344 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Chester County Barn. 
Eds. Cultivator —In answer to the query of a cor¬ 
respondent of St. Albans, in the last number, I propose 
to submit for his consideration, a plan on the model of a 
recently constructed Chester county double floored barn, 
and whicR, after an examination of various other pre¬ 
vailing styles, in different sections of our country, I be¬ 
lieve best calculated to u combine [permanent] economy 
of construction, with convenience and saving of labor, in 
storing of hay and feeding the same.” 
Such a barn will require a locality inclining towards the 
south. Let the main barn, facing southerly, be 60 feet 
long and forty wide, with a leanto overshot extending in 
front twenty feet. I estimate this to contain near 100 
tons of hay, See.; then let hay houses extend 20 feet in 
width and height, in the form of an L, from the west end 
of the barn, of such length as to afford the additional 
storage necessary—say forty feet each. 
stabling, as represented in Fig. 1. A, horse stables, 12 
feet in depth, with mangers 2| feet wide for hay, and small 
troughs at the side of each stall, for grain. B, cattle 
stalls, hung with swinging gates, opening sideways. C, 
the same, hut each stall having a separate gate entering 
direct from the yard. D, doors. E, main entry, eight 
feet wide, to hold feed chests, &c,; e, entry 5 feet wide, 
with steps up to door D, at the north end, and having 
an entrance into the horse stables at each end, the en¬ 
tries to be laid with small stone and mortar,- the remain¬ 
ing space under the barn and overshot to be open to the 
yard, and furnished with box cribs, so that out-door 
stock can have their fodder placed under shelter in stor¬ 
my weather • in cleaning out stables, the manure may 
also be placed under here for protection from the weath¬ 
er. W, windows. 
If additional stall room is desired, the twenty foot bay 
houses might be divided by a 5 foot entry on- the outside, 
and stalls opening to the yard, as C; or the under story 
might he open to the yard, as additional shelter to stock 
and manure. 
Fig. 2 gives the elevation of the west end of the main 
barn, 40 feet; overshot 20—the former having in front the 
large doors, 16 feet, and bridge wall,- height to the square 
80 feet—to the second floor 8 feet; this covers a granary 
extending through the center 14 feet wide, boarded at 
the sides, and the haybins each side of it, 20 by 60 feet. 
It is lighted by two windows in front, and has a door and 
window at the north end. It is partitioned on one side 
Oct. 
shot will make a good work shop. The third or thresh¬ 
ing floor, right feet higher, extends 14 feet in width 
(same as granary, which it covers,) from the bridgewall 
to the front of overshot, and is lighted by a small dor¬ 
mer in roof of overshot—(this maybe scaffolded over 
head after the side mows are filled, for grain;) the large 
doors at the north end opening into a dormer covering 
the space between the bridge wall and barn. Each of 
the main hay mows should have a funnel four feet square, 
to pass hay to the entries below, and each of the over¬ 
shot mows one to the yard. Grain from the threshing 
floor is passed into bins in the granary through three inch 
square holes, stopped with wedge shaped plugs. 
And now, as to the advantages of this plan, which I 
believe are greater than embraced by any other that has 
come under my observation. Roofing is one of the 
most expensive parts of building—here is the greatest 
amount of storage, stabling and other accommodation 
under the same surface; the hay not descending to the 
ground floor, is less liable to be affected by damp, and af¬ 
fords a much less harbor for rats and other vermin. In the 
hurried season of harvest, produce can be disposed of in 
the deep bays in one-fourth of the time required to pitch 
it upwards, and in winter can be dropped immediately 
where wanted below—while the stables can all be shut 
tight in cold weather, to keep them warm. The hay fun¬ 
nels act as ventilators to carry off impure air; grain, when 
threshed, is put away in the granary without any labor 
of bagging and carrying; the horse stables are entered 
without passing through the cattle yard, and the cattle 
stalls are as conveniently arranged as in other plans. The 
space under the bridge way may readily he converted into 
a carriage or waggon-house; hay-houses, as proposed, or 
sheds in their place, would afford comfortable protec¬ 
tion from north and west winds. If any further infor¬ 
mation, respecting farming or other minutia, is desired by 
correspondents, I shall be pleased to furnish it. I sup- 
pose the main barn to be built of stone at least as high 
as the third floor, except in front; the overshot may be 
of frame, on pillars level with the granary floor, or its 
ends may be a continuation of the barn walls. The 
above general plan, varied in size and details, receives 
the general sanction of the practical farmers of Chester 
County. Pa., 3 d mo., 1852.. 
Gnawing of Rabbits.— J. T. Wilson informs the 
Michigan Farmer of the failure of several a infallible n 
preventives for this evil. He was told that any greasy 
substance, mixed with “ lime, sulphur, hen-dung, to- 
bacco juice, assafeetida, Sec. Sec.,” [a rather unattrac¬ 
tive compound, truly,] would be effectual; it deterred 
them for a few days, but they were soon at it, again. A 
single mixture of lard and assafeetida was of no avail. A 
friend, however, informed him., (but he had not himself 
tried it,) that tanners’ oil would repel both rabbits and 
sheep—that he would pay for all they would injure while 
the smell remained. Whether the oil will kill or injure 
the trees, is however, an interesting question. 
