154 THE BARN-CELLAR. 



The excellent manure-cellar beneath this barn extends 

 only under the cow-room. It has a drive-way through 

 doors on each side. No barn-cellar should be kept shut 

 up tight, even in cold weather. The gases are con- 

 stantly escaping from the manure, unless held by absorb- 

 ents, and are liable not only to affect the health of the 

 stock, but to injure the quality of the hay. To prevent 

 this, and yet secure the important advantages of a ma- 

 nure-cellar, the barn may be furnished with good-sized 

 ventilators on the top, for every twenty-five feet of its 

 length, and with wooden tubes leading from the cellar 

 to the top. 



There should also be windows on different sides of 

 the cellar, to admit a free circulation of air. With these 

 precautions, together with the use of absorbents in the 

 shape of loam and muck, there will be no danger of 

 rotting the timbers of the barn, or of risking the health 

 of the cattle or the quality of the hay. 



The temperature at which the cow-room should be 

 kept is somewhere from 50 to 60, Fahr. The practice 

 and the opinions of successful dairymen differ on this 

 point. Too great heat would affect the health and appe- 

 tite of the herd, while too low a temperature is equally 

 objectionable, for various reasons. 



