I04 



Barn Construction. 



behind them for manure and one in front for soiling 

 crops, the barn will require to be at least fifty feet 

 wide ; although it is not quite as convenient to feed 

 the cattle their soiling crops from behind, especially 

 if they are fastened in stanchions, the great economy 

 in building the barn thirty-five feet wide instead of 

 fifty is considerable. With open mangers, the cat- 

 tle may be fed from the drive behind them nearly as 

 well as from in front. Therefore, it is preferable to 

 have them face the wall and a drive behind them, 

 especially if the number of cattle is great enough to 

 deliver the manure from the trench directly to the 

 field. Of course, if there are but a few, and the 

 stables are cleaned by the use of a wheelbarrow, 

 and a narrow passage behind, I would in this case 

 recommend the cattle to stand facing the centre. A 

 barn on this plan also should be at least thirty-five 

 feet on the inside. This will leave a feeding pas- 

 sage ten feet wide in front of the cows. 



The next thing to be considered in the construc- 

 tion of a barn is that it should be warm in winter 

 and cool in summer. The best possible construc- 

 tion of a barn to attain this end is to build it with 

 two air spaces between the outer and inside cover- 

 ings. A barn built on the most approved plan for 

 keeping ice, or for cold storage, or refrigerator pur- 

 poses is best to accomplish this end, i. e. , to keep out 

 the cold in winter or keep out the heat in summer. 



