The Republican journal., 1875-03-04
Farm, Garden and Household,
Planning and Building Barns.

rood deal Oi hard work Is uSuaiIY PeI
formed in planning and arranging 10 Sc
curc the greatest possible convenience II
tending the stock, and at the same Time
H. Keep the cost from exceeding the rea
,,Ino Of the buildings, when finished. Ih
ft,,ro}euent in the general plan and styl,
IN trn barns has been very great within
+r. past half century Many can remem
.er W Wheu much of the hay and other win
er fodder was put up in stacks in the ope
4r. H. which the cattle were turned loos
al lveathers, and SO strongly are we al
sahcG g. old habits and customs that
sitter buAiug larger and better barns fo
.uusing our stock and our fodder, man
.. as hung on, for time. to the oil
practice Of feeding a portion OF the fodde
fle open yards or fields.
lt Is pleasant to look back and see how
OUT farm barns nave improved from veal
u. Year, since the time when cattle were
-ept lr ppeu sheds or rude hovels, Ih'
lest style %, improved barn was simply
stable for cattle, with scattold ovel
.....4 and marrow loor or driveway il
mont ol the cattle This driveway was
.ae enough for q team and load of hay
.HN W4s uSe0 in winter for feeding cattle
I.u t1I storing the best carriage. As door!
Ae"e more expensive than close boarding
rlse primitive barns seldom allowed 0
uN.a- through. hut the team had to b.
aeArG out when the load had been de
.1erct
The neAt step iu the way of improve
u-Hl was the addition Of another section
opposite the stable, for storing hay, and
4 uQre Of The fodder was put into barns
Z less info stacks 1t became more nee
u~-.rt JQ have doors al each end of the
driveway that time might be saved in the
season Vt filling mp the NOW and scatfold
tr lt IN impossible To back team out OF
I'd barn rs quickly as to drive through. Or
trge farms where more room was re,
Ilrad ipr both stock and hay, barns were
Jl Iang enough for two drive-wavs,
Y-t4 q stable at each end and d commodi-
.l- hay NOW In the centre. Many barns
ri this style may be seen in all parts OF
tn- country at the present time
IUtF leet by sixty feet was common
-.e ioi this sly ~ barn The hay kept
Nci lu such large mows DuL the incon-
,ea.ence OF tending stock at the two ex-
rene ends Of the building soon maze a
change 9eem desirable IN the general plan.
Barns were next increased in width to
tbirtV-siN tbrtv-eight on forty feet and
-1e driveway and stable run lengthwise,
instead Ql crUsSW Sc OF the building The
uau Who first discovered that no more
space was taken up by one driveway
.roIEh a barn 30XGO feet. running length
wise than iy tWO running across it, must
..Fe been as proud OF the discovery as if
le had been the first to proclaim that a
AA-e Is no longer lying down than when
landing over the pot OF kettle-a PROPOSE
-t1A which is yet hardly acknowledged as
agrect Jv some If our road builders
The idea of having but one driveway
aud having it run Iengthwise of the barn
las been very generally adopted. The
relative length and width has been gov
erned somewhat by the number and char
aater Of the stock kept. The better class
Big. IarnS have been built with the drive
e-,v little to one side OF the centre, thus
,j}jug more width TO the hay NOW than to
tAe stable opposite. Many barns, built
aItrr this pattern, have been built lust
long enough to give ample stable room
Qu one side and as wide as would be con-
Nenlent for handling hay in the mows, or
AIS tine roof could be safely spread
Another step in the path Of improvement
barn building has been in the direction
nt cellars CT basement stories, partly or
wholly under ground. At first these were
dug under HE stables OF the old barns
They were simply manure vaults, partly
mdrl cover and partly outside They
We're decided Improvement as far as
preserving the value Of the manure was
-9ucerneG but they We're often horrible
holes Il which to put man or beast Swine
"ere often kept in them. but seldom with
comfort NJ convenience, either 10 the pigs
r. their keepers.
When a cellar under the whole barn was
FIRST tound practicable, it was considered a
wonderful advance, as it really was Then
became possible to give the pigs more
Wom, good platform for feeding and a
dry bed for sleeping, and also some shed
room for cattle or for farm carriages
Cellars are also often used for sheep or
ior poultry. OF both. There is one draw
uack about cellars under barns. The
stable tl1ors must be looked to in season
.ad not be allowed to rot and fall through
W.th their weight Of live stock Many
accidents Of thls kind have occurred, Civ
Ng oid lugy farmers an argument against
aeW-iangied notions. and barn cellars
specially bHt So fully are cellars appre-
r'4led where they have been once tried,
thai some farmers have gone so far in
asejr praise rs to claim that they would as
soon have a cellar without barn as a
barn without a cellar 1t is our opinion
tlar where cellars have been tried, farm
ala would now as soon think OF building
d. ,tft ,:.lz
one
Within the past few years, we have
but little change in the general plan Of the
luajoriry OF the barns built. The improve
nrnt las chiefly been in the direction OF
iue finish and style, some of the best
structures being finished in a style vastly
superior to the best dwellings, of our
fathers and grandtathers. But nearly all
the farm barns are built pretty much after
one mooel-a driveway the whole length,
open at either end, a stable on one side.
with ,cafuld overhead and capacious
NOW opposite Such barns are yerv con-
Ncment for securing hay at harvest time,
several loads being otter stored in the
long barn iloor over night but except for
Jew weeks in haying, this great hole
through the centre, is, more or less, waste
room
Some farmers have made an improve
ment by having the head scatfolds tenn
porarv, and as the barn is filled, these are
let down to within seven or eight feet of
The floor and filled with hay. This makes
the barn warmer, as less space is unoccu-
pled-an empty barn being colder than
one tuli Of animals and hay These seat
folds are left Just high enough to allow ar
Empty hay wagon to pass under so thai
lie team is not obliged to back out after
unloading
On land sufficiently sloping, this idea Of
.ow scatlolds over the driveway and feed
ing floor, mas been carried another degree
ny wharling mp at one or both ends of the
barn and driving in on a level with the
ScailoIds, thus giving a chance to pitch
much OF the hay down. instead of up, wher
drawing 1t tfom the fields. This arrange
ment is only practicable where the land i.
considerably sloping, but wherever it i,
practicable it should be adopted. bv al
means, as a barn of this kind is wortl
more, according to its cost, than whel