408 
Barn Cellars and Connected Farm 
Buildings 
I HAVE been reading “A. P.. G.’s” series of articles 
on tlie “Problems of New England Agriculture*’ 
with much interest. .They touch understandingly on 
many of the problems now facing us. and 1 hope they 
will be read and pondered over by the many farmer 
readers of the R. N.-Y. 
I want to touch, however, on the statements he 
makes on page 140 in relation to the barn cellar and 
the connected house and barn of the typical New 
England, especially the Maine, farm home. In this 
connection, 1 remember that when holding a series 
of dairy farm institutes in a dairy section of the 
State, a New York speaker was along, and he started 
out his address by saying that good butter couldn't 
be made from cows stabled over a barn cellar. This 
remark caused quite a storm of protest from the 
audience. The speaker was reminded of the high 
scores that were then standing to the credit of Maine 
dairymen, every one of which had been made on 
butter from cows kept in basement barns, of the 
general good health of Maine herds and the demands 
for our cows in the markets. The speaker remained 
in the .State two weeks, and before he left he said 
that if he was dairying in Maine he would use the 
barn cellar. lie was convinced by actual contact 
with the barn cellar and with the local conditions 
particularly in Winter. 
The barn cellar, which it simply an undrained, un¬ 
lighted hole in the ground, with bottom near the 
surface water table, is a stench in the nostrils of 
every decent dairyman. It is not to this that 1 refer, 
but to a cellar well above the ground, well lighted, 
well drained, and with concrete or solid gravel 
foundation. It must be remembered that our aver¬ 
age farms are too small to allow of expensive re¬ 
ceptacles for manure outside of the barns; that the 
climate and plans of work and of rotation preclude 
the drawing of manure to the fields daily, which 
when possible, is no doubt ideal; that manure must 
be covered to protect it from the weather, and that 
labor in handling is a very important matter. Taking 
all these points into consideration, the cellar forms 
the ideal place for this storage. 
The greatest sink of iniquity about the New Eng- 
and barn, today, is the lean-to manure shed and 
muddy barnyard through which men and animals 
must wade as they enter and leave the barn. They 
should be condemned by all who speak or write on 
New England agriculture, and I hope A. B. G. will 
touch them up before his series of articles closes. 
The economy of the cellar is apparent, as it is a 
part of the barn itself and needs no roof. If the 
sides are made of stone or concrete where the ma¬ 
nure lies against them, as they should be, there will 
be no rotting or damage to the barn. How different 
the lean-to manure shed! The manure is thrown 
out of a window and spatters against the walls of 
the tie-up on the inside and lies against them on the 
outside. The lean-to covering keeps the sunlight, 
that great life-giving factor of nature, away from 
the animals, and prevents the free circulation of air. 
making the tie-up dark, damp and unhealthy. In 
the cellar, the manure is out of the way, out-of sight 
and is free as possible from losses by drainage and 
heating. In the cellar we get the most possible out 
of the manure with the least possible Labor. I would 
welcome a campaign of education to make these cel¬ 
lars better, but not to do away with them on the 
small New England farms. 
The requisites of a good barn are that it shall be 
convenient, that it shall be light, that it shall be 
warm in Winter and arranged for the free circula¬ 
tion of air in Summer and that it shall be as near 
the living-rooms of the care-taker as is consistent 
with due regard to cleanliness and pleasant sur¬ 
roundings. It makes much difference in the lifetime 
of work whether that work is two or ten rods away. 
A covering between the two, while perhaps not as 
necessary in Summer as in Winter, is a great con¬ 
venience at all times. I would tfEfdTft as soon go out 
with loads to or from the barn in the cold of Winter 
as in the heat and rains of Summer. Animals will 
be better tended in a nearby, connected barn than 
in one across the lot. 
If the buildings are far, enough apart to allow of 
immunity from fire of one if the other burns, the 
owner will soon earn a set of buildings in the un¬ 
necessary travel between the two. Then again. I 
think the extra danger of fire has been overesti¬ 
mated. Many mutual fire insurance companies are 
now doing business in Maine which insure only farm 
buildings, and the latest figures available appear to 
show that this mutual farm insurance costs the in¬ 
sured about one-half what the same insurance would 
cost in old-line stock insurance companies. Con- 
' The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
servative estimates of values and careful analysis 
of risks have kept the costs at this low figure, and 
this mutual insurance is the best in the State. The 
State Grange of Maine has four farm insurance com¬ 
panies. all flourishing, all doing a large business with 
never a loss unpaid. All these facts would seem to 
prove that the connected farm buildings of the State 
are not extra hazardous risks, but rather the reverse. 
Maine. «. walker mckeen. 
Locating a Barn 
How should I locate site for a barn 28x40 on the tri¬ 
angular piece of land shown in diagram? j. k. 
Calverton, N. Y. 
W ITHOUT being on the ground it is impossible 
for me to give you anything like a definite 
answer. You have not told me the size'of the plot 
shown, the prevailing slope of the land, the character 
A Barn Location Problem. Fig. 9(1 
of the barn, whether dairy, storage or horse barn, 
or any of the many things that would be taken into 
consideration in determining its best location. In 
general, however, the house should be given the most 
important place on the farmstead, or if, as in this 
case, the house has already been built, the barn 
should be so placed that it will not draw the atten¬ 
tion from the house. To have a good appearance, the 
other buildings and surroundings should be arranged 
to display the house to the best advantage. 
Usually the barn should be located somewhat, to 
the rear and at one side of the house, probably not 
less than 200 ft. distant, for with the best of stable 
management there is always some odor. For the 
same reason it should be so placed that the prevail¬ 
ing winds will blow from the house towards the barn, 
rather than in the reverse direction. This will tend 
to carry stable odors and flies away from the house 
rather than toward it. For convenience sake the dis- 
The Modem Method of Collecting Sap. Fig. 9 7 
tanee to the barn should not be too great; also, it 
should be conveniently located to the well or other 
source of water supply, but care should be exercised 
to see that the character of the ground is such and 
that the surface slope in such a direction that 
there can be no surface wash or subsurface leaching 
into the well. 
With a rectangular barn the best lighting is se¬ 
cured when it is set with its longest dimension north 
and south. The sun can then shine directly into the 
February 28, 1920 
east: side during the forenoon, the south end at. noon 
and the west side in the afternoon, leaving only the 
north end exposed to direct light. If placed with the 
long' dimension east and west the north side would 
be left without direct illumination. With these facts 
in mind it seems that the best location, provided 
slope and drainage are all right, is somewhat to the 
south and west of theliouse, as shown, with the well 
situated between them. The barn can be placed with 
its long side paralleling the road, which will give the 
lighting effect desired. in u. s. 
Canton, N. Y., Agricultural School. 
Will Goats Substitute for Cows? 
I live in a small lumbering town in Northern Maine, 
where the proposition of getting a good and sufficient 
milk supply presents quite a problem, as we have no 
room for a cow. and transportation from outside is 
impractical. I have been thinking of getting a goat or 
two, but am undecided as to the better breed for milk 
purposes, and do not know what to expect from them. 
I have facilities for getting a variety of good feed and 
sufficient room to provide comfortable quarters. Would 
you advise as to the best breed suited for this purpose, 
and about what the milk yield would be from one goat, 
with good care? F. N. A. 
Maine. 
T HERE are goats that, give as much as the 
average Kerry cow. Of course these are ex¬ 
ceptions. and this amount of milk (eight quarts) is 
obtained only under forced feeding and by milking 
three times in 24 hours. But I am positive that 
within the next 10 years the average goat will give 
at least a quart more than she does today. A fair 
goat will give two quarts per day when fresh, or 
lioukl average nearly one quart for about 10 months. 
If she has much breeding she should do better than 
this. I sold a small native doe to a man in Con¬ 
necticut last Fall that must have been milking IS 
months, for her kid was nearly as large as she 
when I bought them last Winter, and in October she 
was milking one pint. Very likely she didn't milk 
over 1% pints when fresh, but she is a better pro¬ 
ducer than some that give three or four quarts 
when fresh and dry up in two or three months. 
You can buy a good goat that will give sufficient 
milk for any ordinary family, that is, a four, five 
or six-quart animal, but I would not advise a be¬ 
ginner to invest the required amount in an animal 
whose habits he is unacquainted with, for we must 
remember that whether it be horses, cows or goats, 
the finer they are bred, the more skillful the atten¬ 
tion should be. A purebred Saanen, Toggenburg or 
Nubian, I am sure, would be satisfactory, and I 
doubt very much that you would regret buying a 
goat if she was as represented and you gave her fair 
care. However, a good native doe would show you 
the possibilities in milch goats and the investment 
comparatively small, or a grade Swiss or Nubian. 
Thei;e is no best breed in America, although I pin 
my faith to the Nubian and expect to see them sur¬ 
pass the others in a few years. It. has been said 
that the Nubian cannot stand our Northern climate, 
but they are doing well in British Columbia, and 
our own pure buck, born in Southern California, 
does not seem to mind New Jersey much more than 
grade Swiss that were born here. Two Winters ago, 
when the thermometer registered 17° below, he was 
outdoors every day. m. g. s. 
Dairy Prices and the Labor Question 
As you are probably tin* best authority in New York 
on milk subjects. I am writing to ask if you would pub¬ 
lish for our information an explanation of why the 
price of liquid milk is made to producers on the basis of 
butter and cheese alone, and why powdered milk, evap¬ 
orated milk, condensed milk and other by-products are 
not included in the basis for butter-making prices. We 
pay more for feed than we paid in December and Janu¬ 
ary. and other supplies arc equally high. 
If a commission were authorized to make prices in 
the city it could make the price lower than at present 
to the producer. If they were to do so the people of the 
city would be getting cheap beef, because the cows 
would go there for meat, and in two years’ time they 
would pay $10 a hundred for milk or go without it, and 
by that time the beefsteak would sell for 50c a pound, 
and neither milk nor beef available. In this locality all 
the young men have gone to. the city, where they get 
from $4 to $15 a day for eight hours’ work. It is easy 
to see that with less help there will be less production. 
The buys say to us farmers', “If you can establish a 10- 
hpur day. six days a week, and pay as much as we get 
in the city, we will work for you.” Who can blame 
them? But we are milking twice a day, and 12 hours a 
day, and seven days in the week, is a necessity. With 
feed at high prices and milk going down I cannot see 
bow we dairymen can concede the boys’ demands for 
city hours and city wages. d. g. g. 
New Jersey. 
There is more profit in condensed, evaporated and 
powdered milk than in butter and cheese. Conse¬ 
quently, if they were included in the basis for price¬ 
making, milk would cost the dealers more than it 
now does. If there is any other reason we do not 
know what it is, but, of course, the volume of milk 
condensed is not in proportion to the amount con¬ 
sumed in liquid form, or in the manufacture of butter 
and cheese. 
