96 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[ Makch, 
The Groesbeck Prize Barn Plans, 
AVe propose to publish in couseciitive niim- 
liers of tlio Agrkulturtd the three plans to 
■\vliicU the committee awarded the prizes offered 
by Mr. Groesbeck. This month we give the one 
takiug the first prize of $150, and 
can not do so without briefly expres- 
sing our own views concerning it. 
It niust be borne in mind that cheap- s, 
ness was no jiart of ]Mr. G.'s coa- -^ 
ditions, but of course economy of ev- 
ery thing is essential in any good 
plan. With large expenditures of 
money in building, labor and care 
must be saved, the comfort and 
health of the auim.als, the security of 
fodder, and the protection of the ma- 
nure provided for. Economy of la- 
bor is just as important as economy 
of money. The importance of, and 
comfort attending the abilit}' quickly 
and easily to oversee one's eslablisU- 
ment, to know that every man does 
his duty, that every animal is well 
cared for, that the manure is properly taken 
care of, that the various implements, etc., are all 
in place, can hardly be overestimated. It is al- 
most equally important to bo able to control 
the men, so that they shall find it easier to do 
just right than to neglect their duties. For this 
the barn should be planned ; also that the men, 
each having his own responsibility, shall not 
interfere with one another. We bold also, that 
it is most important to centralize operations, so 
that the bulk of fodder, grain, roots, etc., cut 
up, ground, or chopped, may be easily concen- 
trated upon the feeding floor, so as to be mixed, 
or cooked, and distributed to the stock, to be 
again collected as manure in one or two places, 
properly prepared for this purpose. Tlie ma- 
nure cellar under the barn, which is recom- 
mended, we object to utterly. The ground 
plan provides for no warm sheltered yards. 
Tliese may indeed be made by erecting sheds 
and fences, but shelter wliich the barn should 
give against the prevailing winds, is from its 
shape chiefly lost; there is no chance for agood 
stock-3'ard, except one independent of the barn. 
The use of stanchions for cows may indeed be 
very well, if necessary, that is, if the quarters 
are contracted — as in old barns, or where cows 
are bought and kept for their milk alone, but 
for cows whose progeny is to be retained upon 
the farm, we liold that the animals' comfort is 
the owner's profit, and 
Stanchions are undesira- 
ble. There is no pro\i- 
sion for watei-, either in 
the barn or outside. 
Neither is there provi- 
sion for manure, except 
the suggestion of a cel- 
lar. On the whole then, 
we must say that while 
■we publish this plan as 
the hist in the judgment 
of a majority of the connnittee, it has our approv- 
al in but very few particulars. In many points, 
however, it is very commendable, 'well worthy 
of study and of comparison >vilh the plans we 
expect to publish in subsequent numbers. 
DcsigfU ibr a. Barra. 
BY MYRON H. BENTON, LEEDSVILLE, DUCHESS CO., N. T. 
The main building in this design is 4GxCG 
feet, with 25-fcet posts. The two wings are each 
28 X 30 feet, with l.j-feet posts. The roofs slope 
at an angle of 30 decrees, making the ridge one- 
third the breadth of the building above the 
plates. The exterior is covered witli vertical 
inch-boarding (planed and battened) as high as 
the caves; but each gable is covered with clap- 
boarding, which projects 8 inches be3-ond the 
other boarding. A verge-board overhangs the 
Fig. 1.— PBUSPECTIVE ELEVATION OP BAKN. 
roof at the gable, and the rafters project into 
view at the eaves. The roof extends 20 inches 
from the sides. A ventilator is in the center of 
the main building, and projects square from 
the roof, but is finished in octagonal form. 
This needs onl}' to connect with the open space 
of the interior, as the shoots for hay would 
serve as flues from the lower story. The ar- 
rangement of the yard is of course greatly 
modified by the situation and surroundings of 
the barn, and nothing definite could be speci- 
fied without studying the site. Tlie poultry- 
house is supposed to face the south ; and the 
carriage-house and liorse-stables should bo the 
FEEDING 1 S ; FLOOR j S i 
_j C-'L ±ri_±. 
cows cows 
J 
WALK 
cows te CALVES 
■T-T-T^'^t-frJ 
[ si FEEDIMGi S ; FLOOR 
-1 
most convenient of any to the farmer's dwelling. 
The main building would stand with one end 
against the bank, if a root-cellar is required. 
If one is not needed it would be better to have 
the barn stand clear of any side wall ; but the 
entrance should always be as liigh as the second 
story. Even if the ground is level, the increased 
convenience well repays grading. The slope 
need not bo more than 30 or 40 feet in length. 
Plai^ of the EinsT Floor. — The root-cel- 
lar is Ikirtcen by twenty feet, with three sides 
in the bank— the other opening upon a level 
into the stables. The roof is double, the out- 
side being iilank, tongued, and grooved, which 
forms the bridge into the second storj'. 
.The stables are brought together into one 
portion of the building in such a way as to 
adapt the barn very -well for a 
manure cellar. A slight natural hol- 
low under this part would give every 
facility for making one. The entrance 
to the stables would be entirely upon 
one side, and the other would be 
graded so as to admit a team into the 
cellar. This would be an important 
attachment, as saving labor, promot- 
ing cleanliness, and preserving ma- 
nure. There are 21 stancliions for 
cows, and 4 pens, mostly for young 
cattle. It is believed that stancliions, 
if rightly constructed, are easy for the 
animal, and have many advantages 
not given by other methods. It is 
very important that there should be 
no projection near the floor upon the 
face of the stanchion, as is often made, 
to the constant torment of the cows when lying 
down. Even where there is no such obstruc- 
tion there is scarcely room for her knees. If 
we observe a cow when lying down in the yard 
it will be readily seen that the line of a perpen- 
dicular stanchion will not give room for her 
doubled up knees without interfering with the 
natural position of her head. To remedy this, 
the hinge of the stanchion and the other up- 
rights may be secured to the edge of a plank 
about 8 inches wide, which is placed horizontal 
(or somewhat sloping aw,ay from the cow), and 
is some 8 or 10 inches above the floor. This 
will give ample space for her knees, leaving 
her head in a natural position. No division is 
required between the cows except at then heads 
in the alternate spaces. I find by experience 
that it is better to have no manger divided from 
the feeding floor, but both on the same level 
with no obstruction between. The length of 
standing room for cows should vary from 4 feet 
3 inches, to 5 feet 3 inches. A good vay, in or- 
der to accommodate all sizes, is to have the edge 
of the floor next to the drain slant the whole 
length of the stable in a straight lino from the 
shortest to the longest measure. 
Even the stanchion does not secure cleanli- 
ness, especially with new milch cows under high 
feed of grain and roots, if the drain be made 
as it generally is. This is generally the case 
with dairies which sup- 
pi}' milk to cities in win- 
ter. Even the limited 
motion which the stan- 
chion allows a cow does 
not prevent her from 
stepping back and forth 
with her hind feet into 
the drain, if it be a shal- 
low one. The secret, I 
find, in preventing this 
SCALE OF i-EET. is, to havc tlic drain 
quite deep— from 13 to 18 inches. It may per- 
haps bo thought that this would be liable to trip 
the cows when going out and into their places ; 
but this is not the case when they get accustom- 
ed to it. The walk should be of earth, and its 
level only half the hight from the level of the 
drain to that of the stall flooring. 
The pens for young cattle arc boarded 5 feet 
high, with doors to the walk. There are also 
doors from the feeding floor into their mangers, 
into those of the horses, and also of the oxen. 
