RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



15 



Where ingrain carpets are to be used, it favors their economical cntdng 

 to have either the length or breadth of each room some multiple of their 

 nsnal width — one yard — as twelve feet, fifteen feet, etc. 



Coiutmctinit of an Ocia|;onal Bam. — There are various plans for 

 laying ont and boilding bams of tliis shape, in all of which the principles are 

 the same. There is a concrete or stone foundation wall, which may be either 

 below ground for a cellar or partially below it for a basement, or wholly 

 above it for a stable, an inclined way being built on two opposite sides to 

 give access to the bam floor. Upon tliis foundation the sills are laid, the 

 comers being made at an angle of 135 degrees, instead^ of 90 degrees, as in 

 the square buikling. There are no cmss-beammieceflBary except upon the 

 floor, there being eight bents in the buildin^H oa the outside, the plates 



FIG. 1. — ELEVATIOS OF AX OCTAGOXAL BAIiX. 



being mortised exactly as the sills are, and the posts placed with regard to 

 the necessarj- doors and windows, and tlie strength necessary to support Uio 

 roof and stiffen the builtiing. As many braces as may he tl: ' Ifiil 



may be used, but the braces must all be on the Unt-s of the ^^ uo 



of them cross-braces. The roof is an eight-sided cone, strci.^ .:■ .a. ^^ .uth 

 purlin plates, and may be open at the center for a cupola or ventilator. The 

 jomts of all the plates and the sills will be at an angle of 62 1-2 degrees, in- 

 8t«ad of 45 degrees, as in a square buikling. This forai of the frame wiU 

 give a roof of the strongest kind— one that cannot spread, if well put to- 

 gether, and one that offers less resistance to the wind than any other form 

 of elevated roof. Inside of the bam there is nothing to interfere with the 

 piling of grain or hay to the roof, and a wagon may be driven anywhere upon 



