Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1873-10-20
2feric,llt,lral Department
I'D. R. COLLINS, Editor.
BUILDING A BARN.


Before commencing to build barn a
farmer should ascertain, as nearly as
possible what he wants. TO attain this
he can and should study plans, and WIS.,
it, if possible, the best barn in his yiein-
ity; but besides this it will require
much thinking and arranging of his
own. Often farmer does not know ex-
actly what he does want.
The size of the farm, the kind of
farming, the number of kinds and number
of each kind of stock, all have an i'm
portant bearing and determine the kind
and capacity of the structure.
The location is another important sub
ject. A hillside is rather necessary,
as nowadays nearly all barns are built
with easements for stock: and Gen.
trail position on the farm is the most
convenient, yet it should not be too far
from the house. If there be no slope
where the building is wanted, it is bet
ter to build on the surface and make
driveway or bridge than to dig cellar
and put it partly below the ground, as
water will often run in and trouble more
or less.
Besides these the means man has to
build with is an important item. Gen
orally there is not much danger of build
ing too large. The varied crops of the
farm and implements, wagons, &C., take
up great deal of room, and they should
be under cover eff course.
A general fault with barns is they
are too low, both the basement and barn
proper. Often we tall people are knock
ing our heads against the stills and Sleep
ers while trying to admire the stock of
our shorter friend, the owner. A few
feet more in the length of the posts in
creases the storage capacity of barn
without increasing its roof surface, and
in these days of horse-forks. getting the
crops up is comparatively an easy task.
In barn | have recently built, which
is SO by As. made the posts Is l-2
feet wide, SO feet long, and the root
being nearly third pitch, gives volume
of over $4,000 cubic feet to each bay
and over 5000 over the barn floor. The
The barn floor is IA feet wide and Il
feet high, which gives it room enough.
In many barns. all / ever saw, the
beam is in the way of pitching, but how
to obviate it was at first a serious ques
ton. / saw how it was done and l fol
lowed it. 1t is by letting the purlil
posts go from the barn floor to the pur
lin plate, and framing no cross timbe
between them except the purlin bean
at the top, and barn floor girder i
wanted
From these purlin posts to the out
side posts | framed three girts six inche
square, and braced them at each end
which | think sufficient to keep tn
building from spreading, as the purlil
posts are hard wood and eight inche
square.
Thus | have a pitching space. twelv
a feet wide and twenty-three feet high
p on each side of the barn floor, and fin
: opportunity for the use of the horse fc
!. pitching hay. In one corner | have
granary twelve feet wide, as shall us
q this for both hay and grain barr
n There is not farmer that has seen it br
o has been much pleased with it, and sal
4 that it was great improvement.
. Such barn requires a vast amour
of material of both wood and stone, {
a | have stone basement under it. II
y wall is two feet thick. The cost WI
depend on the convenience of materia
cut ali the timber out of my woods ar
!; got it sawed, so it did not cost as muc
: as it would if had bought all of
: The end-beats are the same as the mi,
die ones, except there are more girts ft
mailing boards to, and only one tier
/, braced, and that is the upper tier
Correspondence Western Farmer.