lOO Al^PALFA 



former size. Thirteen feet is sufficient width apart for 

 the posts, and, for a shed of the size mentioned but: 

 ten posts will be required. Where pine is used, it is 

 better to get the posts sixteen feet long and bolt them 

 to oak posts set in .the ground three or four feet, so 

 that the oak posts, when rotted, can be replaced with 

 new without damage to the shed. These posts can be 

 tied together by four cross-timbers, but the one at the 

 end which the hay goes in should be at least two feet 

 below the top of the posts, so as to allow the horse- 

 fork full of hay full swing in passing in. 



"Sixteen-foot boards will roof each side of this 

 shed. They can be battened if necessary, but if the 

 lumber be reasonably dry it will not shrink enough to 

 cause any considerable leaking. It is astonishing how 

 little water flows into these sheds when the roofs are 

 unbattened. We prefer, however, to batten. The 

 horse-fork can be used, the track being suspended 

 from the roof, as in a barn, and the inconvenience of 

 the two inside cross-pieces in a barn of the above size 

 can be avoided by putting the hay in in sections, and 

 taking care not to let quantities of it lie across the cross- 

 pieces. A shed of this kind can be braced without cross- 

 pieces, but not without more or less waste of space. 



"Additional expense can be added to this shed 

 profitably. For example, feeding-sheds can be at- 

 tached on three sides, preferably the north, west, and 

 south. These should be sixteen feet wide, eight feet 

 high at the rear, and with a good slope to the roof, 

 and in this case the main shed should be boarded down 

 to the roof of the feeding-shed. A strucfture of this 

 kind, with sheds around it, will give 2,200 square feet 

 0/ shed-room, or the floor space of a barn 40 x 55 feet. 



