180 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[BLVT, 
The Groesbeck Barn Plans, 
We present herewith the third and last of the 
prize plans. This too Inxs its merils and its fixults 
— and besides having many excellences in com- 
mon witli the one last published (p. 134, Ajiril), 
it fills some important deflciences noticed in 
that plan, •while lacking someraerilorions points 
of that and the liist prize plan (page 9G, March.) 
lu most barns 
where the floor- 
ing above the 
stock is of loose 
boards, or only a 
floor of rails, the 
objections to the 
fodder being 
stored above the 
cattle stalls, are 
jierfectly valid — 
but 'Where the 
floors of the hay 
mows are made 
of matched stuff, 
the breath and 
exhalations fronr 
the animals can 
not come in con- 
tact with the fod- 
der, and so, with 
fair vculilation, 
there can be no injury to it from this cause. It 
becomes then a matter of some doubt, whether 
tUc cheaper construction, which the cattle wings, 
built as in this plan, admit of, is any real advan- 
tage, in connection with the loss of room above 
the stock. Storage space, for both fodder and 
litter for bedding, Avould indeed require more 
expensive and stronger buildings. It would, 
however, add considerably to the comfort of the 
cattle, by making the stables wanner in winter 
and cooler in summer. In every bam there 
ought to be straw 
shoots and hay shoots 
separate, as this will 
save steps, if straw is 
used for litter. Wo 
strongly object to ma- 
nure under the stock 
and having it half un- 
der them is just as 
bad. A few years ago 
there was a general 
advocacy of barn cel- 
lars for manure. We 
will not say that ma- 
nure can not be kept 
in a barn cellar under 
the stock, in a way to 
be perfectly harmless, 
in a sanitary view ; 
but we must say that 
itMi'Knotbc. In this 
plan, however, the on- 
ly place to keep ma- 
nure under cover is 
the cellar, and there 
is no adequate provi- 
sion made for all that 
the stock might make. The open yard is 
no place for it ; so sheds away from the barn 
would be needed. This is very well, for a ca- 
pacious shed with a bottom well constructed, is 
as good a place as can ijossibly be to preserve 
and make manure. The profit of farming 
throughout the Eastern States, and westward, to 
and almost throughout Ohio, may be measured, 
other things being equal, by the quantity of good 
manure made. Hence, in our own view, there 
is no one thing of greater importance than con- 
venient and abundant facilities for making ma- 
nure. To this we would make many other 
things bend, if necessary. The prime thing in 
good farming is, good manure and plenty of it. 
When cattle stand upon a floor over a base- 
ment or cellar, there is a constant dripping, more 
or less, especially after the buildings have been 
ELEVATION OF EAliN, FACING NORTH. 
in use a year or two. The liquids soak into the 
wooden gutters, no matter how well tarred, or 
cemented, finding their way by capillary attrac- 
tion over and through obstructions, and are ever 
oozing and dripping down upon whatever is 
below. No stock ought ever to be kept under 
the stables of others, nor in the close vicinity of 
manure. Hogs are the only exception to this 
rule, and the less we discuss where they find 
their food and make their beds, the better for 
our appetites, if we eat much pork. 
£5252: 4SFEETT0QN!: INCH] 
poor CELLAH 
■^^-/-r-- 
Fig. 3. — PLAN OF CELLAR. 
The general arrangements of this plan are 
good. — The extensive root cellar, cart and tool 
shelters, most commendable, — the provision for 
shutting off the wings entirely from the main 
building, a great security in case of fire, and so 
there are many good points which will com- 
mend themselves to our readers. The j^ard- 
rooni is abundant, sunny, and sheltered from 
winds, the sheep yards being represented on the 
plans. The construction of the wings may be 
plainly seen by reference to the section in fig. 3. 
S>esig;ii lor Farm Sliiildings. 
SUBMITTED BY E. BOYDEN & SON, ARCHITECTS, NO. 14 
CENTRAL EXCHANGE, WORCESTER, MiSS. 
Having in the course of a professional expe- 
rience of many years, been called upon to fur- 
nish designs for barns to suit a variety of local- 
ities, and to answer the requirements and tastes 
of mau}' diflTerent 
minds, we have 
embodied our 
ideas on the sub- 
-: =^^'S' - ject in (he accom- 
panying sketch- 
es. Of course 
wo labor under 
the great disad- 
vantage of not 
knowing the lo- 
cality in which 
the barn is to be 
erected, whether 
in New England, 
the f;u' AVest, or 
in the immediate 
vicinity of New 
York City. AVe 
have therefore 
embodied some 
favorite ideas of 
our own, suitable to any ordinary locality. One 
very important principle is the entire sepa- 
ration of the stock from the store of food. 
We deem it as essential for animal health as for 
human health, that the food should be pure and 
wholesome ; and we do not believe it possible 
to keep it so, if, as is usual, the cattle are kejjt 
underneath the hay scaDTolds, with a tight, warm 
barn cellar below, for it will be impossible to 
prevent the ammonia from rising uji througli 
the barn and affecting the hay. Ventilation 
will do something 
toward diminishing 
the evil, but ventila- 
tion has never yet 
been made perfect, 
and even when used, 
the gases are usually 
allowed to pass up 
through or come in 
contact with the fod- 
der on the way to the 
point of exit. Let any 
one go in the morn- 
ing from the open air 
to a good warm barn 
where stock have 
been kept over night, 
and with even good 
ventilators on the 
building, they will de- 
tect a strong odor 
both of ammonia and 
exhalations from the 
bod}', which can not 
- be of any benefit to 
the food stored above 
or in the same build- 
ing. Any man of ordinary intelligence would 
not think of keeping his own food, for the 
season, in the apartment where he sleeps, and 
why should he keep his catties' food in a place 
as unwholesome as that would be for his own. 
In our design we have made the Mam Barn 
for the hay and grain. This we have calculated 
to bo large enough to hold 100 tons of hay, and 
the framing we would so construct as to be well 
