1884 .] 
AMEEIOAI^ AGElOULTtJRlST. 
333^ 
A Corn-House and Granary, 
J. S. GALLOWAY-, OHIO. 
Figures 1 to 5 represent a granary in use for the 
past fifteen years, with a few modifications and im¬ 
provements. Figure 1 is a side view, with roof doors 
hinged at the lower side and opening downward. 
The capacity of the two side cribs is materially in¬ 
creased by these doors, and the budding is also 
made more oniamental. The granary is twelve by 
twenty feet. The building rests upon nine locust 
posts, each set three feet in the ground, and extend¬ 
ing two feet above tlie surface. The granary is 
made rat and mouse proof by surrounding the up¬ 
per end of each post with tin ; inverted tin pans are 
i , 
Fig. 1. —SIDE VIEW OP GRANAKT. 
excellent. The middle iiosts sliould be three or 
four inches higher than the outside ones, so that 
water or melted snow upon the floor may run out. 
The floor should be made of matched boards, that 
there may be no waste from leakage. Make the 
upper floor and granaries of the same material. 
The two large granaries on the first floor, are 
partly filled from the space by the front door, and 
boarded up as filled, and then from openings in the 
floor of the passage-way up stairs. The ascent to 
the upper floor is by a ladder made of strips firmly 
nailed to the studding {I, fig. 3). The crib, which 
is closed by dropping in boards as it is filled, being 
narrowed off for this purpose, as shown by the 
oblique line g. 
The granaries on the upper floor (fig. 4), are num¬ 
bered from 1 to 9. The back wall inclines outward, 
and extends to the roof, as indicated by the stud¬ 
ding shown in figure 5. The upright posts are 
eut so that the first two feet stand erect, while the 
upper portion inclines outward, making the passage 
two feet wide at the floor, and three feet near the 
top, and giving more room for the arms and shoul¬ 
ders. The upper part of the side cribs extend to 
the roof of the granary. An end view of the 
granary and corn-house is shown in figure 3. 
A pulley attached to an arm under the angle 
of the roof, over the front door, aids in raising 
sacks to, and lowering them from, the upper 
floor, which is nine feet from the lower one. The 
estimated cost is as follows : — 
9 locust posts, 5ft long, @ 25c., $2.25 ; 9 tin pans $2. $4.25 
25 sills, 4x6 in. 20 ft long; 3,12 ft. long. 3.05 
16 joists, 10 ft. long, 2x8 in. 215ft. @ 2c. 4.30 
4 20 “ “ for upper floor; 2 
plates, 20 ft. by 4x4, 165 ft. 3.30 
22 rafters, 2x4 and 2.x3.10 ft. long, 260 ft., $4.20; 2 
ties, 4x4,12 ft. long, ft.. 65c. 4.85 
200 studding, 2x3 and 3x4, 750 ft. siding, $15. 19.00 
1,000 ft. matched boards for flooring, granaries, etc. 20.ii0 
300 strips lor roofing, 1x3,11 ft, long. 6.00 
10-1 ft. boards for closing up granaries, cribs, etc. . 2.00 
7,000 shingles @$4.50, $31.50; nails, hinges, and fasten¬ 
ings, $6.75 . 38.25 
Labor, ete. 45.00 
Total. $150.00 
The Best Time to Cut Timber, 
ANDREW S. FULLER. 
If we were to take the opinion of men, practical 
and otherwise, as our guide in selecting a time for 
cutting timber we should never reach a conclusion 
in the matter, for there is not a month in the 
twelve, that has not been recommended as the very 
best time for felling trees in order that the wood 
should remain sound, firm, and durable. There is, 
no doubt, some foundation for this great variation 
in the opinion of even those who have had much 
practical experience in handling and working 
timber, and it is probably largely due to the fact 
that in many instances, and for many purposes, no 
difference is observable in the appearance or quality 
of timber whether cut in winter or summer. 
Much depends upon the treatment timber receives 
after it is cut, whether placed in a position to sea¬ 
son rapidly, or left in the woods, where seasoning 
will go on slowly; furthermore, climate—the prev¬ 
alence of insects that attack felled trees—the kinds 
of timber, and various other conditions and cir¬ 
cumstances have much influence on the durability 
and quality of wood of the same species of trees. 
It is certainly true that thei’e is a great difference 
in the amount and condition of the moisture in 
trees at different seasons of the year, and while as 
a matter of convenience it will often be of more 
importance to the one cutting timber, than any 
slight variation in quality that may follow, still 
there is no doubt a choice in time for felling trees 
for all purposes. In late fall and winter, when 
trees are in a dormant state, the wood contains less 
liquids than in spring and summer, and this is 
without doubt an advantage, for there is not only 
less to be driven off in seasoning, but less to pro¬ 
duce chemical changes which are often more or less 
injurious to both strength and durability. 
From my own experience, and all the facts that 
I have been able to gather from lumbermen and 
dealers in timber, I have come to the conefusion 
that the winter is not only preferable, but the most 
convenient season for cutting timber, whether to 
be converted into sawed lumber or be used for 
posts, rails, railroad ties, or other purposes where 
toughness and durability are an object. But in 
case of small timber for posts and stakes from 
which the bark is to be stripped, then we may de¬ 
lay the cutting until the latter part of the winter, 
or until the sap commences to liquify, which will 
facilitate the removal of the bark. All stakes and 
posts which are to be set in the ground should have 
the bark removed on that portion in the ground. 
If we bear in mind the fact, that it is only the 
outer portion of the tree—the sap wood, leaves, 
buds, and inner layers of the bark—which are 
alive and contain true sap, alt other portions being 
dead, and only serve as a covering, or like the 
heart wood, help to sustain the tree in its posi¬ 
tion, we can readily see why it will make no ma¬ 
terial difference’in the lasting properties of timber, 
whether it is cut in summer or winter, provided 
the green portion is-soon deprived of its moisture, 
so that insects will uot find a lodgment for their 
eggs, or decay be accelerated by its presence. 
For such purposes as hoop poles, the bark must 
be retained, as it is generally considered essential, 
and in this case the young trees should be cut at a 
season when the bark will adhere the most firmly, 
that is late fall or early winter, although they may 
be cut in summer, because the hickories usually 
finish their growth quite early in the season, but 
the wood is likely to be more brittle if the poles are 
cut early-or when they are in full leaf than later. 
Coniferous trees from which it is desirable to strip 
the bark, should be cut during the growing season 
in early summer, and if rapid seasoning is desired 
without removal of bark, the trees should be 
merely felled and allowed to remain thus with all 
their branches attached until the leaves fall off'.. 
We may have other objects in view besides the 
value of the timber taken, such as a second growth 
to be produced from the stumps; when this is de-, 
sired, the trees should be felled at a season most, 
favorable to the roots. If the trees are cut late in 
the fall or winter, the roots and stumps will throw- 
up sprouts far more readily than if the trees wei'q 
cut in summer, when growing the most rapidly. 
In fact, late summer is the proper time to out trees 
and shrubs if we desire to kill the roots. It would 
not be possible to name the exact time best for the 
purpose, because not only do seasons vary, but the 
right time in New York State would be too late for 
Virginia, and those further South, neither is the 
same time best in all years. I have seen acres of 
willows killed out completely by a single cutting 
of their tops, and the next season another lot was 
cutoff (luring the same days of the same mouth, 
the roots of which were but little injured, and 
threw up sprouts in great abundance the following- 
season. The weather at the time of cutting the 
willows, no doubt, had some influence in producing 
the difference in the results noted. In view of the 
increased attention given to willow-culture in this 
country, the proper time for cutting becomes of 
great importance, not only on account of its in¬ 
fluence upon the quality of the rods to be used in- 
basket making, but its effect upon the plantation. 
In England, where willows are grovvn to an aston¬ 
ishing extent, it has been found that to delay the..- 
cutting until spring, weakens the next crop. 
In ancient times, and, in fact, in modern, many 
persons have believed the moon has some myste¬ 
rious influence upon the growth of animals and] 
plants inhabiting this earth; such insist that trees 
Fig. 5.— THE ROOF AND STHDDraG. 
should always he cut during certain phases of the 
*' pale orb of night,” but for some reason they fail 
to agree in this matter, some insisting that it is best 
to fell timber on the wane, others the new of the 
moon, etc., but such superstitions have long since 
become obsolete among men who know anything 
of natural history in any of its various branches* 
