On  the  Construction  of  Farm- Building s. 
231 
Of  the  Barn  (for  plan,  vide  Plate  I.  No.  1 ; for  elevation,  vide 
Plate  II.). — The  immense  building  which  in  former  times  was 
considered  as  an  indispensable  appurtenance  to  a tillage  farm, 
and  intended  to  contain  the  whole  grain  crop  in  the  sheaf,  is  now 
very  properly  out  of  repute,  as  grain  in  sheaf  is  found  to  keep 
much  better  in  stacks  upon  proper  stands  in  the  stack  yard  than 
within  the  walls  of  the  barn;  and  buildings  of  such  magnitude 
are  moreover  very  costly  to  erect  in  the  first  instance,  and  expen- 
sive to  uphold  in  repair  afterwards.  Although  unnecessary  size 
of  buildings  of  a farmery  is  by  no  means  to  be  recommended,  yet 
a barn  in  addition  to  sufficient  room  for  the  proper  performance 
of  the  operations  to  be  carried  on  in  it,  should  have  space  to  stow 
at  least  100  bushels  of  wheat  in  sheaf,  in  order  that  spare  time 
may  be  taken  advantage  of  to  have  such  quantity  of  corn  trans- 
ferred from  the  stack  to  the  barn,  and  so  be  ready  to  be  thrashed 
whenever  straw  may  be  wanted,  or  wet  weather  may  prevent  the 
advantageous  employment  of  the  servants  out  of  doors. 
If  containing  two  stories  of  moderate  height,  a building  of  30 
feet  long,  and  21  feet  wide,  including  walls,  will  be  found  suffi- 
ciently large  for  the  purposes  of  a barn  for  a farm  of  almost  any 
extent — certainly  for  one  of  300  acres  of  tillage.  The  proper 
height  may  be  9 feet  for  the  lower  story,  and  7 feet  for  the  upper, 
making,  including  the  floor  of  the  second  story,  17  feet  for  the 
height  of  the  walls  of  the  building.  The  foundation  of  the  barn 
should  be  sunk  2 feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  if  of 
stone  under  a brick  wall,  it  should  be  at  least  24  inches  thick; 
and  if  under  a stone  wall,  it  should  be  30  inches  thick.  The 
walls  of  the  first  story,  if  of  brick,  should  be  2 bricks  in  thick- 
ness, leaving  a clear  breadth  inside  of  18  feet;  and,  if  of  stone, 
24  inches  thick,  leaving  17  feet  for  the  inside  breadth:  those  of 
the  upper  story  should  be  1|  brick,  or  20  inches  thick,  according 
as  they  are  brick  or  stone  : in  the  former  case  leaving  18  feet  8 
inches,  and,  in  the  latter,  17  feet  8 inches  of  clear  breadth.  The 
apertures  in  the  lower  story  are,  in  the  north  wall,  for  a door  and 
a window,  both  4 feet  wide,  the  former  7 feet  and  the  latter  4 
feet  high ; in  the  east  wall,  one  for  a window,  4 feet  wide  by  4 
feet  high ; in  the  west  wall,  two  for  windows,  each  4 feet  wide  by 
4 feet  high : and  in  the  south  end  of  the  building,  communicat- 
ing with  the  straw  barn  (No.  2),  one  for  a door,  4 feet  wide  by  7 
feet  high ; and  another,  partly  extending  into  the  second  story 
opposite  the  thrashing  machine,  5 feet  wide  by  5 feet  high,  at 
about  2 feet  from  the  east  wall,  and  at  such  a height  from  the 
ground  as  to  a fiord  a proper  slope  for  a screen  on  which  the 
straw  may  shde  into  the  straw  barn  on  leaving  the  machine. 
Both  the  apertures  last  mentioned  to  have  lintels  of  Christiania 
deals,  and  the  latter  to  have  a cill  of  the  same.  The  openings 
