4r54r. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
A Barn for Mixed Farming-. 
“ J. F. G.,” Highland Co., Ohio, says: “ I want 
a barn for mixed farming, for storing hay and 
grain, and for keeping stock; I want all the 
labor-saving improvements, and also a root-cel¬ 
lar in aconvenient place, and a yard for manure.” 
This is a general want, and the importance of 
a well-arranged barn to the comfort of the farmer 
as well as to the comfort and well-being of the 
stock is very great. We give on this page an 
engraving of a barn which has been found 
very convenient by the writer for his own use, 
with all the plans necessary for laying out the 
Stables, sheds, and other accessories. Its cost 
will be from ''1500 to $2500, according to price 
of materials and the amount of finish put upon 
the work. In most places where stone for the 
lower story and lumber can be procured cheaply, 
$1500 will be sufficient to build a barn fifty feet 
square, including everything needed. This is 
not a basement-barn. It is not built in a hill¬ 
side. Partly underground stables are not gener¬ 
ally desirable, on account of dampness, too much 
warmth in winter, and want of ventilation. But 
a.slight rise of ground which may he availed of 
for an easy ascent to the barn-floor is a conven¬ 
ience, although not at all necessary. This may 
be easily made by using the earth from the root- 
cellar, which should be two or three feet below 
the surface, to fill in the ascending road-way. 
The stable-floor is thus on a level with the 
ground, and windows on each side furnish am¬ 
ple light and ventila¬ 
tion. The foundation- 
walls are of stone, 
sunk three feet below 
the surface. Drains 
from the bottom of 
the foundation would 
be found of great use 
in keeping the stables 
perfectly dry at all 
seasons. Below the 
ground the Avails may 
be built of dry work, 
but above the surface 
the best of mortar 
should be used in the 
building. Much of the 
solidity and d . bility 
of a building depends 
upon the excellence 
of the mortar. The 
stable-walls are built 
so that the barn over¬ 
hangs the entrance- 
Avays six feet, AA’liicli 
gives protection against rain or snow, as well 
as prevents drifting of either into the open upper 
half of the doors or windoAVS, thus permitting 
ventilation in stormy weather, and allowing com¬ 
fortable access from one door to another. The 
plan shown in figure 2 gives the arrangement of 
stalls and passages. J. Bis the liorse-stable, Avith 
two double stalls and a loose box for a mare and 
colt. C Ois the coAV-stable,Avith stalls for 22 cows, 
arranged so that the animals’ heads in each row 
are towards each other, Avilli a central feed-pas- 
sage between. D D are ventilators and straw- 
shoots,Avkich carry off through the cupolas on the 
top ofthebuildingallthe effluviafromtliestables, 
and by Avliich straAV for bedding is thrown down 
from the mows or barn-floor above. E F are 
compartments for calves or a few ewes Avith 
early lambs which may require extra care and 
protection, tf is the root-cellar, entered "from 
the feeding-room, which also communicates 
directly Avith each compartment. H is the 
cistern, sunk tAvelve feet beneath the floor of 
the root-cellar, and Avliich receives the Avhole 
of the Avater shed from all the roofs. It is pre¬ 
vented from overfloAving by an outlet into the 
drain, Avhich runs beneath the stable-floor. Jis 
the pump in the feed-passage, J the shoot by 
which cut hay or fodder is thrown doAA 7 n from 
the barn-floor. L is the feed-mixing box, or 
steam-chest, if steaming is practiced, and M the 
stairs to the barn-floor above. On this floor are 
four bays for hay, straw, or fodder, a spacious 
thrashing-floor, with a cross-hall for cutting 
machine, and shoot ( O) to pass the cut feed below. 
A door in this cross-hall opens into the barn¬ 
yard, by Avliich straAV may be thrown out for 
litter. A door at the rearoflhe thrashing-floor 
opens into the upper part of the open shed, 
Avhere hay, straAV, or fodder may be stored. The 
cutting machine is shown at K. JJJare 
grain bins or boxes for feed. PP are bays, Q 
the thrashing-floor ; li li liay-shools and A r enti- 
lators, Avliich are carried up level with the plates, 
doors being made, through which to pass the 
hay either from the barn-floor or the mows. S 
is the straw-shed, Avith open traps to pass straw 
or fodder into the racks shown beneath in fig. 1. 
Fig. 1 sIioavs the elevation of the barn, the 
arrangement of the barn-yard, the doors and 
• Aviudoivsof the stables and root-cellar. The 
shoots for discharging roots into the cellar, and 
for ventilation, are seen at each side of the barn¬ 
door. The open shed seen in the rear of the 
barn-yard is for the purpose of airing stock in 
stormy weather, and is furnished Avith a straw- 
rack for feeding them. This barn is calculated 
for a farm of 100 to 200 acres. Exactly such a 
barn was built for a farm of 90 acres, on which 
soiling in summer and steaming food in Avinter 
were practiced, and w 7 as found ample to meet 
every Avant for the stock it was made to accom¬ 
modate. A cart-load of green fodder hauled to 
the stable Avas unloaded into a small feed-truck 
through the window of the feed-passage, between 
the cows’ stalls, and was distributed to 22 head 
in fifteen minutes. The same number of cows 
could be fed from the steam-chest, by means of 
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Fig. 3.—SECOND STORY OF BARN. 
the same truck, in even less time, if necessary. 
Such conveniences as this make a comparatively 
costly barn much the cheapest in the end. 
Butter-Molds 
In reply to many inquiries made by some 
of our readers, who can not procure the butter- 
molds Avhich Ave described in a former number 
of the Agriculturist , we give directions for mak¬ 
ing them at home. The difficulty lies in getting 
the stamp made. Any one Avho can work a 
foot-lathe, can turn the mold and the plain stamp 
with the handle, but the device which ornaments 
the stamp troubles them. To make this, take a 
Fig. 1.—BUTTER-MOLD. 
piece of wood free from graiu—a piece of soft 
maple or birch-root is very good—and have it 
turned or dressed the proper size, and a smooth 
face made on it. Then either draw on the face, 
the wrong way (as shown in figures 1 and 2), or 
cut out letters from a printed bill or neAvspaper, 
Fig. 1.—ELEVATION OF BARN AND STABLE. 
