\ JNEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY THOMAS W. .SllEPARD. HOtiK.RS' BtJILU lMGS^ CONGRESS STREET, (FOURTH DOOR IllOM SJ'ATK STREET.) 

 Vol. I. ~ ~ 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1823. 



No. 46. 



FACTS AN-D OBSKRVATIONS RELATrNG TO 



I :i( I'LTU RF. fc DOMESTIC ECONOMY . 



BY THE r.DITOR. 



whose heads should be towards the entry. The 

 foundations of the partitions, a stone wall 18 

 inches thick, rising 10 or 12 inches at least 

 ibove the floor, on which a frame of wood 

 vork should rise to the joists. The stable floors 

 ?aved vvith pebble stones, descending from the 

 irouRJis, with a like descent towards the door. 



« THE SITUATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF 

 BARNS. 



The observations and directions of foreign 



filers on husbandry, relating to this branch of ^'^'^ advantages of such a floor are, that it will 

 ral economy, are very copious. Some valu- ; '°' harbor rats and other vermin, and is durable ; 

 lie ideas for an American farmer may be ex-|'''^' hardness ought to be no objection, as plenty 

 icted from the mass of matter, though the i°' |^^<''''"o should befurnishedforthepurpo.se 

 eater part is not adapted to our climate and 'finceasing the quantity of dung. Raise the 

 reumstances. The following remarks were ' '"■"" '^"f"' *even feet above the bottom of the 

 ritten by Mr. Samuel Gibson, an intelligent ; '"7-"'°'"' which will leave 12 feet for the 

 mnsylvanla farmer, " who to the experience! '<^'a'>' of the barn floor, which ought also to be 

 an excellent practical agriculturist, add* that ''^ breadth. The advantages of raising it thus 



a* active and ingenious mechanic, and who ^^ many; the labor of pitching your hay is 

 s erected a spacious barn, which is esteemed. "^'■>' much reduced; you acquire a good room 



competent judges, a model ot neatness and : 'etween that and the stables for stowing grain, 

 nvenience."* His opinion in general, on the I -'^- The labor of raising the entrance to the 

 nstruction of such a building of stone, sutfi-j '''"■" ^^°°^ '* trifling in comparison of what the 

 int to accommodate a well cultivated farm of ''"^"■'.o*^ pitching it would otherwise occasion 

 () acres, 40 of which may be supposed to be 

 tod land, is as follows : 

 •' The situation should be as near the middle 



the farm as can conveniently be, and on 

 )und sloping towards the south, so as to admit 

 water being brought through wooden pipes, 

 m the ground above, and raised in the yard 

 )ractical)le, or at least that it may pass thro' 



yard. The scite should not be nearer than 



nor farther than 100 yards from the dwel- 

 j-house, as in case of tire breaking out in ei 



ind if the ground rises with a considerable an- 

 jle, backwards, the difiiculty of raising the gang- 

 way will be still less. The barn floor should 

 le laid with three inch oak plank, well season- 

 ul ; each plank ploughed with a half inch iron, 

 vithin an inch of the lower edge, and a strip put 

 ill each point, which will keep the whole firm 

 ind solid, and effectually prevent dust, &c. from 

 jetting through; it might also be an advantage 

 o have glass windows in the granary, and back 

 of the barn floor, the sides of which may be de- 

 r, the other might be safe ; it also conduces 'en<led by the boards which form the sides of the 



re to cleanliness, and where any of the farady 

 y happen to be sick they will not be disturb- 

 by the noise of the barn, stables, &c. The 

 lensions raight be 70 feet by 36 ; the hill dug 

 » upon a level, and the earth removed from 

 ; barn yard. The building to be of stone ; 

 : foundation sunk two feet below the level ; 

 1 walls two feet and an half thick at bottom. 

 i to continue so to the height of the stable 

 )rs ; the ground so much sloped as to be live 

 ■t high when the hill is cut down, and a wall 

 Ised close to this, at the distance of seven feet 

 Im the barn; this intermediate space would 

 ;iijt a free circulation of air round the barn 

 ; 1 stables below ; over this a gangway is to be 

 ! sed, leading into the barn floor; an excava- 

 t n may also be made in the hill under this, to 

 'nth a door through the aforesaid wall may 

 (iveniently lead, which will form a very suit- 

 ; e place for stowing away potatoes and other 

 ijcl.ihles. The stables to be seven feet in 

 1^ clear; and the wall two feet thick, set right 

 I Ihe middle of the wall below ; from that to the 

 Hire of the barn the thickness may be reduc 



sraaai.es, "cct the h.ij mows, r.nd ought *■'' rise 

 four feet above the thrashing floor. Fixed lad- 

 ders on each side of the barn floor are also con- 

 venient to get at the hay above. In each hay 

 now a square hole of four feet must be run up, 

 torn the entry below to the top of the mow, 

 md framed to prevent the hay from stopping it 

 ip. These may serve a two fold purpose, that 

 »f conveying hay down to feed with, and as ven- 

 ilators. It may also be observed that the sta- 

 Ue and entry doors ought all to be arched, and 

 tie hinges and fastenings of all the doors ofiron 

 built into the wall in the simple form of hooks 

 aid eyes, the hook making part of the hinge ; 

 he stable floor should also be as high as the 

 !ill of the door, and ascending back. 



" Round stone pillars, two and an half feet in di- 

 jmeter, may be raised at equal distances from 

 lach other in front of the stables, and eight feet 

 ipart ; these may be made as high as the stable 

 loors, upon which a frame might be erected to 

 such a height as to be conveniently covered by 

 the general roof; which would form an excel- 

 lent corn house, and would also shade the stable 



lit above the stables. Above this the gable 



I three inches on each side, and carried up 2o 'oTs, Steps should be placed under this frame 



leadmg into it, and also into the granary under 



«Js may be raised 15 feet, which will give suf- '^^ '^3''" ''°o'". This frame or corn house 

 lient slope to the roof, which ought to bt- "should be so high from the ground as to admit 



• vered with the best cedar shingles or slate 

 'le ground area below may be divided intf 

 fir spaces for cattle, horses, &c. ; none of whicl- 

 <i-ions ought to be less than 12 feet wide 

 nh an entry between the two rows of creatures 



'American edition of Rees' Cyclopedia, Art. Barm 



a cart or waggon below it ; and should also 

 have an opening in the floor to pour the corn 

 down. The main entry to the corn house to be 

 through the thrashing floor. 



''A barn built upon these principles would pro- 

 duce a saving of at least one hand daily, in the 

 single article of pilchnig hay, as one person 



may haul and tumble into the barn as much hay 

 as three could ^tow awfty in the usual way, 

 which is of considerable consequence in harvest 

 time, when work is pressing. One man will 

 pitch the hay from the waggon on the barn 

 floor, up to the whole square of the barn, as fast 

 as two or three can slow it away ; whereas, in 

 tlie common way of building barns it would take 

 two to pitch it op. Indeed it might be ques» 

 tioned whether it wouhl not be an advantage to 

 raise the floor still higher, on this account, as 

 pitching hay is the hardest part of stowing it 

 away ; this would also increase the size of the 

 granaries. Tc this some object, on account of 

 its rising above the square of the barn, but this 

 is nothing when put in competition with the ad- 

 vantages to be derived from the facility of pitch- 

 ing, as the roof may readily be formed so as to 

 admit of it. 



" Objections have been made against stone 

 barns, as not being sufficiently airy, and being- 

 damp, so as to injure the grain ; inconveniences 

 more imaginary than otherwise, and which the 

 writer of thes". observations has never experi- 

 enced ; but w'uich, if they did exist, might soon 

 be remedied by plaistering the outside of the 

 north-east en^l of the building, and projecting a 

 penthouse from the square, which if attended 

 to, and a sufficient number of windows left, all 

 of which that ;:re under the eves, and otherwise 

 not exposed, having V'enitian blinds, with a 

 large ventilator on the top of the roof, on which 

 may be fixed a lightning-rod ; such precautions 

 will most ass".edly prove the superiority of 

 such n ?:nne : ,1. to all others." 



It is not probable that more than one iu ii 

 million of our New England farmers, would and 

 could build a barn altogether according to the 

 plan mentioned above. But some hints might, 

 perhaps, be gathered from it, which would prove 

 useful in erecting a building which is ef so great 

 importance to a farmer. We believe it may be 

 well, in general, so to construct a barn that 

 carts or waggons may be drawn in on the sec- 

 ond floor, which may be situated at any commo- 

 dious distance above the ground floor, or on a 

 level with what New England farmers call the 

 scaffolds. The second floor may contain the 

 sheaves of grain, and a part of the hay. If no 

 side hill exists in the place where it is wished 

 to build the barn, (according to Mr. Gibson's 

 plan) a bridge or causeway may be made, com- 

 mencing on the ground at a proper distance 

 from the barn, and terminating on the second 

 floor, by which loads may be conveyed. It »vill 

 be very convenient if the whole is so contriv- 

 ed that teams may be driven in at one door and 

 out at another opposite, instead of having to 

 submit to the awkward process of backing out 

 the unloaded cart or waggon. Cellars to barns, 

 under planks wliich are placed on sills or sleep- 

 ers and form the floors of the stables or cattle 

 stalls, are becoming fashionable in New P",ngland, 

 and are no doubt very convenient and economi- 

 cal. Into such cellars the dung of the stables 

 can be shovelled with very little labor; and if 

 this can be so constructed as not to freeze, and 

 have room tor holdmg mud loam and other ma- 

 terials for making compost to be deposited in 



