PHASES OF FARM LIFE 



of an inclosure of lower roofs or sheds also covered 

 with straw, beneath which the cattle took refuge 

 from the winter storms. Its immense, unpainted 

 gable, cut with holes for the swallows, was like a 

 section of a respectable-sized hill, and its roof like 

 its slope. Its great doors always had a hood pro- 

 jecting over them, and the doors themselves were 

 divided horizontally into upper and lower halves; 

 the upper halves very frequently being left open, 

 through which you caught a glimpse of the mows 

 of hay, or the twinkle of flails when the grain was 

 being threshed. 



The old Dutch farmhouses, too, were always 

 pleasing to look upon. They were low, often made 

 of stone, with deep window- jambs and great family 

 fireplaces. The outside door, like that of the barn, 

 was always divided into upper and lower halves. 

 When the weather permitted, the upper half could 

 stand open, giving light and air without the cold 

 draught over the floor where the children were 

 playing that our wide-swung doors admit. This 

 feature of the Dutch house and barn certainly 

 merits preservation in our modern buildings. 



The large, unpainted timber barns that succeeded 

 the first Yankee settlers' log stables were also pic- 

 turesque, especially when a lean-to for the cow- 

 stable was added, and the roof carried down with a 

 long sweep over it ; or when the barn was flanked 

 by an open shed with a hayloft above it, where the 

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