September, 185b 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
265 
enclosed part retreating 
12 feet under the body 
of the barn above. This 
front under-wall may be 
of stone, or not, at pleas¬ 
ure, a stone foundation, 
with wooden posts rest¬ 
ing upon it, and boarded 
or planked, being quite 
sufficient for all purposes 
of shelter or warmth. A 
wing of stone, 12, 14, or 
16 feet in length, accord¬ 
ing to the desired width 
of the outer sheds, may 
stretch out on each side 
as a butment for the 
sheds to rest upon next 
the barn, and keep the 
rear earth bank in place, 
while the sheds may be of 
any width desired, and 
extended out on each, or 
either one of the sides, at 
pleasure, with racks or mangers for catttle feed¬ 
ing. The frame of the barn above extends 
over, to give open shed room in front of the wall 
beneath, and where forage may be thrown from 
the barn floor above for the stock below, or to be 
worked into manure in the yard. 
Fig. 1- BANK OR SIDE-HILL BARN-ELEVATION. 
Fig. 2- UNDER GROUND PLAN. 
The frame of the barn above is 60x50 feet with 
losts set upon stones below, to support the over¬ 
shot sill as shown in the ground plan. Under¬ 
neath are 4 lines of stalls, two on each side of the 
center passage-way, heading each other, with a 4 
foot feeding alley between them, receiving the 
forage from above, from which it is thrown into 
the mangers 2£ feet wide, to which the cattle are 
tied or chained. The stalls are double, allowing 
two animals, if neat stock, in each. They are 
tied at the sides next the partitions, to prevent in¬ 
jury to each other. On the hill side are three 
windows in the upper part of the wall to admit 
light and ventilation, either glased, or grated, as 
may be necessary. 
MAIN FLOOR PLAN —(Fig. 3). 
Entering the barn at either end, as shown in 
tne engraving, is a floor, either 12 or 14 feet wide, 
as may be most convenient, which passes through 
the entire length. On one side is a large bay for 
nay or grain in the sheaf. Opposite, in part, is 
another bay. Next to that a passage of 5 feet 
wide to carry out straw, or hay to throw down 
below into the yard. Next to the passage is a 
granary, and adjoining it a tool house, or area for 
threshing-machines, straw-cutters, &c., with a 
partition off from the floor, or not, at pleasure. 
Nine feet above the floor, on each side, 
should be a line of girts, connecting the in¬ 
ner posts, on which may be thrown loose 
poles to hold a temporary scaffold 
for the storage of hay, or grain in 
the sheaf, when required. By such 
arrangement the barn can be filled to 
the peak or ridgepole, and the venti¬ 
lator above will carry out all the 
heated air and moisture given off 
from the forage stored within.— 
Slatted windows, or side ventilators ' 
are in the side next to the yard, if 
required. The roof has a “ third ” 
pitch, or one foot rise to two feet in 
width, which lasts longer, and gives 
more storage than a flatter one. 
An essential feature in all bank or 
side-hill barns is, that they be well 
banked with earth, so that the falling 
water may freely pass away from the 
walls, and the stables and yards well 
drained. Without such precaution they are 
little better than a nuisance, the rains, and 
melting snows flooding everything beneath 
the building, and in the yards and sheds below. 
We had occasion a few years ago to occupy an 
otherwise well built barn for the Winter with a 
considerable stock of cattle ; and although there 
was abundant stable room, for want of proper 
filling in and embankment on the hill-side, every 
rain poured in so as to flood the poor animals most 
uncomfortably. This is apart of the work, there¬ 
fore, which should receive the most thorough at¬ 
tention. 
We can not say that under all circumstances, 
even with a good site, we would prefer a side-hill 
bam; but if so, we should take extraordinary 
precaution to secure it from frost and wet, by the 
most thorough filling, embankment, and drainage. 
Its advantages are : the warmth of its stables 
in Winter, and their coolness in Summer ; stor¬ 
age for roots, if required ; much additional room 
under the same roof, but not, we think, at dimin¬ 
ished expense; and great compactness ofstorage, 
over that of the common plan. 
We had almost forgotten to say that a flight of 
steps should reach from the upper floor to that be¬ 
low, to pass up and down upon, and these may be 
placed where most convenient, or available. 
As to the material of which the barn should be 
built, a stone-wall foundation, well laid in mor¬ 
tar, or not, depending for this on the kind of stone 
used, with a wooden frame and covering, is the 
cheapest, and, as we think, the best; and as to 
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Fig. 3— MAIN FLOOR PLAN. 
the manner of framing and building, every farmer 
is too familiar with things of the kind to need our 
instruction. In general, we can only say : build 
well. One good building is worth two poor ones, 
and a barn should be put up for a life time. A 
small extra sum expended for convenience is soon 
repaid in the time and labor of those who per¬ 
form its duties, or use it for storage alone. A barn 
should, in fact, receive as much the study and at¬ 
tention of the farmer as his dwelling ; for in the 
barn is stored, expended and produced a large 
share of his wealth ; and he might as well expect 
that his household would live contented and hap¬ 
py in a wretchedly contrived house, as his labor¬ 
ers, and the beasts they look after would be so in 
an illy constructed barn, and stables. 
Hard on a Fat Man.—A corpulent gentleman 
had been so crowded in traveling, that when 
about to journey from Macon, France, in a dili¬ 
gence (stage,) he sent the hotel boy to pay for 
two seats in advance. When the vehicle called 
for him, he found himself booked for two seats as 
had been directed, but one of the reserved seats 
was on the inside and the other on the outside. 
