162 



REPORT OF BUILDING COMMITTEE. 



The Committee appointed to erect a barn upon the Tread- 

 well Farm would respectfully report : — 



In laying out a plan for the barn, they were governed by a 

 desire to construct a convenient, well-proportioned, and eco- 

 nomical building, particularly adapted to the wants and the 

 means of a New England farmer. The size of a barn should 

 conform to the extent of the farm, and the mode of cultivation 

 with which it is to be connected. It should be as commodious 

 as possible — so shaped as to furnish the most room in the space 

 assigned it. There should be at the same time no waste of 

 room. The storage in the barn should be easy, and so ar- 

 ranged as to bring the contents as near as possible to the point 

 where they are to be used* The scaffolds and bays should be 

 easy of access ; so that the laborer shall not be compelled to 

 lift the hay to too great a height, or to carry it a great distance. 

 The hay should be so situated as to be easily fed to the cattle. 

 A barn, therefore, with two drive-ways, one at each end, the 

 passage being across the building, is inconvenient ; for hay is 

 not easily stored between these passage-ways, and the way 

 from one end of the barn to the other is dark and narrow. A 

 barn, too, which has a scaffold permanently fixed over the 

 drive-way, as is often seen, is not convenient, and is wasteful 

 of room ; for it is very difficult to pitch hay through a scuttle 

 many feet overhead, and all the room below the scaffold, and 

 above the height of the mow-beams is lost. A barn situated 

 on a hillside, so arranged as to have drive-way immediately 

 under the roof, with deep bays on each side, is not economical 

 either of room or of money. The room below the drive-way 

 is lost, the frame is expensive, and the different parts of the 

 barn are inconveniently removed from each other. 



