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B ARI^ PLAN 8
AND
OUTBUILDINGS.
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS.
NEW YORK:
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY,
751 BROADWAY.
1881.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by the
ORANGE JL'BD COMPANY,
lii the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
List of Illustrations vii
Publishers' Announcement x
Introduction xi
CHAPTER I.— General Farm Barns.
The Bam of Mr. David Lyman ; Mr. Lawson Valentine's Bam ;
An Ohio Barn ; A Missouri Bam ; A Good Farm Bam ; Another
Bam for Mixed Farming ; Mr. Charles S. Sargent's Bam ;
A Plau for a Small Bam ; Another Small Barn ; The " Echo
Farm " Barn 13^2
CHAPTEPv IL— Cattxe Barns and Stables.
A Cattle Barn ; A Western Cattle Bam ; A Second Western Cattle
Barn ; Covered Stalls for Cattle ; Cheap Cattle Sheds and
Barns ; Cheap Barn and Connecting Stables ; A Temporary
CatUe Shed ; A Combined Cow Shed and Pigpen 43-58
CHAPTER ni.— Dairy Barns.
A Westchester Co., N. Y., Dairy Barn ; An Orange Co., N. T.,
Dairy Bam ; An Extension Dairy Bam 59-65
CHAPTER IV.— Cattle Shelters.
An Archway Shelter ; Cheap Temporary Shelters for Stock ;
Cattle Shelters on the Plains 66-73
CHAPTER v.— Sheep Barns and Sheds.
A Convenient Sheep Bam ; Sheep Sheds and Racks ; Shed for
Soiling Sheep ; Virginia Sheep Bam ; A Kansas Sheep Shel-
ter ; Sheep Shelter on the Plains 74-85
CHAPTER VI.— Poultry Houses.
A Cheap and Convenient Poultry House ; An Ohio Poultry
House; Another Cheap Hen House ; Poultry Houses for
Four Varieties; Poultry House for a Number of Breeds;
Poultry Farming and Hillside Poultry Houses ; Ducks and
Duck Houses ; Winter Care of Fowls ; Stove for Poultry
Houses 86-103
CHAPTER VII.— Piggeries.
Plan of a Piggery; A Convenient Farm Piggery; Mr. Crozier's
Pigpen ; A Comfortable Pigpen ; Pens and Yards for One
Hundred and Fifty Hogs ; A Portable Pigpen ; Pigp?n, Hen
House, and Com Crib Combined ; A Pigpen and Tool House ;
A Cheap Pigpen ; Self-Closing Door for Pigpen ; A Swing-
ing Door for Pigpen • 104^124
V
VI TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.— Carriage IIodses.
A Combiaed Carriage and Tool House 125-127
CHAPTER IX.— Corn Houses and Cribs.
The Connecticut Corn House ; An Improved Corn House ; West-
ern Corn Houses ; Another Western Corn House ; A Self-
Feeding Corn Crib ; A Self-Discharging Corn Crib ; A Cover
for Corn Cribs 128-139
CHAPTER X.— Ice Houses.
Ice : Its Uses and Importance ; Plan of an Ice House ; A Cheap
Ice House ; A Small Ice House ; Underground Ice Houses ;
An Ice House in the Barn ; Ice without Houses 140-153
CHAPTER XI.— Ice Houses and Cool Chambers.
Several Plans ; A Chamber Refrigerator 154-159
CHAPTER XII.— Dairy Houses.
Ice House and Summer Dairy Combined ; A Butter Dairy ; A
Pennsylvania Dairy 1G0-1G9
CHAPTER XIII.— Spring Houses.
Interior of Spring House ; A Dome-shaped, Concrete Spring
House 170-177
CHAPTER XIV.— GR.VNARIES, etc.
A Granary with its Grain Bins ; Another Granary with Plan of
Grain Bins ; Plan of Corn Crib and Granary ; A Measuring
Grain Bin ; Sliding Spout for a Bam and Granary ; Conven-
ient Grain Bin 178-186
CHAPTER XV.— Smoke Houses.
A Convenient Smoke House ; Improved Smoke Houses ; Cheap
Smoke Houses ; Smoking Meats in a Small Way ; A Smoke
House Convenience; An Oven and Smoke House Combined.. 187-198
CHAPTER XVI.— Dog Kennels.
Dog Kennels 199-02
CHAPTER XVII.— Bird Houses.
Bird Houses ; Pigeon Houses 203-209
CHAPTER XVIII.— The Preservation of Fodder in Silos.
European Methods and Experimcnta ; An Amcncan Silo for
Brewers' (Jrains ; Silos under Stables ; Sour Fodder Making.. 210-228
CHAPTER XIX.— Root Cellars and Root Houses.
Root Cellars ; A Field Root Cellar ; Pits for Storing Roots ; A
Cave for Roots ; Preserving Roots in Heaps '^24-233
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIOXS.
Page.
Mr. P. Ratchford Starr's Bam, (Fron-
ti45ioce.)
Mr. David Lyman's Barn 14
Hay Loft 15
Feeding Floor 17
Basement 18
Mr. Lawson Valentine's Barn 20
Basement 21
Main Floor 22
Horse Stall 22
Mr. Kyles" Barn 24
Stable Floor 25
Main Floor 20
Horse Stall 26
Cow Stall 2G
A Missouri Barn 27
Plan of 28
Elevation of Barn 30
Plan of Floor 31
Barn and Stable 33
Main Floor 34
Second Story 35
Mr. C. S. Sargent's Barn 37
Basement of 38
Main Floor 38
A Small Barn 39
Ground Plan 40
Loft 40
Another Small Bam 41
Floor of 42
Loftof 42
A Cattle Bam 43
Section of 44
Plan of Floor 45
Section of Stall 46
A Western Cattle Barn 47
Plan of 48
Elevation of Barn 49
Plan of Cattle Stalls 50
Elevation of 50
Interior of 51
Plan of Cattle Shed ... Si
Section of 54
VII
Paqb.
Section of Barn and Stable 55
Plan of 55
Temporary Cattle Shed 56
Ground Plan of 56
Diagram of 57
Cow Sbed and Pigpen 58
Plan of ... 58
Basement of Dairy Bar.i 59
Section of Dairy Barn 59
A Westchester Co. Dairy Barn 60
Plan of Floor 61
Orange Co. Dairy Barn 62
Main Floor ... 63
Basement 62
Plan of Dairy Barn 63
Dairy Bam 64
Frame for Archway Shelter 66
Archway Under Stack 67
Shelter of Polos 69
Shelter Covered with Straw 69
Cheap Board Shelter 70
Shelter Added to Side of Bam 70
Cattle Shelter Covered with Straw. 71
Cattle Shelter for the Plains 72
Straw Shelter for Cattle 73
Sheep Barn 74
Side of 75
Door of 76
Basement 76
Sheep Shed 77
Shed for Soiling Sheep 78
Plan of Yard 79
Plan of 79
Virginia Sheep Bam 80
Mr. Geo. Grant's Sheep Corral 82 i
Mr. W. B. Shaw's Sheep Sheds ... 63
Sheep Shelter 84
Concentric Sheep Shelter 85
Poultry House, Ground Plan of 86
Section of 87
Front View 87
Mr. J. U. Kemp's Poultry House.. 89
i Hen Houee, Section of 90
VIII
IXDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
Hen House, Plan of ill
Poultry House, Plan of !l-2
Plan of Roosts 02
Roosts for Heavj- Fowls 93
Poultry House for Several Breeds 93-4
Ground Plan of 95
Section of 96
Hillside Poultry House 93
Duck House 99
Ground Plan of 100
Fowl House, Pian of 101
Section of 102
Stove 103
Section of Stove IWi
A Piggery 105
Ground Plan of lOG
Front Partition lOT
Col. F. D. Curtis" Piggery 108-9
Plan of Cellar 110
Main Floor 110
Mr. Wm. Crozicr's Piggery Ill
Plan of 112
Interior of 112
Plan of Pigpen 113
Pigpens, Plan of 115
Section of 116
Safeguards 116
Exterior of Pigpen 117
A Portable Pigpen 118
Yard for 118
Pigpen 119
Side View of 120
Ground Plan of Pigpen and
Tool House 120
Pigpen and Tool House 121
Cheap Pigpen 122
Side of 122
Self-Closing Door to Pigpen 123
Swinging Door for Pigpen 121
Wagon House, Plan of 125
Upper Floor 125
Hoist for 126
Front View 126
Connecticut f 'orn House 128
Tin Pan for Post 129
Two Corn Cribs Roofed Over 120
An Improved Corn House 130
A Large Western Corn House 132
End View of 1.'53
Croxn Section of 131
Another Western Corn Hou9e 135
A Self-Feeding Corn Crib 136
Page.
Section of Corn Crib 13S
Board Rafter for Corn Crib 13S
Cover for Com Crib 139
Frame of Ice House 142
Section of Ice House 143
Door for Ice House 141
Cheap Ice House 145
Ground Plan 146
Mr. D. G. Mitchell's Ice House 146
Walls of Ice House 147
Vertical Section 148
Small Ice House 148
Underground Ice House 150
Framing of 151
Plan of Ice House 151
Ice House in Barn 152
An Ice Stack 153
Ice House and Cool Chamber 154
View of Cool House 155
Ice House and Milk Room 1.56
Another Ice House and Cool Room 157
Ice House and Refrigerator 158
Ice House and Dairy Combined 160
Ground Plan ..161
Plan of Upper Part 161
Section of 162
A Butter Dairy 163
Interior of Churning Room 164
Interior of Milking Room 165
Ice House of 166
A Pennsylvania Dairy House 167
Plan of 163
Doors Open 169
Doors Closed l'J9
Interior of Spring House: High
Troughs 170
Low Troughs 171
Exterior of Spring House 172
Spring House. Front Elevation of. .174
Ground Plan of 174
Sectional View of 175
A Granary 178
Bag Sling 179
Grain Bin 179
Section of 180
Ventilator for. 181
Section of Granary. . 181
Pliin of a Granary 182
Arrangement of Bins in Granary. . .is.3
Plan of Crib and (iranary 183
Corn Crib and Ciranary 184
A Measuring Gram Bin 185
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIOKS.
IX
Page.
Sliding Spout 186
A Grain Bin 180
Interior of Smoke House 188
An Improved Smoke House 1S9
Interior of 189
Hookfor 190
"Wooden Smoke House 190
Cheap Smoke House 191
Section of 191
The Arch 192
Frame for Arch 192
A Pennsylvania Smoke House 192
Substitute for a Smoke House. ...193
A Smoke House Convenience liU
Smoke House and Oven 196
Eear View of 197
Smoke House and Oven Combined. 198
A Dog Kennel 199
A Neat 200
A Cheap 200
Kennel, with Yard, for Dogs 201
Bird Houses 203
Frame Work of Bird House 204
Bird House, complete 205
Rustic Pigeon House 206
Log Cabin Pigeon House 206
Page.
Swiss Pigeon Cottage 207
A Neat Pigeon House 208
Interior of Large Pigeon House 208
Ensilage Pit 211
After Covering 211
After Six Months 211
End View 213
Side View 214
Ground View 215
Silo 217
Manner of Covering 218
Silos under Stables 219
Plan of Barn 220
Pit of Sour Fodder 223
Root Cellar 224
Stone Facing for 225
Excavation 226
Complete 226
A Field Root Cellar 227
Section of 228
Shutter for Pit 229
Section of Root Pit 229
Prairie Root Cellar 2.30
Care for Roots 231
A Root Heap 232
Covering, etc 233
PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT.
Works upon Barns and Out-Door Buildings have
hitherto been so expensive as to limit their circulation
to comparatively few in number. Their prices have
ranged from Five Dollars uj)ward. We herewith present
to the public a Volume of two hundred and thirty-five
pages, embracing two hundred and fifty-seven engravings
and illustrations, at so moderate a price as to be within
the reach of all. Every professional builder, and every
person, be he farmer or otherwise, who intends to erect
a building of this kind, can, in this book, secure a wealth
of designs and plans, for a comparatively trifling sum.
The bulk of the work has been performed by Doct. Byron
D. Halsted, whose fitness for the task is well known.
INTRODUCTIOK
The proper and economical erection of Barns and Out-
buildings requires far more forethought and planning
than are ordinarily given to their construction. A barn
once built is not readily moved, or altered in size or shape,
and the same may be said of a corn house, a poultry
house, or even a pigpen.
Only the most general rules can be laid down to guide
one in the selection of a site for Barns and Outbuildings.
Much depends upon the wants to be consulted and met.
Individual taste may, and often does, have very much to
do in determining decisions. If possible, the barn should
be located upon a rise of ground, where a cellar can be
built, opening upon the lower ground to the rear. The
outbuildings chould not be so close to the house as to ap-
pear a part of it, nor so far distant as to be inconvenient.
The old practice of scattering the buildings over the
farm, a sheep barn in one place, and a cattle barn in
another locality, etc., has been found more inconvenient
and expensive than to group them near each other. The
labor of getting the crops to one locality is less than that
involved in passing to and fro to feed them out in winter.
All the outbuildings are more or less dependent. The
corn crib bears certain relations to the pigpen and tlie
poultry house, etc. The same ]mmp may serve the sheep,
XI
XII INTRODUCTION.
cattle, and other farm stock, provided they are housed
close by it, and therefore near one another.
The farmer who intends to erect any building should
first consider the amount he wishes to store in it. This
calculation must be based upon the present and pro-
spective size of his farm, the number of acres of each
crop, the kind and number of head of live stock, etc., etc.
It may not be within one's power to go into every minute
detail ; but it is far better to canvass the ground thor-
oughly, and base the size of the buildings required upon
calculations carefully made, than upon none at all. In
constructing farm buildings, the error is usually on the
side of too small structures, as the thousands of lean-to
sheds, ''annex" stables, and hay stacks, etc., through
the country testify to.
After the site and size have been carefully decided
upon, there is much still to be done, to make the out-
l)uildings present a neat appearance. Barns can be pleas-
ing objects, and impart an impression of comfort and
completeness upon all who see them. This attractive ap-
pearance will depend upon the symmetry and exterior
finish of the buildings themselves, their grouping, the
])lauting of suitable shade trees, etc., etc.
MR. DAVID LYMAN S BARJS". 13
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL FAEM BARNS.
With the increase of wealth, and we may add of good
sense and enlarged ideas, among the farmers of the
country, there is a gradual but very decided improvement
in farm architecture. Tlie old custom was to build small
barns, to add others on three sides of a yard, perhaps of
several yards, and to construct sheds, pigpens, com
houses, and such minor structures as might seem desirable.
In the course of a few years the group of roofs, big and
little, span and lean-to, in the rear of a large farmer's
dwelling, would present the appearance of a small crowded
village. Compared with a well arranged barn, a group
of small buildings is inconvenient and extremely ex-
pensive to keep in good repair.
THE BAKN" OF MR. DAVID LYMAN.
Among the many large and expensive barns now scat-
tered through the country, there are few more thoroughly
satisfactory to old school farmers with broad ideas, than
one built by the late Mr. David Lyman, of Middlefield,
Connecticut. Mr. Lyman required a very large barn for
his farm purposes simply, and built one, a front view and
interior plans of which are here given. The elevation
of the building, figure 1, shows entrances to its two main
floors ; there is a basement below.
The Upper, or Hay Floor. — This floor is shown in
figure 2 ; all the hay, grain, and straw are stored here. It
maintains the same level throughout. Two thrashing
floors cross the building, and are entered from the high
ground on the west by a very easy ascent. The main
entrance crosses over an engine room, seen in figures 1 and
14
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
MR. DAVID LYMAN S BARN.
15
3. This room is built of stone, arched above, and is
roomy as well as secure.
By means of a hay fork and a number of travellers,
the hay is taken from the loads and dropped in any j^art
of the immense bays. The forks are worked by one
HAY BAY
a
VENTILATOR
Fig, 2.— PLAN OF HAT FLOOR.
horse, attached to a hoisting machine, of which there
are two, placed near the great doors during the haying
season, as indicated by the letters marked H, P, in tlie
plan, figure 2.
On the main floor are bins for grain and ground feed,
provided Avith shutcs connecting them with tlic feeding
floor. There are hay scales, also — a fixture in one of the
16 BARN PLAKS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
lloors — whicli afford the means of being very accurate in
many things, in regard to which guess work is ordinarily
the rule. The great ventilators, so conspicuous in figure 1,
pass from the feeding floor to the roof, and are furnished
with doors at different elevations, quite to the top of the
mow, thus forming convenient shutes to throw down hay
or straw. A long flight of stairs passes from the princi-
pal bam floor to the cupola, from wl.ich a magnificent
view is obtained of the whole farnr. and surrounding
country.
The Feeding Floor is entered by several doors. Two
double doors open ujDon a spacious floor in the rear of the
horse stalls, which extends through the middle of the main
barn. The northwest corner, figure 3, is occupied by a
large harness and tool room, with a chimney and a stove.
On the right of the front entrance is the carriage room,
which is closed by a sliding door, or partition. There
is room on the open part of this floor, behind the horse
stalls, and adjacent, to drive in three wagons at a time,
and let the horses stand hitched. Between the ox stalls
in the south wing, is a ten-foot passage way through
which carts Avith roots or green feed may be driven, the
stairs in the middle being hinged at the ceiling and
fastened up. The stalls are seven feet wide, and arranged
to tie n\) two cattle in each. A gutter to conduct off the
urine runs along behind each range of stalls, and there
are well secured traps, one in about every fifteen feet,
through which the manure is dropped to the cellar. The
letter 0, wherever it occurs in figure 3, indicates a trap
door of a manure drop. The letter D is placed wherever
there are doors which, in the engraving, might be taken
for windows.
The cattle pass to the yards through doors in the ends
of the wings. Tlie south yard is nearly upon a level with
the floor, sloping gradually away toward the south and
east ; but the lar<re l)arn vard is on the level of the manure
MR. DAVID LYMAN S BAKX.
17
Fig. 3.— PLAN OF FEEDING FLOOR.
18
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
cellar, and an inclined way gives access to the yard on
the cast side, from the cow stalls. Three roomy, loose
boxes arc provided, one for horses, and two as lying-in
stables for cows. Xear the points marked TT', and F,
stands the hydrant for flowing water, and the trough for
n D q
a a c
1 a t
SLIDING GATE
WATER
TROUGH
Fig. 4 — ^FLAU or BASESrENT.
mixing feed, and here, too, the shutes for grain and cut
feed discharge from the floor above.
Ventilation and Light. — Four immense ventilating
trunks, four feet square, rise from the feeding floor
straight to the roof. These arc cajiped by good ventila-
tors of the largest size, and cause a constant change of
air in the stables, the draft being ordinarily sufficient to
A LARGE AND COMPLETE BAEN. 19
be felt like a fresh breeze, by holding the hand anywhere
within a few feet of the openings. This keeps tlie air in
the whole establishment sweeter and purer than in most
dwellings. The windows on all sides of this floor are of
large size, with double sashes, hung with weights.
The Barx Cellar. — This is arranged for hogs, roots,
and manure. The fixed jiartitions in the cellar are only
two, one enclosing the root cellar, and the other, outside
of that, shutting off a wide, cemented passage way, ex-
tending from the door at the northeast corner, around
two sides of the root cellar, as shown in figure 4. The
rest of the cellar is occupied by the manure, and hogs
are enclosed in different jiarts of the cellar, according
to convenience.
Size of Barn. — The building covers more than one-
fifth of an acre of land, and thus there is over three-fifths
of an acre under a roof. The main barn is fifty-five by
eighty feet. The wings are each fifty-six feet long, the
south one being thirty-five wide, and the east wing thirty-
one and one-half feet wide. The four leading points
sought for and obtained were : first, economy of room
under a given roof, second, plenty of light, third, plenty
of air, and ventilation which would draw off all delete-
rious gas as fast as generated, and fourth, convenience to
save labor. Saving of manure, and many other things
were of course included. The windows are all hung with
pulleys, and are lowered in warm days in winter, and
closed in cold days. This is important,
MR. LAWSON valentine's BARN.
The perspective view and plans here given, represent
the fine barn on "Houghton Farm," the property of Mr.
Lawson Valentine, Mountainville, Orange County, N. Y.
It is located on a hillside, and is supplied with water
brought from springs. The barn is handsomely projaor-
20
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
MR. LAWSON VALENTINE'S BARN.
21
tioned, and with its slated roof and red-jjainted walls,
with black trimmings, presents a Une appearance. It is
admirably adapted for keeping a large number of horses,
and a good model for any well-to-do farmer desiring a
handsome and useful barn. In its general plan it may be
followed on a smaller scale by any one having horses and
cattle for Avhich to provide stabling and shelter.
The building is one hundred and ten feet long, by
fifty-five feet wide, with twenty-foot posts, and Is for-
ty feet from the main floor to the ridge. It rests on a
stone basement ton foot liip^h in the clear ; this basement
Fig. 0. — PLAN OF BASEMENT.
provides comfortable and convenient stabling for the
owner's fine stud. The division is shown at figure 6 ;
a, a, are the horse stalls ; b, the harness room, four by
twenty-five feet ; c, stairs ; d, box stalls, ten and one-
half by fourteen and one-Iialf feet ; e, e, cow stalls,
with permanent partitions and adjustable mangers ;
g, q, gates for separating the cattle department from
the horses. Figure 7, shows a plan of the main
floor ; a, is the tool room ; h, contains a horse power
for driving a feed cutter, thrasher, etc.; c, is used as
a stowage room for cut feed, etc. ; d, is the grain
room, provided with bins and convenient shutes ; ?, is a
23
BARlSr PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
room for a keeper ; which also contains closets for the
nicer harnesses. The letters V, V, V, V, indicate the ven-
tilators ; 8, shows the lar^e platform scales. The floor of
IIO'O"
Fi<?. 7. — PLAN OF MAIN FLOOR.
the basement is made of brick, laid on edge in mortar,
underlaid by concrete. Figure 8 represents one of the
horse stalls. The upper portion consists of iion rods ex-
I iimiiiiiiiuii II I iillliiliiilMtii'iiiiiifMW|l r
Fig. 8.— VIEW OP noBSE stall.
tending from the top of the sides to a railing two feet
above. Tbe front is provided with screen doors.
AiSr OHIO BAKN. 23
The stall is nine by fonr and one-half feet, and the
manger is one f(^ot nine inches from front to back. An
iron feed trongh for grain occnpies one end of the manger,
indicated by the dotted line at G. The remainder is taken
np by the hay box, H, the bottom of which is shown by
the dotted line. A door in front allows for cleaning ont
the feed box, and ojiens to a closet. The box stalls are
also ijrovided with the iron rods for a top finish, so that
a person can easily see into them without entering. The
interior exposed wood work is varnished, making a neat
and substantial finish. Opening into the basement, and
extending nearly to the roof are four ventilating flues,
each four feet square. Their outer edge is on a line with
the drive way, and the inner side has openings fitted
with doors opening inwards, at various bights, which make
the flues serve as convenient hay shutes to the floor below.
AN OHIO BAEisr.
The accompanying engravings are of a barn built by
Mr. Kyle, Greene Co., Ohio. The basement is sixty feet
long, twenty-four feet wide, and seven feet high in the
clear ; the walls contain seventy perches of stone work.
The floor above is supported by two rows of pillars,
figure 9. Those in the outside row are two by six feet, the
inside ones being two feet square. The barnis forty-eight
feet wide. The floor of the cow stable, which is directly
over the basement, rests upon Joists that are laid upon
cross sills, and reach from the ends of the front pillars ,
to the rear ones. The joists rest upon the cross sills
as far as the latter reach, and then upon the pillars.
The cross sills are ten inches square. There is thus
a drop of ten inches in the floor upon which the
cows stand and immediately behind them. This droji,
h, figure 10, is four feet Avide, and forms a j)assage in
which the manure collects, and from which it may be
24
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
pushed through the side of tlie drop to the basement
below. The liquids from the coavs drain through this
open space upon the manure in the basement. The floor
upon which the cows stand, seen at g, is six feet wide.
A passage way, seen above the arches in figure 9, leads
from the stable door to the barn yard. There are four-
teen stalls for cows, g, figure 10, each of which is four feet
%vide. The partitions between the stalls are formed in
the manner shown in figure 13. In each stall is a manger
Fjo-. !).— PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF MK. KYLE'S HARK
and a feed l)ox. The cows are tied by means of a ropes
around their necks. There is a passage, /, figure 10, be-
tween the cow stable and the horse staV)lc, c. In the latter
there are seven single horse stalls, and two closed loose
boxes. Each single stall is five feet wide. A\ hen the
horse stable is cleaned, a wagon is driven into the shed
behind it, h; the manure is thrown into the wagon, and
at once hauled wherever it may be wanted. Tlie floor of
AN OHIO BARN.
25
the horse stable is on the ground. The partitions between
the horse stalls are made as shown in figure 12. The shed,
b, figure 10, is for storing tools and wagons, or housing
sheep, and has a door, a, at each end. One door opens
into a yard, through which the road, seen in the engrav-
ing, runs. Here the straw and corn-stalks are stacked,
and a great portion of them are here fed to the stock to
make manure. No water from the barn runs into this
Fig. 10.— PL AH OP STABLE FLOOR.
yard, or on to the manure. The stables are eight feet
high, and the barn reaches eighteen feet above the stables.
The plan of the barn floor is shown at figure 11 ; at a is
the main floor ; at J, h, are the entrance doors, to which a
sloping drive way, abutting against the wagon shed, leads.
The rear doors c, c, are hung upon rollers, and in figure 9
are seen partly open. At d is the trap for hay, leading to
the feed passage below, and e, e, are traps for straw used for
26
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
bedding, leading into the stables. The granaries are seen
&tf,f, and there are spouts from these leading into the
wagon shed, so that sacks upon the wagon can be filled
P^'A
0
E
Fig. IL— PLAN OF BABN FLOOK.
from the spouts. The passage to the granaries is at g ;
it is eight feet wide, and a work bench with tools is kept
-^ 1
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Fiff. 13.— cow ST.\XL.
Fig. 12.— HOB8E STAT.I..
here. The staircase loading down to the feed passage is
seen at li. The trap doors are double and on hinges.
A MISSOURI BARN.
27
The floor is also double, so that no dust can fall through
to the floor below, nor any disagreeable vapors arise
therefrom. This story is eighteen feet clear, there be-
ing a truss roof which is self-supporting. The roof is
shingled with pine shingles, and the whole of the barn is
covered with pine weather boarding, and painted. The
total cost of this barn was one thousand two hundred
dollars, in addition to the owner's work, and the value
of the frame timber, which Avas cut upon the farm.
A MISSOURI BARN.
The barn shown in the following engraving, figure
14, was built by Mr. Wm. B. Collier, of St. Louis, on his
14.— A MISSOURI BARN.
Country Estate in Audrain Co., Mo,, and has been re-
garded by well-informed people as one of the best barns
in the State. The building is eighty-four feet square,
and nearly fifty feet in extreme higlit, not including the
28
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
cellar ; it fronts the south. There are eighty-four stalls,
arranged as in the ground plan (figure 15), there being two
rows of horse stalls on one side, and three rows of cattle
stalls on the other. The j^roportions of the interior are
as liberal of space as those of the barn itself. The cen-
tral drive way or barn floor is sixteen feet wide. The car-
Fig. 15.— FLAN OP BAKN.
riage and wagon rooms on each side tlie floor are both
twenty feet square. Large loose boxes arc for the accom-
modation of stallions. The various passage ways between
the rows of stalls, and at the rear of them, are four feet
wide, while the horse stalls are nearly six feet, and the
stalls for two cows eight feet in width. The two spaces
enclosed between dotted lines on the barn floor indicate
the position of the hoist ways under the skylights for hay
A GOOD FARM BARX. 29
and grain. The spaces at either end outside these hoist-
ing spaces are floored over above the great doors, and are
finished ofE as granaries for keeping the supply of oats,
meal, etc., required for the stock. On each side of the
barn is a rain water cistern, twelve feet nine inches in
diameter, and twenty-five feet deep ; these are connected
by a pipe, passing underground across the front of the
barn. There are seven windows on each side, and six
besides the five sliding doors, in each gable. These, with
the three great ventilators, afford unusual provision for
pure air. The cattle are fed from the floor above. The
passage between the rows of horse stalls is for feeding.
The building stands upon fifty-four stone pillars, and has
a tight board floor, any part of which may be easily re-
newed, as occasion may require. "With a large corn house,
thirty-five feet square, not seen in the engraving, this
barn cost nine thousand dollars.
A GOOD FARM BARN".
The following plan (figure 16) is of a simple and inex-
pensive bam. The size is forty by fifty-five feet ; it has
a large shed attached for cattle. The fifteen-foot barn
floor, see figure 17, is of good medium width ; if wider the
room would not be wasted. On the left are tlie horse stalls,
five feet wide. There might be five stalls four feet wide,
but for a large horse the width ought to be about five
feet. The whole space given to horses is fifteen by twenty
feet. Beyond, the floor Avidens seven feet, and the rest of
the left side is devoted to cattle stalls, twenty-five feet,
giving room for six cow and ox stalls, and two passage
ways, one of which may be closed and made a stall for a
cow. The seven-foot space affords abundant room for
hay cutter, feed box, and accompaniments, located close
to both cattle and horses ; and if cattle are fed in tlic shed
on feed prepared in the feed box, a passage at the rear con-
30
BA.KX PLANS AXD OUTBUJLDHSTGS.
ducts com'cniently to their mangers. A three- foot square
trunk ascends, from over the seven by tvs^enty-fiYe-foot
space in front of the cow stalls, to the roof, securing
abundant ventilation, and affording a sliute, through
which hay, or straw, may be readily dropped from the
mow ; or corn cobs, and other matters, from the granary.
The right side of the barn floor is occuj)ied by a hay
bay. There is a tight ceiling of matched boards over the
stables, at a hight of eight feet. The posts are sixteen
Fig. 16. — ELEVATION
feet to the caves. The roof is what is usually called half-
pitch, more lasting than if flatter. A substantial, tight
floor is laid upon the straining beams of the roof. This
may be extended, if desired, through the entire length
of the barn, or only from one end to over the barn floor.
In it is a large trapdoor directly over the thrasliing floor.
A small gable with a door in it, over tlic great doors,
affords communication with the front of the barn, so that
grain in bags or barrels may be raised or lowered as well
here as through the trap door. This floor is tlie granary
or corn loft, easily made rat proof, close under the roof,
and consequently very hot in sunshiny, autumn weather.
Corn in the ear is easily hoisted by horse power from the
A GOOD FARM BARN.
31
wagons and, if spread on the floor not more than a foot
thick, it will cure much sooner and more perfectly than in
cribs. This grain floor is reached by a stairway from the
floor over the stables ; under the stairs is a shute, or shutes.
cf5"
for conducting the shelled corn, etc. , to the feeding floor.
This arrangement requires strong posts and roof framing,
but not stronger than for a slate roof of a less pitch,
for such a roof will support double the weight likely to
be placed on the floor. Not only is the roof constructed
32 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
to bear the weight of the slates, but of two feet of snow,
and the force of high winds in addition. The Aveight of
grain will only give increased steadiness, a large part
being borne by the posts, the floor preventing all racking.
The shed is thirty by forty feet, with twelve-foot front,
and eight-foot rear posts, open in front, and having win-
dows in the back. At the rear, a passage way foui* feet
wide communicates with the cow stable in the barn, and
forms the feeding alley to the loose boxes in the shed.
Cattle will not suffer in such a shed, left entirely open,
in the severest winter weather, but it is best to close the
front by boarding, and doors, having large windows for
light and air. The pigpens are j)laced contiguous to the
barn yard, so that the swine may be allowed the free
range of the compost heaps, at least in their own corner.
In the hog house is a steam boiler ; and a pipe, boxed
and packed in sawdust, and laid underground, crosses
the yard to the feeding floor, for steaming and cooking
the fodder for the cattle. By this arrangement the swine
are located at a considerable distance from the granary
and root cellar. But this is not a serious inconvenience,
and it is best to remove any source of danger from fire
as far away as possible.
The root cellar is seven feet deep under the hay bay, on
the right side of the barn. Thei'e are two shutes from
the floor to the cellar, and there is a stairway as indicated.
Besides, access is had by a cellar way, on the eastern side.
Thisi)lan may very readily be reduced, to say thirty by
forty-two feet, making the floor, twelve feet, the bay,
fifteen feet, four horse stalls, eighteen feet, and four cow
stalls, twelve feet, in a line across the left side — the floor
being fifteen feet wide in front of the cow stable, and
other contractions made in the same proportions.
ANOTHER BARN" FOR MIXED FARMING.
33
ANOTHER BARN FOR MIXED FARMING.
Very many farmers desire a barn for mixed husbandry,
for storing hay and grain, for keeping stock, and all the
labor-saving implements, with a good root cellar in a
convenient place, and a yard for manure. The follow-
ing plan, figure 18, shows such a barn. Its cost] ranges
Fig. 18. — ^ELEVATION OF BARN AND STABLE.
from one thousand five hundred to two thousand five
hundred dollars, according to the 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 cheaply
procured, one thousand five hundred dollars will be suffi-
cient to build a barn fifty feet square, including everything
needed. This is not a basement barn, being made on level
ground. Partly underground stables are not generally de-
34
BARN PLAXS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
sirable, on account of dampness, too mnch warmth in win-
ter, and lack of ventilation. But a slight rise of ground,
which may be availed of, for an easy ascent to the barn
floor, is a convenience, although not at all necessary. This
may be readily made by using the earth from the root
cellar [which should be two or three feet below the sur-
face] to fill in the ascending road way. The stable floor
is thus on a level witli the ground, and windows on each
M
i D
H
Fig. 19. — PL^VN OF MAIN FLOOR OF BAKN.
side furnish ample light and ventilation. The founda-
tion walls are of stone, sunk three feet below the surface.
Drains from the bottom of the foundation Avould 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 dura-
ANOTHER BARN FOR MIXED FARMING.
35
bility of a building depends upon the excellence of the
mortar. The stable walls are so built that the barn over-
hangs the entrance ways six feet, which gives protection
against rain or snow, as well as prevents drifting of either
into the open upper-half of the doors or windows, thus
permitting ventilation in stormy weather, and allowing
comfortable access from one door to another. The plan
shown in figure 19 gives the arrangement of stalls and
passages. The horse stable. A, B, has two double stalls
and a loose box for a mare and colt. C, C, is the cow
■~^"
"£^' "
LJ L-J
-1
S
p
p
JR
N
N
N
—
Q;
p
:r
p
^
Fig. 20. — SECOND STORY OF BAKN.
stable, with stalls for twenty-two cows, arranged so that
the animals' heads in the rows are towards each other,
with a central feed passage between. The ventilators
and straw shutes, D, D, carry off, through the cupolas on
the top of the building, all the effluvia from the stables ;
the straw for bedding is thrown down through them from
the mows or barn floor above. The compartments, E, F,
36 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
are for calves or a few ewes with early lambs, which may
require extra care and protection. The root cellar, G, is
entered from the feeding room, which also communicates
directly with each compartment. The cistern, H, is sunk
twelve feet beneath the floor of the root cellar, and re-
ceives the whole of the water shed from all the roofs. It
is prevented from overflowing by an outlet into the drain,
which runs beneath the stable floor. The pump, /, is in
the feed passage, /is the shute by which cut hay or fodder
is thrown down from the barn floor. L is the feed-mixing
box, or steam chest, if steaming is practised, and M, the
stairs to the barn floor above. On this floor, figure 20,
are four bays for hay, straw, etc., a large thrashing floor,
with a cross hall for a cutting machine, and a shute 0, to
pass the cut feed below, A door in this cross hall opens
into the barn yard, by which straw may be thrown out
for litter, A door at the rear of the thrashing floor opens
into the upper part of the open shed, where hay, straw,
or fodder may be stored. The cutting machine is shown
at K, with grain bins or boxes for feed at N, N, N. The
bays are marked P,P ; Q is the thrashing floor, R, R,
are hay shutes and ventilators, which are carried up level
Avith the plates, doors being made in them, through
which to pass the hay either from the barn floor or the
mows ; S is tlic straw shed, with open traps to pass straw
or fodder into the racks, shown beneath, in figure 19.
The open shed seen in the rear of the barn yard is for
the purpose of airing stock in stormy weather, and is fur-
nished Avith a straw rack for feeding them. This barn is
calculated for a farm of from one hundred to two hundred
acres of good land.
MR. CHARLES S. SARGENT's BARN".
37
MR. CHARLES S. SARGENT S BARN, BROOKLINE, MASS.
The barn of Mr. Charles S. Sargent has become well
known. Figure 21 shows the east side of the barn, the
down-hill side, with the cart entrances to the manure
cellar and wagon shed. Figure 23 shows the arrangement
of the cellar, which, aside from the usual appliances of a
farm barn, has a steam boiler for cooking hay, etc.
Figure 23 is the main floor, containing six box stalls, and
stabling for ten cows. The cow room, which is ceiled on
Fig. 21. — ELEVATION OP MR. CHABLE3 9. SABGENT'S BAKN.
the walls and overhead with varnished pine, and has its
windows protected by green blinds, is, without being ex-
travagant or "fancy," very neatly and perfectly adapted
to its uses. The mangers are of "Cottam's Patent,"
much used in England, consisting of two iron feed tubs,
with an iron water trough between them for each pair of
cows. A low partition separates each double stall from
its neighbor. The box stalls are fitted with rocking
mangers, which move back and forth through the parti-
tion, so that feed can be supplied from the passage way.
This barn is a capital model for any amateur, small, or
" fancy " farmer to follow, as it has all the conveniences
38
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
Fig. 22.— BASEMENT OF MB. SAKGENT'S BAKN.
Fig. 23.— PLAN or main fiook of mr. sargent's bakn.
A PLA^T FOR A S3IALL BARN".
39
needed, and none of the ornament that one too often sees
on barns of its class. It is good, cheap and useful.
A PLAN" FOR A SMALL BAR]S",
There are many small farmers, villagers, gardeners, etc.,
who wish only barn room enough for a single horse and
carriage, and a cow. To such, the requirements are cheap-
ness and durability, combined with convenience ; and
with these points in view a plan, figure 24, is given of a
Fig. 34.— A SMALL CHEAP BABN.
small barn, designed by Prof. G. T. Fairchild, late of the
Michigan Agricultural College. The engraving gives a
view of the barn from the front ; while plain in its con-
struction, it is pleasing in outline. The first floor, figure
25, is twenty by twenty-eight feet, and eight feet between
joints. A large sliding-door, a, nine feet wide, admits
the carriage with the horse attached, which, when un-
hitched, is led through the sliding door, h, into the stable.
The small stable door, c, opens by hinges inwards, while
the back door, d, opening to the manure yard, moves upon
rollers. Two small windows, e, e, give sufficient ligbt to
the stable. The hay racks and feed boxes for the stalls are
shown at/,/,/, each having a hay shute leading from the
40
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
floor above. The grain bins are neatly arranged under
the stairway, these being three in number, ranging in
capacity from fifty to ten bushels. The second story, or
hay loft, figure 26, is six feet from floor to plates, and gives
CARRIAGE
ROOM.
14-X20
STABLE
J^
Fig. 35.— GKOUND PLAN OF BARN.
ample room for the storage of hay and straw. The stairs
are in one corner, a, and out of the way; b, the door
for the admittance of hay and stra"\v ; c, c, c, ends of the
hay shutcs ; d, ventilator ; e, e, windows. The ventilator
serves the purpose of a shute for throwing down the
Fig. 20. — THE I.OFT.
straw used for bedding. It has a number of openings
for this purpose at various hights, including one at the
bottom for cleaning out the dust, chaff, etc., which are
constantly accumulating in the loft.
ANOTHER SMALL BAllX.
41
The cost of this barn will vary according to the locality
and the price or lumber, etc. The estimate for it in
Michigan was three hundred dollars, above the founda-
tion, with two coats of paint ; but in most States the
lumber would cost more than in Michigan, and the esti-
mate would be corresponcingl}- increased.
ANOTHER SMALL BARX.
The barn, the outside appearance of which is shown in
figure 27, in its arrangements, obviates the necessity of
Fig. 27.— A SMALL BARN.
going behind the horses when feeding, which is often desi-
rable, as in families having no hired help, the feeding is
sometimes intrusted to children. The ground floor, fig-
ure 28, is eighteen by twenty-four feet, eight feet between
joints. The carriage room, C, is thirteen by eighteen feet,
with sliding doors ten feet wide. The horse is led through
the door D, from the carriage room to the stable. The box
E, containing food, connects by two spouts with grain
bins in the loft. The hay shute is shown at B, and is be-
tween the mangers. The harness closet, H, is placed
under the stairway, A window, W, gives light to the
42
BARX PLANS AXD OUTBUILDINGS.
feed room and the stalls. The loft, figure 29, is six and
one-half feet high to the plates, and with a three-quarter
pitch to the roof, there is ami)le room for hay and straw.
The barn is l)uilt of hemlock, sided with seven-eighth-inch
11'
?:18'
D
13'><18'
c
r
n
w
r.OFT
S
c
■i
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E
i
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=4Ji-
t
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Fig. 28.— FLOOR PLAN OF BARX. Fig. 29.— PLAN OF THE LOFT.
dressed boards, twelve inches wide, and battened. It
cost, complete and painted, in the neighborhood of two
hundred dollars.
THE ''ECHO FARM'' BAIIN.
{See Frontispiece.)
This is a viev>^ of the barn of F. Ratchford Starr, of
"Echo Farm," Litchfield, Conn. The building is laid
out in the form of a quadrangle, enclosing a yard which
is sheltered upon three sides, the fourth being enclosed by
a fence with a gate. The internal arrangement of that
portion of the barn occupied by the stock, is the feature
Avhich is worthy of special notice. Tliis is shown in the
left-hand side, in the rear of the main building, and runs
at right angles with it. Attached to this part are yards
in which the cattle may have exercise when not at pas-
ture. The ground plan of this wing of the building is
one hundred and ninety-one feet long, and has an en-
trance hall at one end, and also a spacious carriage room,
seventeen by Ihirty-five feet. "With the wagon shed,
reservoir, horse stable, root cellar, etc., etc., this barn is
a complete, commodious, and convenient one.
A CATTLE BARN.
43
CHAPTER 11.
CATTLE BARNS AND STABLES.
A CATTLE BAEN.
The illustrations, figures 30, 31, 32, 33, are of a cattle
barn on Dr. C. F. Heyward's farm at Newport, R. I. It
has stalls for twenty cows, four oxen, and two horses, and
will stow about ten tons of hay in the bays, and, in an
Fig. 30. — ^PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF BAKN FBOM THE REAR.
emergency, five more on the thrashing floor. It is in-
tended to keep the main store of hay in a hay barn already
standing and in Dutch hay covers. On this place, there
being a large amount of pasture land, it is not intended
to .soil the stock, and the object has been only to fur-
nish comfortable quarters for the cattle, where they may
be conveniently fed and milked with the least expense
44
BARX PLANS AND OUTBL'ILDIXGS.
possible. Everything is built in the plainest manner,
and as cheaply as permanent usefulness would allow.
The cost of the building, including cellar, foundation
walls, etc., w^as about fifteen hundred dollars. Figure 30
gives a jjerspective view of the barn, and figure 31 a
cross section.
The barn stands sideways against a gentle slope, the
fall being about five feet in thirty-six feet — the width
of the barn. A small amount of artificial grading brings
the cattle floor on one side, and the manure cellar on
the other, to the ground level. Under the cattle and
Fig, 31.— SECTION OF BAKN.
horse stalls there is a large cellar for manure, with
two wide entrances for carts. Beneath the threshing
floor there is a root cellar, and under the principal hay
bay, a storage room for plows, harrows, etc. The general
arrangement of the cattle floor and hay room is shown in
figure 32. The ox and horse stables open into a small yard,
separated from the cow yard. The animals have access
to the latter through tlie doors at the end of tlic building.
The feeding passage is not wide enough for a cart, but
allows a team to pass, when unhitched from a loaded cart
or wagon, standing upon the threshing floor.
A CATTLE BARN.
45
The features of this stable are the arched floor and the
arrangements for tying and feeding. The main timbers
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supporting the floor are twenty-eight feet long, running
across the building. There are two of them, one about
one-third the distance from either end of the cow room.
46
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
These are supported each by two ten-inch chestnut tim-
bers, resting on foundation stones, and standing under
the lines of the upright posts to which the cattle are tied.
Before these were put in, and after the outside of the
building was finished, the cross timbers were screwed up
in the middle as much as they would bear, having a
crown of about six inches, giving an arch-like form
to the floor — the middle of the feed-
ing passage being six inches higher
than the outside of the passage be-
hind the cattle. The floor joists
were then notched in to these tim-
bers and to the end sills, to a uni-
form depth, as far back as the rear
of the floor on which the cattle
stand. At this point a drop of
four inches is given by spiking a
Fig. 33.— SECTION OF STALL WITH FEEDraO APPABATUS.
scantling against the floor joist. From this point the
passage floor rises to the side of the building. This gives
^ good drainage, simplicity, and sufficient strength. The
construction of this floor and of the feeding apparatus
is shown in figure 31, the details being more clearly set
forth in figure 33. There are no partitions between the
cattle, save the bars which separate the oxen from the
cows. The feed rack consists of strips of Georgia pine,
three inches wide and one inch thick. In front of it
there is a shutter three feet wide, hinged at the bottom.
A WESTERN CATTL BARN".
-tr
which may be turned flat against the slats when hay is
not being fed, or may be dropped back the length of the
chain Avhich supports it when necessary.
A AVESTERN CATTLE BAKN.
The barn and
sheds shown in the
engraving, figure
34, are well adapt-
ed for the keep-
ing of a large
number of cattle
in an economical
manner. The barn
is wholly appropri-
ated to hay and
grain ; the yard is
spacious, and sur-
rounded on three
sides with sheds,
either closed or
open, in which the
stock is kept. The
barn is raised three
feet from the
ground and rests
on posts of brick-
work. The space
thus gained is used
as a shelter for
those hogs which
have the run of the
yard. The yards
are well littered
with straw and the
remains of the
48
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
corn fodder fed to the stock, by whicli means a large
quantity of manure is accumulated. The plan liere given
is equally Avell adapted to a large or small farm, as it may
be extended at will to accommodate any required number
of cattle.
A SECOND WESTERN CATTLE BARN.
Figure 35 presents a plan of a stock barn, costing from
one thousand five hundred to two thousand dollars.
To feed cattle profitably, they need to be comforta-
bly placed, kept quiet, with every facility for getting
n
J □
Fig. 35. — PLAN OF A WESTERN CATTLE BARN.
in and out of their stalls, and to have no annoy-
ance or excitement. In this plan there is a vast sav-
ing of work of a disagreeable character tlirough the win-
ter, and when tlie manure is moved in the spring, it is in
far better condition tlian if it had been exposed to the
snow and frost for several months. A cattle barn should
always be laid out witii this object in view.
Figure 35 shows the ground ])lun tif the bam. It is
A SECOND WESTERN- CATTLE BARN".
49
made in two wings, facing the northeast and north-
west. At the north corner is a square room, which may
be used as a store room, feed room, or for any other
purpose. From this room, passages run right and left,
from -which the cattle are fed ; these ought to be about
six feet wide. There should be as many windows in
these passages as will give needful light and ventilation
through the stable. The stalls with racks or feed troughs
opening into the passages, are in the rear, and the doors
from the stalls open into the yard. These doors should
Fig. 36.— ELEVATION OP BASS.
hang upon rollers, and when pushed back, at least one-
half of the front of the sheds should be open. Figure 3G
shows the elevation of the sheds, and the arrangement
of the yard. The yard will face the south and east, and
should have a manure vault in the center, into which
drains, shown by dotted lines, fig. 35, carry off the liquids
from the stable. The yard may be fenced in, and feeding
racks may be placed around it, in which in fine weather
fodder can be given to the stock. The upper story is for
storing ha)', and at the center of the building, a wind-
mill should be erected, to pump water for the stock from
a cistern or well beneath, or it could furnish power to
cut feed if necessarv. These extra conveniences will
3
50
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
more than pay for themselves in the course of one season,
in the saving of labor and in the increased growth of the
stock. A trough of water might run through every stall,
so that the cattle can be watered when required, Avith-
out being removed or unfastened.
COVERED STALLS FOR CATTLE.
The use of covered stalls for feeding cattle and pre-
serving manure is becoming very general among the
tmmt^ ■
o
1
1
^1 1
e — ^lOf t^ >
^/ ■
^ \
Fig. 37. — PLAN OF STAXI,S.
better class of English farmers. Occasionally they are
adopted by farmers in this country with the best re-
sults. Figure 37 shows the ground plan of a shed con-
taining fourteen stalls, each ten feet square, with a pas-
i:i.i:V.i.XU).N ui COVERED CATTLE STALI.^.
sage Avay in the center four feet wide. Figure 38 shows
the elevation of the building with the arrangement of the
doors. It is of two stories, the upper one being used for
COVERED STALLS FOR CATTLE.
51
the storage of straw, hay, or roots, or the preparation of
feed. Figure 39 shows the interior of the building, with
some of the stalls upon one side. With these yicws, the
following short description will be more readily under-
stood. The structure here given is seventy feet long by
twenty-four feet wide, having seven stalls upon each side.
52 BARN^ PLAXS AND OUTBUILDIXGS.
It is built of plain boards and scantling, and one of the
cheapest character will answer every purpose as well as
the most costly building, the shelter and preservation of
the manure being the chief objects in view. There is a
door at the rear of each stall di^dded into upper and lower
halves, so that the upper one may be opened for air and
ventilation. There is a large door at both ends of each
row of stalls, and the divisions between the stalls are
made of movable bars. These bars being taken away, a
wagon may be driven through the building from end to
end for the removal of the manure. The floors of the
stalls are sunk three feet below the surface. Here the
cattle are fed and well bedded with straw. If the straw
is cut into lengths of at least three inches, the manure is
so much the better for it. The litter and the manure re-
main in the stall during the whole winter, and as they
gradually accumulate and the floor rises, the bars are
raised. Each bar fits into sockets in the posts of the
building, and is held into its place by pins. The feed
trough is made to slide up and down, upon iron bars, as
may be needed. There is also a rack slung from the roof
or ceiling above, between each pair of stalls for long straw
or hay, Avhich is given once a day to the stock.
CHEAP CATTLE SHEDS AND BARNS.
Much money is wasted in building sheds and barns of
needlessly heavy timber. No timber should be larger or
stronger than is sufficient to hold up the roof, and four
by four studding, or posts, will do tliis. "Where strong
winds prevail, much maybe saved by having the buildings
low. Indeed, there is a saving anywhere, by having
everything as near the ground as possible. The common
idea that high buildings arc the cheapest because roof
space is thus saved, is erroneous, and it should not be
forgotten that a three story barn must necessarily have a
CHEAP CATTLE SHEDS AXD BARXS. 53
very strong and heavy frame to supjiort its own weight,
as well as the side thrust and weight of its contents. A
studding, two by four inches, will be strong enough for a
hay shed eight feet high at the eaves, while one sixteen
feet high will spread, and sometimes burst with six by six
timbers. Thus it may very often be found better to take
up more ground, and make twice or three times as mucli
roof surface, than it would be to save in floor and roof
space, by building higher. The plans here given are of
Fig. 40.— PLAN OF CATTLE SHED.
cattle sheds, recently built at a cost of only fifteen dollar.'?
per head of the cows sheltered, and for comfort and
convenience, they are all that can be desired. To accom-
modate ten cows in a shed costing one hundred and fifty
dollars, is often more desirable than to build a barn costing
one thousand five hundred dollars, that will supj^ly no
more room. "WTiere economy must be very closely consid-
ered, this matter is well worth studying, and the sketches
presented will f urni.^h a very good text for it. Figure 40
shows a plan of a shed having forty-one box stalls, each six
54
BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
41. — SECTION OF IN-
TERIOR.
by eight feet, and separated by boarded partitions four and
one-half feet liigh. The shed is nine feet high in the front,
seven feet in the rear, twelve feet wide, and ninety or
one hundred feet long. The roof is of boards. The frame
IS made of posts set in the ground, with a two by four-
inch plate and girts of the same size where needed. There
is a feed passage which traverses the whole length, lead-
ing from a room in one end. A,
figure 40, for preparing the feed.
There is a feed trough in each
stall. A bar or pole is fastened
along the whole range of stalls,
eighteen inches from the top of
the front partition, by which the
cattle are prevented from ap-
proaching the front too closely,
and mounting the feed troughs, or putting their feet into
them. The cows are kept loose in the stalls, unless
otherwise desired, in which case they can be fastened to
rings screwed to the sides of the stalls. A cistern, which
collects the water from the roof, is made at B. The front
of each stall has a doul)le door, so made that the upper
part may be left open for ventilation. Ventilating aper-
tures may be made above each door, for use in cold
weather. The sheds are arranged in a square, witli a gate at
one side for the entrance of wagons into the interior yard.
The yard Avill give room for exercise, and racks may be
provided in it, for feeding green fodder, hay, or straw.
The plan is admirably adapted for the soiling system of
feeding, and tlie making of a largo quantity of manure,
while forty or fifty cows are provided with comfortable
room, at a cost of six hundred or seven hundred and
fifty dollars only. In many cases, the value of the
manure saved by soiling cattle in such a shed, Avill
repay its whole cost in one year. A section of the in-
terior is seen in figure 41.
CHEAP CATTLE SHEDS AND BARNS.
55
CHEAP BARX AND CONNECTING STABLES.
Figure 43 shows a section of a cheap barn and stables
connected. The building may even be brought lower at
the eaves, and provide pens for pigs and calves, or sheep.
Fig. 43.— SECTION OF BARN AND STABLE.
or open sheds for tools, etc. In this way, it is protected
from sweeping winds, which can have but little effect
upon it. The central space is used for storing hay or
grain, or for thrashing, and
the side spaces for stabling
cattle. Three and one-half
feet in length of floor space,
will accommodate two head,
so that a seventy-foot barn
will hold forty head, and
provide abundant room for
the crop of one hundred
acres, at a cost of about ten
dollars per running foot.
Light timber only is needed,
and rougii posts set in the
ground, will make the basis
of the frame. The plan
of the building is shown
in figure 43. It is arranged
to be seventy feet long, and fifty feet wide, Avith the cen-
tral space twenty-six feet, and the wings each twelve feet ;
wide doors are made at each end, and also through the cen-
ter, and the stanchions or stalls in the center are movable.
-
-
Fig. 43.— FLAN OF A CATTLE BARN.
56
BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
A TEMPORARY CATTLE SHED.
A farmer in Greenvale, West Va., has recently made
a shed for cattle which is to serve him until he can
build a good barn. The shed is one hundred and eleven
feet long by twenty-six feet wide, and a cistern receives
Fig. 44. — PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF CATTLE SHED.
the water from the roof. The post are fourteen feet long,
and there is a space above for holdmg forty tons of
hay, and a room below, seven feet high, which will ac-
commodate sixty sheep, twenty calves, and twenty other
cattle. The frame consists entirely of poles and posts
which were cut in the woods, and put up without hewing.
The plates, rafters, etc., were sawed. One side and two
ends are boarded up, the rest is covered with clap-boards.
The cistern is so arranged that the water will run out into
a trough until it is empty, without having to draw or pump
Fig. 45.— GROUND TLAN OI" CATTLE SUED.
it. Figure 44 gives a view of one side of the -slied. The
side braces arc poles ciglit feet long. They rest at the
foot on the cross piece at the middle of the post, and are
halved in and spiked to the post, and the upper end sup-
A COMBINED COW SHED A.ND PIGPEN. S"?
ports the plate in the middle. Figure 45 shows the ground
plan, on which 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are lots opening into
all the fields on the farm. 7 is the cistern. A is for sheep,
B and C are for cattle, and D and B are drive ways. Figure
46 shows the end and middle bents. The long brace is
Fig. iG. — DIAGRAM OF CE^i I.
halved into the inside post, in the joist, and in the top
of the outside post, and fastened with sixty-penny spikes
at each place.
A COMBINED COW SHED AND PIGPEN.
The figures 47 and 48 illustrate a combined cow shed
and pigpen belonging to Mr. F. E. Gott, Spencerport,
N. Y. It consists of an open shed, with a box pen for
the cow on one side, and the pigsty on the other — the
whole shed bemg twenty feet long and fourteen broad,
and all covered by one roof. It is constructed of hemlock
lumber, and should not cost over fifty dollars. The out-
ward appearance of the shed is shown in figure 47. The
posts in front are twelve feet m bight, and the rear ones
eight. The boards are put on vertically, and battened on
the joints. The roof is made of rough boards laid
double, and breaking joints, so that it will not leak.
The box for the cow is eight by ten feet, six feet and
four inches high, and has a feed passage four by eight
feet adjoining it. The middle portion of the building is
an open shed, seven by fourteen feet, and is used for
58
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
storing muck, protecting the manure heap from the rains,
etc. The pigpen occupies the left end of the building,
and is separated from the central or shed portion by a low
Fig. 47. — FRONT vraw of cow shed aud pigpen.
partition, while the cow stall is boarded up to the roof.
The floor, being six feet and ten inches from the ground,
provides storage room between it and the roof in which
to put hay. It would be better to have the posts two
y\
OPEN SHED.
7'?<14'
WEAL
BOX
FEEDINQ
PASSAGE.
4- X 8
STALL FOR COW
S >']0
/
Fij^. 48. — PLAN OF cow SHED AND I'lUPEN.
feet higher, thus providing a loft in wliich over a ton of
hay could be stored. The ground jilan of tliis cheap and
convenient building is shown in iiguro 48, the position of
the doors, meal boxes, open shed, feed rooms, etc., being
given.
NEW YORK DAIRY BARNS.
59
CHAPTER III.
DAIRY BAENS.
A WESTCHESTER CO., X. Y., DAIRY BARN.
The general style of one of the best dairy barns is
shown in the four illustrations •which follow. It belongs
to Mr. Edward B. Brady, of Westchester Co., N. Y. Figure
(V
-fh
\ii
Fi?. 49. — PLAN OF BASEMENT.
51 represents the elevation of the barn. It is situated
upon the side of a hill, in which the basement stable is
placed. This basement is of stone, and nine feet high.
The barn is twenty feet high above the stables, eighty
feet long, and twenty-eight feet wide. The yard is sur-
rounded with a stone wall, and a
manure pit is dug under the center
of the building, large enough to
back a wagon into. The basement
has four doors, and is amply light-
ed and ventilated. The floor is di-
vided in the center by a wide feed
passage,iipon each side of which are
stanchions to hold the cows. There
are no feed troughs, but the feed
is placed upon the floor before each cow. The stanchions
are made of oak, are self-fastening by means of an iron
Fiff. 50.— SECTION.
60
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
AX OEANGE COUNTY, N. Y., DAIRY BARN.
61
loop, whicli is lifted by its bevelled end as the stanchion
is closed — falling over and holding it securely. The
space between the stanchions for the cow's neck, is six
inches. Each cow has a space of three feet, and there
are no stalls or partitions between them. The floor, upon
which the cows stand, is four and one-half feet wide.
To the rear is a manure gutter, eighteen inches wide, and
six inches deep, and behind the gutter a passage of three
feet and six inches — in all giving a space of fourteen feet
1
[
Fig. 52. — PLA_N OF FLOOR.
from the center of the feed passage to the walls upon
either side. This is shown in the plan, figure 49, in which
a is the grain pit, h, the spring house, c, the feed passage,
and d the manure gutters. The same is seen in cross
section in figure 50. The barn floor, shown in figure 53,
has four bays and three floors. Two of the floors have
sliding doors, opening into the barn yard, and spacious
windows above them, as seen in figure 51. Shutes are
made in the floors, by which hay is thrown down into
the feed passage. These also serve for ventilation, in
connection with the cupolas upon the roof.
AN ORANGE COUNTY, N. Y., DAIRY BARN.
The accompanying engravings illustrate a milk dairy
bam, belonging to J. E. S. Gardner, of Orange County,
N. Y. This bam is one hundred and ten feet long,
thirty-two feet wide, twenty feet high, with a basement
nine feet high. The building is on a slope, facing west.
In front is a pit for preserving brewers' grains, thirty feet
63
BAKX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
long, nine deep, and sixteen wide. The interior arrange-
ments are very convenient. Eigure 54 shows the main
t'iS- 5:5.— VIEW OP AN OBANGE COUNTY, N. T., BAKN.
floor. There are six horse stalls, sixteen feet long, with
a manure shute in the corner, leading to the manure pit
in the basement beneath ; a driving floor, twenty feet
RAY MOW
73X32
Hay SHOor hay shoot
ETWRS
MT
Fii?. 54. — PL.VN OF MAIN FLOOK.
wide, with stairs and feed room and a hay mow, seventy-
two by thirty-two feet, with hay shutes leading to the feed-
ing floor below. Figure 55 shows a plan of the basement.
1 MANURE
PIT niNURC shuotI
1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 [ 1 1 M fpm III 1 1 1 1 f ( III 1 1 M
1 -TOf^--
1 CELLAR 1
Fig. 55.— I'LAN OF BASEMEXT.
in which are thirty-six stanchions along the center, with
doors at each end. In front of the cows is an alley, six-
AN EXTENSION DAIKY BAKN.
C3
teen feet wide, for feeding, tbrongh which a wagon can
be driven from end to end. Behind the stanchions is a
standing phxtform for the cows, with a drop fifteen inches
wide, then a walk of three feet, and a manure pit seven
and one-half feet wide and four feet deep, with a cement
floor. In the rear are several sliding doors, one in each
bent, for removing manure. The pit for grains is covered
with railroad iron and flagging. A perspective view of
the barn, showing its situation, is given in figure 53.
AN EXTENSION DAIRY BARN.
A cow barn that can be easily extended as the herd
may be enlarged, will be found very convenient by many.
The size of a herd is frequently restricted by the accom-
modations afforded by the barn, and when an increase
might otherwise be desirable, it is found objectionable on
this account. It is not always possible to pull down one's
barns to build larger, but when it is convenient to add
Fig. 56. — PLAN OF DAIKY BAKN.
to them at either end, increased room can be gained with
but little outlay. A dairy barn is herewith illustrated
that can be extended to any desirable limits without
changing the plan. In these days of steam, and all kinds
of machinery, there is no difficulty in using long narrow
buildings, for, with the hay fork and the hay carrier, the
forage can be readily stored in the longest barn and dropped
wherever it is desired, Avithout trouble, and by using a
tram road and light feed cars, three hundred cows can be
64
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
fed from a central feed room as easily as thirty can be
in the old-fashioned manner. Figure 56 is the plan of a
cow barn that will be found as convenient for a small
herd of twenty or thirty cows, as for one of ten times
that number. The building may be twenty-four or
forty-two feet wide. The plan shown is forty-two feet
in width, and accommodates two double rows of cows.
If room for only one double row is desired, twenty-four
feet will be of ample width. The plan gives a centra]
passage for feeding, six feet wide, with a tram roadwaji
laid down in it. On each side of this are the double
Fig. 57. — VIEW OF DAIRY BABN.
rows of stalls, witli a feed trough for each. Tlie floors on
which the cows stand are seven feet wide, which gives
room for a gutter behind each row, and for a feed trough
four feet wide, divided lengthwise into two by a sufficient-
ly liigh partition, each jxart being two feet wide. The
feed is readily thrown into these troughs from the central
passage, along whicli the feed car can he drawn by a small
horse, or be pushed by a man. A turn table is provided
in the center of tlie passage, to admit of a car being
brought with empty milk cans from the wasli liouse iu
the rear, or with the full ones to the milk liouse after
milking. The door Avays are made very capacious, and
AJf EXTENSION" DAIHY BARN".
65
the doors are double ; the door Avays may be left open
during the summer, the doors being fastened back against
the wall. The ujiper floor is kept for hay, fodder, and
feed ; these being placed at each end, leave the center
open and free for cutting and mixing the feed. Here,
should be a fodder cutter and a large mixing box, in the
side of which there should be a spout to carry feed to the
car on the floor below. If the food is steamed, the boiler
can be kept in a rear building, not shown in the plan,
the steura being carried to an engine, which would work
the fodder cutter, and the steamer, both on the upper
floor. This would be preferable to having the boiler in
the main building, and would avoid much risk from fire.
In figiire 57 is shown the elevation of the building. The
central door above is for the admission of feed to the bins.
A door is provided at each end for unloading fodder, a
hay fork and a hay carrier being used for the unloading.
Tliere should be ample ventilation provided by means of
shafts, and these can also be utilized for dropping hay to
the floor beneath. When an extension is desired, it is
only necessary to add a bent or tAvo at each end, carry
out the roof and floor, and remove the ends.
66
BAEN PLAXS AXD OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER IV.
CATTLE SHELTERS.
With winter come the piercing winds, the intense cold,
and, unless well protected, the greatest suffering that the
farm animals experience during the whole year. It is
the season when to keep the stock warm is no less a mat-
ter of economy than to keep them well fed ; in fact, they
PENS AND FRAME OF ARCUWAY FOR A SHELTER.
are fed in a great measure to keep up the animal heat,
the food serving much the same end that coal does to tlie
furnace. This being true, it is reasonable to infer that
an animal will rc([uire less food to maintain the proper
temperature of the body, were it warmed in part by other
means. Tlie inference is a true one, as thousands of ex-
periments show ; in fact, it goes without questioning that
farm stock, when sheltered from the cold of winter,
require considerably less food to keep them in a good,
thriving condition, tlian do those animals that are con-
tinually exposed to the weather. Shelter then has much
AN ARCHWAY SUELTER.
67
more in its favor than simply the humane side, which
alone is enough to warrant the comfortable protection of
animals. There is an appeal to the pocket as well as to
sympathy in the lowing of the shivering herd. All far-
mers, and especially those in the newer portions of the
West, do not have stables for their cattle or snug sheds for
Fig. 59— THK ARCHWAY UNDER THE STACK COMPLETE.
their sheep. Stock raisers are called upon to make the
winter as comfortable as possible for their animals, with
the limited means at their command. Sheds of poles
with roofs of straw are extensively used and with profit.
AN ARCHWAY SHELTER.
An archway shelter, under, or through a straw stack, is
an inexpensive and valuable device for stock protection.
The skeleton frame of such a one is given in figure 58.
It consists of two rail pens, of the ordinary sort, for
the bottoms of small stacks, placed near enough to-
68 BARI^ PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
getlier so that an archway of poles can be made between
them, in the manner shown in the engraving. The lower
end of each pole is set a short distance in the ground,
resting near the middle on the top rail of the pen,
crossing its neighbor pole from the other pen, and fast-
ened to it with wire at the top and also to the rider.
Over this structure the straw stack is built, and when
finished has the appearance shown in figure 59. In this
way a snug shelter of considerable size can be made be-
neath the stack under which the cattle gladly take refuge
in stormy weather. The structure is a permanent one,
the rails and poles remaining if necessary from year to
year, or, if taken down, to be re-arranged again in a short
time, just before the thrashing is done. Such an arch-
way shelter would not be out of place in many a well-
kept barn yard. If the stack is a long one, a double arch-
way may be made, and each will save many steps in doing
the work of the bai n yard.
CHEAP TEMPORARY SHELTERS FOR STOCK.
Whenever it is found practicable, the shelter should be
located upon the east or south side Of a forest, or a hill,
in order that the force of the bleak winds may be broken
as much as possible. A cheap shelter may be made of
poles, as shown in figure GO, covered with straw or refuse
hay. Two crotched posts, eight feet in length, are set two
feet in the ground, and from twelve to twenty feet apart.
These are connected at the top by a strong pole, upon
which rest the upper ends of other poles, twelve or fifteen
feet in length. The ends of this shelter are boarded up
as shown in figure CO. A warm and comfortable shelter is
illustrated in figure Gl. Six strong posts are set in the
ground, forming the corners and sides of an enclosure,
about twelve by fifteen feet, and six feet high. These
are boarded up on three sides, and roofed with strong
CHEAP TEMPOKARY SHELTERS FOR STOCK.
69
planks or poles ; the whole is overlaid with straw. The
covering is best and most economically done at thrashing
Fig. 60.— SHELTER OP POLES AND BOARDS.
time, by building the frame work in the barn yard. A
cheap board shelter is shown in figure G2. In making
one after this plan, fourteen feet wide, the highest part
Fig. 61. — SHELTER COVERED WITH STRAW.
should be eight feet, and the lowest about five feet, using
sixteen-foot boards for roofing, which will project upon
70
FARM PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
each side. The roof can be of matched himber, or rough
boards battened. Almost any farmer is enough of a
02. — CHEAP BOARD SHELTER,
mechanic to construct such a shelter, and it will be
found serviceable as well as neat in ajipearance.
It often happens that those who have tlie most
^
c
^'f
h
f ^
B^^^
j
^
1^1^
tVt^
1
Fig. 63.— SHBLTBB ASDBD TO BIBN.
improved barns and oilier outbuildings, desire to feed
for a few months, an extra number of sheep or cattle.
CATTLE SHELTERS OX TUE PLAIXS.
71
but have not sufficient convenient shelter. This may be
provided by a temporary addition to a large building, as
in figure G3, in ^yllich X is a post set in the ground, B,
board roof, and D a post of the main building. This
structure can occupy the end or side of a building, as may
be most convenient, and may be so arranged that hay and
grain can be fed directly from the large building without
passing out of doors. The only trouble with shelters
of this kind is, farmers find them so convenient,
that they are tempted to let them remain for years, and
so become permanent instead of temporary. Unless
they are constructed of a material, and in a manner not
to detract from the appearance of larger buildings, they
should be removed as soon as they have served the im-
mediate purpose for which they were erected.
CATTLE SHELTERS ON THE PLAINS.
In the far western gi'azing regions, where the natural
protection of ravines, groves of timber, etc., is not avail-
Fig. 04. — CATTLE SUED COVERED WITH HAT,
able, shelters of the kinds shown in figures 64, 65, and
66, may be provided. Poles are set in the ground in
rows sixteen feet apart, and twelve feet apart in the rows.
Cross beams or poles are spiked to these to hold a frame
of lighter poles, and others, placed sloping, are laid upon
the north side as shown in figure 6-i. Piles of liay are
72
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
spread over tliesc frames, as seen in figure 65. They
furnish at the same time, shelter from storms, and feed
for the protected animals. A large number of these shel-
ters are often made on the range, and some of them are
hundreds of feet in length, and so curved as to protect
from northwest and east winds. One of these large three-
sided enclosures is shown in figure 66. After a severe
Fig. Co. — CATTLE SHELTER FOR THE PLAINS.
storm, the shelters are fixed up by packing more hay on
the sloping poles, to furnish feed for the cattle, and when
the next storm comes the shelters are acceptable both as
a source of food and for protection. Those who have
travelled over the large cattle ranges of Kansas, Ne-
braska, Colorado and Wyoming must have often been
struck with the skill displayed in the construction of
shelters.
CATTLE SHELTER ON PRAIRIES.
73
74
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER V.
SHEEP BARNS AND SHEDS.
A CONVENIENT SHEEP BAEN.
Unless sheep are carefully provided for, tliere is sure
to be trouble and loss in the flock. If it was figured
up how much money may be made yearly, by good care
out of one hundred dollars invested in sheej), as compared
with the profit from one hundred dollars invested in cows.
Fig. 67.— FBONT ELEVATION Of SHEEP BAKN.
or a mare, the balance would generally be in favor of the
sheep. During the winter season, the keeping of sheep
refjuires much care and skill, and, with a large flock,
but little success can be had without a good sheep barn.
Such a barn, having many conveniences both for the flock
and their owner, is here illustrated. It consists of a barn,
shown in figure 67, about twenty feet wide, sixteen feet
high from ])ascment to eaves, and as long as is desirable.
This is intended to store the hay or fodder. Tlie posts,
sills, and ])lates are all eight inches square, and the girts
and braces four inches square. The beams, two by ten,
A CONVENIENT SHEEP BARN.
75
are placed sixteen inches apart, and cross-bridged with
strips, three inches wide. The hay is piled inside, so
that a passage way is left over the feed passage below, in
which there are trap doors. The hay is thrown down
through these doors, and falls upon a sloping shelf, which
carries it into the feed racks below ; see figure G8. The
68. — SIDE SECTION OF BAKN.
basement iinder the barn is eight feet high, and is of
stone on three sides ; the front is supported by posts,
eight inches square, and eight feet apart. Between each
pair of posts, a door is hung upon pins, figure G9, which
fits into grooves upon the posts, so that the door may be
raised and fastened, held suspended half Avay, shut down,
or removed altogether. By this contrivance at least
half the front of the basement must be left open, whether
the sheep be shut in or out. The floor of the basement
is slightly sloping from rear to front, so that it Avill al-
76
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
waji be dry. Figure 70 gives the plan of the basement.
The feed passage is shown at c ; the stairway to the root
cellar at h, and the root cellar at a. Figure G8 gives a
section of the whole barn. The hay loft is above, and the
passage way and the doors are shown, by which the hay
is throv.'n down to the feed racks
below. The sloping shelf, by
which the hay is carried into
the feed racks, is also seen,
low the feed rack is the
or meal. A door shuts off
sheep at the front, while the
Be-
feed
this
feed
Fig. 69.— DOOR.
trough for roots
trough from the
is being prepared, and when it is ready, the door is
raised, and held up to the feed rack by a strap or a hook.
The feed rack is closely boarded behind, and this back
part, Avhich is in the feed passage, slopes toward the
front, so as to carry the hay forward to the bottom. The
front of the rack is of upright slats, smoothly dressed,
two inches wide, and placed three inches apart. The
boards of the feed trough are smoothly dressed and sand-
(1
^-"^'W.W"
,■>W'^"^^^^TOM!W^!J,^^^^WTW^|
c
V^
c
Fig. 70. — PLAN OF BASEMENT TO SHEEP BARN.
papered, and all the edges are rounded, so that there is
nothing })y which the wool may be torn or ruljbcd off
from the necks of the sheei). The root cellar is at the roar
of the basement, and is reaclied by the stairs already men-
tioned. A barn, largo enough to accommodate one hun-
dred sheep, may be built for about live hundred to six
liundrod dollars.
SHEEP SHEDS AND BACKS.
SHEEP SHEDS AND RACKS.
Sheep that are not being prejiared for market do not
thrive well during winter, unless they have exercise and a
well ventilated shed. Such a building may be of any
hight, but the floor need not be more than six feet from
the ground, which gives a large amount of storage room
for hay. The floor should be of matched boards, or the
cracks should be otherwise closed uj) to prevent hay seed
or chafE from dropping upon the wool. The front of the
shed is boarded to within a few feet of the ground, leaving
Fig. 71. — SHED, PEN, AND RACK FOB SHEEP.
that space open, that the sheep may go in or out when
they please. The feeding rack is placed round three sides
of the shed, and slopes forward so that the sheep can
consume the last mouthful of hay contained in it. It is
made so high that the sheep cannot reach over the front
of it and pull the hay out over each other's wool. Three
and one-half feet is the right hight for large sheep. The
slats are placed three inches apart, which prevents tlie
sheep from pushing their heads through, and wearing
the wool from their necks. Everything about a sheep
pen should be smooth, leaving no rough splinters to catch
78
LAIIX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
and tear the wool. Tlie pen and yard should be kept
well littered. This shed, shown in figure 71, is arranged
especially to keep the wool clean and free from liay seed,
clover heads, and dust, and that the sheej) may be out-doors
or in-doors as they wish, and according to the weatlicr.
SHED FOR SOILING SHEEP.
When it is desirable to keep sheep in yards near the
barn, for the purpose of soiling, a structure can be
made as follows : A green paddock of about an acre is
Fig. 72.— A bllliD POB SOILUSG SHEEP.
divided by fences nito four ]iarts, as shown in the illus-
trations. A partly open shed with feed racks all around
it is placed in the center. For fifty sheep a building
twenty feet square is amply large. A door from each
quarter of the patldock opens into this shed. As one
quarter is used, the doors opening to the other arc closed.
SHED FOR SOILING SHEEP.
79
Figure 73 shows the yards with the shed in the center.
The outer gates are at a, opening into the lane. The
Fig. 73. — PLAN OF SHEEP TAKD.
gates, h, b, lead into the rear quarters. The doors of the
shed are at c, c. Figure 74 shows an enlarged view of
a plan of the shed. Figure 72 gives the elevation of
Fig. 7-t. — FLAN OF SHED.
the shed, with a large double doorway closed by half-
doors, and open at the top. There are also large open
windows, so that the shed is airy. There is no provision
80
BARN PLxVXS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
for water in the yards, and this is the best plan, as the
yards are kept dry, and it necessitates at least so much
exercise as will be derived from driving the sheep to water
twice a day. The change of yards is needed to keep
them dry and free from mud in wet weather. The crops
that may be nsefnlly fed in such a yard are rye, clover,
grass, rape, mustard, peas and oats, barley and tares,
turnips, or any others that are used when sheei^ are
fenced by hurdles.
VIRGINIA SHEEP BARN.
A Virginia sheep barn, which possesses many conven-
iences, is shown in the accompanying plan, figure 75. The
yard, a, is one hundred feet square, divided by a hurdle
O.— VIUGINIA SHEEP nriLDING.
fence (shown l)y the dotted lines.) into as many i)ortions
as may be desired. Tlie entrance is at h, where there is a
gate hung upon a post, r, in sucli a way as to open or
A KANSAS SHEEP SHELTER. 81
close each half of the yard. The yard is enclosed on
three sides by a shed, ten feet high to the eaves, with a
double roof. The ground floor, seven feet high, is ap-
propriated for sheep pens, and the three feet above for a
hay loft. The shed is twelve feet wide, and has a row of
separate pens, six feet wide, upon the north side. On
the other sides there are narrow doors for the sheep, seen
at d, d, and sliding shutters, e, e, eight feet long, and
three and one-half feet high, which are also used for
entrances to the shed. The yard is closed at the front
by a fence ten feet high. There are no outside win-
dows, and but two doors, and only one of these, that at
/, is locked from without, so that the turning of one
key on the outside secures the whole from trespassers.
There is a second yard one hundred and fifty by one
hundred and thirty-five feet, upon the south side of the
sheep yard, with an open shed facing the south, and
divided into pens nine feet deep, for cows or sheep, and a
pigpen thirty-five feet square, at the southeast of the
sheep yard. These sheds are made of inch boards, nailed
up and down upon the frame work, and the roof is of
boards with sjLifiicient jiitch to shed rain perfectly.
A KANSAS SHEEP SHELTER.
The shelter or corral represented in figure 76 is one
built by Mr. George Grant, of Victoria, Kansas. The
walls are of stone, covered with a peaked roof. It is
square in shape, with sides about five hundred and seventy
feet long. A commodious house of two stories is built
at one corner, for the sliepherds.
Another plan of a shelter is given in figure 77 — that of
Mr, AV. B. Shaw, of Syracuse, Kansas. As at Victoria,
the Buffalo-grass here furnishes the chief pasturage. The
shed is made of cotton-wood poles, and coarse liay from
the river bottom, and surrounds an enclosure two hundred
s-z
BAK2S PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
A KANSAS SHEEP SHELTER.
83
feet long by one hundred feet wide. We see the stack-
yard for hay at a; the horse barn at J ; the poultry house
at c ; the water trough and pump, operated by a wind-
Fig. 77.— SHEEP SHEDS OF W. B. SHAW, SYRACUSE, KAHSAS.
mill, at d; the sheepfold at e, and the feeding yard with
hay stacks and racks, at /. Around the feeding yard
are sheds with a single roof sloping outAvards
84
BARX PLAXS AND 0UTI5U1LDINGS.
SHEEP SHELTER ON" THE PLAINS.
The climate of the AVestern plains is arid and exhila-
rating, the soil dry and porous, the herbage short, sweet,
and nutritious. Aromatic plants, which are healthful for
sheep, abound, and the main obstacle Avhich has hitherto
presented itself, to interfere with the complete success of
those who have experimented in sheep-raising has been
^^-
Frsc. 78.— SEMi-cmCT-i
=m
tlie sudden snow storms which have ovcrwliclmed the
flocks. Ordinary buildings are frequently out of the ques-
tion, both from want of material, and the funds wherewith
to erect them. The flocks may be sheltered from the
driving tempest of snow or sleet by means of walls which
are semi-circular in shape, and consist of stones roughly
laid up, or of sods cut from the plains and piled five
feet higli. The outside of the curve is ahvays })laced
towards (he north or northwest, the direction from which
tlie prevailing storms blow. Where the flocks are small,
a few walls arc sulTicient, scattered about in conveni-
ent and accessible ]ilaccs, generally Avhere tlie configura-
tion of the ground gives additional shelter, as, for in-
stance, on the southern tdope of a hill, or where a grove
CHEAP SHELTER OX THE TLAIXS.
85
helps to break the force of the storm. One of these semi-
circular shelters is seen in figure 78. Figure 79 shows a
more elaborate one, suitable for larger flocks, and also
designed as a protection against storms from whatever
Fig. 79. — CONCENTRIC SHEEP SHELTER.
direction they may come. This latter shelter consists of
two half-circles, with entrances flanked and protected by
other walls, so that the flock is harbored on all quarters.
Very often an inner circle is built, which again adds to
the protection and increases the amount of shelter.
86
BAKJSr PLAXS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER VI.
POULTRY HOUSES.
Poultry Houses may be expensive buildings — or suitable
accommodations that answer the purpose equally well
can be very cheaply made. The essential requisites are
a warm, dry, well-lighted and ventilated shelter, that will
ensure comfort in winter, with convenient arrangements
for roosts, feeding space, and nest boxes. In winter,
light and warmth are of the first importance. Fowls will
Zi
M~^
1^
1
1
.f-
\ /',
— (
•Y
'/
— «
^^
'.
-<
r
1 —
'/
-i
t-
r
B -1
1 li 1
c c
r A r
.^^
=j
p
■" 0
Fig. 80. — GROUND PLAN OF A POULTBT HOUSE.
neither lay nor keep in health when confined in cold, wet,
and dark apartments, Windows facing the south or
southeast, large enough to admit the sun freely, should
be provided, and made to slide so that a free circulation
of air can be secured in summer.
A CHEAP AND CONVENIENT POULTRY HOUSE.
The plan, figure 80, of a poultry house will be found
convenient when two varieties of fowls arc kept, yards
being made in front of each compartment for an out-door
range, when it is necessary to keep lliom in confinement.
The ground plan, shown in the figure, is ten by twenty-
nine feet ; apartments for fowls ten by twelve feet ; A,
A CHEAP AND CONVENIENT POULTRY HOUSE.
87
outside door ; B, ball, to provide for storing feed, giving
access to the nests without entering the apartments in
Avhich the fowls live. Slatted gates, six and one-half feet
liigli, are placed at C ; the space above the gates, and
81.— VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH THE HOUSE.
above the nest boxes, should be slatted to allow circula-
tion of air. Large windows are in the side at D, D ; nest
boxes at E, and roosts at F. The back nests are four feet
high ; front nests, two feet ; with large Asiatic fowls, the
roosts should be made nearer the floor. If but a single
variety is kept, the hall and compartment at one end will
Fig. 82.— FRONT VIEW OF POULTRY HOUSE.
answer the purpose, and the door. A, figure 80, opening
at one side, may be placed at the end. Figure 81 shows
a section through the middle of the house — from 0 to F,
in the plan 80. The slats in front of the nest boxes are
88 BARN PLAXS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
marked 11 ; other letters as in figure 80. The front ele-
vation, nine feet high, is shown in figure 82. The doors,
G, G, for fowls, are near the main door, A, and within
reach from the hall, so that one can readily close them
without going into the fowl apartment. An opening with
a sliding shutter that can be partly or entirely closed
from the alley may be made over the main door. A, for
the purposes of ventilation. The nest boxes may be
one foot wide and sixteen inches high. For convenience
in cleaning, the nest boxes should be made in sections, so
that they can be readily taken apart. The architectural
finish of the exterior is a matter of taste, and may con-
form to that of the surrounding buildings. Poultry
houses are frequently made as a lean-to against other
buildings, but all things considered, it is best to have them
apart, and by themselves. They are not desirable near the
horse staljlc, as vermin are liable to get on the horses un-
less care is constantly exercised in their extermination.
AN OHIO POULTRY HOUSE.
The engraving, figure 83, represents the poultry house
of Mr. J. II. Kemp, of Germantown, Ohio, which the
owner regards as cheap and convenient. It was built
upon a raised bank, and has a trench around it which keeps
the interior always dry. The house is seventy-two feet
long and twelve feet wide, and is divided into nine apart-
ments, each eight by twelve feet. Eight varieties of fowls
were kept in it when the owner was actively pursuing
o])erations. The runs, as shown in the foreground, are
eight by seventy feet, and each one has two ])lum trees in it,
which furnish both shade and fruit ; the plums, it is
said, are not injured by insects. There is no room lost
l)y alleys or passages inside of the house ; entrance is
gained by doors which pass into each pen and run. To
preserve cleanliness, every pnrt of the building i^5 made
AN OUIO POULTEY HOUSE.
89
accessible, and Tcntilation is secured by two cupolas. The
rear part of the house is five feet high, and the front,
which faces the south, is eight feet iu Light. There is
a stout roof of glass on the south side, and a large win-
dow furnishing abundant light to each apartment.
90
BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
ANOTHER CHEAP HEN HOUSE.
The liouse, figure 84, is ten feet wide and twelve feet
long. A passage way four feet wide runs along the south
side, in which are windows ; this is formed by a parti-
tion three feet high, wliich extends from near the door to
tiie rear, and supports the lower side of a sloping floor,
that rises to the eaves on the north side. Tlie roosts
are fixed above this sloping floor, and the droppings of
tlic birds fall upon the floor, which, being sprinkled witli
plaster, they roll down, or are easily scraped off. There
FiLC. 84. — SECTION OF HEN HOUSE.
is a ledge at the front edge which prevents tlieir going to
the floor. Under this sloping floor the space is divided
by a partition, making a nest room about six feet square,
and a setting room five by six feet, which is also used for
a store room for grain, o^gs, etc. This setting room is
entered by another door, and liglitcd by a pane in the
gable end. The nest boxes slide through the partition
into the setting room, but tlierc is no access for the fowls,
except wlien sitting. At these times lions are moved, if
they happen to be in boxes, against the side building, and
POULTRY HOUSES FOR FOUR VARIETIES.
91
made to occupy those in the partition. The back end of
the four-foot passage way, figure 85, is used as a feeding
floor, and here stands the water fountain. The use of
r—
E
-■ i
DOOR
W
\N
s
NES T BOXES
1
\N
B
DOOFi
-wB
Fig. 85. — VLhS OF HEN HOUSE.
plaster on the sloping floor under the roosts is excellent.
Nothing can be better, but fine, dry, road dust, swept up
on a hot day is very good.
POULTRY HOUSES FOR FOUR VARIETIES.
To keep several kinds of poultry in one building, but
in different yards, is sometimes troublesome to the inex-
perienced fancier. It is necessary to be done, however, if
each variety is to be kept pure. A method of arranging
a poultry house for four varieties, is shown in figure 86.
There is a square yard, divided into four parts by cross-
fences, and a house in the center, also divided into four
apartments. The division and outer fences should be
sufficiently high to prevent the birds from flying over
them ; pointed pickets, nine feet high, would be required
for the ligliter varieties. Six feet would be ample hight
for the heavier kinds, as the Asiatic fowls or Plymouth
92
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
Eocks. Doors and windows arc made in each apartment,
as may be desirable. A passage way is made from the
front gate of the yard, which leads to a central room, aa
shown in figure 87. Around this central room are the
m
Fig. 86. — ^PLAN OF HOUSE AND TAKDS.
nests, which are reached by small doors opening into them.
Roosts are put up in each apartment, as seen in figure
87. For the large fowls, low roosts should be used, as
they cannot reach high ones Avithout a ladder, and in
dropping from the latter they are apt to suffer injury.
A roosting frame for some Light
Brahmas is shown in figure 88.
It is made of chestnut strips two
inches sfjuare, with the edges of
the upper part rounded off some-
what, to make them easy to the
feet of the fowls. Three of these
strips are fastened to frames made
(if tlie same material for supports.
Tlie Avholc IS fastened to the wall
by rings fixed in staples, so that it can be turned up
"~r~n
Fig. 87.-PLAN OF UOOSTS.
POULTRY HOUSES FOR FOUR VARIETIES.
93
and held against the wall by a liook. It is twelve feet
long, three feet wide, and sixteen inches from the floor.
This is frequently too high for some of the heaviest of
/ /■ W ^
Fig. 88.— LOW ROOSTS for hkavy fowls.
the fowls, which have to be provided with stools upon
which to step up to the perches. A poultry house suit-
able for keeping several kinds separate, is shown in figure
Fig. 89.— HOUSE A>D y.UlD3 FOR SEVERAL BREEDS.
89. Originally this was made for the accommodation of
a number of dogs, and was described in the "Journal
d' Agriculture Pratique," of Paris, but it is perfectly well
94:
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
adapted for poultry. Its peculiarly French appearance
gives it a pieturesqueness which, with many persons,
would rather add to its attractiveness than otherwise, but
the style of the building may be varied to suit any cir-
cumstances. It is divided into a number of apartments,
each leading into a yard, which is planted with fruit trees.
The yards radiate fan-wise from the building, and occupy
a square piece of ground. The apartments communicate
with the front of the building, and a room may be there
made from which each can be reached.
POULTRY HOUSE FOR A NUMBER OF BREEDS.
The plan. Figure 90, is of a compact and convenient
house for small stocks of fancy and other fowls. The
Fig. 'JO. — I'OULTKY HOUSE FOB A. NOMBElt Oi' BKJitlDS.
length of tlic ))uihling is forty-five feet, and its width,
ten feet. It is divided iuto nine apartments, each five feet
wide. The house is entered at one end, as shown in the
figure, and a passage way two feet wide extends through
POULTRY HOUSE FOR A NUMBER OF BREEDS.
95
it on the north side ; see figure 91. The interior parti-
tions, including the long one, are of one and one-half by
one-inch pine strips ; the outside is entirely of one-inch
hemlock boards battened. The roof is pine flooring,
tongued and grooved, and for each apartment a three and
one-half by six-foot hot-bed sash is set in the roof. The
posts which support the ridge of the roof are eight feet
long, the front wall or side being only two and one-half
gin.
Qin
qd:
..md ^.
■idd;: dd
ya//i.
-5f
....jmd
is
45 f to otii er er/ u ■
Fig. 91.— GROUND PLAN OF THE PODXTBT HOUSE.
feet to the plate. The yards are much longer than is
possible to show in such a small picture as figure 90, and
are five or ten feet wide. The paling surrounding them is
of one and one-half by one-inch strips. A brook nms
through the yards, affording an abundance of fresh water,
which is a great source of health, and of success in rais-
ing fowls. The floor of the house is a dry gravel bed,
covered with sand. The roosts are low, as represented in
figure 92. They are made of round sticks, about two
inches in diameter, and, beneath them, troughs of two
boards nailed together, catch all tlie droppings. The
96
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
nests and feeding boxes stand upon the sand, and arc fre-
quently moved to prevent feed getting under them, or the
ground becoming moist, and affording a harbor for insects.
Ventilation is secured by openings in the short pitch of
the roof. No rafters are needed, as the roof is sufficiently
stiffened by the cross-partitions. The doors by which the
different apartments are en-
tered are two feet wide,
made also of strips, and all
are furnished with locks,
so that when the owner is
absent, the feed boxes, and
water vessels, if the fowls
are shut out of the yards,
may be filled from the pas-
sage way, and no one can
interfere with either the
fowls or their eggs. A lock on the outer door makes
all secure at night. The slant of the paling forming that
part of the yard fence against the house is given to it in
order that it shall not cut off the sunlight from the win-
dows. As the house is arranged for nine varieties, where
fewer are kept, two or more apartments may be thrown
together, and thus larger flocks can be accommodated.
POULTRY FARMING AND HILLSIDE POULTRY HOUSES.
Fig. 93. — SECTION OF HOUSE.
The desire to possess a thousand fov/ls has allured
many men to go into poultry farming as a special busi-
ness, and indulge in dreams of an easy and comfortable
business if not of wealth. It would seem as though a
person who could prolitably manage one small flock
of fowls could handle several, equally well, but in reality
few persons manage a flock of a hundred fowls with com-
l)letc success. There are deatlis, sickness, vermin, losses
of eggs, hidden nests, and the loss of broods, depreda-
HILLSIDE POULTRY HOUSES. 97
tions of hawks, owls, skunks, or cats, and all the other
ills from which poultry suffer by reason of neglect or
want of skill in the majority of small flocks ; hut because
of the small value involved nothing is thought of these
losses. The cause of the frequent failures is not the im-
possibility of succeeding, but the lack of sufficient care,
skill, and patience. With these qualifications, a suitable
locality, and a proper arrangement of buildings, there is
no reason why poultry keeping for eggs and chickens
should not be made profitable Avith the use of a moderate
capital. The following is a case in which poultry rais-
ing has proved profitable so far as carried on, and the
business doubtless might be advantageously enlarged to
an almost unlimited extent.
The farm is a tract of cheap land, rough, hilly, and
with too many large stones in the soil for cultivation.
There is some young, second growth of timber upon the
hillside, and a spring comes out near the foot of the hill.
Excavations are made in the bank and log houses built
tlierein, all but the front being covered with earth. The
houses are eighteen feet long by twelve wide, and about
six feet high to the eaves. The roof is of rough boards,
and a large ventilator is placed in the center of it.
The arrangement of the houses is shown in figure 93.
The soil, a coarse gravel, and very dry, is left to form
the floors of the houses. Eoosts for one hundred fowls,
and boxes for nests are put in each house, and in the
space of twelve feet or thereabouts left between the
houses, some places are fitted for nests with logs and
earth. The houses are whitewashed inside and outside.
The water of the spring is brought m a half-inch lead
pipe near to the houses and runs into a trough. Two
hundred hens can be kept in the two houses without any
trouble. They have a range over seventy-five acres of
ground, which is only partly in a poor sod, the rest I)eing
gravel or sand with a plentiful growth of blackberries
5
98
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
aud dewberries. Corn, barley, oats, and wheat screen-
ings are used for food, and the young man who owns and
runs the farm is Avell satisfied that he can add more
houses year by year until his hillside is fully occupied,
and still succeed. The warmth of the underground houses
keeps the hens laying through a greater part of the win-
ter when eggs sell at a high price. K some such plan as
Fig. 93. — HILL SIDE POUL 1 i
this were followed upon a piece of cheap land near a vil-
lage or city, which would furnish a market for fresh eggs
in the winter, at not less than twenty-five cents a dozen,
and for early chickens at twenty-five cents a pound,
with proper care, close attention, a Avatchful eye, and
quiet patience Avith the wayward flock — a reasonable
profit might be made out of a small investment.
DTJCKS AXD DUCK HOUSES.
DUCKS AND DUCK HOUSES.
99
There is a satisfactory profit in raising ducks ; but the
conditions must be favorable, and these inchide a water-
run, either a stream or pond, in which the ducks can
gather food, and a house conveniently arranged for se-
curing the eggs. A house may be made for them on the
bank of a pond adjoining a brook in which there are
Fig. 94. — VIEW OF A CONVENIENT DDCE HOUSE.
abundance of water cresses and other food, both vegeta-
ble and animal. The water cress is eaten with avidity by
ducks, and has myriads of snails and other water animals
upon it. A plan of a house is shown in figures 94 and 95.
For fifty to one hundred ducks it should be thirty feet
long, twelve feet high, and from four feet high at the
front to six or eight feet in the rear. Entrance doors are
made in the front, which should have a few small wm-
dows. At the rear are the nests ; these are boxes open at
the front. Behind each nest is a small door throusfh
100 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
■which the eggs may be taken. It is necessary to keep the
ducks shut up in the morning until they have laid their
eggs ; a strip of wire netting will be required to enclose
a narrow yard in front of the house. Twine netting
95.— GROUND PLAN OF THE HOUSE.
should not be used, as the ducks put their heads through
the meshes and twist the twine about their necks, often
so effectively as to strangle themselves.
WINTER CARE OF FOWLS.
All varieties of barn-door fowls are more or less tender ;
they freeze their combs and feet, and if not in sound
health, often freeze to death. In severe weather all their
natural forcesarcdirected towards keeping warm ; growth
is arrested, egg laying and fattening cease, and of course
the profit of keeping hens is at an end, so long as severe
Aveather lasts — if we do not give sufficient protection.
As cold weather comes on, comfortable quarters ought
to be prepared for fowls. The old houses, if, as is usually
the case, they are only frames boarded on the outside,
should be latlied and plastered, or lined with matched
boards, and the s])aces filled with planing-mill shavings,
sawdust, swamp hay, or some similar substance. The
floor should be covered with several inches of dry sand,
and the ventilating holes near the roof partly sto}>ped, or
shutters arranged so as to close most of them in very
cold weather. Nothing is more important to the health
WINTER CARE OF FOWLS.
101
of fowls than pure air. Birds breathe with great rapidity,
and maintain a corresponding degree of hctit in their
bodies ; hence they vitiate great quantities of air.
"When eggs are high, it will pay to take some pains to
have a jilenty. They usually may be secured by hav-
ing the hens in warm quarters, but in unheated houses
three or four very cold days and nights will so chill the
fowls that but few if any eggs will be laid for a week or
two. This may be entirely obviated by having a stove in
the chicken house, in which fire is made on very cold
nights. Figure 96 shows the ground plan of a fowl house,
in size twenty by twelve feet, divided by a lattice work
partition into two rooms, twelve by fourteen and six by
Fig. 96.— PLAN OF FOWL HOUSE.
twelve feet. The plan supposes two large windows on
the south, roosts on the east, a feeding floor under the
windows, and nest boxes on the north side. The little
room is for entrance, store room, fire room, and hatching
apartment for very early chickens. A pit to contain a
small stove is dug three by four by four feet, and entered
by three steps. The pipe is of common glazed drain tiles,
and passes underground nearly to the floor beneath the
roosts, and then up, as shown in figure 97. This pipe is
covered with about a foot of dry sand, and the warmth
is diffused into the sand on all sides. It is important
that there should be no moisture in the soil or sand which
forms the floor of the house, and it would be well to
103
BAllN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
cement the floor and the trench in which the j^ipe is laid.
But, though the ground around the sides of the house
may freeze, and so be made moist and muddy by an un-
derground fire, yet such an arrangement of floors as we
have indicated would jDrevent any difficulty from this
source. The object of placing the stove underground is
to have a difl'used warmth, lasting long after the fire goes
out. A mass of moderately heated sand remains warm a
■wg.
Fiir. '.1^
-SECTION OF FOWL HOUSE.
very long time, and diffuses a mild and agreeable warmth.
Tlie same end maybe accomplished by a brick stove, or
any stove enclosed in a double wall and arch of bricks.
STOYE FOR A POULTRY HOUSE.
A simple and safe method of warming a poultry house
in winter is as follows : With a few bricks and common
mortar, build up a wall in the shape of an oblong rec-
tangle, twice as long as it is wide, leaving an ojien space
in the front about a foot wide and the same in hight.
Lay upon this wall, when eighteen inches high, a i>ieco
of sheet-iron so as to cover the space within the wall ex-
cept about six inches at the further end. Build uji the
wall over the iron another foot, and then build in anitther
STOVE FOR A POULTRY HOUSE.
103
sheet of iron, covering the space enclosed all but a few-
inches at the front. Then turn an arch over the top,
and leave a hole at the end for a stove pipe. The stove
thus made will appear as in figure 98, and a section of it
as in figure 99. A small fire made in the bottom at the
front will heat this stove very moderately ; the heat
passing back and forth, as shown by the arrows, will
warm the whole just sufficient to make the fowls com-
9y. — SECTION.
fortable, and there will be no danger of injury to their
feet by flying upon the top, as it will never be hot if
only a moderate fire is kept. The stove will be perfectly
safe, and may be closed by a few loose bricks laid up in
front, through which sufficient air will pass to keep the
fire slowly burning. Ordinarily a fire need be made at
night only during the coldest weather.
104 BAEX PLxiNS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER VII.
PIGGERIES,
Because swine are blessed with keen appetites, strong
digestion, and liardy constitutions capable of resisting a
great amount of neglect and ill-usage, they have been, and
in too many instances are yet, the worst used animals kept
for the profit of man. And, as if to add to the abuse,
their endeavors to make the best of ill-treatment, have been
charged to the account of their natural uncleanliness ; and
the idea that wholesome meat can not be made by feeding
animals with garbage, has" caused pork to become the hor-
ror of dietetic reformers, who pronounce it unfit for
human food. It were as wise to condemn the use of milk,
and to pronounce cows unfit for civilized communities,
because some individuals persist in confining them in filthy
stables, and dosing them with distillery slops. In his
native state, the hog is as dainty in his taste as other
animals, and his lair is found in a dry situation, well
cushioned with clean leaves, unsoiled by any neglect of
his own. It would be within the mark to say that in
most instances, twenty per cent of saving can be effected
in food, and in additions to the manure heap, by a well
regulated building for the accommodation of swine.
PLAN OF A riGGERY.
Figure 100 represents the elevation of a piggery. The
main building is twenty-two by fifty feet, and the wing
twelve by sixteen feet. It is supplied with light and air
by windows in front, ventilators on the roof, and by hang-
ing doors or shutters in the u})per part of the siding at
the rear of each stall or apartment. These last arc not
seen in the engraving.
PLAN' OF A P[GGERT.
05
JOG
IBAK^r PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
Figure 101 shows the ground plan. The main building
has a hall, H, six feet wide, running the entire length.
This is for convenience of feeding, and for hanging dressed
hogs at the time of slaughtering. The remainder of the
space is divided by partitions into apartments A, B, for
the feeding and sleeping accommodation of the porkers ;
these are each eight by sixteen feet. The rear division of
K-
D D
^
\
V
\'
Fig. 101. — GROUND PLAN OF PIGGERY.
the apartments, B, B, are intended for the manure yards.
Each division has a door, D, D, to facilitate the removal
of manure, and also to alloAv ingress to the swine when
introduced to the pen. The iloors of each two adjoining
divisions are inclined toward each other, so that the litjuid
excrement and other filth may flow to the side where the
opening to the l)ack apartment is situated. Two troughs,
S, T, are placed in each feeding room. 'I'hat in the front,
S, is for food, T, for clear water, a full sujiply of which is
PLAN OF A PIGGERY.
107
always allowed. This is an important item, generally
overlooked ; much of the food of swine induces thirst,
and the free use of water is favorable to the deposition
of fat.
The wing, W, is twelve by sixteen feet. This answers
for a slaughtering room. In one corner, adjoining the
main hall, is a well and pump, P, from which, by means
of a hose, water is conveyed to the troughs. At the oppo-
site corner. A", is a large iron kettle, set in an arch, for
cooking food, and for scalding the slaughtered swine. In
many localities it would be a desirable addition to have
Fig. 103. — FRONT PAKTITION OP PIGGERY.
this wing built two stories high, the upper part to be used
for storing grain for the hogs. A cellar also should be
made underneath the piggery for receiving roots.
An excellent arrangement, shown in figure 102, is adapted
to facilitate the cleaning of the troughs, and the trans-
ferring of the hogs to the main hall at slaughtering.
The front partition of each apartment, F, is made sepa-
rate, and hung so as to be swung back and fastened over
the inside of the trough, T, at feeding time, or when
cleaning the trough. It may also be lifted as high as the
top of the side partition, II, when it is desired to take
the hogs to the dressing table. Triangular pieces, F, E,
are spiked to each front partition, and swing with it,
forming stalls to prevent their crowding while feeding.
108
BAEN PLANS AND OUTULILDINGS.
These pieces are supported, when the apartment is closed,
by notches in the inner edge of tlie trough, made to re-
ceive them.
A CONVENIENT FARM PIGPEN.
Herewith are given the plans and a side view of a
convenient pigpen, recently constructed upon the farm
of Colonel F. D. Curtis, of Charlton, Saratoga Co.,
N. Y. The building, shown complete in figures 103 and
104, is forty-eight feet long, twenty-two feet wide, and
twelve feet high. There is an upper floor over the pens,
which is used as a store room for meal, corn, etc., and a
MM'
I M , I M
^^I^FF^^ill I I i\^$$$~\
W
Fig. 103.— SIDE VIEW OF MB. CLHTIS' PIGPEN.
cellar beneath, used for storage of roots, and for cook-
ing and preparing food. There is a cistern in the cellar,
into which the water from the roof is collected, and a
pump, by winch the water may be run into the feed kettle,
or to the pens above. The arrangements are made with
a view to the convenient handling and feeding of the
stock, as well as to most perfect sanitary conditions. The
building is warm enough to prevent freezing in the cold-
est winter weather, so that young pigs, if desired, may
be reared without difficulty, even during winter. The
outer and inner Avails, and the floor of the upper room,
are all of matched boards. The floor of the pens is double,
A CONVENIENT FARM I'IGPEN.
lO'J
110
BAKN PLANS AXD OUTBUILDINGS.
there being first a floor of hemlock boards, with matched
joints, put together "with hot pitch. The whole of
this floor is thoroughly coated with hot coal tar, and
Fig. 105.— PLAN OF CELLAR OF PIGPEN.
a second floor of one and one-half-inch hemlock plank,
with matched joints, also filled with tar, is finally laid
down. This gives a floor that is not only very durable,
clean, and wholesome, but it is perfectly water-proof, and
prevents any drip of moisture into the cellar. The cellar
floor is shown in figure 105. At R, R, are bins for roots.
z_x
1
rcr
~rr
■73-
z_r
■zx
V2L
Fig. 106.— n.AN OF MAIN FLOOR OF PIOTF-N.
The roots are unloaded into the l)ins througli the cellar
Avindows, by means of sjiouts which direct (lieminto the
bins below. At F is the feed box ; at T, T, feed tubs
for mixing feed ; at C, the cistern ; P, the pump ; K, the
kettle, set in brick, with chimney belmid it. At B is a
3IR. CKOZIER S PIGPENS.
Ill
spout, also seen in figure lOG, by which meal is dropped
from tlie upper floor to the feed box, the kettle, or the
feed tubs ; at C is the root cutter. The whole of the
cellar floor is covered with cement. The main floor is
shown at figure 106. The pens are seen arranged on one
side. Each one is provided with a fender, F, for the pro-
tection of young pigs against being overlaid by the sows,
and a cast iron feed trough, having a spout which projects
through the front, for the purpose of carrying feed into
the trough. At if is a hatchway for hoisting meal or
corn into the room above, ^ is a spout to bring feed
from above. This building has been found very con-
venient in use, and it is so arranged that it may be ex-
tended, if desired, to accommodate a larger number of
animals.
MR. CROZIER'S pigpens.
Mr. Wm. Crozier, of Beacon Stock Farm, Northport,
L. I. , has a long range of pigpens. The elevation, figure
Fig. 107. — FRONT VIEW OF PIGGERY.
107, the ground plan, figure 108, and a view of the interior
of the building, figure 109, show the simple arrangement.
The building is placed against a bank, which has a brick
112
BAUX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
retaining wall that answers as the rear wall of the build-
ing, and is nine feet high. The building is sixteen feet
wide, with the front side six and one-half feet high. The
pens, see figure 108, are ten by twelve feet, and three feet
Fig. 108. — PLAN OF PIGGEBY,
high, with a four-foot walk at the rear of them. The
doors, of which each pen has one opening into the yard,
are in halves. The upper half may be left open to admit
light and air, while the lower half is kept closed, if it is
Fisr. 100.— iNTERiou of ri
desired, to prevent egress. At one end of the building is
a room furnished witli apparatus for steaming food. The
feeding is done from the walk, the food being placed in
small portable troughs, which can be readily cleaned.
A COMFORTABLE PIGPEN.
113
A COMFORTABLE PIGPEN.
The plan, figure 110, combines the requisites, Avith
many of the conveniences, of a desirable pigpen. The
engraving shows one complete pen Avith its divisions. A
row of these pens may be built as a long shed, and the
description of one will ansAver for all. The pen is twenty
feet long from front to rear, by eight feet wide. The
posts at the front are ten feet high, and at the rear seven
feet. A feed-passage runs along the front of the pens,
shown at a. The feeding and sleeping apartment is
Fig. 110.— PLAN OF PIGPEN.
shown at h. At c is a passage Avhich also runs along the
w^hole building, but which, Avhen closed by the doors, d,
makes the passage a part of the yard, d. The feed pas-
sage, a, is three feet wide. The feeding place, h, is ten
feet deep by eight feet in Avidth ; the passage, c, is three
feet Avide, and the yard, d, four feet, making the whole
space of the yard seven by eight feet Avhen the passage is
closed. When the passage is opened the door, d, closes
the opening from the yard into the feeding place, and the
occupants of the pens are shut up. Any pig that may
liave to be moved from one pen to another can then be
114 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
driven without any difficulty •wherever it may be desired.
A swinging door in the rear may be made to allow the
pigs to pass in or out of the barn yard or the pasture, if
one is provided for them. But generally it will be found
better to have the pens built upon one side of the barn
yard, so that the pigs may be used to work up any mate-
rials for manure or compost that may be at hand for the
purpose. The floor of the pen should be, in part at
least, of plank ; that of the yard may be of pavement,
of cobble-stone, or of cement, but should be so laid that
it can not be torn up. A tight roof should cover the
whole, and sliding windows at the rear and front will
provide good ventilation. This is very important for
the comfort of the animals in hot weather. The floor of
the pens should slope backwards at least two inches in ten
feet, and the yards ought to be well drained. A bar is
fixed around the bottom of the pen, about six inches
above the floor, and projects about six inches from the
side, for the purpose of preventing the 3'oung pigs from
being overlaid by the sow and smotliered. A large quan-
tity of waste material may be worked up in these yards,
and will add much to the comfort and cleanliness of the
pigs. The framework of these pens should be of six by
six timber for the sills, four by four for the posts, and
two by four for the girts and tops and bottoms of the par-
titions. The whole quantity of lumber needed for one
complete pen would be one thousand two hundred feet,
consisting of eighty linear feet of six by six timber,
sixty-one linear feet of four by four posting, and seventy-
seven linear feet of two by four scantling, one hundred
and four feet surface of two-inch j)lank, and five liundrcd
feet of boards if the roof is of shingles. A row of ten
of these pens, making a building eighty feet long, able
to accommodate fifty or sixty pigs, would cost about
three hundred and fifty dollars completed.
PENS AND YARDS FOR HOGS.
115
PENS AND YARDS FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY HOGS.
The pens are built in a range on each side of a central
feed house, shown in the corner of figure 111. This house
is a two-story building. In the upper part feed is stored,
to be cooked or prepared on the lower floor. A stairway
in one corner loads to the upper story. Opposite to the
stairs, and at the right of the doorway, is a pump con-
nected with a cistern which receives all the flow from the
Fig. 111. — PLAN OF PIGPENS.
roof. The water is shed from the rear of the roof, so that
none escapes into the yard. A hose is connected with the
pump, which serves to convey water into the feed troughs
in both wings of the pens, for cleansing them and to
supply the animals with drinking water. Opposite the
pump IS the boiler or the mixing vat. As a boiler will be
found indispensable at times, one should be provided at
the outset, as it may be used for soaking or otherwise
preparing food when not needed for heating piirpo^^cs. A
passage way leads on either hand from the feed room
116
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
down the row of pens. Tlie arrangement of the pens
is illustrated in figure 112 ; the passage way is at a, the
feed trough with spout at b. The troughs are protected by
cross strips fastened from the partition wall to the edge
of each, as shown by the dotted lines, so as to prevent
the hogs from Iving in them. At c is a sliding door, by
which access can be gained from pen to pen all through
the range when necessary for the purpose of changing or
otherwise managing the occupants ; at (^ is a slatted ven-
tilator fixed in the wall over each door, also shown in fig-
ure 114. The yard and pens shown in the left-hand lower
corner of figure 111 are for brood sows with pigs, which are
Fig. 112.— SECTION OF PEN.
Fig. 113.— SAFEGUABDS.
kept separate from the rest of the herd. The pens are
arranged as the others, with the addition of safeguards
for the young pigs placed around the walls, about eight
inches above the floor and six inches from it, and attached
to it by means of iron straps, see figure 113. These are
to prevent the pigs from being crushed by the sows when
they lie down, as is often the case when no protection is
furnished. At figure 114 is seen the elevation of one
wing of the range with the feed house. The shed is
made from twelve to sixteen feet wide, twelve feet high in
front and eight feet in the rear. Each pen should be at
least eight feet wide, which would give from sixty to one
hundred square feet, accommodating five or six })igs.
Sheds one hundred feet long, with yards covering the in-
cluded ground, would give room for a herd of one hun-
PENS AND YARDS FOR HOGS.
117
dred and fifty pigs. The front doors of the pens are made
double, shutting against each second post, and opening
from each other. One fastening answers for all the four
doors ; this consists of a semi-circular piece of hard-wood
plank, which turns on a bolt. When at rest it falls so as
to fasten the four doors, and can be turned right or left
in an instant to open either pair. This sliould be secured
firmly with a strong bolt having a large head. The floors
of the pens may l)e made of hydraulic lime concrete,
thoroughly saturated with gas tar. Such a floor is al-
gj-FJ-pffliiiffl
Fig. 114. — EXTERIOR VIEW OF PENS.
ways dry, clean, and perfectly impenetrable either by-
vermin or by the swine. An occasional dressing of hot
gas tar will keep lice and fleas at a distance, and thus
promote the health and growth of the herd. Another
method of making the floor, is to use double hemlock
plank, laid so as to break joints, and saturated with hot gas
tar. This is water and vermin proof, and also saves all the
liquid manure. To do this most effectively, the floor is
sloped for two or three inches,and a slightly hollowed gutter
conveys the drainage into the outer yard, which should be
paved with cobble-stone or cemented, if possible, or other-
wise well bedded with litter or other absorbents. The
best absorbent is dry swamp muck ; when this can not be
provided, hard-wood sawdust, sand, dry earth, or litter
from the stables, may be kept in the yard. This should
be turned over and well mixed.
118
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
A PORTABLE PIGPEN.
Where a single family pig is kept, provision for chang-
ing the locality of the pen is often necessary. It may
be placed in the garden, at the time when there are waste
Fig. 115. — A PORTABLE PIGPEN,
vegetables to be disposed of, or it may be penned in a
grass lot. A portable pen, with an open yard attached is
seen in the accompanying illustrations. Figure 115 pre-
sents the pen, the engraving showing it so clearly that no
description is needed. The yard, seen in figure 116, is
placed with the open space next to the door of the pen,
so that the pig can go in and out freely. The yard is at-
116. — YARD TO PORTABLE PIcrr^N.
tached to tlie pen by hooks and sta]>los, and both of thorn
arc provided with liandles, by which they can be lifted
and carried from place to place. Both tlie yard and pen
sbould be floored to prevent the pig from tearing up the
PIGPEX, HEN HOUSE, AXD CORX CRIB COMBINED. 119
ground. The floors sbould be raised a tew inches from
the ground, that they may be kept dry and made durable.
PIGPEX, HEX HOUSE, AXD CORN CRIB COMBIXED.
The accompanying engravings present plans for erect-
ing in a hillside, under one roof, the three important
farm buildings named above.
The pigpen shown in front view, figure 117, is construct-
ed of stout framing, and where it comes in contact with
-FEONT VIEW OF PIGPEN, ETC,
the hillside, is protected by dry stone walls. The roof of '
the sleeping room, B, figure 118, forms the floor of the
hen house, G. To prevent the dirt from one room being
thrown into the other, the door of communication be-
tween them is raised six inches from the floor, and an in-
clined plane with a cleat is placed on either side to make
it easy of ingress and egress. The feeding room. A, is
120
bar:s^ plans and outbuildings.
protected from the weather by tlie corn-loft floor and the
overhanging eaves. The hen house is situated immedi-
ately over the sleeiiing room of the pigpen. It is ventila-
ted by a wire-sash window at H, and provided with perches
eighteen inches from the floor at the lowest point, and
nest boxes on two sides, which are reached by doors on
the outside, each door being a hinged plank the entire
width of the building. By this ai'rangement of the
5^^
Flff. 118.— SECTIONAL VIEW OP BCILDrSG.
nests, the room need not be entered in quest of eggs.
The roof of the hen house forms an angle of about forty
degrees ; this being also the floor of the rear of the corn
crib, it aids by its slope in readily filling the crib. The
corn crib is approached at the rear where a slatted door,
corresponding with the large slatted front window, give
sufticient ventilation for the corn. At F is the platform
from which to till the crib. Tlie building is ten feet wide
by fifteen feet in length, but may be made larger if desired.
A PIGPEN AND TOOL HOUSE.
A PIGPEN AND TOOL HOUSE.
131
A pigpen with the upper part arranged for the storage
of small tools, seed sowers, and cultivators, is here given.
The upper floor, seven feet high, is open over the passage
Fig. 119. — END AND SECTIONAL VIEW.
as shown in figure 119, which is a section of the in-
side of the building ; there is a stairway provided at
the end of the passage. The larger tools are taken up
through a door at the end of the building. The pen
itself has some conveniences which may be mentioned.
The plan of it is given in figure 120. The pens are ar-
ranged on one side of the passage, with doors opening
b
h
.. 1
rn / *
' \ -'r^
y" >M':'Vtl
' 1 ct! ' y 1
llllillllL.''
,...-'
, --'
-' 1
Fig. 120.— THE GROUND PLAN.
into it, so as to reach across and close it when necessary.
It is thus easy to get access to each separate pen or from
one to another. The doors swing both ways, either into
the passage or into the pen as showu at a ; swinging
doors, at b, b, give access to the yards.
6
132
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
A CHEAP PIGPEN.
The plan here presented is of a convenient pigpen that
will cost less than twenty-five dollars, exclusive of labor.
Nine posts of cedar or chestnut are set one foot in the
ground, and project as far above the surface. They are ar-
ranged as in figure 121. Four by four-inch sills are laid
upon the posts, with a cross sill in
the center, and halved together at
the joints. No wall posts are used,
the stout boarding being made to
serve the purpose. The structure
is eight feet each way, or can be
made when built to suit the ordi-
nary length of boards. To put up
the walls begin at the bottom, fast-
ening on the corner boards first, and
nailing their edges firmly together. Two by four-inch
strips serve as plates. Two by six-inch floor beams are
laid upon the sills, sixteen inches apart, and the floor
upon these. Two by four-inch rafters are placed four
feet apart, upon which three twelve-inch boards are laid,
one at the peak, one at the eaves, and one between these
1 1 1
0/
d
>
(
• (
,
c
iiiiii-riTn
9 1 ■ 1
Fig. 121. — PLAN OF PIG-
PEN.
Fig. 122. — ^VIEW OF PIGPEN.
two. The roof boards proper, eiglit feet long, are put on
lengthwise of the rafters, and battened. Spaces for the
doors and windows should be left or cut in the boards as
SELF-CLOSING DOOR FOR PIGPEX.
123
ihoy are nailed on. There should be two small windows,
placed as thought most desirable. The interior division
should be as shown in fig. 121. The feeding place is at a,
in which is a trough, with a slo^jing board in the passage,
c, by which to pour in the slop, A sleeping room is at
T), the partitions of which should be four feet high. A
few loose boards will be required for a floor in the loft to
make a space for storing corn for feed. The building is
raised one foot from the ground for the sake of avoiding
rats and other vermin. A sloping gangway leads to the
yard, into which it is convenient to have a gate from
the outside.
Self-closing Door for Pigpen. — K warm dry penis
necessary for the health and comfort of a jiig. Cold and
damp induce more diseases than are charged to these
Fig. 123. — SELF-CLOSING FEN DOORS.
causes. Neither the winter snow nor the spring and sum-
mer rains should be allowed to beat into the pen. But the
diflBculty is to have a door that will shut of itself and can
be opened by the animals whenever they desire. The
engraving, figure 123, shows a door of this kind that can
be applied to any pen, at least any to which a door can
124
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
be affixed at all. It is hung on hooks and staples to the
lintel of the doorway, and swinging cither way allows the
inmates of the pen to go out or in, as they please — closing
after them. If the door is intended to fit closely, leather
strips two inches wide should be nailed around the frame
of the doorway, then as the door closes it presses tightly
against these strips.
A Swinging Door for a Piggery. — The illustra-
tion, figure 124, is of a swinging door for a piggery, which
is intended to be used together in connection with a feed
Fig. 124.— A swrsGiNG door fob a piggery.
trough. The engraving shows a portion of the front
wall, or partition of the pen. The door is hung upon
hickory pins set into the frame, one upon each side. It
may be easily swung back, so as to permit access to
the trough for pouring food into it, and at the same time
closes it against the pigs. The door is held in place by a
bolt sliding in a slot, when in cither position, as shoAvn in
the engraving. In a piggery, the pens would be most con-
veniently arranged on each side of a passage way, with
feed troughs opening into the passage, by doors of the
style here described.
A combijjhed carriage and tool house.
135
CHAPTER YIII.
CAERIAGE HOUSE.
A COMBINED CARRIAGE AND TOOL HOUSE.
The accompanying engravings give plans of a car-
riage, wagon, and tool house in one building, suitable for
a large farm. The structure may be sixteen or eighteen
Fig. 125. — PLAN OF WAGON HOUSE.
feet high to the eaves, which will give a space of nine
feet in the clear for the lower story, six feet in the
clear for the granary at the walls, and ten or eleven feet
in the center between the bins. It should be at least
twenty-four feet wide, and forty-eight feet long, to give
ample space for moving about in it. The wagon and cart
a^ I
/;
1 II
J-of^'-a
u
Fig. 126. — PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR.
room is at one end, and twenty-four feet square, as shown
in the plan, figure 125, to contain three wagons and a
126
BAKN PLANS AXD OUTBUILUIXGS.
cart. The doors of this portion slide upon rollers, and are
in three divisions to facilitate the movements of the wag-
ons in or out. The carriage house is in tlie center, Avith
the entrance at the front. Here
is room for two carriages, and a
tool house adjoining, with en-
trance at the end opposite to that of
the wagon house. In the carriage
house there should be a well and a force pump furnished
with a hose, for the purpose of washing off the carriages,
and the floor should be made slightly sloping each way to
.O.N AND TOOL UOL'SE.
Fig. 128. — VIKW v/i >_...,ii.|Si..
the center, with a gutter there to carry off the water to
the rear. The upper iloor may be reached by a stairway
outside, or from tlic inside, as maybe most convenient.
A COMBINED CARRIAGE AND TOOL HOUSE. 127
The plan of the bins in the granary is given in figure 126.
On one side are the three grain bins, and on the other,
two lathed bins for corn in the ear. Between these is the
hoisting wheel and door. The plan of the hoist is shown
in figure 127 ; a being the winding barrel, h the pulley
wheel, with an endless rope hanging upon it, and c the
pulley in the cathead. The hoist is supported by hangers
fastened to the roof timbers and the plate. Figure 128
shows the elevation, Avhich may be changed to suit the
wishes or the means of the builder. Here it is made
perfectly plain, ia order to be the most economical.
128
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER IX.
CORN HOUSES AND CRIBS.
"Whatever temporary expedients the grower of Indian
corn may resort to for storing his crop, he at last comes
to a crib as a prime necessity. The rail pen is a very in-
secure inclosure, much exposed to damage from tlie
storms, and an invitation for any thief to plunder. Stor-
ino- in the garret is a very laborious business, and unless
spread very thin, the corn is very liable to injure by mould.
Spread upon the barn
floor, it is always in ths
way, and free plunder to
all the rats and mice upon
the premises. Corn is
more liable to injury from
imperfect curing than any
other grain that we raise.
"Wheat, oats, rye, barley,
and buckwheat are easily
cured in tlie field, so that
a few days or weeks after cutting they can be thraslicd
there, and immediately stored in bins or sent to market.
But Indian corn has a much larger kernel, and grows
u})on a tliick, stout cob, from which it takes months to
expel the moisture after it is fully ripe.
THE CONNECTICUT CORN HOUSE.
Fig. 129. — COfTNECTIOUT CORN HOUSE.
Figure 129, is the common type of the corn house
throughout the East. It sets upon posts covered with in-
verted tin pans, figure 130, to make it inaccessible to rats
and mice. These posts arc a foot or more in diameter, and
THE CONXECTICUT CORN HOUSE.
129
two or three feet from the surface of the ground to the
bottom of the building. Sometimes flat stones, two or
three feet broad, are substituted for the tin pans, but the
latter are preferred. The sides of the building are made
of slats nailed to sills and plates at bottom
and top, and to one or more girders between.
The bin upon the inside is made by a board
partition, three or four feet from the siding.
The boards are movable, and are put up as
the crib is filled. The remaining space be-
tween the bins is used for shelling corn, or
as a receptacle for bags and barrels, and the
back part is sometimes used for a tool house, or fitted
with bins for storing shelled corn or other grain.
Figure 131 shows two cribs, with a roof thrown
over them to form a convenient shed or shelter for carts,
wagons, and farming tools. Sometimes the passage is
boarded up at one end, and furnished with doors at the
Fig. 130.
TIN PAN ON
POST.
Fig. 131. — TWO CRIBS ROOFED OVER.
other. These cribs are entered at one end by a narrow
door, and the whole space is occupied by the com. They
are from three to five feet in width, and give very perfect
ventilation to the ears. They have usually a stone founda-
130
BAKN TLAXS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
tion, with a sill and board floor above. They arc made of
any desirable size, and cribs holding from five hundred to
a thousand bushels are common.
AN IMPROVED COEN HOUSE.
The waste caused by vermin in the corn crib is fre-
quently very serious. Eats are the especial enemy of the
farmer in this respect, and any means whereby their rav-
ages may be prevented, will be productive of a great sav-
ing. The burrowing rat, which makes its nest beneath
Fig. 133.— AN IMPROVED CORN HOUSE.
the buildings or rubbish piles, does the most mischief in
the corn house, and unless it is so made that there are
no hiding places, it is impossible to dislodge the rats
from their retreat. The corn house, shown in end view,
figure 132, is made so that it is inaccessible to rats
or mice, and there are no hiding places beneath it. It
is elevated three feet above the ground, on firmly set
posts. The cribs are six to eight feet wide, and of any
desired length. For four thousand bushels of corn in the
WESTERN COEX HOUSES. 131
ear, the building should be forty feet long, with cribs
eight feet long and twelve feet high. The outside is
closely boarded and battened. The floor of the cribs is
made of three-inch strips, set an inch and a half apart,
to admit a current of air. The space between the cribs
is twelve feet wide, and is closed inside, from the bottom
of the cribs to the ground, forming an inside shed, which
is not accessible to any farm animals or vermin. This
mner shed is closed by sliding doors at each end. The
cribs are boarded up inside the shed with three-inch strips
placed a quarter of an inch apart, to admit air. The
cribs are thus Aveather-proof on the outside, and by open-
ing the sliding doors, free circulation of air can be obtained
in fine weather. Above, the shed is floored over, forming
an apartment twelve feet wide, by forty feet long, for
storage of corn. A trap door may be made in the center
of this floor to hand up corn from below. Any corn that
is shelled off from the ears, and falls through the floor,
can be picked up by poultry or pigs, and none will be
wasted. If desired, lean-to sheds may be built against
the sides of the crib, giving valuable room for many pur-
poses. The shed between the cribs will make an excellent
storehouse for implements. As many doors can be
made in the cribs as may be desired. These should be
sliding doors, and loose boards may be placed across the
door ways inside, to prevent the corn resting against them.
The roof should be well shingled, and a door made at
each end of the upper loft, which may be opened as needed
for thorough ventilation.
WESTERN CORN HOUSES.
The accompanying illustrations convey to the reader
an idea of the large com houses, so frequently met
with in the great corn-growing "West. The one here
described belongs to W. S. Wadsworth, Franklin
132
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
County, Kansas. Figure 133 gives a side view of the
house, with the end or front in side section. Tlie house is
one hundred and
twelve feet long, by
twenty - eight feet
wide, and has a capaci-
ty of eighteen thou-
sand bushels. The
manner of storing
away corn in a large
house like this, is an
interesting feature. It
is done by horse pow-
er, which operates a
large belt elevator.
On the right of the
entrance, or floor, of
the house, the elevator
is seen running from
A to B. This is a
strong endless belt of
leather, which passes
over a pulley, above
and below, and has a
scries of "buckets"
attached to its outer
surface. The ''buck-
ets " or cups are about
two feet apart. The
pulley. A, is connect-
ed with one above the
letter D, and this is
turned by a tarred
rope, which connects
it with the large wooden wheel, five feet in diameter, at the
top of the tuni post, to which the horse is attached. Tlius,
WESTERN" CORN HOUSES.
133
by a proper construction of the pulleys, a sufficiently rapid
motion of the elevator belt is obtained from the ordinary
gait of the horse on the " power." The corn is fed to the
elevator cups through a hoj^per below the floor ; shown
in cross section only in figure 133. The wagon is driven
in upon the floor, which is provided with a ''dump." A
trap door, two and one-half by three feet is opened at the
rear of the loaded wagon. At the same time the floor is
.^^
Fig. 131. — END VIEW OF MAIN PART.
so arranged, that the whole wagon tips back, as shown in
side view of figure 134, and the end board of the wagon
box being removed, the corn slides into the large hopper
below. It is not necessary to have the whole floor ar-
ranged to tip, but simply two narrow sills upon which
the wheels must be placed. After the corn is carried
from the hopper at B, to the top of the pulley A,
where the cups are inverted, it is thrown upon a long
smooth horizontal belt, which is run by a cord connecting
134
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
A, with the belt pulley at F, a short distance below it.
This horizontal belt runs the whole length of the storing
portion of the house, and just below the ridge pole, as
may be seen in figure 133, a portion of the roof being
omitted for the purpose of showing it. This belt may
be shortened at any time when the rear of the house
becomes filled. A simple sliding shute is used at the
further end of the belt, for the purpose of turning the
corn to one side or the other of the house, thus making
CUOSS SECT10>' OF tfTOHE lIOLfJE.
the distribution of the grain an easy matter. Figure 135
shows a cross section of the storing room, and gives an
idea of the way the sides of the house are braced, by
means of ordinary boards, nailed to the sides of the beams
which run from the ground to the roof. The house
stands on posts cut twenty-six inches long, and set in the
ground about one foot, the ground being so raised that
no water will run under the com house.
ANOTHER WESTERN CORN HOUSE.
It will be seen from the engraving, figure 13G, that this
corn house stands ujion sloping ground, and thus while
the roof and floors are level, the floor of each section of
twenty feet drops down a step. The entire building is
ANOTHER WESTERN CORN HOUSE,
135
sixty feet in length, by thirty in width, and is constructed
as follows : It has an alley or cart-way running length-
wise through the center, which is ten feet wide at the sills,
and eight feet wide at the top. On each side of the alley
is a crib ten feet Avide at the bottom, and eleven feet at
the top. The outer and inner sides of the cribs are slatted
perpendicularly ; the gable ends are close-boarded. Each
Fig. 136. — A>OTnER western corn house.
crib-gable has a door, and sliding doors upon rollers close
the cart-way at each end. There is a floored loft over the
■whole, lighted by doors in the ends, which is used
for storing grain and agricultural implements. The
building rests on fifty-two oak posts, placed on stone
bases, set two feet in the ground, and coming six inches
above the surface. It is built entirely of native oak and
walnut. The posts at one end are ten feet long ; at the
other, a little over twelve, on account of the slope of the
ground. The cribs will each hold six thousand and
eighty bushels of corn.
136
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
' '''"'''■'■""""ililliiii u
A SELF-DISCHARGIlfG CORK CRIB, 137
A SELF-FEEDING CORN" CRIB.
In portions of the West, -wliero corn is mainly fed
to stock in the open field, a crib may be used which
^will not only store the corn, but will supply it to the
stock as they may need it, without any further handling
than merely filling the crib. Corn being very cheap, and
labor dear, it is an object to save labor at the expense of
the corn. But as hogs are usually kept along with cattle
under such circumstances, no com is lost ; what is
dropped by the cattle, is picked up by the hogs. The
crib may be made of logs or planks, but should be strongly
built. It is of the ordinary form, but open at the
bottom, where it is surrounded by a pen, reaching a foot
above the open bottom. The pen is larger than the crib,
so as to give room for the stock to reach the corn, and is
of a convenient hight, or about thirty inches to three
feet. The pen is planked over about a foot below the
bottom of the crib, and if the space beneath is filled Avith
earth, it will enable the building better to resist, when it
is empty, the heavy winds of the prairie. The engraving,
figure 137, shows the form of one of these feeding cribs,
which may be made of any suitable size, or of any con-
yenient material.
A SELF-DISCHARGING CORN CRIB.
A corn crib from which the corn may be taken when
wanted, without opening any part of the upper portion,
or without the use of a ladder or steps, may be made as
shown in figure 138. The floor slopes from one side
to the other, and its lower margin projects beyond the
side of the crib sufficiently to permit of a box in which a
scoop or shovel can be used. The projecting part of the
floor is made the bottom of a box, that is built upon it,
and which is open on the side next the crib, so that the
138
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
corn will slide into it. A cover is hinged to the box, so
that it may be turned up, when corn is to be taken out, as
shown by the dotted lines. This
cover should be kept locked for ob-
vious reasons. To facilitate the use
of the shovel, the opening into the
crib is closed for a space of two feet,
either in the middle or at each end.
At these closed places there will be
no corn upon the floor of the box,
so that it Avill be easy to shovel out
Fig. 138.-SECTION OF the corn. In one part of the West,
cKiB. cribs of this kind are in common
use, but they are not frequently found elsewhere.
A COVEK FOR CORN CRIBS.
A vast quantity of corn is destroyed or badly damaged
by being exposed in open cribs to the rains and snows of
the winter and spring. A simple and very cheap method
of protecting the log or rail crib, in common use in the
Fig. 139. — BOABD RAFTER.
Western States, is suggested by seeing hundreds of them
filled with corn ^oaking in the heavy rains of spring.
Take two boards, six feet long and fasten them together
at the end by leather or iron strap-hinges, as shown in
figure 139. These should then be laid across the corn,
which is to be lieapcd up into the center of the crib.
A COVER FOR CORX CRIBS. 139
As many pairs of these boards are used as may be neces-
sary for the length of the crib, or two pairs for each length
of boards, whether that be twelve feet, sixteen feet, or
less. Boards are then tacked npon the ''rafters" length-
wise of the corn crib, commencing at the lower part.
Fig. 140. — COVER FOR CORN CRIB.
each board overlapping two inches or thereabonts. The
nails should be only partly driven in, so that when
the cover is to be taken away the nails are easily drawn
out with a claw hammer. Figure 140 shows a log crib
covered in this manner. It will, of course, be necessary
to stay the cover by some means so that it may not be
blown off by liea\^ winds.
14:0 BAliJST PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTEK X.
ICE HOUSES.
ICE : ITS USES AND IMPORTANCE.
Every year the use of ice increases. It is not merely a
luxury, but becomes a necessity so soon as its value is
known by experience. As with many other gifts of na-
ture, however, its very abundance causes it to be disre-
garded ; and this mine of usefulness is formed once a
year, perhaps almost at the farm-house door, and allowed
to pass away in spring unworked, save by not more than
one farmer in ten. Ice in the dairy is next to indis-
pensable, for holding milk at a pr()})er tem})erature, and
for use in working and keeping batter. This fact is rec-
ognized- in all well-regulated dairies, and especially in
those where high-priced butter is m.ade. Successful
dairymen state that the gain in the price obtained for
their products by the use of ice, many times repays the
cost; and in preserving meats, etc., its worth is to be
estimated by computing the total value of the things kept
from spoiling.
Ice should be cut with a saw, not with an axe, into
blocks of regular size, so that they will pack into the ice
house solidly and without leaving spaces between them.
If cut in this manner, ice will keep perfectly well, if not
more than three inches in thickness ; but a thickness of
six inches at least is preferable. It should be cut and
packed in cold, freezing weather, and if, as it is packed,
a pailful of water is thrown over each layer to fill the
spaces between the blocks, and exclude the air, it Avill keep
very much better than otherwise. For a day or two be-
fore the house is filled, it is well to throw it oi)en in order
PLAN OF AX ICE HOUSE. 141
that the ground beneath it may freeze, and it may be left
open for a few days after it is filled, if the weather con-
tinues cold. The ice house should be finally closed during
cold, diy weather. There are some general principles to
be observed in the proper construction of any kind of ice
house, and all else is of secondary importance. There
must be perfect drainage, and no admission of air beneath,
ample ventilation and perfect dryness above, and suffi-
cient non-conducting material for packing below, above,
and around the ice, by which its low temperature may be
preserved. The best packing consists of sawdust, either
of pine or hard- wood, spent tan, charcoal powder, or what
is known as "braize," from charcoal pits or store houses,
and oat, Avheat, or buckwheat chaff, or marsh hay.
PLAN OF AN ICE HOUSE.
A cheap ice house may be made as follows : The founda-
tion should be dug about eighteen inches to two feet deep
ill a dry, gravelly, or sandy soil. If the soil is clay, the
foundation should be dug two feet deeper, and filled to
that extent with broken bricks, coarse gravel, or clean,
sliarp sand. To make a drain beneath the ice of any other
kind than this would be risky, and if not made with the
greatest care to prevent access of air, the dram would
cause the loss of the ice in a few weeks of warm weather.
Around the mside of the foundation are laid sills of two
by six plank, and upon this are " toe-nailed " studs of the
same size, ten feet long, at distances of four feet apart.
Upon these, matched boards or patent-siding are then
nailed horizontally A door frame is made at one end, or
if the building is over twenty feet long, one may be made
at each end for convenience in filling. When the outside
boarding reaches the top of the frame, plates of two by
six timber are spiked on to the studs. Rafters of two by
four scantling, are then spiked on to the frame over the
143
BAKX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
studs, a quarter pitch being sufficient. Or if felt roofing
is used, a flat roof with a very little slope to the rear may
be made. In this latter case, however, the liight of the
building should be increased at least one foot, to secure
sufficient air space above the ice for ventilation. The
roof may be of common boards or shingles, or of asbestos
roofing, but it must be perfectly water-proof, and
should have broad eaves, to shade the walls as much as
Fig. 141. — A FRAME FOR AN ICE HOUSE.
possible from the sun's heat. The outside of the building,
roof included, should be white-washed, so as to reflect
heat. The inside of the building should be lined with
good boards, placed horizontally, the space between the
two boardings being filled closely with the packing.
The frame, figure 141, is closed in on one side and end,
and partly boarded on the other side, the front being left
open to show the manner of making the frame. A section
of the house, filled with ice, is seen in figure 142 ; the
lininir between the walls is shown bv the dark shading.
PLAN OF AN" ICE HOUSE.
143
The packing around the ice should be a foot thick at the
bottom and the sides, and two feet at the top. There
should be a capacious ventilator at the top of the house,
and the spaces above the plates and between the rafters
at the eaves will permit a constant current of air to pass
over the upper packing, and remove the collected vapor.
The method of closing the doors is shown in figure 143.
Boards are placed across the inside of the door as the ice
is packed, until the top is reached. Rye or other long
■ .iLn
.- -\- '-- I I- I- I 'T
i-L_l -I I \__ \ -| -I
\:- -^ I -L -1-1 I- ^ i
I LjL_IH_h_kJM__L_
^_r\_-r I- I,- , : I -
Tier. 142. — SECTION OF AN ICE HOUSE FILLED.
straw is tied into bundles, as shown in the illustration,
and these bundles are packed tightly into the space be-
tween the boards and the door. The door is then closed.
These straw bundles will effectually seal up the door-
space of an ice house in summer as well as the door of a'
root cellar during winter. When the house is opened in
the summer, and the upper packing is disturbed to reach
the ice, it should always be carefully replaced, and the
door closed up again with the straw bundles. The bundles
of straw may be fastened together by means of two or
three cross laths. They can be very readily removed
144
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
and replaced. The material required for a house such as
is here described, twenty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and
ten feet high, and which will hold over sixty tons of ice,
is as follows : Three hundred and twenty -four feet of two
by six studding ; twelve rafters two by four, twelve feet
long ; five hundred and seventy-six feet of matched boards ;
seven hundred and twenty feet of boards for lining ; four
hundred and eighty feet of roofing boards ; three thousand
Fig. 143. — DOOR FOK ICE HOUSE.
shingles, or four hundred and eighty feet of roofing boards ;
one batten door, hinges and nails. About twenty-five
wagon loads of sawdust or some other non-conductor
will be required for a house of this size.
A CHEAP ICE HOUSE.
Figure 144 illustrates an ice house that can be quickly
erected at a very slight outlay for materials, and at the
cost of only a few hours' lal)()r. The size is determined
by the length of the })lanks or boards to be used. Nine
posts, rough, sawed, or hewn, of suitable bight are pro-
vided, and two put up at each corner, as in figure 145, rest-
A CHEAP ICE HOUSE.
145
iug upon a block of wood or a stone, or set in the ground.
The ninth post is placed at one side of the front, to serve
as one side of the door. The bottom planks, all around,
are nailed to the posts, which may be more firmly secured
in place by cleats connecting those at each corner ; the
front posts are a foot or so longer than the others, to
permit of a shed roof. A plate of light scantling secures
the tops in place. Now it is ready for the ice. First,
Fi^. 144. — CHEAP AND PICTUBESQUE ICE HOUSE.
sprinkle on the ground a layer of sawdust, shavings, or cut
hay. so that it will be at least six inches deep, when firmly
packed down. Then put in the first tier of ice, keeping
the blocks a foot away from the plank wall ; fill the space
solidly with the sawdust or other packing material, a,
figure 145 ; place the second tier of ice ; next, put in posi-
tion more planks, and so on, until the house is filled,
storing the ice, and carrying up the wall together, and
filling in between with sawdust, etc. , as the work pro-
gresses. The planks need only be slightly nailed, to keep
7
146
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
them up when the ice is remoYcd, as they will be held in
position by the posts without, and the pressure from
within. A door, l, is made by simply using two lengths
Fig. 145.— GROUND PLAN OF FIGURE 146.
of plank on the front side, as indicated by the posts in
figure 145. AYhen the house is full, a thick layer of the
packing material is put on the top of the ice. Drainage
Fig. 140.— ICE not'.^i: o." domalo o. iiixcnzLL.
is secured by placing the structure on sloping ground.
A roof of slabs, a thatch, or anything to keep out rain,
A SMALL ICE HOUSE.
147
is sufficient. AVith a little taste this may be made quite
pleasing in appearance. Figure 146 represents the ice
house on the Connecticut River, of Donald G. Mitchell
(Ike Marvel), made i)icturesque bj a roof and ends of
rough slabs. The main part of the ice room is below
the surface of the ground, and may be constructed of
stones or timber. Ice houses can have their appearance
improved by the free use of climbing vines. These answer
not only as an embellishment, but serve a useful end in
breaking the force of the sun's rays and keeping the
building much cooler than it would be under full ex-
posure. It costs but little more to make the smaller farm
buildings tasteful and picturesque in appearance, than to
have them look ugly and cheap.
A SMALL ICE HOUSE.
The base, figure 147, is a frame of eight by eight-inch
hewn or sawed timber, forming a square, twelve by
twelve feet. This is laid on a stone foundation, or on
corner posts set in the ground, and filled underneath with
stones and mortar if accessible ;
earthing up will answer. A similar
square frame is made for the plates,
and this is supported at the four
comers with eight by eight-inch
posts, eight feet long, and by two
by eight-inch studs, say three on
each of three sides, and two as door
posts on the front side. Figure 148
shows a vertical section through
The outside, figure 149, is covered with
Rough pine boards, somewhat knotty,
Fi<;. 117. — THE WALLS.
the middle.
inch boards.
will answer. Tlie cracks may be covered with narrow
baitening. Inch boards, laid horizontally, line the
inside up to the plates, and the eight-inch space be-
148
BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
tv/een is filled with soAvdust. The flooring is simply
boards laid upon the ground or upon small cobble stones.
The roof is only one thickness of inch boards, with bat-
ten pieces over the cracks, and is supported by three hori-
zontal strips on each side, laid
across rafters. The rafters are
scantling, bevelled and nailed
together at the top, and set into
or firmly spiked to the plates.
About half of the middle of
the ridge is cut out, leaving an
opening four or five inches wide,
and over this is a cap, support-
ed by a saddle piece at each end
of it, leaving an opening on each
side under it for ventilation.
The cap extends far enough over
to keep out the rain. The doors
are of a single thickness of inch boards. The outside
boards can be rough, or planed and painted to correspond
Avith the house or other buildings. When fiUing the
Fig. 14S. — VERTICAL
SECTION OF ICE HOUSE.
house, five or six inches of straw and sawdust are put on
the floor. The ice is packed solidly on this, but a space
UJTDERGROUXD ICE HOUSES. l-iO
of six or eight inches is left on all sides, which is packed
in with sawdust. Any spaces or cracks between the cakes
of ice are also filled with sawdust. Short pieces of hori-
zontal loose boards support the saAvdust inside the door.
These are put in as the filling proceeds, and taken out as
the ice is removed from time to time. The ice is filled
in, some distance above the plates, and finally covered
over with a foot or so of sawdust. This suffices to keep
out the sun and air heat. Experience proves that this
surrounding of sawdust on all sides Avill keep the ice well
during the entire summer season.
Those not having access to lakes or ponds, can easily
make an artificial pond in a prairie slough, or other de-
pression of ground, large enough to furnish ice for filling
a small house like the above. In this house there is a
mass of ice say nine feet square, or about two and one-
third tons for each foot in bight.
UXDERG ROUND ICE HOUSES.
Figure 150 shows an ice house built partly under-
ground. Where the soil is gravelly and porous, it may be
built more cheaply than one wholly above ground. The
excavation may be made as deep as desirable, perhaps six
or eight feet will be sufficient. There must, however, be
perfect freedom from surface water, or the house will be
a failure. The bottom may be made of a layer of large
stones, two feet deep. Upon this smaller stones should be
laid, to fill all the inequalities, and form a level surface,
and there should be placed upon these a layer of coarse
gravel. This may form the floor of the house. The
walls, up to a foot above the surface, may be built of stone
laid in mortar or cement, and the sill of the upper frame
should be bedded in the stone work and cement. The
posts and stud>:, ten inches wide, and two inches thick,
should be framed into the sill, as in figure 151 — a being the
150
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
sill shown in section, h, the stud, and c the tenon at the
foot of the stud, and the mortise in the sill. In figure
Fig. 150. — SECTION OF UNDEKGROUND ICE HOUSE.
152 the manner of framing the corners is given, a, a, be-
ing the sills, and h, h, b, the studs. One stud is placed
at the end of one sill, and another one inch from it, at
Fig. 151.— METnOD OF FUAMING. Fig. 152.— FRAMINO THE COUNEB.
the shoulder of the adjoining sill. Thus the outer boards
may be nailed firmly at each corner, and a good joint also
AN ICE UOUSE IX THE BARX. 151
be made inside, bj inserting the boards on one side be-
tween the two corner studs at c. This plan saves the cost
of heavy corner posts, and gives equal firmness to the
building. The corner can also be filled with sawdust,
making it a poorer conductor of heat than a solid post.
For convenience in taking out the ice, a ladder should be
built against the inner Avail. This is covered by the
packing, when the house is filled, but as the ice is taken
out, the ladder is exposed for use.
AX ICE HOUSE IX THE BARX.
The following is a method of j^utting up ice in a cor-
ner of the barn, without anything more than a few
boards and some sawdust. The coolest comer of the
barn is set apart for the ice, and a board is nailed to the
floor on each side of the corner, or across it. One of these
should be just beneath a beam of the upper floor. Some
^^^ rough boards are tacked to the
__ ^ lull posts of the barn wall, up to near
■| the top. A batten is then nailed
j to the floor, one inch from the
I n board ; this makes the foundation,
! I I the ground plan of which is shown
' — ""'i''' — "' i ^^ figure 153. The spaces, a, a, are
' filled with sawdust. The ice is then
Fig. io3.-PLAN OF ICE packed in the space, bounded by
HOUSE IN A BARN. ,i liijT £ l £ jj.
the dotted Imes, a foot of sawdust
being placed beneath it. The sawdust is kept in at the
sides h and c, by upright boards placed against those
nailed to the floor and a beam above it, or the board
nailed to the beam. When all the ice is in, it is well
covered on the top, a space for a door being left in the
boarding above the ice. Then a second row of boards is
placed outside of the wall already built, and fastened
to it, as may be most convenient, a door space being
152
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
made to match the inner one. The space between these
walls may be filled with cut straw, sawdust, clover chaff,
or any other non-conducting material, up to the hight of
the ice within. There is no need of closinsr the door
Fig. 154. — A VIEW OF AN ICE HOUSE IN A BARN.
space ; it will be better to leave that open for ventilation.
Figure 154 shows the outside of this ice room as it ap-
pears from the barn floor. Such a place as this may be
easily arranged in many barns.
ICE WITHOUT HOUSES.
In England, when they have an unexpectedly good
crop of ice, the blocks are gathered, stacked up in some
favorable place, and covered witli a thick layer of straw.
In that cool climate such stores of ice frequently last the
season through ; in tbis country a similar stack might
often be made to help out the regular supply. Figure 155
shows one of these temporary storoliouses, l)uilt against
a bank. The ice is shown at A. The outer wall, B, is of
*'fern," but straw would answer equally well, held in
place by boards and braces, as shown at B. The stack of
ICE WITHOUT HOUSES.
153
ice is covered by a little straw, then eighteen inches of
fern, and the thatched roof, G, is put over the whole.
Fig. 155,— AN ICE STACK AGAINST A BANK.
An ice stack of this kind answers perfectly when placed
on an incline so that the water may naturally drain away.
154
BAUN PLANS ANU OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER XI.
ICE HOUSES AND COOL CHAMBERS.
The principal requisites for an ice house with a cool
chamber below it for milk or fruit are : a locality where
the ice can be expeditiously placed in the upper part, and
provision for drainage to carry off the waste from the
ice. A hillside is the most convenient position for such
a house. The method of construction is the same as for
any other ice house, excepting in the floor. The walls
Fig. 156.— INTERIOR VIEW OP A COOL CHAMBER.
are double, and are filled in between with sawdust
or other non-conducting material. The roof should be
wide in the eaves so as to shade the walls as much as pos-
sible, and it will be found convenient to liavc a porch
around the building, on a level with tlic floor of the ice
house. The floor of tlie ice house must be made not only
water tight, l)ut air tight. If a current of air can be
established by any means through tlie floor of the house,
the ice will melt away in a very short time. A double floor
of matched boards should lie laid, tarred at the joints.
ICE HOUSES AND COOL CHAMBERS.
155
and between the floors. The joists are placed so that
the floor slopes from both sides to the center, to collect
all waste water I'rom the ice. A channel is made along
the center to carry the water to the side of the buildmg,
where it passes off by means of a pipe, with an (fi curve
in it, to prevent access of air. Or the pipe may be
Fig. 157.— ICE HOUSE.
brought down through the lower chamber, and made to
disclmrge into a cistern, where the water is kept al-
ways above the level at which it is discharged from the
pipe The method of this arrangement of the floor is
shown in figure 15G, which represents a section through
the floor and lower chamber. The shelves are seen m
place upon the sides.
vSuch cool chambers may be used to preserve fruit, veg-
156
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
etables, or other perishable matters. Some ventilation,
and circulation of air in them, is necessary to prevent
mould or mildew, and it would be preferable to build the
lower story of brick or stone rather than of wood. The
upper part of the building could be built of wood as well
as of any other material. A temperature of forty de-
grees has been maintained in such a chamber throughout
Fig. 158. — ICE HOUSE AND MILK ROOM.
the summer, but this can only be done where the soil is
very dry and gravelly. The elevation of the building is
shown in figure 157.
Another plan of an icehouse, including an apartment in
which meat or milk may be kept cool, is shown in figure 158,
ICE HOUSES AND COOL CHAMBERS.
157
A drain should be made to carry off all water from the
melted ice. A piece of lead pipe, bent in the shape rep-
resented at a, figure 158, should be made to carry oif the
water. Any current of air, which would be fatal to the
preservation of the ice, would thus be prevented from en-
tering at the bottom. The size of the ice room should
not be less than ten feet inside. The walls should be
__ ^T^r-^:^ - -_
_ ^-t'v
■^
f#®^
T-i-.
= TtaS
Fig. 159. — ANOTHER ICE HOUSE.
double ; they may be of common boards, battened over
the cracks, with a space of ten inches left between them.
This space may be filled with any light, dry, porous ma-
terial. Sawdust, tan bark, swamp moss, chaff, or char-
coal dust would any of them be excellent material for
this purpose. The filling should be carried up to the
eaves. The roof need not be double, but it should be
tight, and ventilators will be required just below the eaves
and out of the roof, to allow a free current of air through
the top of the house. The doorway leading to tlie milk
158
BAUX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
room requires no door, but simj^ly short boards put across
as the ice is built up. The ice should be cut in blocks
nearly of a size, and packed away as closely as possible,
all crevices being filled with small pieces. Choose cold
weather for this business, and open the house so that it
may be thoroughly reduced in temperature. The milk
or meat room is seen in the lower portion of the plan,
with ranges of shelves on each side, and windows also, for
ventilation. They may be closed with wire-gauze double
screens and shutters, to exclude the heat in summer.
Figure 159 shows the whole building ; it is all the bet-
ter if shaded by a few large trees. A coat of whitewash
over the whole, including roof, would keep the interior
cooler, as the heat would be reflected and not absorbed.
A CHAMBER REFRIGERATOR.
The engraving, figure 160, represents a section of a
Fig. 160.— ICE HOVM \M' i:i I Kh.niAi.'K.
Iniilding, witli a room partilioned oil in sucli a manner
tluit it has ice on three sides and the top, and its floor is
A CHAMBER REFRIGERATOR.
159
below the surface a few feet, in order to take advantage
of the coohiess of the earth. The double wall of the
ice house extends in front of the open room, and the door
is protected by a porch. A shallow cellar under the floor
of the ice house admits ventilation by the passage of cool
air under the ice, and thence off through a flue. The
floor and ceiling of the room slope, to secure the neces-
sary drainage.
160
BABif PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER XII.
DAIRY HOUSES.
Perfect control of the temperature of the dairy is a
great step gained towards making the best butter. It is
only by means of ice, or very cold spring water, that we
can keep the most desirable temperature m very warm
Aveather. During much of the year there is little diffi-
culty in maintaining sufficient coolness. In winter the
Fig. 161. — AN ICE HOUSE AND A DAmT COMBINED.
problem is liow to keep a dairy warm enough, and not get
it too hot. A combination of tlie dairy and ice house
may be made, and is entirely i)ractical.
ICE HOUSE AND SUMMER DAIRY COMBINED.
The plan proposes an ice liousc above ground, and a
dairy half below. The ice room half covers the dairy,
the rest of the dairv l)ein": below the cool room, which
ICE HOUSE AND SUMMER DAIRY COMBINED.
IGl
forms the entrance to the ice house. Tlie exterior
walls of the ice house are of wood ; those of the dairy are
of stone. The floor of each room is laid in cement, with
a slope sufficient to carry of the water. The drainage of
sthe ice house is collected and made to pass by a pipe, into
I --*
Fig. 163. — GROUXD PLAN.
a vessel in the dairy, where the end of the pipe is always
covered with water. The water is allowed to flow through
shallow troughs in which milk i3ans may be set. The
amount of water would not be large, but it will be cold,
and ought not to be wasted. Its use will not interfere
'g^ — >^ <v^ — ^. — in-^
Fig. 163.— PLAN OF UPPER PART OF ICE HOUSE.
with the employment of water from springs or wells for
the same purpose.
The building represented in the perspective elevation,
figure IGl, is twenty-eight feet long by fourteen feet wide.
The ice room seen in figures 1G2 and 163, is ten by twelve
feet on the ground, and about twelve by sixteen feet, in-
162
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
eluding the space above the dairy. The sides of the
building are nine feet above the ground, and the hight
of the dairy seven feet in the clear. The outside
walls of the ice house are made of two-inch plank,
ten inches wide, set upright, with inch-and-a-half planks
nailed on the inside. They are weather-boarded on the
outside, and filled Avith sj^ent tan bark, or other dry, non-
conducting substance. The partition wall between the
dairy and the ice house, and between the cool romi and
.^,,^,_: ^^^P
Fig. 164.— SECTION OF ICE HOUSE AND DAIRY.
the ice house, is half the thickness, and not filled, thus
forming closed air spaces between the studs. These
spaces communicate with the dairy, by little doors near
the floor, and so currents of cold air may be established
and perfectly regulated, entering the dairy on the side
towards the ice house. These, with a ventilator at the
top of the room for carrying off the warmest air, easily
regulate the temperature.
A lU'TTER DAIRY.
Figures 1G5, IGG, 107, and 1G8 illustrate a dairy
managed upon the shallow-pan system, the pans used
being the common tin ones, holding about ten quarts.
A BlTTEll DAIKY.
163
1G4
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
The hiiilding should be of stone, or if of wood, built
with at least six-inch studs, and closely boarded with joints
broken upon the studs and battened, the inside being well
lathed and plastered. For thirty cows the size required
would be thirty-six by sixteen feet, and ten feet liigh ;
twenty-six feet of it sunk four feet below the ground.
The milk room and ice house are placed in this sunken
part, the other portion being used for the churning room.
Steps lead from the churning room down into the milk
Fig. 166.— INTERIOR OP THE CHURNING ROOM.
room. The ceiling is plastered, and an attic is left above
to keep the rooms cool ; a ventilator also opens from the
milk room and passes through the roof. Figure IGo shows
the general elevation of the dairy, wliich is one belonging
to a successful dairy farmer in the State of Xcw York.
The churning is done l)y horse ])()\ver, and the })osition
of the power outside of the l)uil(ling is seen in the engrav-
ing. Figure lOG shows the interior of the churning room,
A BUTTER DAIRY.
165
in Avhich double churns of the ordinary barrel shape are
used. This room contains a pump, sink, and wash bench.
Figure 1G7 shows the milk room, four feet below the
level of the churning room. There are three ranges of
shelves around the room, with a table in the center. In
the Avinter this room is kept at a regular tcmj)erature of
sixty degi'ees by means of a stove, and in summer is cooled
to the same temperature by an inflow of cold air from
Fig. 167. — INTERIOR OF THE MILK ROOM,
the ice house which adjoins it. This is admitted through
two openings in the wall at the right and just above the
lower shelf. Figure 1G8 shows the arrangement of these
cold air pipes in the ice house. A tube passes downwards
through the center of the ice, and at the bottom of the
ice branches into two arms, which are made to turn at
right angles, and after passing through the ice ai)poar in
the wall of the milk room. Whenever desirable, a current
of cold air, moved by its own gravity, passes through these
pipes into the milk room, filling it, and disj)lacing the
IGG
BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
warmer air, which is forced out through tlie ventilators in
the ceiling. In this manner the necessary regular tem-
perature is kept in the milk room without regard to the
degree of cold or heat which may exist outside. 1'he size
Fig. 163.— ICE HOCSE AND PIPES.
of the milk room is sixteen feet square ; it has but one
window, and that upon the north side.
A PENNSYLVANIA DAIRY.
A building, owned by Mr. E. Reeder, Bucks Co. . Pa. ,
is shown in figure 1G9. It is thirty-four feet long, and
fifteen feet wide, and stands at a distance from any other
building or any contaminating influence. It is divided in-
to tive apartments, viz., the ice house, seen at «, ligure
170, the milk room, h, the vestibule, c, with stairs leading
to the winter milk room below, and an attic above, for the
storage of sawdust for the ice. The ice house is twelve feet
square, and fourteen feet deep, holding thirty-six loads of
ice. or over two thousand cubic feet. It is six feet be-
A PENNSYLVANIA DAIRY.
167
low ground, and eight feet above. The walls are of
stone, eighteen inches thick. The frame building above
the wall is eight feet high. The lining boards of the ice
house extend down the face of the wall to the bottom,
making an air space of eighteen inches, which is filled
with sawdust. The ice house is tilled through three
doors, one above the other, at the rear end. There is
y. — A Pr.NNSVI.VAMA UAllir HOUSE.
perfect drainage at the bottom of the house, with ample
ventilation above, and no currents of air reach the ice.
The milk room, h, is twelve feet square, and is one foot
lower than the ice room. It is divided into two stories of
seven and one-half feet each, for winter and summer use.
A ventilator enters the ceiling of the lower room, and
leads to the cupola at the top, furnishing complete ven-
tilation for both rooms. The vestibule, c, is four feet
wide, and eight feet long. Here the milk is strained and
168
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
skimmed, the butter worked, and the pans are stored.
The floor is of flagging laid in cement, as is that of the
winter or lower dairy. The pool, d, which contains ice
water, is thirty-six inches long, sixteen inches wide, and
twenty inches deep; in this the deep pans and cream
kettles are immersed. The waste from the ice box, e,
can be turned into this pool. If the deep can system of
setting milk should be practised, this pool can be length-
ened to twelve feet. A drain, /, carries off all the waste
water from the room. At g, figures 170 and 171, is a cool-
ing cupboard, located in the wall between the ice house
and the milk room, six feet high, four feet wide, and
eighteen inches deep. This is lined with galvanized
N^'-'^NX^^^'^-^^'^'^-^^^'" \^-'
|.\^-V\yx.s1 Km\
HI:
(I
^■»\>-?^'^'. ■'•;»^y. '■^^^^"^'^^ -^ .
Fig. 170.— PLAN OF THE DAIRY HOUSE.
sheet iron, has a stone slab at tbe bottom, and two slate
shelves fifteen inches wide, on Avhich the cakes of butter
are hardened before they are packed for market. A cur-
rent of cold air can circulate around the shelves, as they
are three inches narrower than the de])th of the cup-
board. There are latticed blinds in the doors of the cup-
board, seen at i, i, figures 171 and 172, where the doors
are shown as opened and closed. A current of cold air
can pass through the lower lattices, and this causes an
equal current of warmer air to pass through the upper
ones. This warmer air, cooled by contact with the ice
box, e, passes down and out into the milk room, wliere a
temperature of sixty degrees is easily nuiintained. By
closing or opening these lattices, the change of tempera-
A PENNSYLVANIA DAIET.
169
ture is regulated as maybe desirable. At h, h, figure 170,
are ventilating pipes, which are provided with registers,
seen at r, r, figures 171 and 172. These communicate
with the air chamber beneath the ice box, and also with air
flues at each end of it. Thus two additional currents of
cold air can be created when they may be needed. The
windows of the lower milk room are close to the ceiling,
and above the surface of the ground outside. They are
three feet eight inches high, and are made with outer
1
r
i
V
r
®
y
i
H
r
r
©
Fig. 171. — DOORS OPEN.
Fig. 173.— BOORS CLOSED.
wire-cloth screens, glazed sashes, and inner shutters or
blinds. The milk room can thus be aired and dark-
ened at the same time, if it is desired. In operating
this dairy, it has been found necessary to use ten to fifteen
bushels of ice weekly, in the hottest weather in sum-
mer, the ice box then requiring filling two or three times
each week. The air within the milk room has always
been dry, so that the floor will not remain damp longer
than a few hours after it is washed.
170
BARN PLANS AND OUTBTJILDINGS.
CHAPTER XIII.
SPRING HOUSES.
The main points to look at in constructing a spring
house are, coolness of water, purity of air, the preservation
of an even temperature during all seasons, and perfect
drainage. The first is secured by locating the house near
Fig. 173. — INTERIOR OF SPRING HOUSE, WITH ELEVATED TROUGH.
the spring, or by conducting the water through pipes,
placed at least four feet under ground. The spring should
be dug out and cleaned, and tlie sides evenly built u]) with
rough stone work. The toj) sliould be arched over, or
shaded from the sun. A spout from the spring carries the
water into the house. If the spring is sufficiently high,
SPRING HOUSES.
171
it would be most convenient to have the water trough in
the house elevated upon a bench, as shown in figure 173.
There is then no necessity for stooping, to place the pans
in the water, or to take them out. Where the spring is
too low for this, the trough may be made on a level with
the floor, as in figure 174. The purity of the air is to be
secured by removing all stagnant water or filth from
Fig. 174. — INTEKIOK OF Sl'RING HOUSE, WITH LOW TKOLGU.
around the spring. All decaying roots and muck that may
have collected, should be removed, and the ground around
the house either paved roughly with stone or sodded.
The openings which admit and discharge the water,
should be large enough to allow a free current of air to
pass in or out. These openings are to be covered with
wire-gauze, to prevent insects or vermin from entering
the house. The house should be smoothly plastered, and
frecjuently whitewashed with lime, and a large ventilator
172
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDIXGS.
A DOME-SHAPED, CONCEETE SPUING HOUSE. 173
should be made in the ceiling. There should be no wood
used in the walls or floors, or water channels. An even
temperature can best be secured by building of stone or
brick, with walls twelve inches thick, double windows,
and a ceiled roof. In such a house there will be no dan-
ger of freezing in the winter time. The drainage will be
secured by choosing the site, so that there is ample fall
for the waste water. The character of the whole build-
ing is shown in figure 175. The size will depend alto-
gether upon the number of cows in the dairy. For a
dairy of twenty cows there should be at least one hun-
dred square feet of water surface in the troughs. The
troughs should be made about eighteen inches in width,
which admits a pan that would hold eight to ten quarts
at three mches in depth. A house, twenty-four feet
long by twelve wide, would give sixty feet of trough,
eighteen inches wide, or ninety square feet. The furni-
ture of the house should consist of a stone or cement
bench, and an oak table in the center, upon which the
cream jars and butter bowls may be kept.
A DOME-SHAPED, COXCEETE SPEIXG HOUSE.
Figure 17G presents a jilan for a sirring milk house. The
mside diameter is ten feet ; hight, eight feet. The walls are
eighteen inches thick at the base, one foot at the top, and
are made of concrete ; that is, cement-mortar, one-third
cemen, two-thirds sand, in which as many stone chips from
a quarry are placed as can l)e completely embedded in the
mortar. This should be handled when freshly mixed, and
as liquid as possible, and yet set solid. A complete dome is
built of hemlock boards and the concrete laid upon that,
the outside being rough, so that vines will cling to and
cover it. The door is very strong and tight, horizontally
and diagonally boarded, of matched pine, fastened
throughout with clinch nails. Ventilating doors, opening
174
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
outwards, are shown in the front, and this opening is
protected on the inside with wire-cloth. The building is
lighted by a circular plate of rough glass, such as is used
Ti^. 176. — FRONT VIEW OF SPRING HOUSE.
in floors under sky-lights, fully half an inch thick, and
two feet in diameter.
Figure 177 is the ground plan. In this, B is the door.
Fig. 1T7.— THE OROrND PL\N OF SPRING DOUSE.
entering at which one comes upon tlie cement, floor, Fj
this is half surrounded by the jiool against the wall
opposite the door. The pool is designated by W in the
A DOME-SHAPED, CONCRETE SPEING HOUSE. 175
plan, figure 177. The spring rises through its pebbly bed
at S; there is a i)artition at A, over which the water
flows, and this consequently separates the pool into fresh
water, and that less directly from the fountain head, with
probably a difference of one degree in the temperature.
The pool has a raised rim six inches wide, and three or
four inches high, to prevent water splashing out upon the
floor, at about the level of which the water is intended to
stand. The milk is placed in "coolers" in the coldest
part of the pool. Jars and stone pots of butter may be
set in the pool nearer the outlet.
Figure 178 is a section on the line ^,^, which is through
the doorway. This shows the depth of the pool, the
Fig. 178.— SECTioxAi VIEW of
foundations (also laid in cement, so as to exclude surface
water entirely), the window in the top, the form of the
entrance, etc. The outflow of water takes place at
the part of the pool farthest from the spring. A chan-
nel surrounds the floor, for conducting away any water
that may be spilled upon it. The ventilation througli the
door, being, as it is, very near to the highest part of the
dome, whicli is seven feet high inside, is abundant. The
light may be too great on sunny days, in which case a
screen on the outside will keep out both light and heat.
176 BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
Light is, however, no disadvantage iu a dairy, if unac-
companied by heat and flies. As to warmth, in case it
should seem best to use such a spring house in winter to
work the butter in, it would be necessary to heat it. This
is easily done by using a charcoal stove, from which
no odors come. The pipe should lead directly up and out
through a two and one-half mch hole. Sufficient warmth
to make the room comfortable does not perceptibly af-
fect the temperature of the pool, unless very long con-
tinued. Should the size of the spring house here given
be too large and expensive, it may be reduced to eight feet
inside diameter and six feet high, or six in diameter, and
of proportionate higlit, the pool being in this case a good
deal contracted in size, and the floor lowered to secure
head room.
A GRAXARY AVITH ITS GRAIN BINS. 177
CHAPTER XIV.
GRANARIES, ETC.
As a rule it will be found most profitable to thrash
grain as soon as it has been harvested. There is a saving
of time and labor in drawing the sheaves from the field
directly to the thrashing machine, and mowing away the
straw in the barn at once. The thrashing may be done
in the field, and the straw stacked there, especially now
that steam-thrashers are coming into more frequent use.
When this plan becomes general, the granary will become
as conspicuous a farm building as the barn. For storing
,tlie crops, it will be substituted to a great extent for the
barn, and instead of the barn being a store house, it will
only be a place for lodging and feeding the stock.
A GRANARY WITH ITS GRAIN BINS.
When grain is thrashed directly from the field, and is
stored in bulk, it goes through a process of sweating, and
if not turned or ventilated is liable to heat and spoil. It
is a work of considerable labor to turn the grain, or move
it from one bin to another. A granary, with ventilating
bins, as here illustrated and described, saves this labor.
Tlie granary is shown in figure 179. That it may not be
accessible to rats and mice, it is made two stories in hight,
the lower one being used as an open shed for storing
wagons and implements, or as a workshop. Access to the
granary is gained by an open stairway, which, if thought
proper, may be hinged at the top, and slung up when not
in use. The engraving represents a building twenty-four
feet long, twenty feet wide, and twenty-one feet high.
The shed is nine feet high, the granary eight feet, and
178
BARN PLANS AXD OUTBUILDINGa.
A GRANARY WITU ITS GRAIX BINS.
179
the loft for the storage of corn is four feet to the. eaves,
and if the roof is one-third pitch, it is eleven feet high at
the center. The frame is of heavy timber, to support the
weight. The posts may be mortised into
sills, bedded in concrete or lime mortar, to
preserve them below the level of the ground,
or the sills may be on stone underpinning.
The posts should be twelve inches square,
the studs four by twelve, and the frame well
braced with girts. The floors should be of
one and one-quarter inch plank, and be
supported by beams of ten by three timber,
placed sixteen inches apart. There is a
wheel-hoist in the loft, by which bags of
grain are elevated from the wagons with a
rope, at the end of which is a loop or sling, made by a
piece of wood, with a hole at each end, through which
the rope passes, as seen in figure 180. The bins are made
with a substantial frame of two by four timber, mortised
Fig. 181.— BXTEUIOU Ol' A CHAIN BIN.
together, and boarded with matched inch boards inside
of the frame. The bottom is made sloping, and is raised
above the floor, so that the latter can be washed or swept
180
BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
when needed. The form of the bins is shown in figure
181. There is a slide at the bottom, by raising which the
grain may be let out on the floor, and shovelled into bags,
or through the sj)out seen at a, in figure 182, into bags
on a wagon in the shed below. A spout in the front
also enables a portion of the grain to be run into bags
without shovelling, and if thought advisable, a spout may
be carried through the floor from each of the slide doors.
Fig. 183.— SECTION OF A GRAIN BIN.
with very little expense. The spouts are provided with
hooks at the bottom, upon which clotli guides, seen at
a, a, figure 184, arc hung, to direct the grain into tlic bags.
A space is left sufficient to allow a boy to go bcliind the
bins and sweep the floor and walls, and there is a space
of at least four feet in the middle of the granary between
the rows of bins. The bins may be made of any dc.^^ircd
size, and separate from each other, or in one continuous
A GRANARY WITH ITS GRAIN BINS.
181
bin, divided by movable partitions. Every care should
be taken to have no cracks or crevices in the bins, floors,
or building, in which weevils can hide, and the windows
Fiir. ISo. — VENTILATOK.
should be covered with fine wire-gauze. The ventilators
in the roof should also be covered to prevent the entrance
of the grain moth.
To provide against injury from heating, the ventilators
shown at figure 183, and at h, b, figures 181 and 182, are
constructed. These are strips of half -inch wood, nailed
Fio^. 184. — SECTION THROUGH THE GRANART.
togetlier, so as to form angular troughs aliont six inches
wide. The sides are bored full of small holes, that will
not permit the grain to pass through them, and the ends
are covered with fine wire-gauze. They are fitted into
the bins, running from front to back, with the open side
183
BAIIN PLAXS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
downwards. When the grain is jwured into the bins,
vacant spaces are left beneath these ventilators, and if it
heats, the moist warm air escapes through them. Small
pieces of wire-gauze are also fastened over holes, in the
bottom of the bins, as shown at c, c, figure 182, through
Avhich cool air enters tlic bin, as the heated air escapes
above. In this way the grain is cooled and aiirated. Even
buckwheat, which, when newly thrashed, heats so readily
as to be troublesome in damp, warm weather, may be kept
in perfect order, in such a bin as this, without trouble.
A section through the center of the building, given in
figure 184, shows the position of the bins and the passages.
A granary twenty-four feet long, with bins six feet wide
and five feet deep, will hold about one thousand two hun-
dred bushels of grain on the first floor, but a large
amount in addition can be stored upon the second floor
in heaps or bins. If more room is needed for the grain,
a great many filled bags can bo piled upon the bins, so
that in case of necessity, two thousand five hundred bush-
els can be stored in a granary of this size.
ANOTHER GRANARY WITH PLAN OF GRAIN BINS.
Without proper bins for grain, much that is hard earned
in tlie field is easily wasted
in the barn. The floor of a
granary should be of double
liemlock boards one inch
in thickness, dressed and
tongued, and grooved.
Sometimes it may bo desir-
able to lay a floor of i)hink,
ami cover this with a
layer of hydraulic lime
cement threo-cpuirtcrs of
an inch in thickness. Either of those floors will bo rat-
proof. There should be a window in every granary, with
gx-^
4^y4-
4x4-
4->!4-
ALLEY
6-4-
■
^x4
^y-A-
4^4-
Fiff. 185.— PLAN OF GRANAKY.
PLAN OF CORN CRIB AND GRANARY.
183
fine wire-f^auze shades, to exclude weevils and grain
moths. Figure 185 is a plan of a granary ; figure 18G
shows the mode of constructing the bins. The posts, B,
B, have grooves, into which the boards are slipped as the
Fig. 1S6.— ARRANGEMENT OF BINS IN GBAHAKT.
bins are filled ; they can be removed when not needed.
The boards should be numbered, that they may always be
properly placed. Portable steps, E, are very convenient
when the bins are deep.
PLAN OF CORN CRIB AND GRANARY.
The following, figure 187, is a plan of a combined corn
DRIVING FLOOR
CORN CRIB
Fig. 187.— PLAN OF CRIB ANT) GKANAUT,
crib and granary, which is thirty-two feet long, twenty
feet wide, and ten feet high from the stone foundation to
184
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
the eaves of the roof. It lias a drive way through the
middle, ten feet wide, and double doors at each end, by
which ample ventilation may be secured in fine Aveather.
The bins, B, B, six feet square, and five in number, are
upon one side ; the corn crib is on the other. A stair-
way, three feet wide, leads to the floor above, where
damp grain may be sj)i'ead beneath the roof to diy. The
Fig. 188.— VIEW OF CORN CRIB AND GRANAKT.
corn crib is so arranged that the corn may be shovelled
out at the bottom, by nailing cross-boards to the scant-
ling, projecting twelve inches ; a board ten inches wide
is nailed to these to make a long spout or trough. An
exterior view of the building is given in figure 188.
A 3IEASURING GRAIN BIN.
A grain bin, with an attachment for measuring, is
given, figure 180. There can be no waste, as the bag or
sack may be hooked \\\^o\\ the lower end of the spout, and
when filled can l)e easily removed. The spout requires
the bin In lie sufficiently elevated for the bag, when at-
SLIDING SPOUT FOR A BARN" OR GRANARY. 185
GrcLinBin
tached to the spout, to just clear the floor or a box placed
for it to rest upon. In drawing from the bin, the slide
marked A, is closed, and the slide B, is opened long
enough for space C, to fill, when B is closed, and A
opened, and the grain passes into the bag. The size of
the measuring chamber in the spout
is ten by ten inches square, and
twenty-one and one-half inches
high. This holds just one Win-
chester bushel ; but if a half bushel
chamber is preferred, then the
proper size would be ten by ten
inches square, and ten and three-
quarter inches high. Of course,
these measurements are for the in-
side of the chamber. By inserting
a pane of glass in the face of the
bin, or in the spout at D, one
could always tell the quantity of
grain in the bin. In constructing
a bin like this, the bottom should
have a rise of five inches to the foot. For example, a
bin six feet from front to back, for wheat or corn, should
have a rise of thirty inches in the bottom to secure a
flow ; oats require more.
loin ^
Fig. 189.— A MEASURtSG
GKAIN BIN.
SLIDING SPOUT FOR A BARN OR GRANARY.
A spout through which bags of grain or feed may be
sent from one floor to another, in barns or granaries,
is represented in figure 190. This sliding spout will
be found very useful for other purposes than the one
mentioned, and may be readily made to serve as a venti-
lating trunk as well. It consists of a wooden spout
about two feet square, made as shown in the engraving,
and passing at each turn from one floor to another. A
186
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
bag of grain or feed dropped in at the top, -will slide
from floor to floor until it
reaches the table at the bot-
tom. The openings, a, a, are
closed by doors which may be
shut down across the spout,
when it is required to deliver
the bags upon any intermediate
floor. This spout is necessarily
used in connection with a hoist-
ing apparatus or an elevator,
by which the grain or feed is
raised to an upper floor. In
high barns provided with a
hoist and a sliding spout of
til is kind, it will generally be
found convenient to store the
gi-ain upon the top floor where it ^'S- I'JO. -sliding spout.
will be well ventilated, and may be made free from vermin.
CONVENIENT GRAIN BIN.
The strain of body, and rush of blood to tlie head,
that are_very often experienced, in get-
ting grain, or meal from a deep bin
runs low, are avoid-
shown in figure 191.
in wliich the two top
boards in front
are lunged, be-
ing fastened \\^
by hooks at the
ends, and let
down as desired.
Front edge of
the bin is ahout
i.ii.uN IAS. four feet hii,di.
A CONVEXIEIST SMOKE HOUSE. 187
CHAPTER XV.
SMOKE HOUSES.
A good smoke house should be found upon every farm,
large or small, aud there are many other families besides
thpse of farmers which would be vastly benefited by
one". The object is to be able to expose meats to the
action of creosote and the empyreumatic vapors resulting
from the imperfect combustion of wood, etc. The pecu-
liar taste of smoked meat is given by the creosote, which
is also the preservative principle, but sundry flavors,
agreeable to those who like them, are also imparted by
other substances in the smoke. All that is necessary for
a smoke house, is a room, from the size of a barrel to
that of a barn, which can be filled with smoke and shut
up tight, with conveniences for suspending the articles
to be cured. In common smoke houses the fire is
made on a stone slab in the middle of the floor. In
others, a pit is dug, say a foot deep, in the ground, and
here the fire is placed ; sometimes a stone slab covers the
fire at the hight of a common table.
A COXVENIEXT SilOKE HOUSE.
The accompanying plan, figure 192, is of a good smoke
house ; it diffuses the rising smoke, and prevents the
direct heat of the fire affecting the meats hanging immedi-
ately above. A section of the smoke house is shown, and
though somewhat expensive, is warmly praised. It is
eight feet square, and built of brick. If of wood it
should be plastered on the inside. It has a chimney, C,
with an eight-inch flue and a fire place, B, which is out-
side below the level of the floor. From tins a flue, F, is
carried under the chimney into the middle of the floor
188
BARX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
wlicre it ojoeiis under a stone talkie, E. In kindling the
fire a valve is drawn directing the draft \v^ the chimney.
The green chips or cobs are thrown on, and the valve is
then placed so as to turn the smoke into the house.
Both in the upper and lower parts of the chimney there
are also openings, G, G,
closed by valves reg-
ulated from the outside.
The door has to be made
to shut very closely, and
all i^arts of the building
must be as tight as pos-
sible. The advantage
of such a house as this
is, that the smoke is
cooled considerably be-
fore it is admitted. No
ashes rise with the
smoke. Meats may be kept in it the year round, without
being very much smoked, inasmuch as the smoking need
be only occasionally renewed, so as to keep the flies away.
The table placed in the center will be found a great
convenience in any smoke house.
Fis. l'J2. — INTElilOK OF SMOKli UOUSE.
IMPROVED SMOKE HOUSES.
Figure 193 is an engraving of a brick smoke house,
built over an ash pit or cellar, six feet deep, the entrance
to which cellar is through the door shown at the side. The
roof is arched, and there is no wood about the structure,
except the doors. The floor of the house is made of narrow
iron bars, three inches wide, and a quarter of an inch
thick, set on edge about two inches apart, so as to form a
grating. The ends of these bars arc seen set in the bricks
at the lower part of the house. They are made for laying
side pieces of bacon upon them during the smoking. The
IMPKOVED SMOKE HOUSES.
189
Fig. 193.— AN IMPKOVED SMOKE HOU
Fig. 194.— INTERIOR OF SMOKE nOCSE.
190
SARIS' PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
hams are hung upon round iron bars, stretched across the
upper part of the house ; the ends of these bars are bent
down, thus forming stays or braces to the building, as
seen in the engraving. A few spaces are left in the front
of the house, over the door, for ventilation. The
interior of the house is shown in figure IQ-l.
The hams are hung upon wire hooks, figure 195,
which slide upon the rods. This house required
in building two thousand bricks, and two masons'
labor for one and a half days. Figure 19G repre-
sents a section of a smoke house of wood, which
is very cleanly in use, there being no fire, and consequently
no ashes, upon the floor. The floor is made of cement, or
of hard brick laid in cement or mortar. Either of these
floors will exclude rats, and may be washed Avhcn neces-
sary. The fire ovens, made of brick, are built ou each
side of the house, or two of them may be erected at the
195.
WOODEN SMOKE UOUtJE WITU OVENS.
rear end. They are constructed u})on the outside, but
spaces are left between the l)ricks on the inside, through
which the smoke csca})es. The outer i)art of the oven is
open at the front, but may be closed by an iron door, or
CHEAP SMOKE HOUSES.
191
a piece of flat stone or slab of cement. When the fire is
kindled in the ovens, the doors are closed and fastened,
and the smoke has no means of escape except through
the inside spaces. From being so confined, the fire can
not burn up briskly, but slowly smoulders, making a
cool and jjungent smoke. In any smoke house, the less
brisk the fire is kept, the more efEective is the smoke, as
the slow combustion of the wood permits the escape of
most of the wood acids, which give their flavor and their
antiseptic properties to the meat. When the fire is brisk,
these are consumed and destroyed, and the meat is in-
jured by the excess of heat. These outside ovens may be
fitted to any kind of a smoke house, by simply cutting
the necessary openings at the bottom of the walls, and
protecting the wood-work by strips of sheet iron around
the bricks.
CHEAP SMOKE HOUSES.
Figure 197 presents a sectional view of a brick smoke
house, which may be made of any size. One, seven by
Fig. 197
-SECTIONAX VIEW,
Fiff. 198.— ELEVATION.
nine feet, will be large enough for private use, but the
plan admits of application for the largest sized building.
At the bottom of the structure is a brick arch, with bricks
left out liere and there to aftord passage for the smoke.
192
BAEN" PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
Above the arch arc two scries of iron rods, supplied with
hooks with grooved wheels, by wliich the ring, with its
burden, may be pushed back, or drawn forward, as de-
sired. The wheel-hook is shown in figure 197, and can
Fig. 199. — THE AKCH. Fig. 200. — frame for arch.
be procured at any hardware store. In figure 198 the
house is seen in perspective, with the open archway for
the fire, and the door provided with steps. Above the
JUL
A PENNSYLVANIA SMOEB HOUSE.
lower bar and below the upper one, is a series of venti-
lating holes through which the smoke may escape. These
are made by leaving out Ijricks, and they can be closed by
SMOKING MEATS IX A SMALL WAY.
193
inserting bricks closely in the vacancies. In figure 199 is
the arch which confines the fire and ashes, and prevents
any meat that may fall from being soiled or burned. A
few open spaces will be sufficient to permit the smoke to
pass through. This arch is constructed over a wooden
frame, figure 200, made of a few pieces of boards, cut into
an oval arch-shape, to which strips of wood are nailed.
"When the brick- work is dry the center is knocked down
and removed. For safety and economy a loose door may
be made to shut up the arch when the fire is kindled.
Figure 201 shows a smoke house common in Maryland
and Pennsylvania. It is built upon a brick wall, and
over a brick arch, tlirough which a number of holes or
spaces are left in the brick-work, for the smoke to pass
through. Beneath the arch is the ash pit, and a door
opens into this, as shown in the engraving. The door to
the meat room can not be reached without a ladder.
SMOKING MEATS IN A SMALL WAY.
Fig. 202. — SUBSTITUTE FOR A. SMOKE HOUSE.
It sometimes happens that one needs to smoke some
hams or other meat, and no smoke house is at hand.
9
194
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
In such a case a large cask or barrel, as shown in figure
202, may prove a very good substitute. To make this ef-
fective, a small pit should be dug, and a flat stone or a
brick placed across it, upon Avhicli the edge of the cask
will rest. Half of the jjit is beneath the barrel, and half
of it outside. The head and bottom may be removed, or
a hole can be cut in the bottom a little larger than the
portion of the pit beneath the cask. The head is re-
moved while the hams are hung upon cross sticks. These
rest upon two cross-bars, made to pass through holes
bored in the sides of the
cask, near the top. The
head is then laid upon
the cask, and covered
with sacks to confine the
smoke. Some coals are
put into the pit outside
of the cask, and the fire
is fed Avith damp corn
cobs, liardwood cliips, or
fine brush. The pit is
covered with a flat stone,
by wliich the fire may
1)0 reguhitcd, and it is
I'omoved when necessary
t o add more fuel.
A SMOKE HOUSE CON-
VENIENCE.
Fii,'. 203.
\ SMOKT ITOrSi; CON-
VKMENCE.
A method of hanging
the meat in asmoke house
without the necessity for reaching up, or using a ladder,
is shown in figure 203. The smoke house may be of any
shape, but it should be ])rovi(l('(l witli cleats fixed to the
sides, upon wliich tlie lianging-bars rest. A pulley is
AX OVEX AND SMOKE HOUSE COMBINED. 195
fitted inside to the top of the building, and a hoisting
rope is passed over it. The hanging-bar is fastened to
the rope by two spreading ties, so that it will not easily
tip when it is loaded. The hams or bacon are hung upon
hooks fixed in the bar, and the whole is hoisted to the
cleats, when the bar is swung around so that the ends
rest upon the cleats. The rope is then released from the
bar by means of a small rod, and another bar may be
loaded and raised in the same way.
AN OVEN AND SMOKE HOUSE COMBINED.
Tlie bricks chosen for an oven should be hard, well
burned and molded, and with straight edges. This is
especially necessary for the hearth. It is best to have the
oven detached from the house, and yet so near to the
kitchen door that it may be easJy reached. The founda-
tion of the oven is made by building two nine-inch Avails
of the proper length, or about six feet, and six feet apart,
to a hight of two feet above the ground. Upon the
walls are laid cross pieces of four-inch oak jDlank, or fiat
timbers, made somewhat like railroad ties. These lie on
the wall for the length of half a brick, so that a course
of half bricks or whole bricks placed lengthwise may be
built to enclose them. At the front, an iron bar may be
built into the wall, and the front course of bricks laid
upon it. The spaces between the timbers are filled with
mortar, and a layer of mortar at least an inch thick is
l^laced upon them. Dry sand is thrown upon the mortar,
and the whole bed is beaten with a mallet until it is made
hard and compact. Dry sifted coal, or wood ashes, or
sand, is then laid upon this bed to a depth of six inches,
and smoothed down. Upon this non-conducting fioor
the oven hearth is placed. The best, smoothest, and hard-
est bricks are chosen for this. The bricks are laid very
evenly and closely together, with mortar, in which a good
19G
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
proportion of wood ashes is mingled. "When the floor is
secured, the walls are built in the same manner with bricks
placed endwise from the inside to the outside. When
the walls are about a foot high, the frames for the center
are fixed in their proper places. These are cut out of
common inch boards of the shape to fit the arched roof.
' 204.— FROUT VIEW OF COMBINED OVEN AND SMOKE HOCSE.
Tlie rise of the arch is about eight inches, giving a total
hight in the middle of the oven of twenty inches, and
twelve inches at the sides. The boards should be cut in
two through the middle, and lightl}- tacked together, so
t!uit they can be readily knocked aj)art and removed from
the door wlien thearcli isdrv. The Avail around the oven
and the arched roof should be well l)ound together, and
brick work placed around the outside of the top of the
arch, so as to make the connection between the walls and
AN OVEN" AND SilOKE HOUSE COMBINED.
197
arch firm and solid. Tlic inside of the oven will then
consist of a solid nine-inch wall of brick laid with the
ends toward the middle of the oven, or nearly so. This
will serve to retain the heat a long time, and will make a
very serviceable oven. The outside wall should be carried
a few inches above the line of the top of the oven, and
fine dry sand thrown in the space to level it off. A plank
Fij;. 203.— BEAR VIEW OF COMBINED OVEN AND SMOKE HOl'SE.
floor may then be placed across the top, which can serve
for the floor of part of the smoke house above. Figure 204
shows the front of the oven when complete. The rear of
the combined oven and smoke house is shown in figure 205.
Figure 206 represents another i)lan for a bake oven and
smoke house combined in one building. The oven occu-
pies the front and that part of the interior which is
represented by the dotted lines. The smoke house
198
BARIT PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
occupies the rear and extends over the oven. The ad-
vantages of this kind of building are the perfect dryness
secured, which is of great importance in preserving the
206. — COMBINED SMOKE HOUSE AND OVEN.
meat, and the economy in building the two together, as
the smoke that escapes from the oven may be turned into
the smoke house.
DOG KENNELS.
199
CHAPTER XVI.
DOG KENNELS.
The dog is frequently left to find shelter as best he can
on the lee side of the house or barn, or under the barn.
He may have sufficient sagacity to know when he is well
or ill treated, and he may very reasonably lose his self-
respect, and take to evil courses, such as prowling abroad,
marauding and sheep killing, when not taught better, and
Fig. 207.— A DOG KEXNEL.
provided with decent quarters at home. The conduct
and attitude of a roughly used, half starved cur, is en-
tirely different from that of a well fed, and decently kept
dog, and every one who keeps a dog, should certainly take
pains to treat him well, and thoroughly train him. A
shelter of some kind should be provided, which the ani-
mal will recognize as his home, and the more comfort-
able this is made, the more contented he will be, not
to speak of the freedom from disease and vermin to be
enjoyed. The disrepute into which these animals have
200
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
fallen in the estimation of sheep and poultry keepers, and
gardeners, is greatly owing to the liberty given them by
owners, to prowl about and commit depredations.
FARM DOG KENNELS.
The kennel shown in figure 207, is seven feet long, by
Fiil. 206.— A N£AT DOG KENNEL.
three feet six inches wide, and has two doors, one opening
inward, and one outward. The latter door is provided
Fig. 309. — A .1 Ai l.i.NNLl,.
with a l)ell, by which the owner can tell when the dog
goes out at night. In summer one door may be used for
ventilation, but in the winter l^oth should be let down.
FARM DOG KENNELS.
201
The manner of making a very neat kennel is shown in
figure 208. The bottom is two feet six inches by four
feet, and from this to the top of the roof it is three feet
nine inches. The door has an arched top and should be
of any size from eight by twelve inches, up to twelve by
twenty-two inches, to suit the size of the occupant. It
is painted light brown, with the corners, base, and win-
Fig. 210. — KENNEL WITH TABD FOR DOGS.
dow planks painted darker. Brackets may be placed be-
neath the cornice molding. A cheap and equally service-
able kennel is shown in figure 209. It has a floor the
same size as the preceding, is three feet four inches high
in front, and the roof has a fall of eight inches. A
yet cheaper one is made by taking a square box, three by
four feet, and cutting a door in one end. During winter.
202 BARN" PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
if the kennel be in an exjoosecl situation, tack a piece of
heavy carpeting over the door on the inside, so that it
will cover the entire doorway. Where several dogs are
kept, a roomy kennel and yard should be provided, in
which to confine them. A dog yard with kennel is shown
in figure 210. It is roomy, so as to admit of exercise,
well shaded, and furnished with water, and a sleeping
house. A water tank is indispensable, and generally
there should be a place for bathing.
BIRD HOUSES.
203
CHAPTER XVII.
BIRD HOUSES.
It is a mistake to have bird houses too showy and too
much exposed. Most birds naturally choose a retired
place for their nests, and slip into them quietly, that no
enemy may discover where they live. All that is required
in a bird house is, a hiding place, with an opening Just
Fig. 211.— HAT nocsE. Fig. 212.— keg house. Fig. 213.— large house.
large enough for the bird, and a water-tight roof. There
are so very many ways in which these may be provided,
any boy can contrive to make all the bird houses that
may be needed. An old hat, with a hole for a door,
tacked by the rim against a shed, as in figure 211, will be
occupied by birds sooner than a showy bird house.
Figure 212 shows how six kegs may be placed together to
rest upon a pole ; the kegs are fastened to the boards by
screws inserted from beneath. Figure 213 shows how a
204
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
two-story house may be made separate from two sliallow
boxes, eaeli divided into four tenements. Each box has
a bottom board, projecting two inches all around, to
answer as a landing place. The roof should be tight, and
the whole so strongly nailed that it will not warp. It
should be well painted.
The foundation of the house, shown in figure 214, is
any convenient sized box, such as may be had at the
stores. A piece is nailed to each end, cut to the slope
Fig. 214.— FRAMEWORK OF BIRD HOUSE.
it is desired to have the roof. As the roof is to be
thatched, it had better be pretty steep ; it will not only
shed the rain the more readily, but the house will look
better. The upper end of the pole which is to support
the house is made square ; it passes througli a hole in
the bottom of the box, and extends far enough above the
ridge of the roof, to form the chimney. A ridge pole is
then passed through tlic upright pole and thoeiul jueces,
as shown in the figure. Places for the windows are to be
cut out, but the door may be only a dummy, and painted
black. Small branches of any straight, easy-splitting
PIGEON HOUSES. 205
wood are to be cut of the proper lengths, and spht
lengthwise. These, with the bark on, are fastened by
Fig. 215 — BIKD HOUSE COMPLETE.
small nails all over the exterior of the house, as shown in
figiire 215, which gives this form of bird house complete.
PIGEOX HOUSES.
Pigeons are valued both as ornamental birds and as
furnishing an exceedingly delicate article of food. If
kept for use, or if reared purely for fancy, pigeons must
be housed over the stable or some outbuilding, to se-
cure them from cats, rats, weasels, etc. This gives the
owner access at all times to the birds and their nests.
The room is subdivided by lattice-work partitions, into
as many apartments as are desirable. When, however,
persons do not desire to make a business of raising pig-
eons, and wish to keep only one, or possibly two, orna-
mental varieties, it is Aery well to make the houses as
well as the birds contribute to the ornamentation of the
place. Herewith are given some engravings of simple
206 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
" pole houses," and one which may appropriately be set,
as exhibited, upon a roof. For convenience of examina-
tions, pigeon houses should have the roof keyed on so as
Fig. 216. — BrsTic pigeon house.
to be lifted off. The roofs should have wide, projecting
eaves and gable ends, to keep out the rain. The houses
should be fastened very securely by iron straps, shaped
like the letter L inverted ("1), screwed to the bottom of
the structures, and to the side of the post. The post
Fig. 217.— LOU CABIN PIGEON HOUSE.
should be very smooth for several feet below the top, and
painted, to i)revent vermin getting to the pigeons.
Figure 210 represents a simple house, twenty by twenty
PIGEON HOUSES.
207
inches, for a single pair of pigeons. It has two
brooding rooms, and a vestibule or outside room con-
necting them. This house, as also the log cabin, figure
217, is^onstructed of round and half round sticks of as
nearly a uniform size as possible, which, after drying
with the bark on, are tacked upon a box made or adapted
to the purpose. Figure 218 is a Swiss pigeon cottage ; it
is a good deal larger than the pole house, and will accom-
modate as many pairs of birds as there are distinct apart-
Fig. 218.— SWISS PIGEON COTTAGE.
ments No vestibules are provided, but each tenement
is big enough for two nests if needed. T^e fwi^^
cottage is very elaborate, and will require a skillful hand
and mtience to make it. Each story of the house should
be made separate, the lower one at least eight inches
high, and the lower piazza eight inches wide. The stones
upon the roof should be wired to the cross-strips.
Those who go into pigeon raising as a matter of profit,
should make suitable arrangements for the birds, and not
only provide them with a desirable house, but see to
208
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
Fig. 320.— INTERIOR OF A LARGli PIGEON nOUSE.
piGEOX HOUSES. 209
their feeding, and what is quite imiwrtant, ensure pro-
tection from cats, rats, and all other enemies. A house
of this kind is shown in the accompanying engravings.
The outside, figure 219, is ten by sixteen feet, eight feet
. high at the eaves, with a tight, shingled roof. Figure
220 shows one side of the interior, wliere there are plat-
forms, K, K, upon which the birds enter, and which
holds three nesting and hatching boxes, P, P. A build-
of this kind should be placed where it can be shaded by
trees in the heat of the day, and in a quiet place, where
the nesting birds will not be disturbed by noises. Be-
sides abundant feed, the birds should be constantly sup-
plied with water, and have a mixture of salt, sulphur,
and gravel, placed where they can always get at it.
210 BAKN PLAKS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE PRESERVATION OF FODDER IN SILOS.
Silo, is the French word for a " pit." Ensilage means
the putting into pits. As the pits are built above
ground, they have been called "tanks," and ''tanking
of corn fodder," is used to express the ojieration. The
preservation of green fodder in this manner is by no
means new ; clover has long been similarly stored, and so
have beet leaves in the sugar-beet fields of Europe. In
this country brewers' grains, and partially ripe broom
corn seed have also been thus preserved. It is the ap-
plying to the preservation of corn fodder the same prin-
ciple that nearly every housekeeper makes use of in pre-
serving fruits. Every one knows that if green corn fod-
der, or other gi-een vegetable matter be placed in a heap,
fermentation will take place and decay soon follows. Fer-
mentation and decay require the oxygen of the air. Ex-
clude the air and these must cease. In ensilage the corn
is put away with the air excluded and it keeps. Every
detail of the operation has for its object the thorough ex-
clusion of the atmosphere. The silos, or tanks, are tight,
the fodder is cut small, that it may lie more compactly, and
great pressure is put upon the mass — all for the purpose of
keeping out the air as completely as possible. That the
fodder tlius put up will keep in excellent condition is an
established fact. It has l)ecn preserved thus not only
through the winter, but throughout a whole year.
EUROPEAN METHODS AND EXPERIMENTS.
Corn fodder is largely depended upon as food for stock
over a great extent of country, and its use might be made
well nigh universal, as no forage plant is so easily grown
EUEOPEAX METHODS AND EXPEKIMEXTS.
2U
as com. Could it be preserved fresh and green for six
months or more, instead of being cured and used in a
dry state, its value would be greatly increased. That it
may be so preserved has been shown by experiment, and
the process is claimed to be easy, and very profitable.
Fig. S31.— PIT BEFORE OOVEBma.
Fig. 222.— PIT APTEK COVEKTSG.
Of late years, a great number of French, Belgian, and
German farmers have adopted the plan, and some exten-
sive stock feeders have used it largely with the most
favorable results. Several communications by prominent
farmers and professors of agriculture in farm schools,
have been made to the " Journal of Practical Agricul-
ture," of Paris, from which the
following facts have been con-
densed, and by the aid of the
illustrations, the methods in
use, with the cost, may be learn-
ed. In figures 221, 222, and
223, are shown the pits or silos,
as they are filled with the cut
corn fodder, then covered with
earth and pressed down with
its weight ; finally the cut
fodder shrinks to less than half the bulk it had at
first. The pits are about seventy-five feet long, nine
F;q-. 220.— ensilage pit afteb
six months.
212 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
feet wide above, six feet wide at the bottom, and six feet
deep. Tlie sides and ends are built up of masonry laid
in cement. In these pits the corn stalks are laid evenly
in layers about eight inches in thickness, after hav-
ing been cut and exposed to the sun for two or three
days. During this time the stalks lose by exposure to the
sun, two-fifths of their weight v/hen first cut. A quan-
tity of salt is scattered over every layer equal to about
sixty-six pounds for each pit. The three pits hold about
eighty tons (seventy-five thousand kilos), of green fod-
der. The fodder is heaped up as shown in figure 221, to
a hight of six feet above the surface of the ground, and
then covered with earth to a thickness of two or three
feet. Seven months after, one pit was opened and the
fodder was found in perfect condition except for an inch
or two upon the surface and the sides, where it was black
and decayed. Its color was yellow, its odor agreeable,
but the stalks had lost all their sweetness, and had ac-
quired some degi'ee of acidity. Twenty-four beeves were
then fed about nine hundred pounds daily of the jjrc-
served fodder, or nearly forty pounds per head on the
average, Avliich was equal to about sixty pounds of fresh
green fodder. The fodder was eaten with great relish,
and only some portions of the larger and harder stalks
were left, the corn having been cut when ripe, and being
of a large growing variety known as the giant maize.
The second pit was opened at the end of ten months,
having been preserved equally well with tlie first. The
third was not opened until eighteen months after cover-
ing. The fodder Avas in as good order as that from the
other pits, excepting that the discolored and decayed
layer was somewhat thicker in this pit than in the others,
a result attributed in a great degree to the gravelly and
poious character of the earth covering, the preservation
being due solely to the exclusion of air. In this instance
tlie fodder was preserved Avhole, and the cost of cutting
EUROPEAN METHODS AND EXPERIMENTS.
213
avoided. But when tlie fodder has to be cut for feed-
ing, it has been found economical to do so before it is
stored. This system has been adopted by M. Piret, the
ra-auage? of a large estate owned by M. A. Houette, at
f-:
k.
Bleneau, in Belgium. From his statement it is found
that he at first made a small experiment, which Avas per-
fectly successful, the cut fodder being Avithdrawn from
the pit in most excellent condition. Afterwards two pits
214
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
of masonry were erected above ground, protected at the
sides only by banks of earth. These were found equally
serviceable with those sunk below the surface, and much
more convenient. Following tlie statement of this gen-
tleman closely, it is seen that by the aid of about four
hundred and fifty pounds of superphosphate of lime per
EUROPEAN METHODS AND EXPERIMENTS.
215
acre, lie obtained on fairly good soil, seventy-five tons
per acre of green fodder, although the average of his
crop was not more than forty-five tons per acre ; two
:.^:.... ;',„.,„..,; .'lH i ,i .,Ji:5^
Fig. 2'26.— GROUND PLAN OF EN^IL Af i: PIT.
hundred and fifty tons of this was cut by a fodder cutter
driven by horse power, cutting two tons per hour. The
pit was built as shown in figure 224, which represents the
216 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
section, a dividing wall in the center separating it into
two parts. The cut fodder falling into the pit was car-
ried in baskets upon a truck, on a portable railway, to the
end of the pit, where it was packed away in sections
formed by a movable partition and trampled down
sightly, salt at the rate of about two pounds to the ton
of fodder being added. This pit is seen in figure 5^25,
which represents it in longitudinal section, and in figure
226, that shows it in plan, and in which one division is
seen filled, and the other in course of filling. "When the
pits are filled, the fodder is covered with a layer of fine
clay nine inches thick, well beaten down. In these fig-
ures the parts are shown by the following letters : B is
the fodder cutter ; C the rail track ; D the exterior
walls ; E the division wall ; F the filled compartment ;
G that in course of filling. There is a movable parti-
tion in the pit being filled, with a bar to hold it in
position. The pit is shown in figure 224, covered with
a roof of boards as protection from the weather, a meas-
ure of economy strongly recommended by M. Piret. In
this figure the covering of clay is shown on the top of
the fodder. This is beaten down frcquentl}', as it may
become cracked or disturbed by the settling of the mass
beneath.
The cost of the process licre described is represented as
being about three dollars per ton, including the cutting,
carrying, curing, and feeding of a crop e(|ual to nearly
fifty tons per acre of green fodder (fifty thousand kilos
per hectare), being a ton to less than four square rods.
Still this yield is not only frefiuent, but it is sometimes
surpassed.
AN AMERICAN SILO FOR BREWERS' GRAINS.
E. B. Brady, AVestchester Co., N. Y., has a silo, built
upon the same princii)le as those in which the French
farmers preserve fodder. They dilfer merely, in that
AN AilERICAK SILO FOR BEEWERS' GRAINS. 217
the Frencli silos are long aud narrow, while Mr. Brady's
is more nearly square ; it is used for storing brewers'
grains. Figure 237 shows shape and mode of construct-
ing the Westchester Co. silo, and figure 228 the manner
in which it is used. It will be seen that the only differ-
ence between the operation of this and the French silo, is,
that the former has not so dense and compact a covering
as the latter. A very close covering is not so essential
Fi?. 2*27. — VIEW OF SILO.
with brewers' grains, as with corn fodder, because they
pack much closer and exclude the air better than the
looser com stalks. But when the latter are cut up into
chaff, and thoroughly pressed down, a mere covering
of planks, nicely jointed upon the edges, would be suffi-
cient for the exclusion of the air from the mass below.
It is always preferable to cut the fodder into pieces, not
longer than one inch, for the reason that it then packs
more closely and the preservation is more complete. The
10
218
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
silo, shown in figure 227, consists of a sort of basement
cellar, with the door opening into the cow stable, and the
rear sunk for the most part beneath the ground. A road
passes the end of it, where there is a door, shown by-
dotted lines, for the purpose of unloading the grains.
The walls are of stone, and the floor is of cement. The
silo is covered Avith an ordinary shingle roof. The grains
are packed in solidly, until they reach the level of the
door at the top, when they are covered with boards, and
some straw is thrown over the boards. The lower door is
I III ' I ^1 LjI ^i^
ir ' .g
r ' ~^"^%
opened when the grain is required, and it is dug out
as bright as when put in, but somewhat soured. As the
mass is cut away, nothing is done to the surface which is
left exposed to the air ; the surface is made fresh every
day by the removal of what was left exposed tlie day be-
fore. The same method may be apjilicd to the preserva-
tion of corn fodder. As cut green fodder lies in a looser
and more open mass than grains, it would bo necessary to
have a cover, as nearly im])ervious to air as possible, for
use when the silo is opened and the preserved fodder is
in course of consumption.
SILOS UNDER STABLES.
219
SILOS UNDER STABLES.
Two brothers, named Buckley, of Port Jervis, N. Y.
have large silos, made as described below. It had been
their custom for years to put in a large area of sowed corn *
-Tx^^^^m^
Flf^. 2'29.— SECTIONAL VIEW OF STABLE AND FODDER PITS.
which was cut and put up for curing in stooks, and after-
wards housed or stacked near the barns. Latterly they
have had a larger area than usual, a good part of which they
put doAvn in pits for winter feeding. This matter of pit-
ting or ensilaging corn fodder has been carefully investi-
gated by them, and they have made two pits under the
cow bam floor. These pits, figure 229, are twenty-two feet
long, nine feet Avide, and fifteen and one-half feet deep,
side by side, with a two-foot wall between them. They
220
BAR]S' PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
are walled all around, cemented water tight, and would
answer well as cisterns. These two are recently built,
but there is an old one, ten feet wide, fifty feet long, and
seven feet deep, Avliich is under the feeding floor. The
location of these pits is shown in the accompanying plan,
figure 230. The cow barn is one hundred and twenty feet
long, by thirty feet wide. The feeding floor is ten feet
wide, and the standing space for the cows is the same
width on each side. There is room for thirty-six cows in
this stable, up to the barn floor. The floor, the stalls
and all, from side to side, are used for the filling of the
pits.
Fig. 230.— FLOOR PLAN OF BARN, CATTLE STABLES, ETC.
The feed cutter stands directly behind the horse power,
and is driven by a pair of mules, cutting the stalks in
half-inch pieces, at the rate of two tons an hour. Three
men are required to tend the cutter, taking the corn from
the wagon, feeding it to the cutter, and seeing that it
is properly sliunted off into the ])its, where one man
spreads it as evenly as i)ossible, and tramps it down. At
noon and evening half a dozen men get into the tanks,
and tramp tlie fodder down ;is firmly as they can. Thus
tlie labor required is as follows : two teams and one driver,
four men in the barn and three in the field ; eight men in
all can ]iut in about twenty tons a day. When packed
SILOS UNDER STABLES. 221
in the pits, a strong fermentation very soon sets in. The
corn packed the day before is steaming hot, no doubt
having a temperature of one hundred and ten to one
hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. It has a vinous
odor which is very sweet and pleasant. Mr. Buckley
gives the figures of the cost of these two pits as follows :
Digging, 112 dajs work at SI §112 00
Masons' bill W 44
Men to assist the masons, 12 days work 12 00
Bill for Lime and Cement 78 10
Total outlay $290 54
This does not include anything for stone, inasmuch as
the stones taken out of the pit were more than amply
sufficient for the walls. Furthermore no charge is made for
superintendence, and doubtless it would be fair to add
fully ten per cent for supervision, and actual labor,
which at one time or another the farmer himself gave,
or say three hundred and twenty-five dollars in all.
There were fifty barrels of cement used, and about half
as much lime, part of which, eight barrels, was very good,
and the rest, fifty bushels, cheap and of a low grade. The
proportion of sand to cement and lime in the mortar
with which the walls were Jaid up, was about two to tliree,
but in coating over the surface to make the whole water
tight, nearly pure cement was used. Thus the pits were
filled, each one receiving its quota of ten tons, more or
less, being well trodden down, allowed to settle over night
and again trodden down in the morning before work —
all hands being engaged in the tramping. When the
pit is full, settled and tramped, and begins to heat in
the top layers, it is covered with six inches of long rye
straw [any other straw will answer], and this, with a layer
of planks, cut to fit crossways, but not so long as to bind.
Stones are piled, or rather laid upon the planks, so that
fully one hundred pounds to the square foot rest upon
332 BARN PLANS AXD OUTBUILDINGS.
the fodder. Thus it is left for winter use. Filled full,
one of these pits Avill hold sixty tons.
As to the keeping, there can be no question, if the work
is properly done. A brisk fermentation comes on, as it
does in a tub of apjjle pulp for making eider. If the
air has very slight access, it will go on to ultimate decay ;
but if it is kej)t out, the little air at first present is driven
off by the carbonic acid gas which is formed, and the
mass ceases to ferment, and remains as if it were in an
air tight case. There is, however, a slight access of air
upon the surface, and its action upon the juices in the
straw and upper layer of fodder is just enough to main-
tain an atmosphere of carbonic acid gas over the mass.
The stable is over the pits, and there is no going out in
storms and "slush" and ice to haul in the fodder from
out-of-door pits. The floor is taken up over a sufficient
space, and enough feed removed from one end for two
days. Rul)ber blankets, tarpaulins, canvas, or any coarse
cloth, painted with boiled oil, would be excellent to pack
close down upon the fodder, to exclude the air. It is very
important to know for a certainty that there is no settling
of carbonic acid gas in the pit, after a considerable oi)en-
ing has been made. A man going into a place fillod with
this gas, as often in deep wells, is overpowered before he
knows it, falls, and drowns as surely as if he were under
water, and is even less likely to be resuscitated. The way
to know whether one can enter with safety, is to lower
a lantern, which, if it burns freely, shows that there is
not a dangerous proportion of gas in the air of the pit.
SOUR FODDER MAKING.
It is known to every farmer, how difficult is the pre-
serving of roofs in the winter, and that large (inantities
of them are injured and therefore spoil. To avoid this,
cure the beets and other roots with chaff, as sour fodder.
SOUR FODDER MAKING.
223
This methed of using root fodder has been practised on
hirge farms in Hungary for some years, and has always
been successful. Sour fodder is made as follows : A
pit is constructed in a dry place ; the beets are taken up
in the usual manner, hauled in, washed, and cut with a
machine. The pit may be divided into sections, for in-
stance, for a length of ten rods into five sections, and by
this division the labor is very much facilitated, because
the first section can be covered with earth, while the
second section is being filled. When a certain quantity
of beets has been cut, a layer of chaff is placed upon the
Fig. 231. — PIT OF SOUR FODDEB.
ground of the first section. Upon this chaff is placed a
layer of cut beets, in the proportion of one pound of
chaff to ten pounds of cut beets ; these two layers are
then solidly mixed with a fork. After this has been done,
chaff and beets are again laid down, and again well
mixed. This is repeated until the mixture reaches the ,
top of the pit ; then it must be built upward from
six to nine feet above the level of the ground and a
few sheaves of rye straw are laid on top of the stack,
to prevent the fodder from being mixed with the soil ;
then the sections are covered with earth. The engraving,
figure 231, shows the whole arrangement.
224 BAr.:N^ plans akd outbuildings.
CHAPTER XIX.
ROOT CELLARS AND ROOT HOUSES.
The leading features of a good root cellar are : cheap •
ness, nearness to the place where the roots are consumed,
dryness, ventilation, and, above all, it should be frost-
proof. If a hillside is handy, it can aid much in se-
curing all of these important points. First make an ex-
cavation in the hillside, in size according to the desired
capacity of the cellar. Erect in this excavation a stout
frame of timber and planks, or of logs, which latter are
often cheaper. Over this frame construct a strong roof.
Throw the earth, which has been excavated, over the
1)
Fig. 232. — cuoss section of koot cellar.
structure until the whole is covered, top and all, to a
depth of two feet or more. A door should be provided
upon the exposed side or end. This door may be large
enough to enter Avithout stooping. Or it may be sim]ily a
" man liole," which is better than a regular door, so far
as protection from frost is concerned, but not so conven-
ient for putting in and taking out roots. Sometimes,
when the bank is a stiff clay, such houses arc built with-
out constructing any side walls, the roof resting directly
on tlic clay. A cross section of such a root cellar is
ROOT CELLARS AXD ROOT HOUSES. 225
shown in figure 232. In such cases, the facing, or front,
of the cellar may be built up with planks, logs, or stones,
as circumstances determine. In figure 233 a facing of
stone is shown. This is a large cellar provided with a wide
door ; it has also a window on each side. Two tight
fences, of stakes and planks, two feet apart, with earth
filled in between, or of logs, or stout rails used in
the same manner, make a cheaper front, and is a better
protection against cold than stone. If there is no hill-
side convenient, a knoll or other dry place should be se-
lected, and the soil removed over a space a trifle larger
than the ground plan of the house, and to the depth of
two feet or more, provided there is no danger that the
Fig. 233,— STONE FACIUa op TTn.T.SrDB CELLAR.
bottom will be wet. In the construction of the house,
select poles or logs of two sizes, the larger ones being
shortest ; these are for the inside pen, as it is subjected to
greater strain. The ends of the logs are cut flat, so that
they will fit down closely together, and make a pen that
is nearly tight. At least two logs in each layer of the
inner pen should be cut long enough to pass through and
fit into the outer pen, to serve to fasten the two walls to-
gether— the space between the two being two feet on each
side. Figure 234 shows the excavation, and beginning of
the root-house walls, with the method of ''locking '' them
together. The doorway is built up by having short logs.
'3^U BARN PLAXS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
which i^ass from one layer of poles to the other, and
serve as supports to the ends of the wall poles. This is
shown in figure 235, where the house is represented as
completed. The space between the two walls is filled
with earth, sods being used to fill in between the logs to
Fi;?. 234.— EXCAVATION and base of root house.
block the earth. It is best to begin putting in the earth
before the walls are completed, as otherwise it will re-
quire an undue amount of hard lifting. When the walls
are built up five to six feet on one side, and about two
feet higher on the other, to give the necessary slope, the
Fig. 235. — BOOT HOUSE completed,
roof is put on. The latter should be of poles placed
close together, well secured to the logs, and covered Avith
sod, eighteen inches of earth, and sodded again on the
top. Two doors should be provided, one on the inner,
and the other on the outer wall, both to fit closely. A
A FIELD ROOT CELLAR.
227
tilling of straw can be placed between the doors, if it is
found necessary to do so in order to keep out the frost.
Figure 235 shows the root house as thus constructed, and
is a structure that will last for many years, paying for its
moderate cost many times over.
A FIELD KOOT CELLAR.
A Field Root Cellar may be cheaply built, from the
following directions : Dig in dry ground a trench five
feet deep, eight feet wide, and ten feet longer than it is
intended to make the cellar. Along each side, one and
Fig. 236. — CROSS SECTION OF A FIELD ROOT CELLAR.
one-half feet below the surface, cut out a groove such as
is shown at g, g, in figure 236, so as to form an oblique
support for a board eight inches wide lying against its
lower side. Procure for rafters either light chestnut
posts, or two by five spruce joists; saw them to a length of
five feet, and set up a pair (spiked together at the top)
every three feet of the length of the building. Nail
cheap boards or slabs on top of these rafters, so as to
completely cover it. Openings an inch wide between the
boards will do no harm. Cover this roof twelve or eigh-
teen inches thick with earth, and sod it neatly, drawing
the sod on each side to a gutter, h, h, which wiU lead
228 BAKX PLAXS AND OUTBCILPINGS.
away the water of rains. The cuds may be closed Avith
double boarding filled in with sawdust, leaves, sea weed
or other litter, and provided with doors wide enough to
admit a bushel basket. The gable over the tops of
the doors should be left open for ventilation, or, what
is better, supplied with movable shutters. "Figure 237
shows the longitudinal section of such a cellar about
thirty feet long, with an area five feet long at each end,
having steps, b, a, for the approach. The earthen wall
of the cellar is shown at c, d the board roof, e the earth
covering, and /, the rafters. In light soils it will be
necessary to place a stone, brick, or post and board wall
237. — LENGTHWISE SECTION OF BOOT CELLAB.
against the side of the cellar, and similar protection
should always be given to the area at the ends. Such a
cellar will last for twenty years, and is thoroughly frost
proof. If made thirty feet long it will hold, being filled
only to the eaves, about seven hundred liushels. It may,
of course, be made wider and higher, and have root bins
on each side with a passage way between them.
PITS FOR STORING ROOTS.
Wlien properly put away in pits, roots of all kinds
keep better than when stored in cellars. The chief diffi-
culties in the way of keeping roots in i)its are, the danger
that frost will penetrate the covering, and the risk of
heating for Avant of ventilation. 15y tlie use of board
coverings sliown in figure 238, these difficulties may,
with care, l)e whoUv removed. The coverimj boards are
PITS FOIt STOKING ROOTS.
2:^9
made of a length to cover one side of the pit, and of
such a width as to be handy and portable. Six feet
S([uare will be found a convenient size. The cheapest
kind of boards will answer the purpose. These are cut
into the required lengths and nailed to cross pieces or
cleats at least four or six inches wide, placed edgewise, as
shown in figure 238. When the roots are heaped in the
usual manner, and covered with straw placed up and
down on the heaps, the boards are laid on the straw so
Fiff. 23S.— SHUTTER FOS PIT. Fig. 2GS.— SECTIOX OF FTXISHED PIT.
that they nearly meet on the top, as shown in figure 239.
Space is left, through which the ends of the stravy^ pro-
ject. The straw is turned down over the edges of the
boards when the earth is thrown on them. The boards
are placed upon the straw, with the cleats down, and so
that they lie horizontally. There is then an air space of
four to six inches besides the thickness of straw as a
protection to the roots. In addition there may be as
thick a covering of earth thrown upon the boards as may
be required. In many places no eartli Avill be needed,
but it will always be useful in keeping the roots at an
even temperature, and so lov that they will not sprout
or heat. If a covering of earth is put on, the projecting
230
BAIIN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
straw should be turned down on the opposite side to that
on which it is laid, and the ends covered with earth.
The extreme top of the heap need not be covered at all
unless severe cold is expected, when a few j^laces should be
left uncovered for ventilation. Figure 240 shows a root
pit for use in the open prairies, where shelter is scarce,
and the means of building are not abundant. An exca-
vation is made in the ground six or seven feet deep, and
Fig. 240.— PBAIRIE BOOT CEI-LAB.
as wide as may be suitable to the length of the poles with
which it is to be covered. The length Avill be according
to the necessities of the builder. It is covered with rough
poles, over which some coarse hay is thrown. The sod,
which should be cut from the surface in strips with the
plow and an axe, is then laid closely on the toj^ and
earth is heaped over the sod. A man hole at one corner,
or, if it is a long cellar, in the middle, is constructed with
small ])oles and about two feet high. A ladder or row of
steps is made from tliis to the bottom. Tiie man hole
Avhcn not used is filled with straw or hay, which is thrown
A CAVE roil KOOTS. 231
upon a loose door or boards resting upon the logs, and a
stone or log is laid upon the straw to keep it from being
blown away. Openings may be made along the side oppo-
site to the entrance through which the roots or potatoes
may be shovelled or dumped. These openings may be
closed with sods and earth during the winter.
A CAVE FOll ROOTS.
An oblong cellar is dug twenty-four feet in length,
about twelve feet wide and three feet deep. This is
planked around with ordinary slabs and roofed over
Fig, 2il. — CAVE FOB BOOTS.
with the same material. The sides and roof are covered
Avith the earth thrown out of the cellar, and is then
sodded over, appearing as shown in the annexed en-
graving, figure 241. The door is double, and steps are
provided to descend to it. For such a cave it is not
necessary to dig into a hillside ; the north end, however,
should be protected by extra covering. Caves of this
kind are often the only kind that the pioneer can pro-
vide, and they will frequently be found useful on old
farms. It is far better to have a cave like this for
232 BAKX PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
roots than to store them in the cellar of the house. Un-
less on loose, sandy, or very dry land, special care should
be taken to have all water conducted away, either by
good, deep drains, or by grading the surface around to
carry rain water to a distance, or by both of these
methods, if necessary.
PRESERVING ROOTS IN HEAPS.
The pits for roots may be made in the field where the
crop is harvested, or in a yard or field near the barn. A
slightly elevated spot should be chosen which will be dry
ris. 24:i.— BUILDING A ROOT HEAP.
at all seasons. On this the roots should he heaped in a
pile about six feet wide at the bottom and four feet high,
sloping to a point at the top, as shown in figure 242.
The heap may be made of any length, or the roots may
be phiced in several heaps.
The roots should not be put up until tliey have dried
somewhat, or be covered with earth until there is immi-
nent danger of frost. There is then mueli less risk of
heating and decay than Avlien they arc covered before be-
coming dry. The straw covering should l)e a foot thick.
A foot of straw and three inches of earth are better than
a foot of earth and three inches of straw. The straw
should l)e laid on straight and evenly so as to shed
lain. It ought to be gathered closely at the top for the
PRESERVIXG ROOTS IN HEAPS.
233
same reason. The covering of earth, free from stones,
should be about six inches thick, laid on compactly and
well beaten down, as shown in figure 243. At spaces of
about six feet apart there should be wisps of straight
, straw placed upright and projecting through the earth
covering. These are for ventilators, and serve to carry
off the moisture and heat from the roots during the
• Fig. 243.— COVERING HEAP WITH EARTH.
sweating or fermentation which they are sure to undergo
to some extent. One of these pits may be opened at any
time during the winter in moderate Aveatlier, and when a
stock of roots sufficient to last a week has been taken
out it may be closed again, care being had that it is done
as quickly as possible.
INDEX.
Barn, A Good Farm 29
" A Missouri 27
" An Ohio 23
" Another Small 41
" for Mixed Farming 33
" Mr. C. S. Sargent's 37
" Mr. David Lyman's 13
" Mr. Lawson Valentine's. . 19
" Plan for a Small 39
" The "Echo Farm" 42
" Cattlo, A 43
" " A Western 47
" " A SecondWestern 48
" " Cheap, with Sheds 55
" Daily, An Extension 63
" " An Orange Co 01
" " A Westchester Co. 59
" Sheep, A Convenient 74
" " Virginia 80
Barns, General Farm 13
Bin, A Measuring Grain 184
" Convenient Grain 186
Cave for Roots 231
Cellar, Barn 19
Cellar, A Field Root 227
Cellars, Root and Root Houses. 224
Cisterns 54
Cover for Corn Cnbs l58
Crib, A Self-feeding Corn T37
Corn, Curing 128
Dairy, A Butter 16i
" A Penn.sylvania 166
Door, A Swinging for a Piggery.124
" Self-closing for Pigpen . . 123
" to Sheep Bam 76
Duck Raisi.ig 99
Fodder, European Experiments
in Preserving 210
" Making Sour.. 222
2U ^
Fowls, Winter Care of ICO
Granary and Corn Crib 1»3
" Another with Bins 183
" with its Grain Bins 177
Granaries 177
Hay Forks and Travellers 15
House, A Combined Carriage
and Tool 125
" Corn, An Improved 130
" " Another Wcsternl34
" " The Connecticut. 128
" Ice, A Cheap 144
" *' and Summer Dairy
Combined 160
" " in the Barn 151
" " A Small 147
" " Plan of an 141
" Poultry, A Cheap and
Convenient 86
" " An Ohio 88
" " Another Cheap 90
" " For a Number
of Breeds.... 94
" Smoke, A Convenience
for 194
" " A Convenient. 187
" " Substitute for. 190
" Spring, Dome-Shaped
Concrete 173
Houses, Bud 203
" Corn and Cribs 128
" " Western 131
Dairy 160
Duck 99
" Ice, and Cool Charabersl54
" " Underground 149
' ' Pigeon 205
" Poultry 86
" " for Four Varieties 91
IXDEX.
2oo
Houses, Poultry, Hillside 96
Spring 170
Smoke 187
" Cheap 191
" Improved 183
Ice, Its Uses and Importance. .140
" Cutting 140
" Without Houses 153
Kenneis, Dog 199
" Farm Dog 200
Manure Gutters 16
Milk Room 165
Mortar 35
Oven and Smoke House 195
Pens and Yards for 150 Hogs. . . 115
Pigpen, A Cheap 122
" A Comfortable 113
" A Convenient Farm.. ..108
" A Portable 118
" A, and Tool House 121
" and Hen House Com-
bined 119
Pigpens of Mr. Wm. Crozier...lll
Pigsreries 104
Piggery, Plan of a 104
Pits for Storing Roots 228
Poultry Keeping 86
Refrigerator, A Chamber 158
Roosts for Fowls 93
Roots in Heaps 232
Shed, A Temporary Cattle 56
" Cow, and Pigpen 57
'•' for Soiling Sheep 78
Sheds and Barns, Cheap Cattle. 52
" Sheep, and Racks 77
Shelter, A Kansas Sheep 81
" An Archway 67
" Sheep, on the Plains.. 84
Shelters, Cattle 66
" Cattle, on the Plains.. 71
" Cheap, Teraporar}'. .. 68
Sills of Barn 45
Silo, An American for Brewers'
Grains 2I6
Silos, Preservation of Fodder in. 210
*' under Stables 219
Spout, Sliding for Bam or Gran-
ary 185
Spring House 170
Stalls, Covered for Cattle 50
" Box 18
" for Cattle 16
" for Horses 22
Stove for a Poultry House 102
Ventilation and Light 18
Warming Poultry 102
Yards for Cattle 16
A CoinpanioD Bool for Ban Plais ai Oitliiiliinp.
FAEM HOMES,
iK-DOOPvS a:^d otjt-dooes:
By E. H. LELAND.
ILLUSTRATED.
This is a most charming book and should bo in every farm home iu the land.
It is written in a most captivating style by a writer thoroughly familiar with
the subjects ti-eated. Every page abounds in valuable hints and suggestions,
communicated in an entertaining, narrative form. The volume is very hand-
somely printed on tinted paper, bound in extra cloth, beveled edges, black
and gold.
Present it to Your Wife. Present it to Your Husband.
Present it to Your Children. Present it to Your Friends.
THREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I —Building.
The Site— The Plan— The Four Esscuti.nls— Sunlight— Ilalls-Bath-rooms—
Ventilation— Drainage and Preventable Filth.
CHAPTER II.— FiKisniXG.
Calcimine— An Excellent Whitewash— Borders— Wood-work— Mantels— Hall
Windows.
CHAPTER III.— FuRNisniNo.
The Sparc Bedroom— The Boys" Room— The Old People's Room— Mother's
Room— The Girls" Room— The Dining room— The Parlor.
In addition there are entcrtaininy and instructive Chapters 7/]X>n thefoUotcing,
among other topics :
Farmers' Wives. — Farm Neighborhoods. —The Dairy-room and Butter-Mak-
ing.—Window Plants.— The Vegetable Garden.- Small Fruits and Garden Fruit
Trees.— The Best Foods and some Best Methods of Preparing Them.— A Few
Simple Luxuries.
Altogether good.— -V. Y. Evening Post.
Contains many valuable hints and suggestions, and written in a sprightly
and interesting !^ty\c.~ Coiintnj Gentleman. Albany, N. Y.
We like the volume, and recommend \l.— Congregationalist, Boston.
Brimful of hints for the construction of healtliy homes. An excellent book
that will be found useful in other than Farm Houses.— A'. Y. Coinmcrciid
Adrcrf/si r.
Will be a very popular book, instructing thousands of readers around city
as well as country firesides. --^/u/c JoKruul, Madison, Wis.
Entertaining, instructive, and very neatly published.— Z/o/i'.s- Herald, Bos-
ton, Mass.
PRICE, POST-PAID, ?l.r)0.
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 751 Broadway, New York.
A Coipanion Boot for Barn Plans M OitluMinES.
HOUSE PLANS
FOR
EVERYBODY.
ONE HtTNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS.
By S. B. REED, Architect.
This is a valuable work which meets the wants of persons of moderate
means, and will, it is believed, prove one of the
Most Popular Architectural Books
ever issued. It contains forty chapters and gives a wide ranfjo of design from a
dwelling costing gCSO up to J'S.liOO, and adapted to farm, village, and town
residences. Nearly all of these jilaiis have been tested by practical workings.
They provide for heating, ventilation, etc., and give a large share of what arc
ciillcd Modem Improvements. One feature of the work imparts a value over
any similar publiaitions of the kind that we have seen. It gives an
Estimate of the Quantity of every Article Used
in the construction, and the cos: of each material at the time the building was
erected, or ihe design made. Even if prices vary from time to time, one can,
from these data, ascertain within a few dollars, the probable cost of construct-
ing any one of the buildings here presented.
Well calculated to aid all in the designing and construction of tlicir bones.
—Pacific liural.
A valuable book for builders, as it furnishes the best and latest improved
designs.— Western Agriculturist.
SV'cll executed; whoever thinks of building a new IIousc, or of alt?r:ng an
old, will find this a cheap book to have in the library. It will also be a valuable
book to landscape gUTAaacTS.— Gardener's Monthlij, Philadelphia.
No one can examine such a work as this without gaining many times the
cost of the book in hints and ideas, which may be worked into one's own
house.— iVcw Enoland Farmer.
12mo. Cloth. Tinted Paper. Black and Gold. PHTCR. POST-PAID, S'-SO.
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 751 Broadway, New York.
NEW AMEBIGAN FARM BOOK.
OBIGINALLT BY
AUTHOB OP "diseases OF DOMESTIC AXIMALS," AND fOBUEBLT 3DIT0B OJ
THE "AMEBICAN AGBICULTUBIST."
REVISED AND ENLAKGED BY
H-ET^IS F. ALLEN,
AUTHOR OP "AMERICAN CATTLE," EDITOB OF THE "AMEBICAN SHOBT-HORH
HERD BOOK," ETC.
c o:n'te: J^^T S:
Introduction. — Tillage Husbandry
— Grazing — Feeding — Breeding —
Planting, etc.
Chapter I. —Soils — Classification —
Description — Management — Pro-
perties.
Chapter II. — Inorganic Manures —
Mineral — Stone — Earth — Phos-
phatic.
Chapter III. — Organic Manures —
Their Composition — Animal— Ve-
getable.
Chapter IV. — ^Irrigation and Drain-
ing.
Chapter V. — Mechanical Divisione
of Soils — Spading — Plowing— Im-
plements.
Chapter VI.— The Grasses— Clovers
— Meadows — Pasture."? — Compara-
tive Values of Grasses — Implements
for tlieir Cultivation.
CHAPT3R VII. — Grain, and its Culti-
vation — Varieties — Growth — Har-
vesting.
Chapteb VIII.— Leguminous Plants
—The Pea— Bean— English Field
Bean— Tare or Vetch—Cultivation
— Harvesting.
Chapter IX.— Roots and Esculents-
Varieties— Growth — Cultivation —
Securing the Crops— Uses— Nutri-
tive Equivalents ot Different Kinds
of Forage.
Chapteb X.— Fruits— Apples— Cider
— Vinegar— Pears— Quinces— Plums
Peaches — Apricots — Nectarines —
Smaller Fruits-Planting— Cultiva-
tion—Gathering-Preserving.
CHAPrsB XI.— Miscellaneous Objects
or Cultivation, a-iide from the Or-
dinary Farm Crops— Broom-corn—
Flus— Cotton— Hemp— Sugar Cane
Sorghum— Maple Sugar -Tobacco—
Indigo— .Madder- Wood— Sumach-
Teasel — Mustard — Hops — Castor
Bean.
Chapteb XII.— .\ids and Objects of
Agriculture — Rotation of Crops,
and tbeir Effects— Wceds-Rostoru-
tion of Worn-out Soils — Fertilizing
Barren Lands — Utility of Birds —
Fences — Hedges — Farm Roads —
Shade Trees— Wood Lands— Time
of Cutting Timber — Tool^— Agri-
cultural Education?of the Farmer.
Chapter XIII. — Farm Buildings —
House ^Barn — Sheds — Cisterns — •
Various othcrOutbuildings— Steam-
ing Apparatus.
Chapter XIV. — Domestic Animals
— Breeding — Anatomy— Respiration
— Consumption of Food.
CuAP'jER XV.— Neat or Homed Cattle
Devons — Herefords — Ayreshires —
Galloways — Short - horns — Alder-
neys or Jerseys — Dutch or Holstein
— Management from Birth to Milk-
ing, Labor, or Slaughter.
Chapter XVI.— The Dairy- Milk-
Butter — Cheese — Different Kinds —
Manner of Working.
Chapter XVII. — Sheep — Merino —
Saxon— South Down — The Long-
wooled Breeds — Cotswold— Lincoln
— Breeding — Management — Shep-
herd Dogs.
Chapter XVIII. —The Horse— De-
scription of Different Breeds— Their
Various Uses— Breeding— Manage-
ment.
Chapter XIX. —The Ass— Mule —
Comparative Labor of Working
Animals.
Chapter XX. — Swine — Different
Breeds — Breeding — Rearing — Fat-
tening— Curing Pork and Hams.
Chapter XXI. — Poultry — Hens, or
Barndoor Fowls — Turkey — Pea-
cock-Guinea Hen — Goose — Duck
— Honey Bees.
Chapteb XXII. — Diseases of Ani-
mals—What Autlioritv Shall Wo
Adoi)t ? — Sheep — Swfne — Treat-
ment and Breedinir of Horses.
Cii.^PTER XXIII.— Conclusion— Gene-
ral Remarks — The Farmer who
Lives by his Occupation— The .\ma-
teur Farmer — Sundry Usefhl Tables.
SENT POST-PAID, PHICE $2.50.
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY,
75 1 Broadway, New-York.
TALKS ON MANURES.
By JOSEPH HARRIS, M. S.
<if ilorelon Finn, liochester, Aew York. AiU/Mr of " Wulkx and Talks on the
Fartn," " Talk9 on Farm Crops," "Harris on the Pig," etc.
While we have no lack of treatises npon artificial fuitilizfie, tliorc i:< no work
in whicli the main stay of llie farm— the manarc made upon the farm — is treated so
satisfactorily or thoronjhly as in this volume. Starting witli tlieqne«lioi)
the author, well-known on both sides of the water by his writinjjs, runs tlirouirh in
sufficient detail every source of manure on the farm, discussing the methods of
making rich manure ; the proper keeping and applying it, and especially the
USES OF 3JA1VXJRE,
and the eflFects of different artificial fertilizers, as compared with farmyard
manure, upon different crops. In this he makes free use of the striking series of
experiments instituted years ago, and still continued, by Lawes and Gilbert, of
RothanistL-d, England. The
RE>XARIi^VBLE T^VBLES
in which the results of these experiments are K'ven, are here for the first time
made accessible to the American farmer. In fact, there is scarcely any point re-
lating; to fertilizing the soil, including the suitable manures for special crop^,
that is not treated, and while the teachings arc founded upon the most elaborate
scientific researches, they are so far divested of the technical language of science
as to commend themselves to farmers as eminently "practical." It is not often
that the results of scientific investigations are presented in a manner so thoroughly
popular. 12mo. PRICE. POST-PAID. $1.50.
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 751 Broadway, New York.
The American Agriculturist
FOR THE
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AMERIKAUISCHER AGHICULTUHIST.
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