160 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



and these should be kept in perfect working 

 order. Clean them every time after being 

 used, as soon as done with, and put away in 

 the tool room, under cover, where they will 

 keep dry. VV. II. White. 



South Windsor, Conn., 1870. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AHBANQEMENT OP BABNB. 



DlfCUSSION BY THE RANDOLPH, VT., FABMERS' CLUB 



W. W. Walbridge. Twenty years ago 

 there were but two barns with basements 

 within two miles of this village. They are 

 convenient for saving manure, and are eco- 

 nomical because they afford additional room 

 without increased expense in covering. For- 

 merly little was done to save liquid manure, 

 row every good farmer uses some absorbent to 

 utilize the whole. Where one roof covers all 

 the fodder and shelters all the cattle much 

 time is saved in "doing the chores." 



Rufas Nutting. In building barns refer- 

 ence should be had to the comfort of cattle 

 and the convenience of those who tend them. 

 The size of stables should be in proportion to 

 the number of cattle kept in them. An ani- 

 mal's body will warm a space containing five 

 times the number of cubic feet that its body 

 occupies. I would not heat my stables to 60° 

 or 65°, as is recommended by some, but would 

 never have frost in them. I would never 

 allow animals to stand on an inclined floor, as 

 it is unnatural ; prefer grooves between the 

 planks to allow the liquids to run oflf. 



Elijah Blodgett. Were I to build again, 

 would clapboard my barn as much as my 

 house ; would never hang a door on rollers 

 at the top, as they are continually getting out 

 of order ; would have a good number of win- 

 dows, as light is conducive to the thrift of all 

 kinds of stock ; would finish off a root cellar 

 in the basement. In some localities, would 

 arrange a driveway over the beams, but on 

 level land the profit of this would not pay the 

 expense of construction. Roofs covered with 

 slate will last for generations, but in these 

 matters farmers must be governed by the 

 length of their purses. 



G. F. Nutting. I know of scarcely a barn 

 in tbis vicinity that fairly answers the pur- 

 pose for which it was built. On the Winooski 

 liver there are some of the nicest barns to be 

 found in this State. My ideal barn contains 

 the greatest amount of storage for the surface 

 shingled, and has an upper driveway, that the 

 crops may be pitched down into, rather than 

 up on to the mow. The proper arrangement 

 of the stables would be not so much for the 

 convenience of the stock as for the man who 

 owns it. Cattle are just as comfortable if 

 their food is carried three rods through the 

 mud 1o tbem, but the one that carries It is not. 

 J. W. Carter. Our barns are too far from 

 ourhou:es; it is irksome business to wade 



rods through the snow to do our chores. All 

 animals love the sunlight, and the more win- 

 dows the better. When the sun shines, my 

 lambs crowd together in it, and seem really 

 to enjoy it. 



Samuel Howard. To obtain good crops 

 from our exhausted soils, we must save all 

 our manures, hence we must have basements. 

 I would as soon think of building a house 

 without a kitchen as a barn without a base- 

 ment. It should be about eight feet deep, 

 and then if one is lucky enough to own a 

 muck bed, he can tip up his cart and unload 

 without danger of breaking either the cart or 

 his head. I would not undertake to fiaish a 

 root cellar in the basement. It is difficult to 

 make them sufficiently warm to be of use ; the 

 frost heaves and cracks the mortar ; the doors 

 swell and will not shut, leaving crevices to 

 let cold air in, and your roots freeze. A sta- 

 ble for cows should contain a platform four 

 feet five inches long, for the cows to stand on, 

 then a drop of five inches ; it should be roomy 

 and well ventilated, not kept too warm by 

 steaming manure or the breath of the cows. 



J. Mclntyre. Stable floors should slant a 

 little backward. I believe it natural for cat- 

 tle to stand with the head up hill. I fre- 

 quently notice my cows standing with hind 

 feet off the platform, four inches lower than 

 their forward feet ; and it seems to rest them. 



A correspondent asks the following ques- 

 tions : — 



1st. How to freeze water running at the 

 door to fill an ice closet ? 



2d. Can anything be saved by feeding corn 

 in the ear to store cattle, instead of grinding it P 



3d. Which are cheapest, tin sap tubs at 33 J 

 cents or good painted wooden ones at 25 

 cents ? 



Answers solicited, addressed to the Secre- 

 tary of Farmers' Club, Randolph, Vt. 



J. J. w. 



Labor in Agricultural Colleges. — 

 Prof. Johnson, of the Maine College, says : — 

 "That the labor system is a benefit to the 

 students, is very apparent. Aside from the 

 amount earned, the labor performed keeps 

 up industrious habits, promotes health, is to a 

 certain extent a source of instruction to the 

 student, and prevents that wide disseverance 

 from manual labor and distaste for it which is 

 so observable in the graduates of our old col- 

 leges. Besides, we think it plainly observable, 

 that a few hours of labor each day makes the 

 student more quiet and studious during the 

 hours devoted to study. The time spent in 

 labor would in most cases be spent in idle 

 talk and In various kinds of recreation, per- 

 haps of dissipation. Labor is the 'safety valve' 

 for the overflowing animal spirits. There has 

 been observed a remarkable willingness on 

 the part of the students to engage in all the 

 kinds of work required to be done." 



