FORM OF BARN. 87 



much obstructed the pitching in and out of hay and grain, 

 and, being so low, were expensive in so much roof and 

 foundation for so small an amount of cubic feet of space. 

 A large barn was built in the form of a long paralellogram, 

 with 16-feet outside posts, so that, when a stable was made 

 in the first story, it left only a low scaffold over it for the 

 storage of fodder ; and, when the stable was in the base- 

 ment, the 16-feet posts furnished a small amount of room 

 for the storage of hay, 'considering the size of the barn. 

 A drive-way through such a long barn leaves but narrow 

 space on each side, and it takes up too large a proportion 

 of the room. Later thought has substituted 24-feet posts 

 instead of 16 feet, and this nearly doubles the capacity for 

 storage, with slight addition to the cost of the barn. A 

 mow 24 feet high will settle so much solider than a 16-feet 

 mow, that its capacity is fully 80 per cent, greater, whilst 

 the cost of the barn is only the cost of 8 feet longer 

 posts and boards a mere trifle. And as the present system 

 of handling hay and grain with the horse-fork enables the 

 farmer to fill a mow of any height with equal facility, all 

 barns should be built with 24 or more feet posts. The 

 writer finds 28-feet posts none too high for convenience, 

 and furnishing so much extra room for a great variety of 

 uses, that he is led to strongly recommend the building of 

 high barns. A man who builds such a barn will be likely 

 to do his work more thoroughly, his roof and foundation 

 costing no more than for a low barn. 



The square is a convenient and comparatively economical 

 form of barn ; but this form cannot be used for one of 

 much size, because of the difficulty and expense in getting 

 long timber, and the difficulty of sustaining the roof, with- 

 out interior posts and beams, when the side is over 50 feet. 

 The use of the horse-fork is much more convenient where 

 the interior space is unobstructed by posts or beams above 

 the floor-beams, for, in that case, the grapple on the traverse 



