98 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
simple and compact, and answers admirably for a 
small country custom mill, where wheat, rye, buck¬ 
wheat, corn, and mixed feed are ground usually. 
Barns without Beams. 
The frequent use of the horse-fork and hay- 
carrier, renders it desirable to avoid cross beams in 
the barns, as these prevent the convenient move¬ 
ment of these implements. Formerly it was neces¬ 
sary to have the hay mows so low that a man could 
easily pitch the hay on to it from a wagon. This 
made it necessary to have the barn long and wide, 
in order to secure sufficient capacity. The roof is 
the most costly part of a building, and as the wider 
the roof, the stronger the frame must be to sustain 
the weight, the old-fashioned style of barn was very 
costly. The machinery now in use for handling 
hay, enables us to avoid the extra cost of buildling, 
and long, high, narrow barns are found to be more 
convenient, in many cases, than the low, broad, 
and short ones. But to construct a barn without 
cross beams to support the sides and roof, is a diffi¬ 
cult problem for the ordinary builder, who does 
not understand the nature of truss work, and the 
immense strength gained by skillful use of com¬ 
paratively very light timber. The airy, web-like 
railroad bridges, which combine strength with light¬ 
ness and elasticity, and the ordinary balloon frame 
houses, are examples of truss work, and there is cer- 
Fig. 2.— SECTION OP COW-HOUSE. 
tainly n ) reason why this principle of construction 
should not be made available for farm buildings. 
Some t : me ago (August No., 1876), we illustrated an 
Fig. 3. —VENTILATOR FOR ROOF, 
octagonal barn, in which there were no cross-beams, 
and we now give some examples of barns ©f ordi¬ 
nary shape, without cross-beams, and with roofs 
made on the principle of the truss. The section, 
fig. 1, is that of a Danish barn, illustrated in the 
“Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society,” of 
England. The mode of construction is shown very 
clearly by the engraving, it being only necessary to 
point out the longitudinal timbers, which are 
shown by the dark shaded parts, and the manner 
of securing the roof timbers to the walls, which is 
done in an ingenious manner. The H shown by 
the dark lines in each wall, is an angle-iron, built 
into the masonry, by which the strut is fastened to 
it. At figure 2 is a section of a cow stable, built 
above where the fodder is stored, somewhat on 
the same principle. The arrangement of the sta¬ 
ble below is also worthy of notice. The central 
passage is the entrance-way for the cows, with 
a manure gutter on each side, in "the rear of 
each row of stalls. The feeding passages are 
on the outside, and the cows are fastened by 
chains, which slide on the irons seen on the sides 
of the stalls. A ventilating shaft (A, fig. 2) is car¬ 
ried up from the stable, through the floor above, 
and out through the roof. This is divided so as to 
form four distinct shafts, through which cold pure 
air can descend, as well as hot foul air can ascend. 
The section of the shaft, and the upper extremi¬ 
ty above the roof, are shown at figure 3. The 
framing of the roof is simple, light, and strong; 
the roof is covered with straw thatch, shown by the 
thick, dark, shading. At figure 4 we give a method 
of a similar construction by means of light timbers 
fastened together with bolts. The walls are of 
stone or brick, and if thought desirable, these may 
be strengthened by buttresses wherever the roof 
timbers exercise the greatest 
thrust. The main timbers are 
intended to be 3 x 10, the 
braces 2 x 8 or 3 x 6, as may be 
thought proper. Cross girts 
may be used wherever needed 
to stiffen the roof. The ends 
of the main timbers should 
rest in iron shoes fixed to the 
wall by angles and bolts. The 
form of a shoe that would be useful to sustain the 
weight of the timber and its load, is shown at fig¬ 
ure 5. This may be cast or may be made of wrought 
iron. The building is intended to be 36 feet wide ; 
the walls 12 feet high ; the main roof timbers 20 feet 
long, and the cross-beam at the top 24 feet long. 
The machinery for carrying the liorse-forli will be 
suspended to this beam in the usual manner. 
Mutton Breeds of Sheep. 
People are too apt to be misled by appearances. 
This has been the case in regard to the maguiticent, 
large-bodied, long-wooled, Lincoln, and the equal¬ 
ly fine, though lesser, Leicester sheep. Western 
farmers, in some cases, and many Eastern farmers, 
have been misled £>y the appearance of these sheep 
into the mistake of trying to keep them. Some 
notable instances have occurred in Colorado, Kan- 
; sas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and other Western 
States. In every case within our knowledge, these 
large sheep have come to grief, and the experiment 
of keeping them has failed. The conditions are 
not favorable for them. They have been bred and 
hitherto kept under totally different circumstances. 
Their native English climate is free from the great 
and sudden changes to which ours is subject. 
There, these sheep experience none of the torrid 
heats and drouths of summer, nor of the severe 
dry cold of the winter. Their food is rich, plenti¬ 
ful, and succulent; roots, rye-grass, and oil-cake, 
have been the food upon which they have been 
built up, and here we have not that kind of food to 
supply them, or at least it is only in rare cases that 
such food is provided. Where large-bodied long- 
wool sheep are fed and kept in a manner according 
to their needs, they thrive well and are profitable to 
their owners. We have seen a flock of such sheep 
sold in the New York market at prices that were 
satisfactory and remunerative. A lot of sheep of 
this kind, 160 in number, which was recently sent 
from Canada to New York for sale, averaging over 
160 pounds in weight, some of them reaching 300 
pounds—and brought 61 cents per pound live 
weight. If this can be done in Canada, it can be 
done in many parts of the United States, and prob¬ 
ably anywhere, where the summers are not too hot 
and dry for their comfort, and the profitable growth 
of rich fodder and root crops. Elsewhere we do 
not believe disappointment can be avoided with 
this class of sheep. The choice of breeds of mut¬ 
ton sheep is large enough to meet all the require¬ 
ments of those who wish to keep them. The Cots- 
wold, Shropshire, Oxford Down, Hampshire Down, 
South Down, and the grades of these breeds, taken 
probably in the order in which they are named, are 
all excellent sheep in every respect, being hardy, 
not too exacting in the way of housing and feed¬ 
ing ; and will thrive upon mixed farms where they 
can be supplied with fresh green fodder, roots, and 
fair pasture. Where these requirements cannot be 
met, these sheep should not be kept, but fine-wools 
and half-breds will be preferable. The keeping of 
sheep can hardly fail to be profitable when judg¬ 
ment is exercised in their selection and they are 
skillfully managed. But, as in other things, unless 
this business is well done, it had better not be done 
at all, because if profit is not made, there will be a 
loss. If a flock is not kept in good condition, it 
becomes bad altogether ; in sheep-husbandry, one 
must either swim or sink, and nothing runs down 
so fast as a flock that is neglected or badly managed. 
On the same day, when the Canada sheep, before 
mentioned, were sold at an average of more than 
$10 per head, some poor natives were sold at 2ie. 
per pound, bringing about $1.50 each. The shipper 
of these, and probably the feeder, must have lost 
money; it is certain that there could be no profit 
in such sheep, and at that price, when freight and 
expenses are paid. An example of this kind will 
help to point the moral we endeavor to enforce con¬ 
tinually, in this as in all other matters pertaining to 
farm work, viz. : that it is only the best work that 
pays, and that live stock must be selected judici¬ 
ously, and in reference to all the peculiar circum¬ 
stances of each individual and of each locality. 
Keeping Pure-bred Stock. 
Many farmers have made the mistake of trying to 
keep and breed a herd, or flock, of pure-bred ani¬ 
mals, and have, through their frequent failures, 
brought discredit upon such stock. Pure-bred 
stock', as a rule, are not profitable for farmers. 
They cost too much ; no farmer can afford to pay 
$2,000 to $3,000 for a herd of 10 pure-bred cows. 
They are used to careful tending and high feeding, 
and their product is no greater than the average of 
good grades of these breeds. 'We know of no herd 
of pure-bred animals in existence, that would pay 
its cost of purchase and keeping by its product of 
milk, butter, or meat, alone ; it is only by the sale 
of animals for breeding that the profit is made. 
But admitting this to be true, pure-bred stock are 
not, for this reason, to be considered of less value. 
If we have not the pure stock, how can we procure 
the grades, which are found so profitable ? Grades, 
of high character, are the most profitable farmers’ 
