West. 
On  the  Construction  of  Farm- Buildings. 
303 
one  barn,  and  the  sound  of  the  flail  is  never  heard  in  the  home- 
stead. But  in  England  the  maltster  refuses  to  buy  barley  which 
has  been  threshed  by  a machine ; the  seed-merchant  prefers  oats 
which  have  been  threshed  by  hand  ; the  expense  of  threshing 
beans  and  peas  by  machinery  is  generally  greater  than  by  the 
North. 
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South. 
flail ; and  the  farmer  prefers  giving  the  straw  of  his  spring  corn 
to  his  cattle,  day  by  day,  fresh  from  the  barn.  A moderate 
amount  of  barn  room  must,  therefore,  be  considered  as  necessary 
in  every  well  arranged  homestead.  The  size  of  the  barn  pro- 
posed is  100  feet  in  length  by  ‘25  feet  in  breadth,  and  divided 
into  two  compartments;  one,  60  feet  in  length,  and  the  other  40 
feet.  In  each  of  these  will  be  a threshing  floor,  marked  in  the 
plan  a ; and  it  will  be  found  convenient  in  the  larger  compart- 
ment to  have  the  space  between  the  threshing  floor  and  the  east 
end  of  the  barn  boarded,  in  order  that  room  may  be  obtained  for 
dressing  wheat  when  threshed  in  large  quantities  by  the  machine. 
This  space  is  marked  h in  the  plan,  and  forms  part  of  the 
eastern  compartment  of  the  barn,  which  should  always  be  used 
for  the  purpose  alluded  to.  The  two  spaces  marked  c,  called 
“ mows”  in  this  locality,  may  be  floored  with  concrete,  consisting 
of  small  sifted  gravel  stones  mixed  with  a small  proportion  of 
lime  and  water — a composition  which,  if  laid  down  about  8 inches 
thick,  and  allowed  three  months  to  dry,  will  form  a far  cheaper 
and  more  lasting  floor  than  the  common  brick.  On  the  north  side 
of  the  threshing  floors  will  be  placed  the  customary  large  doors 
for  taking  in  corn ; and  on  the  south,  smaller  doors  for  the 
delivery  of  straw  into  the  yards.  The  height  of  the  barn  may  be 
about  15  feet  from  the  set-off  of  the  foundation;  and,  as  it  is 
usual  to  fill  the  mows  with  corn  completely  to  the  top,  the 
roof  should  be  boarded  before  slate  is  put  on,  to  prevent  injury  to 
the  slate  from  the  forks  of  the  men  when  taking  in  corn.  Next 
to  the  barn  on  the  east  may  be  placed  a small  granary,  marked  2 
