends, each 50 

 feet in length ; a root cellar 86 feet by 22, a wagon and tool 

 room 36 by 22, five box-stalls of different sizes for calves and 

 breeding stock, and tlie balance of the cellar room a receptacle 

 •for manure. The whole of the cellar is well ventilated by box 

 flues running to the roof. The bents of the barn are 12| feet 

 apart, and the posts 20 feet high. The whole capacity of the 

 building is sufficient for storing 200 tons of hay, allowing 600 

 cubic feet for each ton, and .stabling 70 cattle, allowing Sv^ feet 

 for each stall, exclusive of the box-stalls. On the main floor is 

 a Fairbanks patent for weighing hay, grain, and stock. The 

 building is simple in its structure, and can be enlarged or 

 contracted at pleasure ; and in its general design can be adapted 

 to a farm of one hundred acres or a thousand. As marked out 



