140 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[April, 
A Dairy Barn. 
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An Oliio correspondent asks for a plan for a dairy 
barn, in which 100 cows may he kept. Recently 
we had an opportunity of visiting some milk dairy 
farms in Westchester Co., N. Y., and were pleased 
with the convenience of the barns and stables, 
built by some of the largest farmers, after long 
experience had shown what could best meet their 
needs. The business is almost wholly the produc¬ 
tion of milk for the New York market, and some 
of the barns are made to accommodate 80 to over 
100 cows. The general style of the best of these 
barns is shown in the accompanying illustra¬ 
tions. Figure 1 (which is given on page 139) 
represents the elevation of the barn. It is situated 
upon the side of a hill, in which the basement 
stable is placed. The basement is of stone, and 
9 feet high. The barn is 20 feet high above 
the basement, 80 feet long, and 28 feet wide. The 
yard is surrounded with a stonewall, and a manure 
pit is dug under the center of the building, large 
enough to back a wagon into. No manure is kept 
in the yard, which is thus always clean and neat, 
but it is raked into a wagon, which is backed into 
the pit to receive it, every morning, and carted 
away. Nothing is thus left to taint the air around 
the stable, and to vitiate the purity of the milk. 
At the left of the yard, adjoining the stable-, is a 
spring-house, in -which the milk is rapidly cooled, 
and kept cool until the time for shipment. Behind 
the spring-house, and immediately at one end of 
the barn, is the pit for storing brewer’s grains, of 
which a portion of the feed consists. These grains, 
purchased from the ale breweries, contain a large 
portion of corn meal, which is now extensively 
used in brewing, and are both nutritious and whole¬ 
some food. It is a mistake to suppose that brew¬ 
er’s grains are either unhealthy or improper food, 
or tend to produce any but the best of milk. 
Grains are simply crushed malt, which has been 
deprived of its sugar by the process of mashing, 
and contain, when in a dry condition, only very 
little less milk-producing nutriment than the barley 
from which they were made, the loss being chiefly 
starch or carbonaceous matter. The daily ration 
given to the cows upon these milk farms, is usually | 
half a bushel of grains, in which there is a eonsid- 
erable portion of corn meal, and six to eight quarts 
of dry corn meal, with as much hay as they care to 
eat. Where no grains arc fed, the ration is 8 quarts 
of com meal with hay. The pit in which the 
grains are stored, is a deep cellar, walled with 
stone and cement, and covered with a roof. A 
door from the bottom of the pit opens into the 
stable, and permits the removal of the grains as 
maybe needed. In this pit several thousand bush¬ 
els of grains may be stored, and being packed 
down closely, and.kept from access of air, maybe 
preserved in good order for months. It is upon a 
similar plan to this, that French farmers are now 
preserving their corn-fodder in a green state, until 
the new crop comes in. The basement has four 
doors, and is amply lighted and ventilated. The 
floor is divided in the center by a wido feed-pas¬ 
sage, upon each side of which are stanchions to hold 
the cows. There are no feed troughs, but the feed is 
placed upon the floor before each cow. The stanch¬ 
ions arc made of oak, are self fastening by means 
of an iron loop, which is lifted as the stanchion is 
closed, by its beveled end, and falls over it, holding 
It securely. The space between the stanchions for 
the cow’s neck, is six inches. Each cow has a space 
of three feet, and there are no stalls or partitions 
between them. The floor, upon which the cows 
stand, is 41 feet wide; behind this is a manure-gut¬ 
ter, 18 inches wide, and 6 inches deep, and behind 
the gutter a passage of 3 feet and 6 inches ; in all 
giving a space of 14 feet from the center of the 
feed-passage to the walls upon either side. This is 
shown in fig. 2 in plan, and in section in fig. 3, in 
which a is the grains-pit, b, the spring-house, c, the 
feed-passage, and d the manure-gutters. The barn- 
floor is shown in fig. 4. 
There are four bays and 
three floors. Two of 
these floors have slide- 
doors, opening into the 
barn-yard, and spacious 
windows above them, 
as seen in fig. 1. Hay- 
shoots are made in the 
floors, by which hay is 
thrown down into the 
feed-passage. These, Rig. 3 .—section. 
which are shown at e, e, 
fig. 3, also serve for ventilation, in connection with 
the cupolas upon the roof. The most complete barn 
in this locality of good barns that we visited, is that 
of Mr. J. D. Pow'ell, at Unionville, who keeps 180 
cows, but as we had not an opportunity of sketch¬ 
ing that one, we made drawings of one upon al¬ 
most exactly the same plan, however, owned by 
Mr. Brady, of Katonah. To visit these dairies 
would be instructive to dairymen of other districts, 
but most especially to those who consume the 
milk, and who have been taught to look with in¬ 
discriminate suspicion and dread upon all milk 
which comes to the cities, as springing from sources 
that are objectionable, if not unwholsome, for in no 
dairy that we ever visited have we seen greater 
cleanliness, better feeding, more attention to the 
comfort and health of the cows, greater system 
and care in the manipulation of the milk, nor have 
we ever tasted richer or better milk, than in the 
dairies of the gentlemen mentioned. 
Another Sliding Gate. 
Sliding Gates have been found to be so useful and 
convenient, that scores of patents have been taken 
out for various styles of them. A kind that is not 
patented, and never can be legally, is shown in the 
illustration. It is intended to go with a board 
fence, although it may be covered with pickets, and 
used with a picket fence. It is made of fence 
boards. There are no mortices or framing about it. 
The posts are double strips, which are fastened on 
each side of the bars by wrought nails, or carriage 
bolts, and a brace is fastened to the bars and posts. 
A small wheel, or roller, is fastened to the bottom 
of each post, and a board is laid down for them to 
run upon. To keep the gate in place, a post is 
driven into the ground a few inches from one of the 
fence posts, and two round wooden pins are put 
through both the posts to hold them together. The 
gate moves upon the rollers, and does not slide 
upon the pins. The principle upon which this gate 
is made, has been applied to barn doors for a great 
many years, and as it is not really a slide-gate, or 
such as is usually called a slide-gate, it conflicts 
with none of the patents by which so many farmers 
are continually annoyed. The fastening is a catch 
loosely pivoted upon a carriage bolt passed through 
the post of the gate, and which slides over and 
hooks to a carriage bolt or pin in the fence post, as 
seen in the engraving. 
The Management of Young Turkeys. 
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The turkey crop is growing in importance every 
year, especially in the older States, and without 
doubt increasing in size and profit. Flocks aver¬ 
aging 13 to 14 pounds, dressed for the eastern 
markets, which requires the removal of crop and 
entrails, are not uncommon. On many farms it is 
a reliable source of income, yielding from two 
hundred to six hundred dollars annually. There is 
a great difference in the success of farmers, owing 
to the difference in the skill in managing the young 
birds. The first step in raising turkeys is to have 
them well born. And to this end the stock should 
be carefully selected, whether it is young or old. 
We prefer an adult cock, from 23 to 35 pounds, and 
if we had such a bird, should keep him for three or 
four years without change. If a cockerel is used, 
he should weigh from 29 to 25 pounds at eight 
months old. If he reaches thirty pounds, or about 
that, in his second autumn, he is a good bird to 
breed from for the next four or five years. The 
male bird, of whatever variety, should be as per¬ 
fect as possible in plumage, in shape, and in weight. 
If a strong, healthy bird, and well bred, he will 
leave his mark upon every one of his offspring, 
however large the flock. As a single act fertilizes 
a whole clutch of eggs, one gobbler is sufficient for 
15 to 20 hens, and that is as many as is desirable to 
keep on any farm, however large. Some of our 
most successful breeders keep only 10 or 12 hens. 
In selecting hens we prefer yearlings to pullets, 
and if satisfactory in every respect, should keep 
them four or five years. They lay larger eggs and 
bring stronger chicks. If pullets are taken, use 
nothing under 13 pounds at eight months old, and 
if 15-pound birds can be had by paying double 
prices for them, secure them by all means. The 
larger the adult hens the better. The hens should be 
put with the gobbler as soon after February 1st as 
possible in the northern states. They will not be¬ 
gin to lay before the last of March. They should 
have nests prepared for them near the house or 
bam, in an old barrel or box, that can be closed at 
night, so as to protect the bird while sitting upon 
her eggs. If the nest is covered with brash or old 
boards, so as to be screened from observation, they 
will be much more likely to resort to it. They will 
require some watching as the laying season ap¬ 
proaches, to prevent them straying into the woods. 
It is a matter of great importance that they should 
lay near the house, where they can be protected 
while sitting. The eggs should be earned into the 
house as fast as laid, be placed in a large flat dish, 
and be turned bottom-side up every day. When 
the brooding season comes on, place from 15 to 17 
eggs under each hen. Cover the mouth of the box 
or barrel every night, and keep food near the nest, 
or watch for the bird every day as she comes off, 
to see that she is well fed. The eggs, if well cared 
for, hatch with more uniformity than those of any 
other domestic fowls. Let her take her own time 
to leave her nest with her young ones. When the 
mother bird is ready to take the field, put the 
young ones in a triangular pen, made of boards 
about 12 feet long and one foot wide, set up edge¬ 
wise. This pen will restrain the young ones for 
ten days or more, and when they can fly over the 
boards, it will be safe to give them more liberty. 
Feed at first with hard boiled egg, or with beef 
chopped fine. Also give them coarse ground In¬ 
dian meal scalded, and mixed with milk. This 
meal and milk, as much as they will eat clean, is 
about the best food they can have for a mouth or 
six weeks. If well fed early every morning, which 
means as soon as birds come off from their roosts, 
they will not wander much in the wet grass. As 
the sun gets up they should be driven afield, if they 
