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Barn Plans
and Outbuildings
NEW AND REVISED EDITION
375
ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK:
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1914
L.L.
Copyright, iSSi
BY
ORANGE JUDD COMPAN'S
Copyright, 1903
BY
©RANGE JUDD COMPANY
Piinied in U. S. A^
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations x-xiii
Publishers' Announcement xiv
Introduction xv-xvi
CHAPTER I— General Farm Barns
Light, Heat and Ventilation of Stables; Barn at
Massachusetts Agricultural College; Plank Frame
Barns; How to Build a Bound Barn; An Up-to-
date" New York Barn; Plan of Convenient Farm
Barn and Yard; The Barn of Mr. David Lyman;
Mr. Lawson Valentine's Barn; An Ohio Barn; A
Missouri Barn; A Good Farm Barn; Another Barn
for Mixed Farming; Mr. Charles S. Sargent's
Barn; A Cheap but Convenient Barn; A Plan for
a Small Barn; Another Small Barn; Practical
Enlargement of Old Barns; Eemodeling an Old
Barn 1-58
CHAPTER II — Cattle Barns and Stables
Combined Stock and Hay Barn; A Barn for Feeding
Loose Cattle; A Circular Barn for Feeding Cattle;
A Decagonal Cattle Barn; Suggestive Plan for a
Stock Barn; A Rhode Island Cattle Barn; A
Western Cattle Barn; A Second "Western Cattle
Barn; Covered Stalls for Cattle; Cheap Cattle
Sheds and Barns; Cheap Barn and Connecting
Stables; A Temporary Cattle Shed; A Combined
Cow Shed and Pigpen; Improving Old Stables. . 59-85
CHAPTER III— Dairy Barns
A Model Dairy Barn; Modern and Sanitary Cow
Stable; A Sanitary Cow Barn; An Illinois Dairy
Barn; A Ten-Sided Dairy Barn; Bam for One
«'l TABLE OP CONTENTS
Hundred Cows; Combined Dairy and Fruit Bam;
Modern Addition to a Dairy Barn; An Orange
County, N. Y., Cow Stable ; A Westchester County,
N. Y., Dairy Barn ; . Another Orange County,
N. Y., Dairy Barn; An Extension Dairy Barn;
Enlarging a Barn for Dairy Purposes; New Style
Calf Pens; Cement Floors for Cow Stables; The
Hoard Stall for Dairy Cattle 86-120
CHAPTEE IV— Cattle Shelters
An Archway Shelter; A Cheap Shelter for Cows;
Building Straw Barns; Cheap Temporary Shel-
ters for Stock; Other Styles of Temporary Shel-
ters; Cattle Shelters on the Plains 121-132
CHAPTER V— Sheep Barns and Sheds
A Minnesota Sheep Barn; A Barn for Early Lambs;
Barn for Raising Winter Lambs; Sheep Sheds
and Racks; Shed for Soiling Sheep; Virginia
Sheep Barn; A Kansas Sheep Shelter; A Sheep
Feeding Barn; Sheep Shelter on the Plains. . 133-153
CHAPTER VI— Piggeries
A Serviceable and Well Arranged Piggery; A Brick
Piggery for Cold Climates; Twentieth Century
Hogpens; Movable Hogpens; Feeding Pen for
Fattening Hogs; Plan of a Piggery; A Convenient
Farm Pigpen; Mr. Crozier's Pigpen; A Comfort-
able Pigpen; Pens and Yards for One Hundred
and Fifty Hogs; Another Portable Pigpen; Pig-
pen, Hen House and Corn Crib Combined; A
]?igpen and Tool House; A Cheap Pigpen; Self-
closing Door for Pigpen; A Swinging Door for
a Piggery 154-186
CHAPTER VII— Poultry Houses
Scratching Shed Houses; Concrete Poultry Houses;
A Movable Poultry House; Three-Pen House;
A Cheap and Convenient Poultry House; An Ohio
Poultry House; Another Cheap Hen House;
TABLE OP CONTENTS Vll
Poultry Houses for Four Varieties; Poultry-
House for a Number of Breeds; An Incubator
Cellar; A Practical Brooder House; A Cheap and
Economical Brooder House; Small Houses for
Poultry; Cheap Summer Shelter for Chicks; A
Place for Pigeons; Ducks and Duck Houses; The
Ventilation of Poultry Houses 187-212
CHAPTEE VIII — Carriage Houses and Horse Barns
Combination Horse and Carriage Barn; Stable for a
Village Lot; Stalls for Horses; A Combined Car-
riage and Tool House; A Twenty-sided Horse
Barn; A Cheap and Convenient Horse Barn. . 213-224
CHAPTER IX— Corn Houses and Cribs
The Connecticut Corn House; An Improved Corn
House; Western Corn Houses; Another Western
Corn House; Cement Floors Not Suitable; A Con-
venient Corn Crib; A Self -Feeding Corn Crib;
A Self -Discharging Corn Crib; A Cover for
Corn Cribs 225-239
CHAPTEE X— Ice Houses
Ice : Its Uses and Importance ; Plan of an Ice House ;
A Cheap Ice House; A Small Ice House; Under-
ground Ice Houses; An Ice House in the Barn;
A Cheaply Constructed Ice House; Ice Without
Houses 240-255
CHAPTEE XI — ^IcE Houses and Cool Chambers
Several Plans; A Chamber Eefrigerator 256-260
CHAPTEE XII — Dairy Houses, Creameries and
Cheese Factories.
Ice House and Summer Dairy Combined; A Butter
Dairy ; A Pennsylvania Dairy ; A Dairy House for
Hot Climates; A Farm Creamery; Plans for a
Co-operative Milk Station; A Modern Cheese
Factory 261-279
VUl TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTEE Xin— SpRiNa Houses
Interior of Spring House; A Dome-Shaped, Concrete
Spring House 280-286
CHAPTEE XrV— Geanaries, etc.
A Granary with Its Grain Bins; Another Granary
■with Plan of Grain Bins; Plan of Com Crib and
Granary; A Measuring Grain Bin; Sliding Spout
for a Barn or Granary; Convenient Grain
Bin 287-297
CHAPTEE 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 298-310
CHAPTEE XVI— Doa Kennels
Farm Dog Kennels 311-314
CHAPTEE XVn— Bird Houses
Bird Houses; Pigeon Houses; A House for Squab
Eaising 315-323
CHAPTEE XVni- Silos
Capacity of Eound Silos ; The Stave Silo ; Construct-
ing a Eound Silo ; A Substantial and Durable Silo ;
The Silo in Beef Feeding; Building A Cheap Silo;
Fastening a Silo to the Barn; A Cheap Home-
Made Silo; Dividing a Eound Silo; Silos for
Brewers' Grains ; Best Hoops for Silo 324-342
CHAPTEE XIX— EooT Cellars and Eoot Houses
Root Cellars; Well- Arranged Onion Storage House;
Storage House and Pits for Celery; Convenient
Dpors to a Cellar; A Cave for Storing Apples; A
. Field Eoot Cellar; Pits for Storing Eoots; A Cave
for Eoots; Preserving Eoots in Heaps 343-358
TABLE OF CONTENTS IX
CHAPTER XX— Buildings of Various Kinds
Cold Storage House for Apples; A Massachusetts
Apple House; A Novel Apple Storage House; An
Apple Evaporator; Av Modern Maple Sugar House;
A Modern Bacon Hog Factory; A Connecticut
Valley Tobacco Barn; A Well Built Tobacco Cur-
ing Barn; A Farmer's Greenhouse; A House
Apiary; Fruit and Farm Cold Storage House. . 359-385
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Mass. College Barn. Frontispiece
First Floor
Basement
Plank Frame Barns, Interior
Bent i 10
The Framing U
Model of 12
Thomas Convey's 13
Round Barns, Rafters 14
Cross-Section of Elevation.. 15
Basement 16
Main Floor 17
Mr. C. B. Colburn's Barn.i... 18
Ground Plan 19
Second Floor 20
Convenient Farm Barn and
Yard 21
Mr. David Lyman's Barn 23
Hay Loft 24
Feeding Floor 25
Basement 27
Mr. Lawson Valentine's Barn. 29
Basement 30
Main Floor 31
Horse Stall 32
Mr. Kyle's Barn 33
Stable Floor 34
Main Floor 35
Horse Stall 36
Cow Stall 36
A Missouri Barn... 37
Plan of 38
Elevation of Barn 39
Plan of Floor '40
Barn and Stable
Main Floor 44
Second Story 45
Mr. C. S. Sargent's Barn 47
Basement of 47
Main Floor 48
Cheap but Convenient Barn.. 49
Framing Elevation 49
Floor Plan 50
A Small Barn 51
Ground Plan 52
Loft 52
Another Small Barn 54
Floor of 54
Loft of 54
PAGE.
Enlarging Old Barns 55
Old and Enlarged 55
Mr. B. Walker McKeen's... 57
Mr. P. H. Reed's Barn 59
Section of 60
Floor Plan 60
Bents of Cattle Feeding Barns. 61
Mr. N. Martin's Barn 62
Ground Plan 63
Mr. John C. Baker's Barn,
Arrangement of Stalls 64
General View 65
Dakota Stock Barn 66
Rhode Island Cattle Barn 68
Section 69
Plan of Floor 70
Stall and Feeding Apparatus 71
Western Cattle Barn 72
Plan 73
Elevation 74
Covered Cattle Stalls 75
Elevation 76
Interior 77
Cheap Cattle Sheds 78
Cheap Barn and Stables 80
Cattle Barn 80
Temporary Cattle Shed 81
Ground Plan 82
Bent 82
Cow Shed and Pigpen 83
Plan 84
Basement Model Dairy Barn. 87
Cross-Section 89
Front "View 90
Perspective View 91
Floor Plan 91
Sanitary Cow Barn 92
Floor Plan 93
Illinois Dairy Barn 94
Inside 95
Ten-Sided Dairy Barn 96
Second Floor 97
Basement 97
Barn for 100 Cows 98
Floor Plan 99
Nova Scotia Barn 100
Main Floor and Basement.. 101
N. J. Exper. Sta. Cow Barn.. 103
Floor and Stalls 104
Floor Dairy Addition 105
Orange Co. Cow Stable 107
INDEX TO ILLUSTKATIONS
Zl
PAGE.
Westchester Co. Dairy Barn.
Basement 108
Section 108
General View 109
Plan of Floor 110
Orange Co. Dairy Barn HI
Main Floor 112
Basement 112
Plan of Dairy Barn 113
Dairy Barn 114
Ground Plan Enlarged Barn. 115
Pennsylvania Barn 116
Wire Calf Partitions 116
Cement Floors 117
Hoard Dairy Stall 119
Frame for Archway Shelter.. 122
Archway Under Stack 122
Cheap Shelter, End View and
Ground Plan 124
Straw Barns 125
Shelter of Poles 126
Shelter Covered with Straw.. 127
Cheap Board Shelter 128
Shelter Added to Side of Barn.128
Temporary Cattle Shelters 129
Cattle Shed Covered with Hay.130
Cattle Shelter for the Plains. 130
Straw Shelter for Cattle 131
Minnesota Sheep Barn 133
Floor Plan 134
Sheep Barn 135
Ground Plan and End View.136
Sheep Barn 138
Ground Plan 139
Front Bdevation 139
Side Section 140
Door 141
Basement 141
Shed, Pen and Rack for Sheep.143
Shed for Soiling Sheep 144
Yard 145
Plan of Shed 145
Virginia Sheep Barn 146
Mr. Geo. Grant's Sheep Corral. 148
Mr. W. B. Shaw's Sheep Sheds.149
Sheep and Hog Barn 150
Sheep Feeding Barn 151
Sheep Shelter 152
Concentric Sheep Shelter 152
Tenn. College Hog House 155
Interior 155
Cross-Section 156
Swing Door 156
Ground Plan 157
Minn. Exper. Farm Hog Barn.158
Ground Plan 159
Twentieth Century Hogpens.. 160
Wisconsin Hog House 161
Ground Plan 162
Wigwam House 163
Movable Pens 164
PAGE.
Covered Feeding Floor 165
A Piggery 166
Ground Plan of 167
Front Partition 168
Col. F. D. Curtis' Piggery.... 169
Plan of Cellar no
Main Floor 171
Mr. Wm. Crozier's Piggery !!!l72
Plan of 172
Interior of 173
Plan of Pigpen 174
Pigpens, Plan of 176
Section of 177
Safeguards 177
Exterior of Pigpen 178
A Portable Pigpen 179
Tard for 179
Pigpen 180
Side View of 181
Ground Plan of Pigpen and
Tool House 182
Pigpen and Tool House 182
Cheap Pigpen 183
Side of., 183
Self-Closlng Door to Pigpen.. 185
Swinging Door for Pigpen 185
Poultry House, Scratching
Shed, Open 187
Closed Front 188
Concrete Poultry House 188
Mass. Scratching Shed House. 188
Front View 189
Movable Poultry House 191
Three-Pen House 192
Poultry House, Ground Plan. 193
Section of 193
Front View 194
Mr. J. H. Kemp's Poultry
House 195
Hen House, Section of 197
Hen House. Plan of 197
Poultry House, Plan of 198
Plan of Roosts 199
Roosts for Heavy Fowls 199
Poultry House for Several
Breeds 200-1
Ground Plan of 202
Section of 203
Incubator Cellar 203
Bank Brooder House 204
Mr. J. R. Little's Brooder
House 206
Summer Poultry House 207
Cheap Shelter for Chicks 208
Pigeon Loft 209
Duck House 210
Ground Plan 211
Mass. College Horse Barn.... 214
Floor Plan 215
Small Carriage House 215
Floor Plan 216
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE.
Stalls for Horses 217
Wagon House, Plan of 219
Upper Floor 219
Hoist for 219
Front View 220
Mr. J. C. Baker's Horse Barn. 221
Floor Plan 222
Mr. Z. Mulhall's Horse Barn. 223
Connecticut Corn House 225
Tin Pan for Post 225
Two Corn Cribs Roofed Over.226
An Improved Corn House 228
A Large Western Corn House.230
End View of 231
Cross-Section of , .232
Another Western Corn House.
Corn Crib, Framework of.
Studding
Small Crib
A Self-Feeding Corn Crib....
Section of Corn Crib
Board Rafter for Corn Crib..
Cover for Corn Crib
,Frame of Ice House
Section of Ice House
Door for Ice House
Cheap Ice House
Ground Plan.
.234
.235
.235
.236
.238
.238
.239
.242
.243
.244
.245
.240
Mr. D. G. Mitchell's Ice
House 246
Walls of Ice House 248
Vertical Section 248
Small Ice House 249
Underground Ice House 250
Framing of 251
Plan of Ice House 251
Ice House in Barn 252
A-Shaped Ice House 253
An Ice Stack 254
View of Cool Chambers 256
Ice House and Milk Room 257
Another Ice House and Cool
Room 253
Ice House and Refrigerator. ..259
Ice House and Dairy Com-
bined 261
Ground Plan 262
Plan of Upper Part 262
Section of 263
A Butter Dairy 264
Interior of Milking Room... 265
Ice House of
A Pennsylvania Dairy House.:
Plan of. 269
Doors Open 270
Doors Closed 270
An Australian Dairy 271
Model Farm Creamery 272
Interior 272
Co-operative Milk Station 275
Floor Plan 276
PAGE.
Magaw Cheese Factory........ 278
Floor Plan 278
Interior of Spring House;
High Troughs 280
Low Troughs 281
Exterior of Spring House 282
Spring House, Front Eleva-
tion of 284
Ground Plan of 285
Sectional View of 286
A Granary 288
Bag Sling 289
Grain Bin 289
Section of 290
Ventilator for 291
Section of Granary 292
Plan of a Granary 293
Arrangement of Bins In Gran-
ary 293
Plan of Crib and Granary 294
Corn Crib and Granary 294
A Measuring Grain Bin 295
Sliding Spout 296
A Grain Bin 297
Interior of Smoke House 299
An Improved Smoke House... 299
Interior of 300
Hook for 301
Wooden Smoke House 302
Cheap Smoke House 303
Section of 303
The Arch 303
Frame for Arch 303
A Pennsylvania Smoke House.304
Substitute for Smoke House. 305
A Smoke House Convenience.3D6
Smoke House and Oven 307
Rear View of 308
Smoke House and Oven Com-
bined 309
A Dog Kennel 311
A Neat 3ia
A Cheap 313
Kennel, with Yard, for Dogs.313
Bird Houses 315
Framework of Bird House 316
Bird House, Coihplete 317
Rustic Pigeon House 318
Log Cabin Pigeon House 318
Swiss Pigeon Cottage 319
A Neat Pigeon House 320
Interior Large Pigeon House. 320
Interior Pigeon House 322
Pigeon House and Covered
Fly 322
Modern Round Silo 327
Construction 328
Daniel Brothers' Brick Silo... 334
Mr. Humphrey Jones's Silos.. 336
Square Silo 337
Tying a Silo 338
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE.
Octagonal Silo 339
Dividing a Silo 33S
View of Silo 341
Manner of Covering 342
Root Cellar 343
Stone Facing for 344
Excavation 345
Complete 345
Onion Storage House 347
Celery Storage House 348
Celery Trench 349
Hatchway 350
Apple Cave Entrance 351
A Field Root Cellar 352
Section of 352
Shutter for Pit 354
Section of Root Pit 354
Prairie Root Cellar 355
Cave for Roots 356
A Root Heap 357
Covering, etc 357
Mr. J. H. Dunn's Cold Stor-
age House 361
Mr. J. W. Clark's Apple House.363
Section 364
PAGE.
Mr. A. H. Hill's Apple House,
Floor Plan 365
Apple Evaporator 367
Floor Plan 368
End View 368
Mr. A. J. Harmon's Maple
Sugar House ,....370
Floor Plan 370
Bacon Factory 371
Mr. C. M. Hubbard's Tobacco
Barn 373
Ventilator 373
Plan of Bents 374
Ventilator Hook 375
Sideboards 375
Double Doors 375
Mr. W. J. Clark's Tobacco
Shed 377
A Farmer's Greenhouse 377
A House Apiary 379
Interior 380
Cold Storage House, Cross-
Section 382
Longitudinal Section 381
PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT
Works upon Barns and Outdoor Buildings have hitherto
been so expensive as to limit their circulation to compara-
tively few in number. Their prices have ranged from
five dollars upward. Twenty years ago Orange Judd
Company published Barn Plans and Outbuildings, a
volume of 235 pages with 257 engravings. This work was
prepared largely by Dr. Byron D. Halsted. Since then
many changes have taken place in style and construction
of buildings and in the attention given to ventilation,
sanitary arrangements, heat, light, etc. The book has
been revised and greatly enlarged so as to bring it down
to date, and it gives the most modern styles and plans
of buildings of different kinds. This revision has been
done by Edwin C. Powell, Associate Editor of American
Agriculturist weeklies. Every professional builder, and
every person, be he farmer or otherwise, who intends to
erect a building of any kind, can, in this book, secure a
wealth of designs and plans, for a very small sum.
INTRODUCTION
The proper and economical erection of Barns and Out-
buildings requires far more forethought and planning
than was ordinarily given to their construction. A barn
once built is not readily moved, or altered in size and
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 much to do in
determining decisions. The approved style of construc-
tion was formerly to locate the barn upon a rise of ground
where a cellar could be built opening upon the lower
ground to the rear, in which were kept animals and vehicles.
This is not the best plan from a sanitary point of view
unless there is a clear space back of the wall. The use of
hay forks for unloading forage does not make it so essen-
tial to drive in higher than the first floor with loads. The
old practice of scattering buildings over the farm has been
found more inconvenient and expensive than to group
them near each other. The smaller risk of fire where the
buildings are scattered is not enough to compensate for
the extra labor in taking care of the stock nor of the incon-
venience or cost of maintenance and repair. All the build-
ings are more or less dependent; the com crib and grana-
ries bear certain relations to the pigpen, the poultry
house, etc. The same pump may serve the sheep, cattle
and other stock, provided they are housed close by it, and
therefore near one another.
XVI EfTEODUOTION
The fanner who intends to erect a building should first
consider the amount he wishes to store in it. This calcu-
lation must be based upon the present and prospective
size of his farm, the number of acres of each crop, the kind
and number of head of live stock, the system of farming,
etc. It is not always easy to go into every minute detail
of this sort, but it is far better to consider the matter
thoroughly and base the size of the buildings required
upon the calculations made, than upon none at alL In
constructing farm buildings, the error usually made is
on the side of too small structures, as the thousands of
lean-to aheds, "annex" stables, hay stacks, etc., throughout
the country testify to.
After the site and size have been carefully decided upon,
there is still much to be done to make the outbuildings
present a neat appearance. Bams can be pleasant objects,
and impart an impression of comfort and completeness
upon all who see them. Their attractiveness will depend
upon the symmetry and exterior finish of the buildings
themselves, their grouping, the planting of shade trees,
etc. The projecting cornice and cupola cost little, but
add much to the appearance of a building.
CHAPTER I
GENERAL FARM BABNS
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. The 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, corn
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 bam, a group
of small buildings is inconvenient and extremely ex-
pensive to keep in good repair, besides adding much to the
labor of doing chores.
LIOHT, HEAT AND VENTILATION OF STABLES
In the construction of stables for live stock, the proper
lighting, heating and ventilation must be borne in mind,
as well as the arrangement of the stables for convenience
in feeding. These matters are not of such great im-
portance for horses, sheep and feeding cattle as for milch
cows. In the construction and arrangement of the dairy
barn, they are of prime importance, not only as regards
the healthf ulness of the cows, but the profit to be derived
from them. If the barn is well built, and of size propor-
tionate to the number of cattle kept, the heating will take
care of itself, for the warmth of the animals will maintain
a proper temperature. The majority of bams are poorly
lighted and badly ventilated.
S BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
In planning a cow stable 500 cubic feet of air space is
suflB-cient for each animal. If the cows stand in a double
row, and the stalls are three and one-half feet wide, this
will require a width of thirty-five feet for a hight of eight
feet, which is plenty high enough for all practical purposes. '
There should be about thirty-six square feet of window
surface for every 5000 cubic feet of air space, or one square
J foot to 140 cubic feet.
The King system of ventilation, worked out by Prof.
F. H. King of Wisconsin, can be used only in a very thor-
oughly built stable. The essential feature of it is the
control of the inflow and outflow of air through ventilating
tubes governed by dampers. Windows and doors must be
made as tight as possible, and the stable should be ceiled
overhead. The sides must be double boarded, with an air
space between inside and outside ceiling. An opening is
left in the siding near the ceiling, and a corresponding
opening outside the stable near the sill, to bring in air
from the outside. These openings are controlled by damp-
ers and are protected by fine wire netting. The ventilating
flue should be made perfectly tight and extend from within
a foot of the floor out through the roof at the ridge. There
should be no metal work in this, for the moisture would
condense on the metal in cold weather and drip. This
tube should be at least two feet square and a wooden
damper should be arranged in it to control the ventilation.
The proper ventilation of cow stables is thus described
by Dr. James B. Paige, professor of veterinary science of
the Massachusetts Agricultural College: "Every shaft or
duct should be so constructed that it may be easily cleaned
in every part. Neglect of this precaution often renders
them useless. They soon become completely stopped with
collections of cobwebs and dust. To insure at all times the
desired action of a shaft or tube, either as inlet or outlet,
cowls are sometimes attached to the upper end. There
are two varieties, the fixed and movable. The principles
of action vary according to the pattern. Some are so con-
LIGHT, HEAT AND VENTILATION 3
structed as to produce an upward circulation by the Arch-
imedean screw principle, the motor force being a mechan-
ism which is operated by the wind. In other kinds the
force of the wind is so directed across the open end or
side that air is either driven through the tube into the
building or is aspirated out of it. So far as I have ob-
served none are absolutely positive in their action.
"The stationary variety has the advantage over the mov-
able kind in that it is entirely automatic, acting with the
wind in any direction, and is less liable to get out of order
than any movable pattern. I have considered somewhat
at length the construction, location, use and action of
ventilating tubes on account of its being necessary to make
use of them under certain conditions, although I never rec-
ommended their use, if a better plan can be followed. My
preference is for the Sheringham valve system of inlets
and outlets, or another system which I shall describe
later on.
"The Sheringham valve, a patented device of English
origin, is in principle a window, either single or double,
hinged at the bottom, swinging in at the top, having when
open the triangular spaces between the edge of the sash
and the edge of the window casing closed with wood or a
piece of sheet metal. The action of this valve is similar to
that of a partially open window hinged at the bottom
swinging inward at the top.
"The wind striking against the oblique window surface
is deflected from its straight course and is thrown into the
upper part of the building, and gradually finds its way to
the floor, where it comes in contact with the animals. The
closing of the triangular spaces on the sides prevents down-
ward drafts directly upon occupants of the stable.
"All the material required to convert a common sliding
.sash into a Sheringham valve is a seven-eighths-inch board,
eight to ten inches wide, as long as the sash and planed at
both sides, two or three strips of one-half-inch material
one and one-quarter inches wide, a pair of butts and an
4 BARN PLAKS AND OUTBUILDINGS
old-fashioned spring barrel bolt. The eight-inch board
is cut lengthwise between diagonally opposite comers.
These pieces are nailed to the inside edges of the casing.
The narrow strips of material are nailed to the inside edges
of the boards first described. These overhang the inner
edges and serve to prevent the windows from swinging
too far in. The barrel bolt is put into place in the sash
and several holes bored for it in the triangular side pieces.
The hinges are fastened on, the window stops of the
original window removed, and the valve is complete.
"The form of stable best adapted to ventilation with
this arrangement is one not more than forty or fifty feet
wide, of any length desired. A monitor roof is desirable
but not essential. The animals should be arranged in rows
on either side facing a central drive or passageway. There
should be four rows of valves, two below, one on either side
in rear of the animals, situated three and one-half or four
feet from the floor, and two above near the plates, or better
in the sides of the monitor roof, provided the building
is constructed on that plan. The lower row of valves on
the windward side of the building should be open to admit
fresh air, those above on the opposite side to allow for the
escape of the foul air. By having numerous valves, each
of which is opened but a little, the incoming current of
air is evenly distributed throughout the building and objec-
tionable drafts prevented.
"Another plan of ventilation particularly applicable to
stables with straight walls, with manure sheds on either
side, provides for the introduction of fresh air through
openings in the manger fronts and the escape of foul air
through windows or cupola openings above. This system
of inlets is only used to good advantage in those barns
where the stable part is separate from the storage portion.
There should not be a cellar under the stable. The ar-
rangement of the animals should be the same as in the
stables where the Sheringham valve system is employed.
"Under the floor of the central driveway running length-
MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE BARN 5
wise of the building there should be a space or chamber
having outside openings at both ends of the building. This
space should be about two or two and one-half feet deep
and of the same width as the driveway above. The open-
ings at the end may be of any convenient size, preferably
not smaller than six feet long by one foot wide. The
open space under the central section, which serves as a
fresh air chamber, must be completely separated from the
two side spaces under the stall floors. Fresh air from the
air chambers is taken into the stable through the manger
fronts, which are built in the form of boxes, there being
an opening at the bottom into the fresh air chamber and
another at the top and into the stable. With this arrange-
ment, air is brought into the building and delivered
directly in front of the occupants at the point where it
is most needed. From contact with the animals it becomes
heated, rises, and with the impurities that it has received
from the animals escapes through the outlets above.
"This system possesses the advantage of being quite
automatic. The air is brought in through numerous small
openings, preventing uncomfortable drafts. It is intro-
duced at just that point where it is most needed and each
animal gets its supply of fresh air regardless of its position
in the stable. In remodeling old stables to improve sani-
tary conditions about them, more especially to provide
effective ventilation, one or a combination of the systems
mentioned may be employed. As to which system is intro-
duced must necessarily depend upon existing conditions.
In building a new barn it is very easy to provide for
proper ventilation."
BARN AT MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
The first of the views presented (Frontispiece) gives
an idea of the appearance of the barn- from the campus.
Three of its component parts only are shown: viz., the
main or storage portion, fronting east; the cow stable,
6
J5ARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
the win^, with monitor roof ; and the sheep bam, so called
on the plans, which, however, accommodates young cattle
and bulls on the same floor with the sheep, and below in
the basement has pens for swine, swill room, slaughter
room and root cellar. Reference to the main floor plan.
Figure 1, wiU make the arrangement clear. It will be noted
that the location of the cow stable, box stables and sheep
^M i i ii i i i tii ii ii i iii i ii [zql
il~
y^^ — r-^ — ^^
Fig. 1 — MAIN FLOOR PLAN MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE BARN
barn, near the storage barn, is such as to protect them
in large measure from, the cold winds of winter. Large
yards both for cattle and sheep lie between and south of
the cow stable and sheep barn.
The main floor and basement plans make the chief
features of the storage part of the structure sufficiently
clear. The large doors in the east end give access to the
upper floor, which is twenty-two feet above the main floor
of the building. This elevation is reached by a drive with
very moderate grade. This arrangement makes it possible
MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE BARN T
to store hay, silage, grain, stable absorbents and bedding
with a minimum of expense for labor. On the right, as one
enters these large doors, are traps communicating with
large bins below for grain, which is drawn out through
chutes into feed trucks on the main floor. On the left are
traps through which sawdust, dry earth, plaster and similar
materials may be dumped into rooms conveniently acces-
sible from the stable. Near the east end is a set of hay
scales. On the right, just beyond the traps for grain, is
liberal floor space for the operation of heavy barn
machinery. There is ample room for hay, of which 150
tons can be stored below this floor and ninety tons above
it. The silos will hold about 350 tons.
There is no basement under the cow stable, and the
cement passages and gutters are built upon solid earth
and masonry. The cement floors under the shed roof
at the south end are nine feet below the stable floor, thus
making it possible to dump manure directly into a cart
or manure spreader from platforms built out from the
doors at the ends of the passages behind the cattle. The
manure is brought out in low barrows with water-tight
boiler-iron bodies.
The roof has been constructed with a view to making it
non-conductive. Beginning with the outer surface there is,
first, the steel, then building paper and inch boards ; second,
a six-inch air space; third, building paper and matched
boards ; fourth, an inch and one-half air space ; and, lastly,
lath and plaster.
This stable will accommodate sixty-five cows, and fur-
nishes 1233 cubic feet of air space to each. A leading
idea in planning the interior has been to secure smooth,
hard surfaces, all readily accessible to facilitate cleaning.
All ceilings and the walls of the monitor are of adamant
plaster, which has been painted; the lower walls are plain
North Carolina matched pine sheathing, which has been
oiled. The upper windows are all hinged at the bottom.
8
BARN PLANS ANTi DtJTBDlLDINGS
and are moved by a ventilating apparatus by means of
cranks operated from the floors. The upper sashes in
the lower windows are also hinged at the bottom, and are
individually moved by means of transom lifts. The
lower sashes slide into the partitions, and they are pro-
tected by iron grates. Trap doors, which are moved by
means of an arrangement of cords and pulleys, are placed
in the cupolas.
There are in the wing known as the sheep barn two
large and five small pens for sheep. The capacity is about
gritatm*
iftvrcOTi
Fig. 2 — ABASEMENT PLAN OF
BARN AT MASSACHUSETTS
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
seventy-five animals. The large pens are provided with
patent sheep racks. They have also troughs with running
water. Large doors at the south end give access to a
sheltered and dry yard. The stable in this wing will
accommodate twenty young cattle, and at the end are four
box stalls for bulls.
The entire basement. Figure 2, has a solid cement floor.
In the pens for pigs the floor slopes from each side toward
PLANK FRAME BAENS 9
the half-round gutter which passes through the middle,
leading to the manure pit outside. About one-half the
floor space in each pen is covered by a raised plank floor,
and the gutter has a hinged plank cover.
Both in the basement and on the first floor doors and
passages are so arranged that one can drive through with
carts or wagons. The loft above the sheep will hold forty
tons of hay, and can be filled by the use of a horse fork
working through large trap doors. iNine box stalls occupy
the lean-to between the cow stable and the sheep barn,
and extend across the north end of the latter.
Accommodations for instruction in matters pertaining
to the dairy, as well as for manufacturing milk into butter,
etc., are provided in a wing which lies north of the storage
bam. The plans make the general arrangement clear.
The ice room has a capacity of about 300 tons. A part
of this space is used for a cold-storage room.
PLANK FRAME BARNS
With the scarcity of heavy timber and consequent
cost it is time farmers who are to erect bams should give
some study to the newer methods of framing, where no
timber is thicker than two inches, and from six to eight
inches wide. The use of modern hay and grain elevating
machinery calls for barns with open centers. Upper cross-
ties, collar-beams, etc., are in the way, and are quite un-
necessary. The plank frame which is here illustrated is
the newest thing in bam framing, and at the same time
is very much stronger than the old-fashioned frame made
of square timber of eight to twelve inches on a side. It
is about half as costly, and a first-class carpenter is not
required to erect it.
In the plank frame there are no timbers larger than
two by eight inches. These are doubled and trebled where
great strength is required. Where tensile strength is
required, a two by eight is nearly as good as an eight-inch
square stick tenoned and fastened in the post mortise
10
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
with a pin. In this frame there is no mortise nor tenons.
The frame is put together with spikes. Hay is taken
through the open center driveway with bridge, or more
conveniently at end of barn, where the center is open to
the peak. The advantages of this alone are manifold.
The barn of John L. Shawver of Bellefontaine, O., is
shown in the accompanying illustrations. As to the frame,
while it saves some labor to have the timbers of specified
lengths, it is not necessary that they should be so. The
frame may be constructed entirely of plank eight feet in
length, or any other given length, from the fact that a
splice may readily be made at any point.
Fig. 3 — ^INTERIOR BENT OF A BASEMENT BARN
The foundation being completed, the bents are con-
structed upon the ground, the sills of the first bent resting
upon the foundation at the proper place and the top of
the bent resting upon a temporary scaffold at the end of
the foundation. The second bent is constructed with the
sills at the proper place and the top of the bent resting
upon the bent already made. Thus the carpenters proceed
until all the bents are completed. In raising, the bent
last made is raised first, carefully plumbed and firmly
stayed. The next bent is then raised, and after plumbing
it the side timbers are placed in position.
PLANK FRAME BARNS
11
Figure 3 represents an interior bent in a basement barn
plank frame. There may or may not be sills in the base-
ment to suit the pleasure of the owner. If there are no
sills the posts may stand on stone pillars. The posts, 1,
are made of two by eight-inch plank, two pieces extending
to the plates and one piece to the joist bearers, S. The
short posts, 2, extend to the floor and both joist bearers
and joists are secured to them, while the braces, 4 make
the posts rigid and sui^port the
joist bearers; 5 represents the
ends of the joists and 6 the
floor level; 7, the purlin posts,
are secured to the main posts
and joist bearers and reach the
roof supports, 8, just beneath
the purlin plates, 9. The roof
supports, 8, are secured to the
side posts and purlin posts and
I r^*-*v^ meet at the comb with any
MMkt^ desired pitch. Then they are
secured together by the collar
beams, 10, which are two by
twelve inches and five or six
feet long.
The main ties, 11, consist of
single plank two by eight
inches, secured to both posts
which rest the sub-supports
secured at one end to the purlin post and at the other
to the collar beams. The stays, 12, consist of two planks
each two by six inches, to the lower end of which, at IS,
the purlin braces are secured. In the frame one secures
a thoroughly braced bent with very little labor, and at
the same time there is no timber in the interior to be in
the way.
Figure 4 shows the manner of putting the timbers to-
gether, sills, posts and joist bearers being represented.
Fig. 4 — THE FRAMING
and purlin posts, upon
12 BARN plajs's and outbuildings
Plank two by four, two by six or two by eight inches is
used for packing in the posts of the end bents, and the
basement posts throughout.
The purlin plates are made of two sets of two by eight
inch plank with a two-inch space between them, into
which the couplings, six or eight feet in length, are entered,
thus firmly combining one section with the next. The
purlin braces also enter this space at the proper dis-
tance from each roof support, where they are then spiked.
Mg. 5 — MODEL OP A PLANK FRAME BAEN
the lower end of these braces being secured to the lower end
of the stays. The upper ends of the purlin posts are cut
so as to form saddles, into which the purlin plates drop
to position.
If a gambrel roof is desired the purlin posts are placed
at the proper angle and extended above the roof support
at a sufficient distance to give the pitch desired for both
sections of the roof. At this point the stays meet the
PLANK FRAME BAHNS 13
posts and short two by eight inch plank are inserted and
the saddles cut in a similar manner to those of the plain
gable roof.
Figure 5 shows the model of a forty by sixty-foot plank
frame barn, with nine-foot basement and twenty-foot
superstructure.
Another style of construction was followed by Thomas
Convey of Wisconsin in building his barn, forty by
sixty feet and forty-four feet high. Figure 6, the
left hand cut, is intended to represent the end bent.
He says: "I do not claim anything original in this
except that the bent is held in place the same as
the sides by four two by eight inch pieces, two on
Fig. 6 CONSTRUCTION OF THOMAS CONVEy's BARN
each center post extending from near the top of posts
in about twelve feet to sills running lengthwise of build-
ing beneath the floor. If desired the tie beam in end bent
need not be continuous. Where it is necessary to take in
hay from outside building, a series of doors would be pref-
erable. It is unnecessary to outline manner of putting
in girths to nail on lumber, as any carpenter can readily
do it. Care should be taken to leave place on top of post
to bolt the first pair of rafters that they may be flush with
outside of frame.
"The principle of construction in the right hand cut of
Figure 6 is to get each bent sufficiently strong that not
14
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
only the bent, but timbers between bents, will be rigid.
b is made of several two by eight inch pieces. I use three
pieces eighteen feet long on each gide and three pieces
twelve feet long in the center. This gives two feet of a
splice at each joint. There is a two-inch space between
except where spliced. The posts are twenty feet high,
two two by eight inch pieces being used on each side with
two-inch space between. The girths, a, to hold post in
place, are twenty-two feet long. Leave a space of one foot
on top of post on inside to bolt a two by eight inch joist
both on inside and outside of post to carry plate. The
lower end of girth a runs down between spaces in tie beam,
6, just twelve feet from the outside of post."
HOW TO BUILD A ROUND BARN
The accompanying
illustrations. Figures
Y, 8, 9 and 10, are
of plans for a six-
teen-sided barn, cir-
eumscribed by a
circle with a radius i
of thirty feet. There
is no economy in
building a strictly
round barn, as curved
walls, sills, cornice
and roofing are very
expensive and offset
the trifling gain in
floor space.
The basement floor is two feet six inches below grade,
and is made of a four-inch layer of cinder concrete, cov-
ered by a two-inch plank floor where cows stand. The
stable proper has a capacity of forty head. Beside this,
the basement contains two large compartments for a hos-
Fig. 7 — POSITION OP RAFTERS
A ROUND BARN
15
pital, a calf pen, feed bins, and grain bin, all handy for
feeding stock. Both these bins have chutes from larger
bins above. Two hay chutes are centrally located, and
run directly to the mow. A stanchion lever near the main
door makes it possible to release all cows at once. A stair
runs from near the door to main floor, which is used as a
stable, with stalls for eight horses. It has a harness closet,
t-h
Fig. 8 — CROSS-SECTION OF ELEVATION
feed bin and large granary. A large open floor may be
utilized for storage, grinding or other purposes — more
stable room if needed. There is no stair to mow on plan,
but sufficient room to insert one.
The mow is covered by a self-supporting roof. A double
plate rests on the studding, supporting a system of rafters,
16
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
'whicli in turn support another plate, and so on. The roof
plan is shown in Figure 7. An octagonal king post runs
down iu the center to support one end of the hay track,
the other end of which is supported by a car attached to
a circular track, thus allowing it to swing around like a
■ARRANGEMENT OF THE BASEMENT
clock hand, and deliver hay at any point in the mow. The
track is steadied by an auxiliary arrangement at its center.
It can be operated by the man in the mow without inter-
fering with unloading operations. To make the car return
easier, the pivoted end is hung six inches lower than the
other.
A ROUND BAKN
17
This bam is framed after the balloon-frame system,
md may be considered an example of it. The outside
walls consist of two by eight inch studding, three at each
angle, with nail girths between. The plates and sills are
double, of two by eight inch stuff, lapped and well spiked
Drioewau'
Fig. 10 — PLAN OF MAIN FLOOR
at the angles. The stability of the roof depends on
the security with which its plate is spiked at angleSj
^nd sheathing nailed to hip rafters. Of course the in»
gide framing is as ordinarily made, except that instead
pf tenoning girths to posts, posts are cut off, and
girths laid across on hanger-plate§, When girths cut over,
o
o
Eh
C
la
D
m
o
o
a
d
A NEW YORK BARN
19
posts, fish-plates tie them. All bracing is done with two
by eight inch scantling spiked on. See Figure 8. The
ground plans, Figures 9 and 10, and elevation here illus-
trated are drawn to a scale. The cut showing portion of
rafters is drawn on a much smaller scale. The cost of
I I I I I I^VH I I I I I I I I I I I
Ll
r^edinf All»y
•J C-
1
1 1 1 III t"H'i 1 1 III ir
Lb-
0[' \
flt'Zf,' V/J»i6^
-I
Fig. 12 — GROUND PLAN OF MR. COLBURn's BABN
this barn, including $120 for labor, is $2550, but this will
vary somewhat with the cost of labor and material.
AN UP-TO-DATE NEW YORK BABN
Figures 11, 12 and 13 show the live stock and hay barn
of 0. E. Colburn of Portlandville, N. Y. The main barn
is thirty-six by 100 feet in size, with horse stable thirty
by forty feet, calf barn, hog house and manure cellar
attached. Figure 12. Adjoining the horse stable are two
round silos. The floors of all the buildings, except the
horse stable, are cemented. A barn for young stock accom-
modates ten yearlings and four bulls, the calf barn twenty
cows with stanchions in which to feed them. The main
barn has fifty-one individual stalls and one box stall. The
water tank is over the separator room and holds fifty-two
barrels. A bull on a tread power is used to run the sepa-
20
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
rator and pump the water. The water from the eaves is
piped to an underground drain, and with gutters in the
cow stable, there is no leaching of liquids, and the outside
yard is dry all the time.
There are three ventilating shafts on each side of the
stable, which come down to within six inches of the floor
on the east side, and the
top of the wall on the
west side. The basement
in the cow stable is nine
and one-half feet in clear,
and ceiled with Georgia
pine. The horse stable
and calf barn are alsc
ceiled in the same way.
They are oiled with a
' — JO- —i~ hard finish. The horse
Fig. 13 — PLAN OP SECOND stable accommodates eight
FLOOR horses and hay is fed from
chutes in floor above. Feed bins are on the floor above the
basement, as shown in Figure 13. The silos are filled from
the barn floor, which is fifteen feet above the bottoms of the
silos. This saves the use of long elevators.
In feeding the ensilage, it is put in bushel crates, which
are set upon trucks and run through the feeding alley,
which makes a short job of the feeding. The horse manure
is used in the gutters behind the cows, and all goes to
the manure pit, which is drawn out once a week when
weather is suitable. The cost of this barn complete, in-
eluding water pipes, eaves troughs, etc., was about $6000.
It is a very handy and comfortable barn, and as it is
unnecessary to step outside to do any of the chores, work
can be quickly done and without inconvenience in bad
weather.
CONVENIENT FARM BARN AND YARD
21
PLAN OF CONVENIENT FARM BARN AND YARD
The accompanying illustration. Figure 14, shows the
ground plan of a very convenient bam v^ith end elevation.
It also shows plan of granary, chicken house and yards
surrounding the building. The end elevation needs no
particular explanation. Aa shows the construction of
Jo. 50
- mm
A
c
16- 3+
_p
r
n
\ n..;o v>'V>
r
40 '05
fun flAHl'JtOO^ ABD YJiUi.'
Fig. 14 — SUGGESTED ARRANGEMENT FOR FARM BUILDINGS
frame and location of window in the end, B is the feed
room, C is the cow stable, D is the open cow shed and E
is the pig room. In the ground plan A shows the main
floor of the barn, thirty by thirty feet, which is used for
storing hay. However, a part at N is reserved for the
22 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
work room and at If as a harness room. In one corner the
stairway leads to the upper story.
The horse stalls at / are six in number. 5 is a feed
room fifteen by twenty feet and can be used for a box stall
if necessary. K is the calf room and C the cow stable.
D is open cow shed and E the hogpen. F is the open yard
between granary G and barn. The chicken house H is
nine by fourteen feet, 8 is the chicken yard, I, twenty-five
by thirty feet, is the wagon shed. The dimensions are
indicated on the sketch, which of course can be changed
to suit individual tastes. The whole arrangement is simply
suggestive. It works well on a South Dakota farm. The
corn crib is a separate structure and is off to the right.
Of course if it is desirable, the corn crib can be arranged
within the building and also in the granary. In the
granary plan can be used as a corn crib, with P devoted
exclusively to small grains and B for tools.
THE BARN 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, Ct.
Mr. Lyman required a very large barn for his farm pur-
poses simply, and built one, a front view and interior plan
of which are here given. The elevation of the building,
Figure 15, shows entrances to its two main floors; there
is a basement below.
The Upper, or Hay Floor— This floor is shown in
Figure 16; all the hay, grain and straw are stored there.
It maintains the same level throughout. Two threshing
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 IS
,1 lll(l
-f
S4
BARN PLASS ANO OUl'fiUlLDlNGtS
and 17. 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 travelers, the
liay is taken from the loads and dropped in any part of
the immense bays. The forks are worked by one horsej
h--
HAY BAY
□
BTftlRS TO MOW
STAIRS TO CUPOLA
VENTILATOR Q
E
n
VENTILATOR
HAY BAY
V
(
n
VENTIUTOR
rig. 16 — PLAN OP HAY FLOOR
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 E, P, in the plan.
Figure 16.
On the main floor are bins for grain and ground feed,
provided with chutes connecting them with the feeding
Fig. lY PLAN OF FEEDING FLOOR
2(3 Barn plans and outbuildings
floor. There are hay scales, also — a fixture in one of the
floors — ^which 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 the cut,
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 chutes to throw down hay
or straw. A long flight of stairs passes from the principal
barn floor to the cupola, from, which a magnificent view
is obtained of the whole farm aild surrounding country.
The Feeding Floor is entered by several doors. Two
double doors open upon a spacious floor in the rear of the
horse stalls, which extends through the middle of the main
barn. The northwest corner. Figure 17, 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 partitioti. 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 passageway through which
carts with 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
up 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 C,
wherever it occurs in Figure 17, 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. The south yard is nearly upon a level with
the floor, sloping gradually away toward the south and
MB. DAVID LYMAN S BARN
27
east ; but the large barn yard is on the level of the manure
cellar, and an inclined way gives access to the yard on
the east side, from the cow stalls. Three roomy, loose
boxes are provided, one for horses, and two as lying-in
stables for cows. Near the points marked W and F,
o a. I
B
SLIDING GATE
WATER
TROUGH
Fig. 18 — PLAN OF BASKMENT
stands the hydrant for flowing water, and the trough for
mixing feed, and here, too, the chutes 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 are capped by good ventila-
28 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
tors of the largest size, and cause a constant change of
air in the stables, the draft being ordinarily sufficient to
be felt like a fresh breeze, by holding the hand anywhere
within a few feet of the openings. This keeps the 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 Barn Cellar — This is arranged for hogs, roots
and manure. The fixed partitions in the cellar are only
two, one enclosing the root cellar, and the other, outside
of that, shutting off a wide, cemented passageway, ex-
tending from the door at the northeast corner, around
two sides of the root cellar, as shown in Figure 18. The
rest of the cellar is occupied by the manure, and hogs
are enclosed in different parts 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 the late
Lawson Valentine, Mountainville, Orange County, N. T.
30
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
It is located on a hillside, and is supplied with water
brought from springs. The barn is handsomely propor-
tioned, and with its slated roof and red-painted walls,
with black trimmings, presents a fine 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 anyone having horses and
cattle for which to provide stabling and shelter.
The building is 110 feet long by fifty-five feet wide,
with twenty-foot posts, and is forty feet from the main
floor to the ridge. It rests on a stone basement ten feet
Fig. 20 — PLAN OP BASEMENT
high in the clear; this basement provides comfortable
and convenient stabling for the owner's fine stud. The
division is shown at Figure 20; a, a, are the horse stalls;
h, the harness room, four by twenty-five feet; c, stairs;
d, box stalls, ten and one-half by fourteen and one-half
feet; e, e, cow stalls, with permanent partitions and ad
justable mangers; g, g, gates for separating the cattle
department from the horses. Figure 21 shows a plan of
the main floor; a, is the tool room; 6, contains a horse
MR. LAWSON VALENTINE S BARN
31
power for driving a feed cutter, thresher, etc. ; c, is used
as a stowage room for cut feed, etc. ; d, is the grain room,
provided with bins and convenient chutes; e, is a room
for a keeper; which also contains closets for the nicer
harnesses. The letters V, V, Y, V, indicate the ven-
tilators; 8, shows the large platform scales. The floor
of the basement is made of brick, laid on edge in mortar,
underlaid by concrete. Figure 22 represents one of the
horse stalls. The upper portion consists of iron rods
IIO'O"
Fig. 21 PLAN OP MAIN FLOOB
extending from the top of the sides to a railing two feet
above. The front is provided with screen doors. The
stall is nine by four and one-half feet, and the manger
is one foot nine inches from front to back. An iron
feed trough for grain occupies one end of the manger,
indicated by the dotted line at G. The remainder is taken
up by the hay box, H, the bottom of which is shown by
the dotted line. A door in front allows for cleaning out
the feed box, and opens to a closet. The box stalls are
also provided with the iron rods for a top finish, so that
a person can easily see into them without entering. The
32
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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 driveway, and the inner side has openings fitted
Pig. 22 — ^VIEW OF HOESE STALL
with doors opening inwards, at various hights, which make
the fines serve as convenient hay chutes to the floor below.
AN OHIO BAEN
The accompanying engravings are of a barn built by
Mr. Kyle, Greene County, 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 23. Those in the oiitside row are two by six feet,
the inside ones being two feet square. The barn is forty-
eight feet wide. The floor of the cow stable, which is
directly over the basement, rests upon joists that are lai^
AN OHIO BARN
33
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 drop,
h, Figure 24, is four feet wide, and forms a passage in
Fig. 23 — PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF MR. KYLE S BARN
which the manure collects, and from which it may bb •
pushed through the side of the drop to the basement i
below. The liquids from the cows 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 passageway, seen above the arches in Figure 23, leads
from the stable door to the barn yard. There are four-
teen, stalls for cows, g^ Figure 24, each of which is four feet ,
34
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
wide. The partitions between the stalls are formed in
the manner shown in Eigure 27. In each stall is a mangei-
and a feed box. The cows are tied by means of ropes
around their necks. There is a passage, f. Figure 24, be- ;
tween the cow stable and the horse stable, c. In the latter
there are seven single horse stalls, and two closed loose
boxes. Each single stall is five feet wide. When the
I
a.
Hllllllllll
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- — ^
::
Fig. 24 — PLAN OF STABLE FLOOR
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. The floor of
the horse stable is on the ground. The partitions between
the horse stalls are made as shown in Figure 26. The shed,
1, Figure 24, is for storing tools and wagons, or housing
sheep, and ha? a door, a, at each end. One door opens
AN OHIO BAEN
35
into a yard, through which the road, seen in the engrav-
ing, runs. Here the straw and cornstalks 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
yard, or on to the manure. The stables are eight feel
high, and the barn reaches eighteen feet above the stables.
The plan of the barn floor is shown at Figure 25 ; at a is
Fig. 25 — PLAN OF BARN FLOCK
the main floor ; at b, h, are the entrance doors, to which a
sloping driveway, abutting against the wagon shed, leads.
The rear doors, c, c, are hung upon rollers, and in Figure 23
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
bedding, leading into the stables. The granaries are seen
at f, f, and there are spouts from these leading into tho
36
BARN PLANS AND OtJTBUILDINGS
wagon shed, so that sacks upon the wagon can be filled
from the spouts. The passage to the granaries is at g ;
it is eight feet wide, and a work bench with tools is kept
here. The staircase leading down to the feed passage is
seen at h. The trap doors are double, and on hinges.
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-
Fig. 26 — ^HORSE STALL
Fig. 27 — cow STALL
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 $1200, in addition to the owner's
work, and the value of the frame timber, which was cut
upon the farm.
A MISSOURI BARN
The barn shown in the following engraving, Figure 28,
was built by Mr. William B. Collier of St. Louis, on his
country estate in Audrain County, 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 hight, not including the
cellar; it fronts the south. There are eighty-four stalls,
0,rranged as in the ground plan (Figure 29), there being
A MISSOURI BAKN
3?
two rows of horse stalls oii one side and three rows of cattle
stalls on the other. The proportions of the interior are
as liberal of space as those of the barn itself. The cen-
tral driveway or barn floor is sixteen feet wide. The car-
riage and wagon rooms on each side the floor are both
twenty feet square. Large loose boxes are for the accom-
modation of stallions. The various passageways betweer
the rows of stalls, and at the rear of them, are four feet
Fig. 28 — A MISSOURI BARN
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 ijidicate
the position of the hoist ways under the skylights for hay
and grain. The spaces at either end outside these hoist-
ing spaces are floored over above the great doors, and are
finished off 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
oS BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
diameter, and twenty-five feet deep; these are connected
by a pipe, passing underground across the front of the
bam. 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
Fig. 29 PLAN OF BARN
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
bam cost
A GOOD FARM BARN
39
A GOOD FARM BARN
The following plan (Figure 30) is of a simple and inex-
pensive barn. The size is forty by fifty-five feet; it has
a large shed attached for cattle. The fifteen-foot barn
floor, see Figure 31, is of good medium width; if wider the
room would not be wasted. On the left are the 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
et. The whole space given to horses is fifteen by twenty
feet. Beyond, the floor widens seven feet, and the rest of
Fig. 30 — ELEVATION OF BARN
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 the shed
on feed prepared in the feed box, a passage at the rear con-
ducts conveniently to their mangers. A three-foot square
trunk ascends, from over the seven by twenty-five-foot
40
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
space in front of the cow stalls, to the roof, securing
abundant ventilation, and affording a chute, through
which hay or straw may he readily dropped from the
mow; or corn cobs and other matters from the granary.
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The right side of the barn floor is occupied 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
feet to the eaves. The roof is what is usually called half-
A GOOD FARM BARN 41
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 trap door directly over the threshing floor.
A small gable with a door in it, over the great doors,
afl'ords 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 the 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
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 chute, or chutes,
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 bss pitch,
for such a roof will support double the weight likely to
be placed on the floor. Not only is the roof constructed
to bear the weight of the slates, but of two feet of snow,
and the force of high winJ.s in addition. The weight 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 passageway four 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 placed contiguous to the
barn yard, so that the swine may be allowed the free
42 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUrLDINQS
range of the compost heaps, at least in their own corner.
In the hog house is a steam hoiler; 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. There are two chutes from
the floor to the cellar, and, there is a stairway as indicated.
Besides, access is had by a cellarway, on the eastern side.
This plan 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
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 32, shows such a bam. Its cost ranges
from $1500 to $2500, 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, $1500 will be sufficient 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 desirable, on account
of dampness, too much warmth in winter and lack of
ventilation. But a slight rise of ground, which may be
BARN FOE MIXED FARMING
43
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 roadway. The stable floor
is thus on a level with the ground, and windows on eacli
Fig. 32 — ^ELEVATION OF BARN AND STABLE
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 would be found
of great use in keeping the stables perfectly dry at all
seasons. ' Below the ground, the walls 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-
44
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
bility of a building depends upon the excellence of the
mortar. The stable walls are so built that the barn over-
hangs the entranceways 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
-!
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Pig. 33 — PLAN OP MAIN FLOOR OF BARN
comfortable access from one door to another. The plan
shown in Pigure 33 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. 0, 0, is the cow
stable, with stalls for twenty-two cows, arranged so that
the animals' heads in the rows are toward each other,
with a central feed passage between. The ventilators
BARN FOR MIXED FARMI^«
45
and straw chutes, D, B, 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,
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
■LU -
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N
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P
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Fig. 34 — SECOND STORY OF BARN
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, Z, is in
the feed passage. J is the chute 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 practiced, and M, the
stairs to the barn floor above. On this floor, Figure 34,
46 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
are four bays for hay, straw, etc. a large threshing floor,
with a cross hall for a cutting machine, and a chute, 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 threshing 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 iV, If , N. The
bays are marked P, P; Q is the threshing floor. i2, i2,
are hay chutes and ventilators, which are carried up level
with the plates, doors being made in them, through
which to pass the hay either frona the bam floor or the
mows; 8 is the straw bed, with open traps to pass straw
or fodder into the racks, shown beneath, in Figure 33.
The open shed seen in the rear of the barn yard is for
the purpose of airing stock in stormy weather, and is
furnished with a straw rack for feeding them. The barn
is calculated for a farm of from 100 to 200 acres of good
land.
MR. CHARLES S. SABGENX's BARN, BROOKLINB, MASS.
The barn of Mr. Charles S. Sargent has become well
known. Figure 35 shows the east side of the barn, the
down-hill side, with the cart entrances to the manure
cellar and wagon shed. Figure 36 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 37 is the main floor, containing six box stalls, and
stabling for ten cows. The cow room, which is ceiled on
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 Oottam's patent, much
used in England, consisting of two iron feed tubs, with
3n iron w^,t?r trough between thenj for each pair of
Fig. 35 — ^ELEVATION OF MR. CHARLES S. SARQENT's BABU
Fig. 36 — BASEMENT OF ME. SARGENT'S BAE?I
48
BAfiN PLANS AND OOTBUILDINGS
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 passageway.
This barn is a capital model for any amateur, small, or
^aL
^
HAY BOOM
ST/ miTOCEU AB
^
Fig. 37 — PLAN OP MAIN FLOOR OF MB. SARGENT'S BARN
'•fancy" farmer to follow, as it has all the conveniences
needed and none of the ornaments that one too often sees
on barns of its class. It is good, cheap and useful.
A CHEAP BUT CONVENIENT BARN
A small barn, well arranged, is often more serviceable
than a larger and more costly one. On many farms stock
is kept in a poor shed or given no shelter at all, the owner
feeling that he cannot afford to build a barn. In a few
years the bss. caused by shrinkage of . milk, , additional.
M
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1
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Fig. 38 — FRONT AND END ELEVATIONS
rig. 39 — ENP ELEVATION OF FBAMINC}
50
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
feed to keep stock -warin, damage to exposed feed and
to farm machinery will amount to more than the cost
of a structure built according to the plans presented in
Figures 38, 39 and 40 by Teeple & Brandt of Champaign,
111.
This bam will hold four horses, two cows, and has bins
for corn, oats and mill feed on the first floor, besides an
-»«-»•
iriRST FLOOR rLAN.
Fig. 40 FLOOR PLAN OP A CONVENIENT SMALL BARN
open floor eight feet eight inches by twelve feet, which
can be used for storing machinery or any other similar
purpose. The mow will hold hay, sheaf oats, straw,
shredded fodder, etc. The opening is directly over the
passageway and the feed is thrown down where it can
readily be piit into the mangers.
The frame of the barn is mortised and tenoned to-
gether with the exception of the braces, which are sawed
SMALL BARN
61
to fit snugly and are spiked securely in place with twenty
penny nails. The cost of material is $191.83. To this
must be added $100 more to cover the cost of carpentfir
work and laying of the stone. If the farmer can do a
part of the carpenter work, the cost of the barn can be
still further reduced. In many instances a farmer with
his grown sons can aid materially in this direction, and
it is always advantageous to acquire a handy use of tools
for just such work. The cost of nails, door hangers,
hinges, etc., is much the same in all parts of the country,
while in some sections it will be found necessai'y to allow
a little more for the lumber.
Fig. 41 — A SMALL CHEAP BAKN
A PLAN FOR A SMALL BARN
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 cheaj)-
iiess and durability, combined with convenience; and
with these points in view, a plan. Figure 41, is given of a
52
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
small barn, designed by Prof. G. T. Fairehild, late of the
Michigan Agricultural College. The engraving gives &
view of the barn from the front; while plain in its con-
CABRIAOE
ROOM.
44- 54 20
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BLE
T
I
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Fig. 42 — GROUND PLAN OF BAEN
struction, it is pleasing in outline. The first 4oor,
Figure 42, is twenty by twenty-eight feet, and eight feet
between joints. A large sliding door, a, nine feet wide,
Fig. 43 — THE LOFT
admits the carriage with the horse attached, whJ.ch, when
unhitched, is led through the sliding door, t, into the stable.
The small stable door, c, opens by hinge?, rrward, while
AKOTHER SMALL BARN 63
the back door, d, opening to the manure yard, moves upon
rollers. Two small windows, e, e, give sufficient light to
the stable. The hay racks and feed boxes for the stalls are
shown at f, f, f, each having a hay chute leading from the
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 43, is six feet from floor to plates, and gives
ample room for the storage of hay and straw. The stairs
are in one corner, a, and out of the way; I, the door
for the admittance of hay and straw; c, c, c, ends of the
hay chutes; d, ventilator; e, e, windows. The ventilator
serves the purpose of a chute for throwing down the
straw used for bedding. It has a number of openings
for this purpose at various bights, including one at the
bottom for cleaning out the dust, chaff, etc., which are
constantly accumulating in the loft.
The cost of this barn will vary according to the locality
and the price of lumber, etc. The estimate for it in
Michigan was $300, above the foundation, with two coats
of paint; but in most states the lumber would cost more
than in Michigan, and the estimate would be correspond-
ingly increased.
ANOTHER SMALL BARN
The barn, the outside appearance of which is shown in
Figure 44, in its arrangements, obviates the necessity of
going behind the horses when feeding, which is often de-
sirable, as in families having no hired help, the feeding is
sometimes intrusted to children. The ground floor,
Figure 45, is eighteen by twenty-four feet, eight feet be-
tween joints. The carriage room, 0, 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
54
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
grain bins in the loft. The hay chute is shown at 8, and is
between the mangers. The harness closet, H, is placed
under the stairway, A window, W, gives light to the
Fig. 44 — A SMALL BARN
feed rooms and the stalls. The loft, Figure 46, is six and
one-half feet high to the plates, and with a three-quarter
pitch to the roof, there is ample room for hay and straw.
D
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c
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E
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I.OFT
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Fig. 45 — PLOOE PLAN OF BARN Fig. 46 PLAN OF THE LOFT
The barn is built of hemlock, sided with seven-eighth-inch
dressed boards, twelve inches wide, and battened. It
cost, complete and painted, in the neighborhood of
KNLARGING OLD BARNS
55
PRACTICAL ENLARGEMENT OF OLD BARNS
It is quite a common practice to build low, shed-roofed
additions to the sides of barns when it is desired to secure
more room. This gives the desired addition of ground
floor space, but does not secure added storage room that
could be secured as well as not, and at almost no added
cost, were the additions made according to the plan sug-
gested at the right in Figure 4Y. Here the roof is ex-
tended down over the addition without a break, making
a better looking building and one much more serviceable
than by the common plan. The space in the tops of the
Fig. 47 — TWO WAYS OF ENLARGING OLD BARNS
additions opens into the scaffolds, or the second floor space
of the old barn, and gives so much more added storage
capacity.
The cuts given in Figure 48 show a very practical
method of enlarging a barn whose capacity has become
too small. At the left is seen the common form of barns,
with the driveway lengthwise, straight through the
middle — an extravagant use of space. At the right is
shown two "shed-roof" additions placed upon the ends,
the roofs being made continuous with the newly con-
structed additions to the old roof. The feeding floor
and driveway is thus changed to a crosswise position of
the barn, taking less space and affording greater room
on either side for stock and fodder. If the barn has a
second floor the new arrangement will afford much greater.
56
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINQS
space above, wMle the whole of this space above the main
floor will be finely lighted from all sides. Though the
remodeled barn is changed greatly in appearance, the
additions are of a nature to make the expense compara-
tively light.
A plan frequently followed in enlarging a barn is to
shove out the end and side, and to cover with a flat tin
roof connected with the former building at the plate.
This gives floor room and some room for hay and grain,
but there is nearly always a scarcity of mow room, and
this style of enlargement does not permit of storing away
much hay under the low roof. It is depth and hight which
compact hay and vastly increase the capacity of the barn.
Fig. 48 — THE OLD AND THE ENLARGED BARN
A few years ago P. G. Homan of New York had occa-
sion to enlarge his barn, which was twenty-six by forty
feet, with a double-pitch roof. He wanted more room for
both stalls and fodder. He added fourteen feet to the
width, thus making the barn forty by forty feet, but
instead of putting on a shed roof he lowered one side of
the shingle roof, and, sliding it onto the new plate, raised
it to the same pitch as before, and then connected the
two sections with a nearly flat tin roof, forming an end
view like the one shown in the left side of Figure 47.
The dotted line indicates the former shape of the barn.
He has never been able to raise enough to fill this barn.
There seems to be no end to its capacity, for the addition
REMODEUNH AN OLD BARN
57
is practically in the center and is forty by fourteen by
twenty-four feet. The expense of the alteration was $184.
BEMODELINa AN OLD BARN
In enlarging the farm work and dairy at "The Pines,"
B. Walker McKeen of Fryeburg, Me., found that the old
bam. Figure 49, thirty-six by forty-eight feet in size, was
not large enough. The timbers were sound and the roof
was well covered. A silo was needed first, so that was
built as a separate building, twelve feet from the north
side of the barn. One end of the barn was thirteen feet
from the ell of the house, and the next move was to put a
joint thirteen feet wide and four feet longer than the
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rig. 49 — OLD BARN
Cctii uiJt
Fig. 50 — ^BARN REMODELED
north end of the barn in that space. The first floor is a
carriage house, and the second floor a workshop and grain
room, while the third floor is used for a corn chamber.
The carriage house opens on one side into the horse stable
and on the other side into the ell of the house.
The next move was to put two joints of twelve feet each
onto the other end of the barn, the first floor being de-
signed for cows, and the second for the storage of hay.
This addition, together with the twelve feet next the main
floor, gave a space thirty-six feet square. Through the
center of this space from the main floor to the end of the
58 BARN tLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
barn was made a feeding floor six feet wide, and on each
side of this floor a tieup for cows. In this way there was
obtained seventy-two feet of room for tying the animals,
and each tieup was fifteen feet wide.
A lean-to was then run from the four-foot extension
the whole length of the north side of the barn, filling the
space between the barn and the silo. The thirty-six feet
of tieup space next the lean-to addition was left without
siding, and the lean-to was divided into three pens, each
twelve feet square. This gives a space of thirty-six by
forty-eight feet for the cattle. It is shut off from the
main floor of the barn by three sliding doors — one at the
end of the feeding floor, and one at the end of each tieup.
It is well supplied with windows of good size. The old
barn would hold but nine cows; this holds twenty very
comfortably. The horse stable in the old barn was also
remodeled and later a round silo was built in a portion
of the large hay bay. Floor plan of the barn as remodeled
is shown in Figure 50.
CHAPTEE H
CATTLE BABNS AND STABLES
COMBINED STOCK AND HAY BARN
The new barn of P, H. Reed of Aroostook County, Me.,
Figure 51, is seventy-five by seventy-eight feet in size,
and forty feet from floor to peak. It contains rOom for
a
Fig. 51 — NORTHERN MAINE STOCK AND HAY BARN
a large amount of hay, some tools, and a herd of Shorthorn
cattle. Three large box stalls, see Figure 52, are provided
for bulls, and stanchions for about twenty head. The
cattle side of the barn is floored over, and hay is put
60
BABN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
above the stock. A large space between the cattle and
the main floor is thus provided for the storage of wagons,
tools and grain. All hay and grain are handled with horse
forks, and after the mows are full to the plate, poles are
r^ So.
i 1 ^o'
/toy Boys
■-■"■V
T'oo/ ffoam
Wagons
7bo/j
Fig. 52 — p. H. reed's barn Pig. 53 — floor of cattle barn
placed across the main floor for scaffolds. At the left of
the large barn is the granary, and at the right sheep barn
and house.
A BARN FOR FEEDING LOOSE CATTLE
A bam thirty or thirty-two feet wide is the most con-
venient size for feeding loose cattle. It can be made of
any length desired. The posts may be either sixteen or
eighteen feet high, and the roof constructed with long
and short rafters, and braced so as to make it self-
supporting. This does away with the cross-ties and per-
mits working a hay fork to advantage. Hay stored above
is thrown through chutes into the central feeding alley,
as shown at the left in Figure 54, and thence placed in
two long mangers, Figure 53, in which grain may also
be fed. The openings to the barn may be at the ends or
sides, and wagons can be driven through to remove the
STOCK AND HAY BARN
\L
manure. No floor other than hard clay is necessary where
cattle run loose.
With a thirty-foot barn, the long rafters should be
sixteen feet and the short rafters ten feet. If we enclose
an eighty-foot court on three sides with this building,
making the back side thirty-two feet wide, we will have
space for 300 tons of alfalfa hay. A self-feeder, as shown
in the cross-section at the right of Figure 54, may be
used. The continuous chute is thirty inches wide and
Fig. 54 BENTS OP BARNS FOR CATTLE FEEDING
the manger four and one-half feet wide. The chute
reaches within two inches of the top level of the manger.
Doors in the chute admit of hay being thrown in at any
level. 'No permanent mangers should be put in a barn
of this construction, but good, strong feed-racks three and
one-half by eight feet can be set where convenient and
readily moved. The side opposite the manger can be left
open, if desired, but gates should be arranged so that the
cattle can be shut out when putting in ensilage, for
instance.
62
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
A CIRCULAR BARN FOR FEEDING CATTLE
Circular barns, also those containing from eight to
sixteen sides, are theoretically much cheaper to construct
than square or oblong buildings, because they cover the
greatest area with the least material. In practice, how-
ever, the construction of circular barns presents some
features which add to the expense of building them, so
"^■^-r*^
i^^^
'^^•'^.
— 4^^^«»^.
Fig. 55 — BEEF FEEDING BARN AND SILOS
that they have been many years in coming into favor.
A number of such barns have been built in the west and
are giving evident satisfaction. The barn of N. Martin
of Oswego, 111., is used for feeding beef cattle. It has
two silos attached, as shown in Figure 55. The basement
UECAGDXAL CATTLE BARN
63
is used for cattle and the superstructure for the storage
of fodder.
Two straight double rows of stalls extend across the barn,
those on the inside being, of course, considerably shorter
than those in the middle. Large doors are provided so that
a horse and wagon may drive through to clean out the
gutters. Chutes are arranged over the feeding alleys, so
rig. 56 — GROUND PLAN
that the feed is dropped in front of the cattle and dis-
tributed with the least amount of labor. Figure 56 shows
the interior arrangement.
A DECAGONAL CATTLE BARN
The ten-sided cattle barn of John 0. Baker of Man-
hattan, 111., shown in Figures 57 and 58, is rather novel,
but decidedly convenient. As Mr. Baker is a lumberman,
as well as a stock-raiser, he has opportunity to procure
lumber cheaply and so has used an abundance of material
in his buildings. This barn is eighteen feet on each side.
64: BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
or 180 feet around it. It contains eighteen box stalls,
nine by twelve feet, with a door into each stall from the
inside, also a window in each stall. These stalls are
suitable for a cow and calf or two or three head of smaller
cattle. There is an octagon of stanchions in the center
which holds sixteen head of cattle. This barn is twenty-
two feet to eaves. Lower story outside wall is packed
with hemlock two by fours laid flat. The stalls are made
rig. 57 — ARRANGEMENT OF CATTLE STALLS
ef two by fours packed solid two and one-half feet high,
and then one is left out every other time and blocks put
in, leaving the walls of the stall more open. The upper
three feet of stalls is put in with the two by fours four
inches apart. Mr. Baker writes:
"I cannot see any way this bam can be better for its
size for breeding stock. The upper story is fourteen feet
high and I drive into it. We clean out with a cart and
drive in when the cattle in the center are let out. This
barn is sided with shiplap and painted. We have chutes
for feeding from above. One rack does for two stalls.
STOCK farmer's BARN
65
They are built into the stall and outside walls and the
lower two feet is furnished with one-inch iron pipe for
racks and feed box which runs across next to outside wall.
n
Fig. 58 — ^AN ILLINOIS BREEDINQ CATTLE BARN
This barn is for cattle only. In two places I have out-
side doors out of stalls. There are inside doors also."
SUGGESTIVE PLAN FOR A STOCK BARN
A' Dakota farmer wants a plan for a general farm
barn, the dimensions to be fifty by 100 feet. Prank
Euhlin, of Ohio has prepared three plans, all of the same .
66
BARN PLAKS AND OUTBUILDINGS
outside dimensions. In Figure 59, Pig 1 and Fig 2 are
where there is no bank, and it is not necessary to bridge
in order to enter the second floor. It is possible to drive
into the basement and elevate the fodder and feed
to the second floor by horse power, such as hay . f oi:ks.
Fig 3 is where there is a bank, so that a load can be
driven in onto the second floor. Plans 1 and 2 could
have a bridge or bank at the end of the barn, so that
wagon can be driven to second floor.
Fig 1 and Fig 3 are devoted entirely to stock, while
Fig 2 is a general purpose barn, with space for tools,
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FECOINSPOI
1
Fig. 59 — PLANS FOR A DAKOTA STOCK BARN
farm machinery and shop. Fig 4 shows a cross-section
of the barn at one of the bents. The hight of basement
should be nine feet. The plans are for stone as high as
basement, with timber above, but the frame could be
made all the way from the ground on the same principle.
The side posts can be of any desired length. The plan
is for side posts sixteen feet to eaves.
In building the framework, use two-inch plank for
all heavy timbers, nailing them together and using bolts
in a few places. Six horse stalls, with two box stalls for
gick animals, are suffieient for work horses on a farm
A DAKOTA BAHN 67
with a barn of that size. In Tig 1, the large part of
the barn without any division is for cattle or sheep, as
the owner may choose. Put in feed mangers and par-
titions at owner's option. Chutes should be made where
most convenient. The large feeding pen is fifty by sixty-
eight feet. Fig 2 is the same as Fig 1, except that
it is more of a general purpose barn, twenty feet being
taken ofF the end for tools and farm machinery. There is a
door from the stable into this part for convenience. The
large rolling doors on the feeding pens in both plans are
for driving in to remove manure. They are twelve
feet wide.
Fig 3 has the same number of horse stalls, but they
are arranged along one side, owing to there being no
general driveway through it. The other side, marked
cows or young stock, is so situated that it can be cleaned
out at the same time as the horse stable. The other end
of the barn is for feeding cattle or sheep, as in the other
two plans. If this is to be made a general purpose barn,
the machinery, tools and shop can be put on the second
floor. The framework is made according to timber used.
There should be eight bents for the 100 feet arranged to
suit the openings. The posts, as shown in Fig 4, should
not be more than ten feet apart. Above the basement,
the frame is made self-supporting, so there are no inside
timbers to bother.
These are good basement plans for a practical barn,
and so inexpensive that almost any farmer can utilize
them. Actual figures cannot be given that would apply
to all localities. The dotted lines in Fig 4 show extra
braces in the end bents. These are put in to keep the
ends from being pushed out. As to grain bins, they are
not marked in any of the plans. They are a matter of
choice with different persons.
68
»AKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
A RHODE ISLAND CATTLE BARN
The illustrations, Pigures 60, 61, 62, 63, are of a cattle
barn on Dr. C. F. Heyward's farm at Ne-wport, E. 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
emergency, five more on the threshing 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
Fig. 60 — PERSPECTIVE VIEW OP BARN FROM THE REAR
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
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., was about $1500. Figure 60 gives a per-
spective view of the barn, and Figure 61 a cross-section.
RHODE ISLAND CATTLE BARN
69
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
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
Fig. 61 — SECTION OF BARN
Eigure 62. The ox and horse stables open into a small
yard, separated from the cow yard. The animals have
access to the latter through the doors at the end of the
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.
The features of this stable are the arched floor and the
arrangements for tying and feeding. The main timbers
supporting the floor are twenty-eight feet long, running
across the building. There are two of them, one about
To
BAftN fLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
one-third the distance from either end of the cow room.
Thesft are supported each by two ten-inch chestnut tim-
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Fig. 62 PLAN OF FLOOR OP BARN
hers, resting on foundation stones, and standing under
the lines of the upright posts to which the cattle are tied.
RHODE lb. ^^,,J 5,vrTLE BARN
71
Before these were put in, ^^ after the outside of the
building was finished, the cro., timbers were screwed up
in the middle as much as the . would bear, having a
crown of about six inches, gi*i.ig 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
rig. 63 SECTION OF STALL WITH FEEDING APPARATUS
scantling against the floor joists. 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 61, the details being more clearly set
forth in Figure 63. 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,
which may be turned flat against the slats when hay is
not being fed, or may be dropped back the length of the
chain which supports it when necessary
72
BARN PLANS AND Oy*'^UILDINGS
A WESTERN 'ATLB BARN
The bam and
sheds shown in the
engraving, Figure
64, are well adapt-
ed for the keep-
ing of a large
number of cattle
in an economical
manner. The barn
■^ is wholly appropri-
3 ated to hay and
g grain; the yard is
spacious, and sur-
'^ rounded on three
sides with sheds,
either closed or
in which the
<i stock is kept. The
v^v// 4( barn is raised three
^^1 _ feet f r o ra the
^Jj-^ 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
corn fodder fed to the, stock, by which means a large
quantity of manure is accumulated. The plan here given
^ open.
WESTERN CATTLE BABN
73
is equally well 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 65 presents a plan of a stock barn, costing from
$1500 to $2000. To feed cattle profitably, they need to
be comfortably placed, kept quiet, with every facility
for getting in and out of their stalls, and to have no an-
]
/
□
Fig. 65 — PLAN OF A WESTERN CATTLE BARN
noyance or excitement. In this plan there is a vast sav-
ing of work of a disagreeable character through the win-
ter, and when the manure is moved in the spring, it is in
far better condition than if it had been exposed to the
snow and frost for several months. A cattle barn should
always be laid out with this object in view.
Figure 65 shows the ground plan of the barn. It is
■J made in two wings, facing the northeast and north-
west. At the north corner is a square room, which may
74 BARN PLANS A>;D OUTBUILDINGS
he 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
hang upon rollers, and when pushed back at least one-
half of the front of the sheds should be open. Figure 66
Fig. 66 — ^ELEVATION OF BARN
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. Figure 65, 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 hay, and at the center of the building a
windmill should be erected to pump water for the stock
from a cistern or well beneath, or it could furnish power
to cut feed if necessary. These extra conveniences will
COVERED CATTLE STALLS
75
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, with-
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
better class of English farmers. Occasionally they are
adopted by farmers in this country with the best re-
w^ar •
4
*i 1
e-Ji)fl^>
L^
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Fig. 67 PLAN OF STALLS
suits. Figure 67 shows the ground plan of a shed con-
taining fourteen stalls, each ten feet square, with a pas-
sageway in the center four feet wide. Figure 68 shows
the elevation of the building with the arrangement of the
doors. It is of two stories, the upper one being used for
the storage of straw, hay or roots or the preparation of
feed. Figure 69 shows the interior of the building, with
some of the stalls upon one side. With these views, 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.
It is built of plain boards and scantling, and one of the
cheapest character will answer every purpose as well as
76
BARN PLANS AND OUTBOILDINGS
the most costly building, tiie slielteif and preservation of
the manure being the chief objects in view. There is a
door at the rear of each stall divided 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
Fig. 68 ^ELEVATION OF COVERED CATTLE STALLS
is cut into lengths of at least three inches, the manure is
so much the better for it. The littefr 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 flts 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, which is given once a day to the stock.
»•■ — w
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18
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
CHEAP CATTLE SHEDS AND BARNS
Much money is wasted in building sheds and barns oi
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 this. Where strong
winds prevail, much may be saved by having the buildings
low. Indeed, there is a saving anywhere, by having
everjfthing as near the ground as possible. The common
Fig. YO — PLAN OF CATTLE SHED
idea that high buildings are 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
very strong and heavy frame to support 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
CHEAP CATTLE SHED 79
up more ground, and make twice or three times as much
roof surface, than it would be to save in floor and roof
space, by building higher. The plans here given are of
cattle sheds, recently built at a cost of only $15 per head
of the cows sheltered, and for comfort and convenience
they are all that can be desired. To accommodate ten
cows in a shed costing $150 is often more desirable
than to build a barn costing $1500 that will supply no
more room. Where economy must be very closely consid-
ered, this matter is well worth studying, and the sketches
presented will furnish a very good text for it. Figure 70
shows a plan of a shed having forty-one box stiills, each six
by eight feet, and separated by boarded partitions four and
one-half feet high. The shed is nine feet high in the front,
seven feet in the rear, twelve feet wide and ninety or
100 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 girths of the same size where needed. There
is a feed passage which traverses the whole length, lead-
ing fron\ a room in one end. A, Figure 70, for preparing
the feed. There is ?■ 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 approaching 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 double 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, with a gate
at one side for the entrance of wagons into the interior
yard. The yard will give room for exercise, and racks
jnay be provided in it, for feeding green fodder, hay
80
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINOS
or straw. The plan is admirably adapted for the soiling
system of feeding, and the making of a large quantity
of manure, while forty or fifty cows are provided with
Fig. 71 — SECTION OF BARN And STABLE
comfortable room, at a cost of $600 or $750. In many
cases the value of the manure saved by soiling cattle in
such a shed will repay its whole cost in one year.
CHEAP BARN AND CONNECTINQ STABLES
Pigure 71 shows a section of a cheap barn and
conne'ited. The building may even be brought lower at
=1
rig. 72 — PLAN OF A CATTLE r BARN >
the eaves, and provide pens for pigs and calves, or sheep/
or open sheds for tools, etc. In this way it is protected
from sweeping,, winds,., which.; can; havie ^but. . little^ effeefet
TEMPORARY CATTLE SHKD
81
upon it. The central space is used for storing hay or
grain, or for threshing, 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 100 acres, at a cost of about $10 per running
foot. Light timber only is needed, and rough posts set
in the ground will make the basis of the frame. The
plan of the building is shown in Figure 72. It is
arranged to be seventy feet long and fifty feet wide, with
the central space twenty-six feet, and the wings each
twelve feet; wide doors are made at each end, and also
through the center, and the stanchions or stalls in the
center are movable.
A TEMPORARY CATTLE SHED
A farmer in Greenvale, W. Va., made a shed for cattle
which is to serve him until he can build a good barn. The
Fig. 73 — PERSPECTIVE VIEW OP CATTLE SHED
shed is 111 feet long by twenty-six feet wide, and a cla-
tern receives the water from the roof. The posts are
fourteen feet long, and there is a space above for holding
forty tons of hay, and a room below, seven feet high,
which will accommodate 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.
Qne side and two ends are boarded up; the rest ig
82
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINaS
covered with clapboards. The cistern is so arranged
that the water will run out into a trough until it is
empty, without having to draw or pump it. Figure Y3
gives a view of one side of the shed. The side braces
4.
Illllllllll
c
iiniiiiiii
hi'"
Fig. 74 — GROUND PLAN OF CATTLE SHED
are poles eight 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 supports
the plate in the middle. Figure 74 shows the grotind 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
Fig. 75 — ^DLVGRAM OF BENT
C are for cattle, and D and E are driveways. Figure 75
shows the end and middle bents. The long brace is
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.
cow SHED AND PIGPEN
83
A COMBINED COW SHED AND PIOPEN
Figures 76 and 77 illustrate a combined cow shed
and pigpen belonging to Mr. F. E. Gott, Spencerport,
N. T. 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 being twenty feet long and fourteen broad,
and all covered by one roof. It is constructed of hemlock
lumber, and should not cost over $50. The outward
appearance of the shed is shown in Figure 76. The
posts in front are twelve feet in hight, and the rear ones
Fig. 76 — FRONT VIEW OF COW SHED AND PIGPEN
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
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
partition, while the cow stall is boarded up to the roof.
84
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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
feet higher, thus providing a loft in which over a ton of
hay could be stored. The ground plan of this cheap and
FEED
ROOM
Z
ui
D.
OPEN SHED.
7X14'
WEAL
BOX
^^
FEEDINQ
PASSACe.
4-x 8
STALL FOR COW
8 xlO
4
Fig. 7Y PLAN OF COAV SHED AND PIGPEN
convenient building is shown in Figure YY, the positioM
of the doors, meal boxes, open shed, feed rooms, etc.,
being given.
IMPROVING OLD STABLES
There are thousands of old and poorly constructed
stables, sheds and the like all over the northern states in
which cattle are kept during the winter. These are often
so cold that the ground freezes solid. Such shelter is
very inadequate and results from a lack of building
material in many of the prairie states and also neglect
of farmers to provide comfortable stables even when the
material is at hand. On all farms where grain is raised
these stock barns can be made comfortable with the
straw. If it can be baled so much the better. Place a
layer of bales on the inside of the barn wall just as you
A STRAV/ BARN 85
would lay brick, omitting of course the mortar. When
the top is reached place a board or rail on the top bales
to keep them in place.
If it is impracticable to have the straw baled it can
still be used with good results. Build a fence as high
as the wall of the building five or six feet outside of it
and have it made com.paratively tight by placing the poles
or boards used not more than one foot apart. Fill in the
open space between the fence and the building with straw
and tramp it down as solidly as possible. If flax straw
can be used this makes the best kind of filling. It is
impossible for the wind to blow through this, and tho
stable will be as warm as need be.
CHAPTER m
DAISY BABN8
A MODEL DAIRY BARN
The buildings for a dairy need not be elaborate or
expensive, but should be such as will give thorough pro-
tection to the cows and their feed, and so arranged that
the work can be done conveniently with the smallest
amount of time and labor. They should be well lighted
and ventilated and need to be warmly built. In Farmers'
Bulletin 151 of the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, by S. M. Tracy, a description of a model barn is
given, which is illustrated in Figure 78. There are
serious objections to having hay stored over the cow
stable, both on account of making the stable too low and
because of the great amount of dust and litter which
usually sifts through onto the cows and into the milk
pails, while the feed itself is apt to become tainted by
the odors of the stable. Better ventilation can be
obtained and better health can also be secured with a
one-story structure.
Whether the stable is a separate building, or the base-
ment story of a bam, the general plan and arrangement
of the stable may be the same. The stable should be at
least thirty-two feet long and of the desired width. It
makes little difference whether the cows face the center
or the outside. In the upper diagram of the cut of a
single story building, the cows face the outside, with an
eight-foot driveway through the middle, to allow the use
of a wagon in cleaning. The feeding alley. A, is three
MODEL DAIRY BARN
87
and one-half to five feet wide; manure gutter, E, is two
feet wide; stalls seven feet deep, of which the manger,
-D, is two feet wide and stalls, 0, five feet. This may-
be reduced to four feet six inches, or even less, for animals
of the smaller breeds or cows below medium size. Four
box stalls, twelve feet square, are at one end. The width
of the stalls should be from three to four feet, varying
with the size of cows, and kind of stall used.
1
CJ
— 1
9.
"
to 1
-up
^■|...[..j..j..[...|...|..|. J^
cp
i\>.
P6 e
J
•■|--l^|-|-H^-i-l-t-rH-i-H-|-|-ti?|-i-
Fig. 78 — GROUND PLAN OF A MODEL DAIRY BARN
This plan may be varied by making the stalls face the
central passageway, an arrangement preferred by many
where the stable occupies the lower story of a barn.
Twenty-five or more stalls may be placed in each row,
but when more than double that number is desired, it is
88 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
usually desirable to make the building cross, X, or T
shape, with the different wings meeting at the grain room.
Another plan that is frequently adopted for a dairy
and feed bam combined, is to construct lean-to
sheds for the cow stables along one side and one or
both ends of the hay barn, with a feeding alley next
the barn wall, as shown in the lower part of the cut.
There should be convenient doors for egress and ingress
to both barn and stable. This barn is thirty feet wide
and seventy-five feet long, with cow sheds sixteen feet
wide. The feeding alley is four feet, passageway, F,
next the outer wall, four feet, manure gutter, E, and
stalls and mangers, and D, the same as in the other
barn.
The best floor, and in the long run the most economical,
is one built of concrete. At any rate, the manure gutter
and a foot on each side of it should be built of concrete.
Bricks set on edge and bedded in cement are suitable for
this purpose. The floor may be made of plank, but heavy
clay mixed with gravel and well tamped down will do
nearly as well. The stalls should have a slope of not
more than two inches from front to rear, and for the
manure gutter, one inch to twenty feet is sufficient. The
bottom of the manger should be from three to six inches
above the floor of the stall, and the manger large enough
to hold the feed. It may be one foot wide at the bottom,
two feet at the top, and one and one-half to two feet deep.
MODERN AND SANITARY COW STABLE
In the dairy and stock judging barn of the Wisconsin
Agricultural College at Madison the cow stable is in a
wing of the main barn. The floor is made of Portland
cement and crushed granite, with a slightly sloping
surface leading all water used in washing or scrubbing
to the sewer drains. The manure gutters behind the
SANITARY COW STALL
89
COWS are sixteen inches wide, with the bottom sloping
three-fourths of an inch to the rear side and one and one-
half inches of slope toward the center of the stable where
a trap can be opened connected with a sewer to be used
only in flushing out the stable with water. The floor of
the cow stalls is raised four inches above the other parts
of the stable floor, including the walk behind the cows,
making the manure gutter eight inches deep on the side
to the cow and only four inches deep on side to the
Fig. T9 CROSS-SECTION OF IJIPROVKD COW STALL
passage behind. Tliis gives all the advantage of a
gutter eiglit inches deep and at the same time facilitates
the removal of the manure, and lessens the liability to
danger from cows stepping suddenly into a deep trencli
as they pass onto or back from the platform on which
they stand.
The mangers are built up from and composed of tlie
same material as the floor. A cross-section of the floor
and mangers of the cow stable is shown in Figure 79.
The side of the manger next to the cow, g, is eight
90
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
inches high and three inches thick, rounding down into
the bottom as shown at E. The front side of the
manger, f, is sixteen inches high and built in a similar
manner. This manger is two feet and six inches wide and
reaches from one end of the stable to the other. It is
used both as a feeding manger and as a watering device.
It may not be out of place to here state that this means
of watering cows is just as convenient and satisfactory
as any of the individual watering devices, while it is
more cleanly and wholesome. The water flows into the
manger at either end from a pipe, and as the mangers
^^____ slope toward the center from both
jKmXXXX)W<^L ends it is very readily drained
SKY %M into the sewer by opening a
valve after the cows have had
sufficient time to drink.
The stable is arranged for
thirty-six cows in stalls, eighteen
on either side of the center pas-
sage, with the two rows of cows
facing each other. The center
passage is ten feet wide, so that
a team may be driven through
Fig. 80 FRONT VIEW OF ^0 feed green crops taken direct-
cow STALL ly from the fields. The stalls
are constructed of gas pipe posts
with framework of gates and panels of channel-iron
supporting a mesh of No. Y woven steel wire. Figures
80 and 81 show how the posts are anchored in a cement
foundation. The letter C indicates the framework ex-
tending the length of each row of stalls to support the
front part of the side panels and give them rigidity.
D indicates the swinging panel which may be moved
(see p, Figure 79) to suit the length of the cow, forcing
a small cow to stand well back in her stall so that
the droppings are received into the manure gutter and
SANITARY COW SfALL
SI
not on the floor of the stall. The side panels of the
stalls are hinged to accommodate the milkers and allow
the cows to pass out without backing over the manure
gutter.
Pig. 81 — PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF IMPROVED COW STALL
Fig. 82 — FLOOR PLAN OF IMPROVED COW STALL
Figure 82 shows the floor plan of cow stall and Figure
79 a cross-section of cow stall and stable floor, showing
92 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
location of manger and manure gutter : A, gate ; B, front
side panel; Q, framework supporting side panel; D,
swinging panel; IS, manger; f, g, sides of manger; H,
manure gutter; Tc, h, gate bars; m, pin arranged with, a
spring for fastening gate; n, eye for chain; p, arrange-
ment for moving swinging panel.
A SANITARY cow BARN
The cow barn of William Burgess of Trenton, N. J...
shown in Figures 83 and 84, is fifty by thirty feet, con-
c-V
4.
;-:ji
'_«^
Fig. 83 — A SANITARY COW BARN
taining two rows of stanchions, fifteen on each side. The
feeding floor runs between. The feed trough is of
(jument, and is slightly pitched to one end. This also
acts as a water trough, which is flushed three times a
day, making the same perfectly clean before feeding.
ILLINOIS DAIRY BARN
93
There is nothing in the way of feed or hay in the
building. In a separate building, close by, is a feed
room and place for keeping the barn implements. The
milk house, cooling and sterilizing departments are 150
feet from the bam in a separate building. The silo and
fodder lofts are 200 feet from the cow barn, connected
■with the same by a tramway. The barn is lighted by
ten windows on each side and three at each end. The
Walk
1 ' 1
^
:?
?
Us
i
.1
rasd Trough 'S_
3
,1
r^BdinS rioofy
■Sta Us
rroujA
Walk
Fig. 84 — FLOOR PLAN OP A SANITARY COW BARN
entire surface of the barn is flushed and scrubbed every
day, keeping it in a perfectly sanitary condition.
AN ILLINOIS DAIRY BARN
The dairy barn of H. A. Browning of Elgin, 111., Fig-
ures 85 and 86, is sixty by seventy-two feet, and has a
stone basement which is eight feet high in the clear.
The posts of barn above basement are eighteen feet high.
The frame is built of fine timbers, mostly eight by eight
inches, sills and plates six by eight inches, rafters two
by six inches, braces four by six and four by four inches.
94
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
girths four by six incites. The bam is sheathed outside
with ten-inch shiplap siding. The barn will stable
eighty-two cows and has besides two large box stalls.
The basement has two driveways, four rows of stanchions,
and three feeding alleys. The stable is ceiled overhead
and has a complete system of ventilation. The entire
basement has cement floors.
Fig. 85 — ^AN ILLINOIS DAIRY BARN
The barn above basement has room for over 100 tons
hay, feed room, grain bins, grinding and stalk cutting
machinery, but no silos. The small building shown in
Figure 85 is a milk house and is not attached to barn.
This building is fourteen by twenty-four feet, has a
cement cooling vat that will hold forty eight-gallon cans,
cement floor, and is supplied with water from a cistern
ANOTHER ILLINOIS BARN
95
and well located on higher ground and piped to vat.
The barn cost about $2500 to build.
A TEN-SIDED DAIRY BARN
A dairy barn decagonal in form, each of the sides being
sixteen feet, was built by P. H. Monroe of Plainfield,
111., and is shown in Figures 8Y, 88 and 89. The base-
ment is eight feet in the clear, and the studding for the
rig. 86 — ^INSIDE AN ILLINOIS DAIRY BARN
two upper stories twenty-four feet. The studding is of
pine two by six inches, joists two by eight, beams and
posts two by eight and two by six. It is covered with
drop siding. The silo is built of two by fours, spiked
together edgewise. There is a concrete walk six feet
wide behind the cows, sloping two inches from wall to
rear end of platform, which is of board flooring. The
96
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
basement is ventilated by a chute shown near d in Fig-
ure 88, which extends to dormer window in loft. Fresh
air is admitted by four openings in the side wall of base-
ment stable. The basement will accommodate twenty-
five cows and bull, and the temperature in the coldest
weather never falls below fifty degrees. In the basement
Fig. 87 — TEN-SIDED ILLINOIS DAIRY BARN
plan. Figure 89, a is the walk, h platform for the cows,
c mangers, d feeding alley, e meal and bran bin, f feed alley
and trolleyway for silage, g calf pens, h shed for young cat-
tle, * silo sixteen feet in diameter by thirty-two feet high.
8 shows the location of joists and beams supporting the
floor above. In the plan of the first story. Figure 88, are
shown the five horse stalls, and d is the space for storage of
BARN FOR ONE HUNDRED COWS
97
vehicles and other farm implements. The dotted line
shows the location of beams supporting the floor above.
The space above this is used for the storage of hay and
fodder.
Fig. 88 — SECOND FLOOR PLAN
I I I I lei I I I I I I I
D
Fig. 89 — ABASEMENT PLAN OF ILLINOIS DAIRY BARN
BARN FOR ONE HUNDRED COWS
The barn shown by Figures 90 and 91 was designed by
Joseph E. Wing of Ohio. An examination of the plans
■vrill show many points of advantage. The barn is to
98
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
hold 100 cows with some of their calves, heifers, calving
cows and bulls. There must then be nearly 100 stalls
and a number of box stalls as well. The box stalls must
be of easy access to the other stalls, for often it is desired,
especially with cows of the beef breeds, to allow calves
to go to their mothers periodically and back again to their
quarters. There is need of abundant light and air and
of convenience of feeding and cleaning out. All these
things are well embodied in this plan. And it is not an
expensive barn to build, considering the room in it. Then
there is the neat sunny open court which can and should
be extended by building either an open shed or a high
Pig. 90 — PERSPECTIVE VIEW OP 100-COW BARN
tight board fence, continuing the west wall on down to
shut off the too rough breezes. In this court there is a
large cement water trough. Many do not consider the
plan of watering in the stable the best under ordinary
conditions and think the little airing the cows get
stepping out to water is good for them and profitable in
the long run.
Hay is taken in at three points, at each end of the
ell and at the center of the connecting wing. This
driveway will be closed in winter or when hay is not
being put in, and feed rooms or one feed room and one
large box stall made therein. A hoist here takes up grain
and ground feed to bins over the driveway. It would
be an excellent plan to erect a grinding and pumping
windmill here, and architecturally it might be a help
A NOVA SCOTU BARN 99
to erect over this doorway and bin room a gable like the
others, only carrying it up a little higher, which would
give more room and light above.
The only criticism of this plan is that it is a bit narrow,
thirty feet, but with the manure carriers and feed carriers
in use nowadays one need not drive either before or
behind the cows. Windows should be put in with sashes
^
-i
1
t
I
i
i
—
BB
Fig. 91 — FLOOR PLAN OF 100-COW BARN
almost continuous, three feet high, hinged at the bottom
edge and opening inward at the top, a whole row all
turned at one movement of a crank, a shaft with arms
thereon running through to operate the affair. A venti-
lating system as described on Page 106 should be arranged
for.
COMBINED DAIRY AND FRUIT FARM
In the Annapolis valley of Nova Scotia, John Don-
aldson recently built a circular roofed barn, which is a
combinatioji of stock barn and apple hoijse, aa the
§
a
a
<
><
n
Eh
o
o
>
O
!2i
•l-l
A NoVA SCOTIA BARN
101
accompanying plans. Figures 92 and 93, show. He
claims that the circular roof is a cheap roof in construc-
tion, and it certainly has great storage capacity under-
neath. The barn, which is fifty-two by ninety feet in
size, has no hay in the first story or basement, yet has a
capacity of 200 tons. There are no cross timbers inside
of the roof, which makes it very convenient in mowing
away the hay.
The basement walls are of solid concrete, as is also
the inner wall surrounding the apple cellar. The walls
are fourteen inches thick at the bottom and taper to ten
inches at the top, with a hight of eight feet. It took
110 barrels Portland cement and sixty-two loads gravel
CATTIE MAnuPE,
APfLC CELLAR
Fig
M0P3E nA»URt
iTVHirtC BA/>n
ere. _
93 MAIN FLOOR AND BASEMENT PLANS OF NOVA
SCOTIA BARN
to construct them. The labor cost of building the cement
walls was $70 and the total cost about $380. The outside
doors nearly all slide, and the stable doors are fitted with
patent hangers which make them very tight. The
stables are sheathed throughout, well ventilated and
furnished with plenty of light. The building is well
lighted throughout, for there are 630 panes of glass in
the building, the smallest being eight by ten Inches In
size. The barn cost complete about $3000.
A good water supply has been put in. A windmill
forces the water into a large tank over the horse stable.
The cow stable is supplied with basins which are always
102 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
full of water. A good herd of Jersey cows are kept.
Mr. Donaldson has three ends in view in keeping stock.
They are the converting of raw material on the farm
into marketable products, as a means of supplying ferti-
lizer and as a direct source of farm income.
As the plans show, in Figure 93, a large space in the
bam is devoted to the storage of apples, which constitute
one of the chief sources of farm income in the Annapolis
valley. The apples are largely packed by the growers on
the farm, and the packing season extends over several
months of the year. Thus the packing of apples and
the feeding and milking of dairy cows furnishes plenty
and profitable employment during the long winter
months. The storage of everything under one roof
facilitates work and also reduces the expense of keeping
up farm buildings.
MODERN ADDITION TO A DAIRY BARN
The New Jersey Experiment Station built a frame
structure thirty-eight feet long by thirty-two feet wide,
projecting at right angles from the main barn. It is
one story high, the loft connecting with the second story
of the main building, so that coarse foods can easily be
transferred to the feeding floor of the new structure.
The plan of the main floor is shown in Figure 96. The
ceiling is sheathed with matched lumber. The floor is
made of Portland cement and coarse gravel (one part to
eight) three inches thick. This is covered witli a layer
of Portland cement one inch thick, making the total
thickness of the floor four inches. The manure gutters
are sixteen inches wide and flve inches deep. A slightly
sloping surface in the stalls and gutters leads all water
to the trap doors, where it is conducted to cemented
tanks below.
104
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
The mangers are built in. and composed of the same
material as the floor. A cross-section of the floor and
mangers of the stable is shown in Figure 95. The depth
of the manger is three inches in the center, rounding
up to the level of the floor. The width is one foot ten
inches. It is used only as a feeding manger, the water
being supplied in individual basins, which work
automatically.
The stable contains thirteen stalls in two rows, which
Fig. 95 — CROSS-SECTION OF FLOOR AND STALLS
face each other, besides two special stalls for bulls and
two box stalls, which may be used either for calves or
older animals. The feeding floor is seven feet wide. The
two bull stalls, as well as the calf pens, are constructed
of spruce posts, with framework of gas pipe. Figure 94.
The cows are fastened simply with a bow chain, attached
on either side to a spruce post five inches in diameter.
The bull stalls are connected with outside pens, twelve
A NEW JERSEY BARN 105
by twenty-six feet, where the animals are turned out
every day for exercise.
Under the barn is a basement divided into two rooms,
one of which is used for storing wagons and farm tools.
Fig. 96 — FLOOR PLAN OF DAIRY ADDITION
while the other contains the manure pits. These pits
are frequently cleaned, but the cement floor above pre-
vents odors from reaching the main floor; hence the
arrangement is a sanitary one.
106 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
The system of ventilation originated by Prof. King
was used in this barn, and is shown in Figure 95. A
single ventilating flue, DE, rises above the roof of the
barn, and is divided below the roof into two arms, AAD,
which terminate near the level of the stable door, AA.
These openings are provided with valves, which may be
opened and closed at will. Two other ventilators are
placed at BB, to be opened when the stable is too warm,
but are provided with slides, to be closed at other times.
G is a direct ventilator, leading into the main shaft and
opening from the ceiling, to admit a current of warm
air at all times to the main shaft, to help force the
draft. The ventilating shafts are made of matched
boards carefully placed, so that the flue is air-tight.
They are six by sixteen inches and open into a chamber
above the roof, three feet square. The fresh air enters
the stable on either side of the barn, as shown in the plan
at FG, and the foul air is sent out at AA.
The silo is circular in form, twelve feet inside diameter
and thirty feet deep, with a brick foundation ten inches
wide, carried six feet below the surface of the ground.
The bottom is cemented and is five feet below the sills,
which are made of two by six-inch studding, cut on the
slant of the radius of the silo circle, imbedded in mortar
and toe-nailed together. The plates are made in the
same way and spiked to studs, which are two by six, and
eighteen inches apart. The lining consists of two thick-
nesses of half-inch boards (the inner layer of pine and
the outer one of spruce), with tarred paper between,
painted inside with gas tar and gasoline, mixed in the
proportion of two to one. The siding consists of one
layer of inch hemlock boards, nailed to braces between
studs and covered with cedar shingles. Holes bored
between each stud and covered with wire netting pennit
a circulation of air between the siding and lining, which
aids the preservation of the latter. The structure is
A NEW YORK BAKN
107
roofed with dormer window for filling and with ventilating
cap, and is joined to the barn by a passage, also roofed.
The silo is emptied by means of the "Schlichter method"
of continuous opening, the silage dropping through a
chute two feet square, upon the floor of the passageway,
from which it is conveyed to the mangers of the animals.
AN ORANGE COUNTY, N. Y., COW STABLE
A portion of the cow stables, built on at the north end
of the barn, on an Orange County, N. T., dairy farm, ia
INTERIOR OP ORANGE COUNTY COW BARN
shown in Figure 97. The feeding floor is ten feet wide
and each side twelve feet for stable. The main barn is
sixty by forty feet, the cattle barn sixty by thirty-four
feet, with a milk room on the west side twelve feet square.
The cow stable is a one-story structure, with a fourteen-
108
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
foot monitor roof, five window ventilators on each side
overhead, three doors at the north end (two for cattle to
enter), a smooth, clean floor, the Buckley basin watering
device, regulated by a tub of water in the milk room.
Smith's swing stanchions, and a manure gutter in roar
of cows.
The labor of ventilation, watering, feeding and clean-
ing the stables is here reduced to a minimum. The
main barn is packed full of hay annually. It also con-
rf
Cb
c
b
u.
■ ■ -I
Fig.
-PLAN OF BASEMENT
■SECTION
tains stables for six horses, bedding material for cows
and feed. A circular silo, forty feet in diameter and
high to hold 150 tons, opens into the main barn.
A WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N. Y., DAIRY BAEN
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 County, N. Y.
Figure 100 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
surrounded with a stone wall, and a manure pit is dug
tinder the center of the building, large enough to back a
110
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
wagon into. The basement has four doors, and is amply
lighted and ventilated. The floor is divided in the center
by a wide feed passage, upon 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 loop, which is lifted by its beveled 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.
£
Fig. 101 PLAN OF FLOOR
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
from the center of the feed passage to the walls upon
either side. This is shown in the plan. Figure 98, 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 99. The barn floor, shown in Fig-
ure 101, 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 100.
Chutes are made in the floors, by which hay is thrown
down into the feed passage. These also serve for ventila-
tion, in connection with the cupolas upon the roof.
ANOTHER NEW YORK BARN
111
ANOTHER ORANGE COUNTY^ N. Y., DAIRY BARN
The accompanying engravings illustrate a milk dairy
barn, belonging to J. E. S. Gardner of Orange County,
]Sr. Y. The barn is 110 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 long, nine deep,
and sixteen wide. The interior arrangements are very
convenient. Figure 103 shows the main floor. There
Fig. 102 — ^VIEW OF AN ORANGE COUNTY, N. Y., BARN
are six horse stalls, sixteen feet long, with a manure
chute in the center, leading to the manure pit in the base-
ment beneath; a driving floor, twenty feet wide, with
stairs and feed room, and a hay mow, seventy-two by
thirty-two feet, with hay chutes leading to the feeding
floor below. Figure 104 shows a plan of the basement,
in which are thirty-six stanchions along the center, with
doors at each end. In front of the cows is an alley, six-
teen feet wide, for feeding, through which a wagon can
be driven from end to end. Behind the stanchions is a
112
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
standing platform 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
HAY MOW
73X32
BArSHOOr HAY SHOOT
n n
STAIRS
FLOOR
"i
— ^
Fig. 103 PLAN OF MAIN FLOOR
1 MANURE
PI''" . mUMURC shootI
1
IIIIII1I1III1IIIW|S1II[||I1(IIIIIHI
•*?ilte--
1 CELLAR 1
Fig. 104 — PLAN OP BASEMENT
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 102.
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
to them at either end, increased room can be gained with
but little outlay. A dairy barn is herewith illustrated.
ENLARGING A DAIKY BAEN
113
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, without trouble, and by
using a tram road and light feed cars, 300 cows can be
fed from a central feed room as easily as thirty can be
in the old-fashioned way. Figure 105 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
Fig. 105 — PLAN OF DAIRY BARN
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
will answer, but thirty is better. The plan gives a cen-
tral passage for feeding, six feet wide, with a tram roadway,
laid down in it. On each side of this are the double ^
rows of stalls, with a feed trough for each. The floors om
which the cows stand are seven feet wide, which gives s;
room for a gutter behind each row, and for a feed trough
four feet wide, divided lengthwise into two by a suffi-
ciently high partition, each part being two feet wide. The
feed is readily thrown into these troughs from the central
passage, along which the feed car "can be drawn by a small
horse, , or be pushed by a man. A, turn. table is provided.
114
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
in the center of the passage, to admit of a car being
brought with empty milk cans from the wash house in
the rear, or with the full ones to the milk house after
milking. The doorway?, are made very capacious, and
the doors are double; the doorways may be left open
during the summer, the doors being fastened back against
the wall. The upper 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
Pig. 106 — ^VIEW OP DAIRY BARN
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 steam 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 Figure 106 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.
There should be ample ventilation provided by means of
ENLARGING A BARN 115
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 two at each end, carry
out the roof and floor, and remove the ends.
ENLARGING A BARN FOR DAIRY PURPOSES
A common barn can be easily and cheaply changed into
a dairy barn of large capacity by employing such a plan
as that shown in the perspective view of Figure 107. Two
wings, fifteen feet wide, with shed roofs, are extended
out at right angles from each side of the old barn at one
end. The interior arrangement is shown in the floor plan
on the left. A feed car, with a track, is arranged for
iri.i.miiiiiimifrr
fmfnitm
Fig. 107 GROUND PLAN AND PERSPECTIVE OF ENLARGED BARN
the feed floor and the feeding alley in front of the cows.
A double silo, grain room and calf pens, with lofts over
them, occupy one side of the barn proper, while calf pens
and a hay bay occupy the other side. Thus the main barn
is used mainly for the storing of feed, while the addition
is given up to the stalls. The expense of such a plan will
be very much less than would be entailed by the building
of a new barn, or even a lengthening of the old one, while
the plan shown herewith gives a much more convenient
arrangement than could otherwise be had.
An enterprising Pennsylvania farmer recently decided
to abandon general farming and make a specialty of dairy-
ing. This necesoitated additional quarters for the cows
lie
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
and they were put on as an ell to the old barn in the way
shown in Figure 108. The addition is one-story, with
an abundance of light, and is devoted entirely to stalls,
the feed being stored in the main barn and brought to
the addition on the second floor from the second floor
of the barn. It is then put down into the mangers by
chutes. The addition has
two rows of stalls facing a
feed floor. Where a cellar
can be provided under the
addition the manure can
easily be disposed of.
Otherwise it must be
wheeled out each day to a
manure shed. Space in the
rig. 108 — PENNSYLVANIA
BABN
bam proper is reserved for the rearing of calves.
NEW STYLE CALF PENS
The ordinary calf pens in barns are dark, gloomy places,
wholly unsuitable for the growth of calves. Let in the
light by taking down a part
of the high board sides and
replace it with one-inch
heavy wire poultry netting,
as shown in Figure 109,
With the small mesh calves
will not get their feet
through it. The pens will
thus be made much more
light, cheerful and wholesome.
^TTT
Fig. 109 WIRE CALF
PARTITIONS
CEMENT FLOORS FOR COW STABLES
Much more durable than wood and more cleanly when
properly made are cement floors. The construction of
these is simple, yet a few principles paust be carefully
CEMENT STABLE FLOORS
117
followed. Excavate to the proper depth, and level the
floor. Fill with from two to four inches of concrete made
by mixing small or crushed stones or gravel with cement.
The gravel must be free from earth, else the cement will
not stick. One part cement to six parts of coarse material
is sufficient for the foundation. Mix the two together.
Fig. 110 — SHOWING PARTITION AND CEMENT FLOORS
then wet with water, and, after spreading, pack it down
with a rammer.
The finishing coat should be made of sharp, fine sand
and Portland cement, using two parts sand to one part
cement. It is absolutely necessary that the sand be free
from earth. Lay the finishing coat in sections in order
to get it smooth and of uniform thickness. Begin at
lis BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILIJUNUS
one end of the building, and three or four feet from the
side, lay down a strip of scantling one inch thick. Fill
this space -with cement and smooth it ofi with a board
float. If a steel trowel is used, it will make the surface
so smooth that cattle will slip on it. Next remove the
strip and lay another section three or four feet wide, and
so on until the floor is completed.
The floor should be kept wet and allowed to dry slowly,
when it will be much harder and will not crack as if dried
quickly. In Figure 110 the gutter is made of cement and
the edges next the cows are rounded to prevent breaking.
Many use two by six-inch joist for the edge and set it
in cement, as it will not wear out where the cows stand.
To hold partitions, before laying cement, set a wooden
block or drive in an iron rod. Iron is better, for it will
not rot out. One-inch pipe cut fifteen inches long ig
suitable for this purpose.
THE HOARD STALL FOR DAIRY CATTLE
This stall, Figure 111, was perfected by ex-Governor
W. D. Hoard of Wisconsin, one of the most eminent dairy
authorities of this country. After many years of experi-
menting with different kinds of stalls and , fastenings,
he has adopted this one. A closely boarded partition
about four feet high forms the front of the stall. Each
cow has three and one-half feet in width. The floor is
made tight and there is no drop in the rear of the cows,
except the thickness of one plank, which is the double
floor of the stall. The feeding rack is constructed for
two purposes: (1) To contain any hay or roughage tliat
may be fed the cow. The slats are put on wide enough
so the cow can easily get her nose between them. (2) To
force the cow when standing to stand with her hind feet
in the rear of the cross bar across the stall floor.
In constructing the feeding rack nail a two by eight-inch
niece of scantling edgewise against the board partition.
HOARD DAIRY STALL
11^
This constitutes the bottom of the rack and should be
placed about forty inches from the floor. Place the top
scantling about two feet from the partition. This maltes
the feeding rack eight inches wide at the bottom and
two feet wide at top. In the center of the bottom scant-
ling fasten a ring to tie the halter to. Fasten the cow
Fig. Ill — THE HOARD DAIRY STALL
with a common web halter, she wearing the head piece
all the time; the halter end of the rope has a safety snap
to fasten into the ring of the halter under the throat. To
prevent the cow from getting loose it is well to divide
the end of the rope into two strands each six inches
long and put a snap in each, fastening both into the
ring when tying the cow.
120 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
The gi'ain and ensilage box is placed on that side
of the stall opposite to the one the cow usually lies on.
If she lies on her left side, place the grain box on the right
side, as seen in the engraving. This box is large enough
to. contain the ensilage and grain feed, and is reached by
an opening in the partition. It is best to have the feed
box slant down toward the cow, so that all the feed wil)
easily work down to the end nearest her. The box should
be long enough to extend from the partition into the
stall as far as the upper part of the feed rack projects
and about eighteen or twenty inches wide and sixteen
inches deep. If placed sufficiently slanting, the feed will
easily work down to the lower end next the cow, so that
she wiU not need to bring her hind feet onto her
bedding in order to reach the contents of the box.
In placing the bar across the stall brJng the cow's head
squarely up against the feeding rack; then just forward
of her hind feet nail down a two by three-inch scantling.
'Fill the space forward of the bar with bedding, which,
being without waste, will last till entirely worn out. In
this way each cow has her bed in true proportion to her
length. It should be made fresh once a week, however,
for the sake of health. This stall is com mended to all
dairymen who are looking for a clean, comfortable method
of stabling dairy cows.
OHAPTEE 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
are fed in a great measure to keep up the animal heat,
the food serving much the same end that coal does to the
furnace. This being true, it is reasonable to infer that
an animal will require less food to maintain the proper
temperature of the body were it warmed in part by other
means. The 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 than do those animals that are con-
tinually exposed to the weather. Shelter then has niuch
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
farmers, and especially those in the newer portions of the
west, do not have stables for their cattle or snug sheds for
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,
Fig. 112 — PENS AND FEAME OP ARCHWAY FOE A SHELTEE
Fig. 113 — THE ARCHWAY UNDER THE STACK COMPLETE
CHEAP CATTLE SHELTERS 123
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 112.
It consists of two rail pens, of the ordinary sort, for
the bottoms of small stacks, placed near enough to-
gether so that the 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 113. 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 rearranged again in a short
time, just before the threshing 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 barn yard.
A CHEAP SHELTER FOR COWS
A farmer and his boys can put up a decent stable at
a cost of $3 to $4 a cow. To be sure, such a stable will
not look as large and pretentious as a $400 or $500 barn,
but it will do just as well for awhile. If cheapness is
to be the watchword, here is a plan given by S. M.
Henderson of Illinois that will help many a poor farmer.
If good posts are to be had get them nine feet long. Sup-
pose you have four cows. Build your stable eight feet
124
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
wide, sixteen feet long and seven feet high. The posts
will be just about four feet apart all around the building.
Spike two by fours on top for plates. Nail on girths at
the ends of the building and side up with twelve-inch
boards. Instead of siding up the two sides, make a door
for each cow to enter her stall on one side, while the
other side is for the manger. This manger may be made
three feet wide and three feet deep, either flaring or
straight. Remember now, that this manger is outside the
stable, as shown in Figure 114. The depth of manger
next to the cow should be about two feet. Now hinge a
Fig. 114 — END VIEW AND GROUND PLAN
big door up next the plate, letting the lower end rest on
outside of manger. This makes a flaring side to the
stable. To get hay or fodder into the manger, or to clean
the same, raise this big door and hook it up with a big,
strong hook to a post set especially for the purpose. Make
the stalls four feet high.
Now for the roof. A ten-foot two by four cut through
the middle will make a pair of rafters. Nine pairs, spaced
two feet, are sufficient. The ends of the manger may be
sided up if desired, and the swinging side or door never
let down lower than the outside of manger. This door
may be cut into two sections if too heavy to handle. If
good posts cannot be had to set in the ground use sawed
BUILDING STRAW BARNS 125
posts and set the building on blocks or stones. In this
case drive half -inch iron pins in bottom ends of poKts and
fit them into holes bored or drilled into the foundatioii,
BUILDING STRAW BARNS
In the Dakotas and Minnesota the common practice
is to burn the straw, and in many states further east
much straw is also burned or allowed to waste. This can
be readily worked up into barns. The neatest way to
build a straw barn or to line one is to bale the straw and
build walk of it, just as if so many large bricks were
being used, until the hight of the wall is reached, as seen
Fig. 115 TWO STYLES OF STRAW BARNS
at the left in Figure 115. Then with poles or scantlings
for rafters, cover with straw or slough hay, and a very
warm barn will result. Provision must be made for doors
and windows, as desired. Leave a hole the proper size for
a window and nail up a casing to fit it. One-inch material
will do for the window casing, but two-inch is better
for the door casings, as they must be stronger, to support
the weight of the door.
With more work and a larger outlay for lumber or poles,
as warm a house can be built from unbaled straw, as shown
at the right in Figure 115. To do this, set two rows of
posts firmly in the ground, two and a half feet apart
(inside measure). Let these enclose a space the size of
the building desired, Set them three to four feet apart
126
BARN i-LANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
m the row, and board up with fence boards or poles placed
on the inside of the posts and ten to twelve inches apart.
Tig 'the two rows of posts together by nailing crosspieces
'at the top so there will be no spreading. Then fill the
space, a few inches at a time, with straw and tread it
down or tamp with a heavy timber. Put on a roof as
described above. Cut out holes for the windows and
doors, case them up, and the result will be a comfortable
stable. Many a barn built of lumber and costing a con-
siderable sum of money is not so warm as a straw or
sod barn.
Fig. 116 — SHELTEE OP POLES AND BOARDS
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 116, covered with straw or refuse
hay. Two crotched posts, eight feet in length, are set two
CHEAP TEMPORARY SHELTERS 127
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 116. A warm and comfortable shelter
is illustrated in Figure 117. 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
Fig. 117 — SHELTER COVERED WITH STRAW
planks or poles; the whole is overlaid with straw. The
covering is best and most economically done at threshing
time, by building the framework in the barn yard. A
cheap board shelter is shown in Figure 118. In making
one after this plan, fourteen feet wide, the highest part
should be eight feet and the lowest about five feet, using
sixteen-foot boards for roofing, which will project upon
each side. The roof can be of matched lumber, or rough
boards battened. Almost any farmer is enough of a
mechanic to construct such a shelter, and it will be
fovxnd serviceable as well as neat in appearance.
VZH
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINQS
It often happens that those who have the most
improved barns and other outbuildings desire to feed
for a few months an extra number of sheep or cattle.
Pig. 118 — CHEAP BOARD SHELTER
rig. 119 — SHELTER ADDED TO BARN
but have not sufficient convenient shelter. This may be
provided by a temporary addition to a large building, as
in Figure^lia,. in which.X_is.a,ppst set in.^the gjoundj,,^, ,
CHEAP TEMPORARY SHELTERS
129
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
immediate purpose for which they were erected.
OTHER STYLES OF TEMPORARY SHELTERS
Two cheap and convenient shelters are shown in Figure
120. The square shelter is suitable for all kinds of live
Fig. 120 — CHEAP, TEMPORARY CATTLE SHELTERS
stock, and is adapted only for summer use. Four posts
are set in the ground and two posts placed on top of these.
On this are laid square edged boards with slant enough to
carry off the water. Boards are also nailed on two sides
to give shelter from the prevailing winds. The A-shaped
shelter can be made a movable affair. It is adapted only
for small animals, like sheep or hogs. Two erotched
sticks are set in the ground and a rail laid in the crotches.
A couple of old doors will answer for the sides, using
care to drive two or three sticks each side in the ground
130
BARN- PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
to prevent them from spreading apart and falling on the
animals. A cleat or wire should be nailed over the top
to hold them together in high winds.
Pig. 121 CATTLE SHED COVERED WITH HAY
Fig. 122 — CATTLE SHELTER FOK THE PLAINS
CATTLE SHELTERS ON" THE PLAINS
In the far western grazing regions, where the natural
proteotion of ravines, groves of timber, etc., it is not avail-
132 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
able, shelters of the kinds shown in Figures 121, 122 and
123 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 121. Piles of hay are
spread over these frames, as seen in Figure 122. 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 123. After a severe
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
traveled 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
jhelters.
CHAPTER V
SHEEP BARN 8 AND SEEDS
A MINNESOTA SHEEP BARN
The sheep barn. Figure 124, at the Minnesota Experi-
ment Station at St. Anthony Park, Minn., built in 1894,
is of frame construction. Posts are two by four inches,
twelve feet long, covered up on the outside with drop
siding. The inside is sheathed with flooring only part
way up in the lower story. The first story is eight feet
in the clear, and is used for housing the sheep. The upper
story, four feet clear at the plates, is used for storage of
fodder. A hay track runs through the entire building.
There is ample room to store forty tons of forage and
bedding. The floor is of dirt except the feeding alley
through the center, which is planked over, Eigure 125.
A silo at the end of the barn affords storage room for
thirty-five tons of silage and is found to be a very useful
part of the equipment. It is made of three by four-inch
plank, beveled on the inner edges. These are held
together in stave fashion by iron hoops. The part of the
silo that is covered by the barn has one thickness of
staves and is kept perfectly tight. The exposed portion
of the silo is furred out with inch strips, covered with
flooring and paper, and shingled over that. A root cellar
is also provided under the feed room, large enough for
storing twenty to twenty-five tons of roots.
A BAEN FOR EARLY LAMBS
Eor a sheep barn- in which to winter ewes due to lamb
f ram January to April, the plans of one shown in Figures
134
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
126 and 127, designed by Prof. John A. Craig ©f
Iowa, are well adapted for this purpose. When allowed
to remain in a pasture over night, sheep are found to
seek the highest knoll to sleep upon. Such places are
dry and well ventilated. Experience has taught the
shepherd that these are the two most essential things
in choosing a place to house sheep. A sheep barn
usually must be near the other farm buildings to be
convenient for the owner, but in so far as that require-
Fig. 124 MODERN SHEEP BARN IN MINNESOTA
ment allows a choice, select the highest, driest land
available.
The only way to have a sheep barn dry is to secure
good natural drainage and to provide ample means for
ventilation. The chief errors in providing for ventila-
tion in barns are the lack of sufficient means for changing
the air and provision for partially closing the ventilators
when extremely cold weather occurs and when high winds
prevail. In addition to the above, another mistake is
frequently made by arranging the ventilation so that
drafts of air will pass directly upon the sheep.
BARN FOR EARLY LAMBS
136
Sunshine is a good thing to provide in abundance, as
it proves a great stimulant to early lambs and seems
to give them vigor and strength, while older sheep
evidently enjoy it and no doubt are benefited by it. In
building a barn, ample provision for storing hay or other
forage should be made, as it costs comparatively little to
add a few feet in hight to a building when a mow floor
and roof will be required anyway.
A good-sized lambing pen will be needed. The lambing
pens should be arranged with enough partitions, station-
ary and movable, to accommodate several ewes at a time.
They should be placed adjoining the shepherd's room so
rig. 125 FLOOR PLAN OF illNXESOTA SHEEP BARN
that his stove can be utilized in warming them, shoulil
they require it. Lambing pens allow a ewe to be alone
with her lamb for several hours after its birth. Build the
lambing pens heavy and strong so that the temporary
partitions will be well supported by them and so breeding
rams may be safely kept in them when they are not
needed for ewes and lambs.
Do not neglect to provide a room for tlie shepherd, as
you can then reasonably expect him to stay with his
flock during the night if there is likely to be need of him.
It will enable him to take a weak, cold lamb to the fire
nnd to give it warm milk, which will save the life
136
Barn plass ano otiTBuitDiKas
of many a lamb if ttey can be supplied when needed.
This barn plan economizes outside wall space. One
feeding alley serves for two sets of pens. Each pen will
accommodate twenty-five ewes, allowing about fourteen
square feet to each. One and one-third feet at the feed
rack ia sufficient space for each ewe. The plan also allows
the feed racks to constitute the partitions between the
pen and the feeding alley, which has the further
Fig. 126 — THE COMPLETED SHEEP BABN
advantage of making the feed manger very convenient.
The feed chutes are arranged at each end of the four-
foot alleyway so that hay can be dropped through them
into a very convenient place for feeding it to the stock.
The division into four pens holding twenty-five ewes
each will be found very convenient, as that will allow
the ewes to be divided into four groups and fed according
to their respective needs.
A good feature of this barn plan is its ventilating tubes,
which are arranged to carry the air up to and out at
BARN FOR WINTER LAMBS
137
tte cupolas. The tubes are made by nailing inch hoards
together in the form of boxes or tubes, which follow the
roof under the sheathing and open into the cupolas. At
the bottom of the tubes a sliding or tilting shut-ofE is
arranged so that the degree of ventilation can be gauged
according to the nature of the weather and the number
Fig. 127 — GROUND PLAN AND END VIEW OF FRAME
of animals housed. A hay door is arranged at the end
of the barn so that hay may be carried in upon a track
with a fork or with slings.
BARN FOR RAISING WINTER LAMBS
Raising winter lambs has become an important
industry. It is necessary for this purpose to have a
barn that can be kept warm. A sheep barn and fixtures
to accommodate 100 ewes are represented in Figures
128 and 129, which give a perspective view and ground
plan. The ground floor is divided into six pens, each
sixteen feet square, with a four-foot alley extending
through the middle. Each pen will accommodate sixteen
to eighteen ewes. The alley H is necessary in feeding
the animals and as a playground for the lambs, for
without such exercise they would not develop properly.
The fold should be nine feet high and either boarded on
the outside with matched lumber, or battened on the
13s
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
inside and lined with sheathing paper. The posts are
twenty feet. At the end of the second floor opposite the
hay door a grain room is partitioned off, with stairs, E,
leading to it from below. It contains three bins, for
various kinds of grain used. As this is mixed by weight,
scales are placed here. After it is mixed, the grain is
thrown in a chute to be spouted below as needed.
In the center of the second floor is an opening five feet
square over the square marked D, over which is placed a
Fig. 128 — PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF SHEEP BARN
closed, pyramidal fodder chute and foul-air escape five
feet square at the base and four at the apex, which
reaches the cupola. The chute has doors in the side
through which to throw down fodder. The windows of
the fold are made to slide, and by the use of them and
the chute the atmosphere is kept at the right temperature,
which is about fifty degrees. A slide, made to be worked
from overhead in the fold, opens or closes the draft in the"
chiite. The hay loft is reached through doors in the
partition of the grain room. A stairway and platform
BARN FOR WINTER LAMBS
139
at the end of the building (not shown in the engraving),
on the outside and adjoining the grain room, facilitate
replenishing the bins with grain.
Double racks. A, are the division fences between the
pens. The bed pieces of these are scantling two by four
_^ inches set edgewise. They are
beveled on the lower edges and
the rack slats are nailed to the
beveled faces. The slats are
two feet ten inches long, placed
three inches apart, and the rack
spreads two feet ten inches at
the top. The bottoms of the
bed pieces are eighteen inches
from the ground. Feeding troughs are fastened to the
racks at the lower ends of the slats. For convenience in
filling, the alley ends of the racks are left open. The
129 — GROUND PLAN
Fig. 130 — FRONT ELEVATION OF SHEEP BARN
other ends of them abut against the walls of the build-
ing. There are movable troughs, C, in the alley for the
lambs, which reach them through openings under or
at the sides of the alley ends of the racks. In the end
140
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
pens half racks, B, are spiked against the ends of the
building. This system of racks and troughs economizes
space better than any other. The alley fences are three
feet high and wired loosely to posts driven in the ground.
The pens are kept well bedded, and the manure should be
frequently removed.
Unless sheep are carefully provided for, there is sure
to be trouble and loss in the flock. If it was figured up
:."■' ' '■-'■:.. A,
ir
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■SIDE SECTION OP BARN
how much money may be made yearly by good care out
of $100 invested in sheep, as compared with the profit
from $100 invested in cows, or a mare, the balance would
generally be in favor of the sheep. During the winter
season, the keeping of sheep requires 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
BARN FOE WINTER LAMBS
141
conveniences both for the flock and their owner, is here
illustrated. It consists of a barn, shown in Figure 130,
about twenty feet wide, sixteen feet high from basement
to eaves, and as long as is desirable. This is intended to
store the hay or fodder. The posts, sills and plates are
all eight inches square, and the girths and braces four
inches square. The beams, two by ten, are placed six-
teen inches apart, and cross-
bridged with strips, three inches
wide. The hay is piled inside,
so that a passageway is left over
the feed passage below, in which
Fig. 132 — DOOR 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 131. The basement under
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
mkimTOmwkmmmvmmmmm'mmmvvmm'\vimTO^mtuim^^^^^^^
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Fig. 133 — PLAN OF BASEMENT TO SHEEP BARN
hung upon pins. Figure 132, which fits into grooves upon
the posts, so that the door may be raised and fastened,
held suspended half way, shut down, or removed alto-
gether. 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
142 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
from rear to front, so that it will always be dry. Figure
133 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 131 gives a section of the whole
barn. The hay loft is above, and the passageway and
the doors are shown, by which the hay is thrown down
to the feed racks below. The sloping shelf, by which the
hay is carried into the feed racks, is also seen. Below
the feed rack is the feed trough for roots or meal. A
door shuts off this trough from the sheep at the front,
while the feed 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, which 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 sandpapered, and all the edges are rounded, so
that there is nothing by which the wool may be torn or
rubbed off from the necks of the sheep. The root cellar
is at the rear of the basement, and is reached by the
stairs already mentioned. A barn, large enough to ac-
commodate 100 sheep, may be built for about $500 to $600.
SHEEP SHEDS AND RACKS
Sheep that are not being prepared 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 up to prevent hay seed
or chaff from dropping upon the wool. The front of the
shed is boarded to within a few feet of the ground, leav-
SHEEP KUEDS AND RACKS
143
ing 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
the sheep from pushing their heads through, and wearing
the wool from their necks. Everything about a sheep
rig. 134 — SHED, PEN AI^D RACK FOB SHEEP
pen should he smooth, leaving no rough splinters to catch
and tear the wool. The pen and yard should be kept well
littered. This shed, shown in Figure 134, is arranged
especially to keep the wool clean and free from hay seed,
clover heads and dust, and that the sheep may be ovit-
doors or indoors as they wish, and according to the
weather.
SHED FOR SOILING SHEEP
Wlien 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 divided
144 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
by fences into four parts, as shown in the illustrations.
A partly open shed with feed racks aU 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
paddock opens into this shed. As one quarter is used,
the doors opening to the other are closed.
Eig. 135 — ^A SHED FOR SOILING SHEEP
Figure 136 shows the yards with the shed in the center.
The outer gates are at a, opening into the lane. The
gates, h, h, lead into the rear quarters. The doors of the
shed are at c, c. Figure 13Y shows an enlarged view of
a plan of the shed. Figure 135 gives the elevation of
the shed, with a large double doorway closed by half-
doors, and open at the top. There are also large open
A SUMMER SHEEP SHED
Uo
windows, so that the shed is airy. There is no provision
for water in the yards, and this is the best plan, as the
yards are kept dry, and it necessitates at least so much
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Fig. 136 — PLAN OF SHEEP YARD
20X20 A^b
Fig. 137 — PLAN OP SHED.
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
146
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
that may be usefully 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 sheep are fenced
by hurdles.
YIRQINIA SHEEP BARN
A Virginia sheep barn, which possesses many conven-
iences, is shown in the accompanying plan, Figure 138.
The yard, a, is 100 feet square, divided by a hurdle fence
Fig. 138 — ^VIRGINIA SHEEP BUILDING
(shown by the dotted lines) into as many portions as
may be desired. The entrance is at h, where there is a
gate hung upon a post, c, in such a way as to open or
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
KANSAS SHEEP SHELTER 147
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
f, is locked from without, so that the turning of one key
on the outside secures the whole from trespassers. There
is a second yard 150 by 135 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 framework, and the roof is of
boards with sufficient pitch to shed rain perfectly.
A KANSAS SHEEP SHELTER
The shelter or corral represented in Figure 139 is
one built by Mr. George Grant of Victoria, Kan. The
walls are of stone, covered with a peaked roof. It is
square in shape, with sides about 570 feet long. A com-
modious house of two stories is built at one comer, for
the shepherds.
Another plan of a shelter is given in Figure 140 — that
of Mr. W. B. Shaw of Syracuse, Kan. As at Victoria,
the buffalo grass here furnishes the chief pasturage. The
shed is made of cotton-wood poles and coarse hay from
the river bottom, and surrounds an enclosure 200 feet
long by 100 feet wide. We see the stackyard for hay at
a; the horse barn at I; the poultry house at c; the water
trough and pump, operated by a windmill, at d; the sheep-
■W. B. SIIAW'S SHEEP SHEDS
149
fold at e, and the feeding yard with hay stacks and racks,
at f. Around the feeding yard are sheds with a single
roof sloping outward.
Fig. 140 — SHEEP SHEDS OF W. B. SHAW, SYRACUSE, KAN.
A COMBINATION SHEEP BARN AND HOGPEN
Where one wishes to change from general farming tc
live stock keeping, there is often a lack of proper build-
150
BARN tLANS AND OUTSUILDlNCtg
ings. Figure 141 shows an inexpensive way of convert-
ing a small barn into a commodious building for sbeep
and hogs, and providing ample space for necessary feed.
Sixteen-foot additions are built on each side of the barn.
One side may be devoted to sheep and the other to hogs.
I
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Fig. 141 — COMBINED SHEEP AND HOG BARN
A passageway is left next the old barn to use in feed-
ing. The main part may be divided as it is the most
convenient
A SHEEP FEEDING BARN
There are many old farms about the country that are
being utilized as sheep farms, sheep now being increas-
ingly profitable as stock and exceptionally well fitted to
hring up an old run-down farm. On most of these old
farms there is now a small barn — too small to be used
for any serious sheep farming enterprise. The plans
seen in Figure 142 show how such old barns can be fitted
up cheaply to accommodate a large flock of sheep. Side
wings are built at an angle as shown, an alleyway beins
left for a track on which the feed car runs. The main
barn is used for the storage of hay, fodder and grain.
SHELTER ON THE PLAINS
151
The buildings form a sheltered yard in front, which will
be especially useful in winter. Of course, if desired, the
wings could be attached at right angles to the barn, but
this would, not afford the excellent sheltered yard. A
perspective view of such a barn and the ground plan ara
shown.
Fig. 142 CHEAP BARN FOR SHEEP FEEDINa
SHEEP SHELTER ON THE PLAINS
The climate of the western 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 which has
hitherto presented itself, to interfere with the complete
success of those who are engaged in sheep raising, has
been the snow storms which have overwhelmed the flocks.
Ordinary buildings are frequently out of the question,
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 high.
The outside of the curve is always placed toward the
north or northwest, the direction from which the pre-
vailing storms blow. Where the flocks are small, a few
Fig. 143 — SEMI-CIRCULAR SHEEP SHELTER
Pig. 144 — CONCENTRIC SHEEP SHELTER
SHELTER ON THE PLAINS
153
walls are sufficient, scattered about in convenient and
accessible places, generally where the configuration of
the ground gives additional shelter, as, for instance, on
the southern slope of a hill, or where a grove helps to
break the force of the storm. One of these semi-circular
shelters is seen in Figure 143. Figure 144 shows a more
elaborate one, suitable for larger flocks, and also designed
as a protection against storms from • whatever 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.
CHAPTEE VI
PI0GEBIE8
Because swine are blessed with keen appetites, strong
digestion and hardy 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 cannot 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 tastes 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.
A SERVICEABLE AND WELL ARRANGED PIGGERY
The hog barn recently built by the Tennessee Agri-
cultural College at Knoxville, shown in Figures 145,
146, 147, 148 and 149, may well serve as a model for
those who want a serviceable, cheap and well arranged
piggery. The barn is eighteen by eighty feet, with a
n
Fig. 145 — Hoa HOUSE at Tennessee agricultural college
,-;i^w>T
Fig. 146 — interior of Tennessee hog house
156
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
feed room in one end sixteen by eighteen feet and sixteen
pens seven by eight feet, and a four-foot passage down
the center. Eight of these pens are intended for fattening
animals and are of sufficient size to accommodate four or
Fig. 147 — CROSS-SEOTION SHOWINa CONSTRUCTION
five large hogs. The feeding troughs are stationary.
Hinged gates are swung from above directly over them,
so adjusted that the feeding can be done from the outside.
The doors to the pens are four feet wide and opposite each
«9
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Kg. 148 — SWING DOOH
other, so that, if desirable, hogs can be transferred across
the passage to the open yards without any difficulty. The
building is capable of housing and earing for a large
number of hogs where a breeding herd is maintained, or
it would be equally useful and advantageous on a farm
BKICK PlUtiEin
157
where pork production was the chief end in view. The
completed building cost $400.
The dimensions are as follows : Length over all, 100
feet; length of pens, eighty-two feet; feed room, floored,
eighteen feet square ; floor in pens and feeding alley, width,
ten feet; width of doors to pens, four feet; hight of pens,
three feet six inches; length of feeding trough, five feet
nine inches; width of feeding trough, ten and one-half
inches; windows alone on north side and windows above,
with doors below on south side, containing glass, two feet
ten inches by three feet four inches; four by six-inch
Fig. 149 GROUND PLAN OF TENNESSEE PIGQERY
sills, two by six-inch rafters, two by four-inch studding,
seven-eighths by ten or twelve-inch siding, seven-eighths
by two-inch strips for battens and a matched room for
feed room. The pens are ten feet three inches by seven
feet in size.
A BRICK PIGGERY FOR COLD CLIMATES
The hog house of the Minnesota Experiment Station
at St. Anthony Park, shown in Figures 150 and 151^
is built of brick and is 102 feet in its longest dimensions
by twenty-eight feet wide. A wing to be put on the east
end in the near future will be used for feeding experi-
ments or for breeding pens if necessary. The walls are
158 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINQS
nine inches thick, being made out of ordinary building
brick, with an inch of air space in the center. This has
proved a very satisfactory wall, and seems to be frost
proof. The house is dry and well ventilated during the
winter. The ceiling is eight feet in the clear and good
storage room is provided above for straw and feed.
The pens are eight and one-half by eleven feet, with
solid partitions between them of two-inch planks, dressed,
and painted. The fronts are made of heavy wire mesh,
giving good light and aiding materially in ventilating the
Fig. 150 — HOG BAEN AT MINNESOTA EXPERIMENT FARM
building. The floors are cement, except in the corners of
the breeding pens, where a nest five by six feet has been
left with a dirt floor. This is to guard against rheumatism
in the winter time, and is satisfactory except that the
hogs sometimes root up the nest considerably. A few of
the pens have been paved with brick within two inches
of the top of the floor, and bedding kept over that. For
summer this is entirely satisfactory. A slight raise in
the floor around the outside of the nest prevents the water
running into it and insures a dry nest always.
Immediately over each nest and opening into the loft
is a trap door a foot and a half square. During warm
MINNESOTA HOG BARN
159
weather and even in the winter time this is left open to
provide good ventilation and make a convenient way of
getting bedding into the nest without littering up the
house. Sliding doors at the outside connect with brick
paved yards that are on a slightly lower level than the
cement floor. The aim has been in the construction of
the house and yards to make them easy to disinfect and
f
MtNNCSOTA EXPERIMENT Tfl RM
QnoUMD P(.J\N or HOC HOUSK.
^AnnowiNtt ■aan • AND nK31»
VVINC TOBC ADDED ON CAST
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Fig. 151 — GROUND PLAK OF MINNESOTA HOG BARN
clean. This can be done by turning water on the floor
in the feeding alley and washing out over the brick paved
yards. The feed rooms are convenient to the pens, and
in consideration of the addition to be made to the house
they are centrally located as may be. A scale in the
middle of the feeding alley makes a very convenient place
for weighing hogs at any time, and in connection with the
feeding experiments and records of growth made, which
160
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
are always kept at this station, could hardly be dispensed
with. Steam is conducted to the cooking room from the
central plant, so that hot water or steam may be had
when wanted. There is a root cellar beneath the farrowing
pens and feed room, which is a very useful feature of
the building.
Fig. 152^WINTER AND SUMMER HOGPENS
I
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4frr
Fig. 15o— GROUND PLAN OF TWENTIETH CENTURY HOG HOUSE
TWENTIETH CENTURY HOGPENS
The plans of hogpens shown in Figures 152 and 153
are largely original with J. A. Macdonald of Prince
Edward Island. They comprise a movable house six by
WISCONSIN HOG HOUSE
161
six feet, -which, can be placed anywhere on the farm
during summer, and drawn into a partially open shed for
winter quarters. With chain attached these small houses
may be drawn by a horse anywhere. The front and back
sills are raised two inches above lower edge of the side
sills so as not to obstruct when moving from place to place.
The large building, half the front of which is open,
as in Figure 152, is required for winter and spring. The
small houses are drawn from their summer stands in
the pasture fields through the six-foot open front of each
pen and put in place as shown for a sleeping room. In
Fig. 154 — TEN-SIDED WISCONSIN HOQ HOUSE
this large building or shed the floor should be of cement,
but it does well without any floor except for the alley.
Strong woven wire fencing divides the pens and extends
out to form yards. A feed room attached to shed would
be an advantage. These small six-foot houses make a
much better sleeping place than an ordinary pen, and are
also the best for sows to farrow in.
A SATISFACTORY HOG HOUSE
A ground plan and elevation of the hog house of A. N.
Portnian of Stockbridge., Wis., built in 1894, are shown.
162
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
at Figures 154 and 155. It is an ideal one. The chimney
is directly behind the ventilator and cannot be seen in the
picture. It is halfway down the roof. Here he can feed
fifty to sixty hogs of all ages in fifteen or twenty minutes.
The house is forty feet in diameter, sides ten feet long and
six feet six inches high to ceiling. The rafters from each
corner run to the center, and those between are spiked onto
the main rafter. There is a ventilator sixteen inches
W
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Fig. 155 — GROUND PLAN
square in center, slatted on four sides to keep rain and
snow out and to let out steam, etc., which may gather. A
large trap door is directly over the cooker. It is opened
when water is taken from the tank and all steam goes out
direct. After the water handling is done the trap door is
closed up and all heat is kept in. This door is three by six
feet.
MOVABLE HOGPENS
Movable or portable pens are very desirable for hogs.
They can be taken to a field where it is desirable to turn
MOVABLE HOGPENS 163
the hogs to pasture, and made to provide sleeping quarters.
Small pens are also very desirable for sows about to
farrow. They can be placed in small fields or in different
portions of a large field, and a sow confined in each one.
A good pattern of a movable hogpen is shown at the left
in Figure 157. It is six by twelve feet in size, four feet
high in the rear and six feet in. the front. The sills are
two by four-inch, which are mounted on two by eight-inch
joists that are rounded at each end so they may be drawn
easily with a pair of horses.
E. W. Brown, a well-known western hog raiser, keeps
about fifty sows and breeds the old sows twice a year. The
gilts, however, are allowed to
farrow but once the first year
and twice thereafter. He keeps
only five or six hogs together in
one lot and uses the wigwam
house, of which he has several
kinds, one of which is shown
in Figure 156. These houses
are built eight by eight feet
Fig. 156— WIGWAM HOUSE square. The floor is on two
by four-inch runners. Lum-
ber for the roof is eight-foot stuff put on weather board
fashion. The house is about seven feet high in the
middle, the roof coming down to the floor on the outside.
There is a door and a window in front and a door in the
rear, so that when both doors are open the cool breeze blows
through and the hogs enjoy it hugely. When the old sows
farrow two of them are placed in one house, and by means
of partition board the interior is arranged so the pigs will
not be hurt. As soon as the pigs are old enough so there
is no danger of their being crushed, they are given the
run of the entire house with a fourteen by fourteen-foot
yard. Here they are left until they can make good use
of grass and then they are turned to pastures,
164
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
At the right in Figure 15 Y is shown an improved A-
shaped hogpen, the improvement consisting in the shoes
that allow it to be moved from one place to another, in
the swinging door at the end, and especially in the hing-
ing of the side, which permits it to be raised and the
interior cleaned out whenever necessary. When the side
swings down again into place the upper end fits up under
the short boards at the top. This house need not be
more than five feet high from ground to peak, and with
it the hogs can be moved about from one feeding ground
to another as desired. Use single boarding, but have
Fig. 157 — TWO TYPES OF MOVABLE PENS
the boards tongued and grooved, and well covered with
paint. The building will then be water-tight and will
last for years. Make the floor space of a size to accom-
modate the number of hogs to be kept.
FEEDING PEN FOR FATTENING HOGS
Feeding floors are becoming more and more popular
among western stock raisers, and as there is so much at
stake in feeding hogs no effort should be spared to keep
them healthy. When the hogs are fed on the ground
there is great danger of inviting disease. A feeding floor,
therefore, is very desirable. To insure perfect healthful-
ness it should be three or four feet above the ground,
so that perfect ventilation is secured and the harboring
A CONVENIENT PIGGERY
165
01 rats and mice made impossible. The floor can bp
made of inch lumber and any desired size. A strong
board fence must be put up all around it to prevent the
hogs being crowded off and injured.
At one end of the pen an approach should be built
up to the gate, vrhich can be closed while the feed is
being placed on the floor. At the other end of the floor a
crib or pen is located in which the feed is stored. The
floor must be cleaned after each feeding. Put a long-
handled fork through the middle of a board about three
feet long and six inches wide. With this the cobs and
uneaten portion of the feed can be quickly pushed off.
Fig. 158 — COVERED FEEDING FLOOR
Hogs should never be fed unclean material. Figure 158
illustrates the arrangement of the feeding floor and
feeding pen. This floor is partially under roof.
PLAN OF A PIGGERY
Figure 159 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
hanging doors or shutters in the upper part of the siding
at the rear of each stall or apartment. These last are
not seen in the engraving.
lee
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
Figure 160 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;
CONVENIENT PIGGEKY
167
these are each eight hy sixteen feet. The rear divisions of
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 allow ingress to the sv?ine when
introduced to the pen. The floors of each two adjoining
divisions are inclined toward each other, so that the liquid
X'
\'
X — \
Fig. 160 — GROUND FLOOR OF PIGGERY
excrement and other filth may flow to the side where the
opening to the back apartment is situated. Two troughs,
8, T, are placed in each feeding room. That in the front,
8, is for food, T, for clear water, a full supply of which is
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 depoeition
of fat.
168
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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, K, 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
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.
Fig. 161 FRONT PARTITION OF PIGGERY
An excellent arrangement, shown in Figure 161, is
adapted to facilitate the cleaning of the troughs, and the
transferring 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, Hj when it is desired to take
the hogs to the dressing table. Triangular pieces, E, E,
are spiked to each front partition, and swing with it,
forming stalls to prevent their crowding while feeding.
These pieces are supported, when the apartment is closed,
by notches in the inner edge of the trough, made to re-
ceive them.
? r-J
j^J
'/,
170
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
A CONVENIENT FARM PIGPEN
Herewith are given the plans and a view of a con-
venient pigpen, upon the farm of the late Colonel F. D.
Curtis of Charlton, Saratoga County, N. T. The build-
ing, shown in Figure 162, 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 cellar beneath, used for storage of roots,
and for cooking and preparing food. There is a cistern
in the cellar, into which water from the roof is collected,
and a pump, by which the water may be run into the
Fig. 163 — PLAN OF CELLAR OF PIGPEN
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 the most perfect sanitary con-
ditions. The building is warm enough to prevent freez-
ing in the coldest winter weather, so that young pigs, if
desired, may be reared without difficulty, even during
winter. The outer and inner walls, and the floor of the
upper room, are all of matched boards. The floor of the
pens is double, 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 a second floor of one and one-half-inch hemlock plank,
COL. CURTIS PIGGERY
171
with matciied 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 waterproof, and
prevents any drip of moisture into the cellar. The cellar
floor is shown in Figure 163. At B, R, are bins for roots.
The roots are unloaded into the bins through the cellar
windows, by means of spouts which direct them into the
bins below. At F is the feed box; at T, T, feed tubs
for mixing feed; at 0, the cistern; P, the pump; K, the
kettle, set in brick, with chimney behind it. At 5 is a
spout, also seen in Figure 164, by which meal is dropped
from the upper floor to the feed box, the kettle or the
Za"^ /a 7A L\ l\ IS
f
I i 1 U^ _
H
Fig. 164 — PLAN OF MAIN FLOOR OF PIGPEN
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 164. 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 H is a hatchway for hoisting meal or
corn into the room above; 4 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.
172
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
MR. CROZIER S PIGPENS
Mr. William Crozier of Beacon Stock Farm, Northport,
L. I., has a long range of pigpens. The elevation, Figure
165, the ground plan. Figure 166, and a view of the inte-
165 — FRONT VIEW OF PIGGERY
rior of the building, Figure 167, show the simple arrange-
ment. The building is placed against a bank, which has a
brick retaining wall that answers as the rear wall of the
building, and is nine feet high. The building is sixteen
Walk
^en
-"en
Pen
Fig. 166 — PLAN OF PIGGERY
^en
feet wide, with the front side six and one-half feet high.
The pens, see Figure 166, are ten by twelve, and three feet
high, with a four-foot walk at the rear of them. The
doors, of which each pen has one opening into the yard,
COMFORTABLE PIGPEN lio
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
desired, to prevent egress. At one end of the building is
a room furnished with apparatus for steaming food. The
feeding is done from the walk, the food being placed in
small portable troughs, which can be readily cleaned.
Fig. 167 — ^INTERIOR OF PIGGERY
A COMFORTABLE PIGPEN
The plan. Figure 168, combines the requisites, with
many of the conveniences, of a desirable pigpen. The
engraving shows one complete pen with its divisions. A
row of these pens may be built as a long shed, and the
description of one will answer 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
shown at I. At c is a passage which also runs along the
lYi BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
whole building, but which, when 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 width; the passage, c, is three
feet wide, and the yard, d, four feet, making the whole
space of the yard seven by eight feet when 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
have to be moved from one pen to another can then be
rig, 168 — PLAN OF PIGPEN
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 cannot be torn up. A tight roof should cover the
FOR MANY HOGS 175
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 backward 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 young pigs from
being overlaid by the sow and smothered. 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 girths and tops and bottoms of the par-
titions. The whole quantity of lumber needed for one
complete pen would be 1200 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 twa
by four scantling, 104 feet surface of two-inch plank, and
500 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 $350
completed.
PENS AND YARDS FOR 150 HOGS
The pens are built in a range on each side of a central
feed house, shovni in the corner of Figure 169. 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 leads to the upper story. Opposite
to the stairs, and at the right of the doorway, is a pump
connected with a cistern, which receives all the flow from
the 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
troutrhs in both wings of the pens, for cleansing them and
176
BARN PLANS AND OUTBDILDINGS
to supply the animals ■with drinking water. Opposite th&
pump is the boiler or the mixing vat. As a boiler
will be found indispensable at times, one should be pro-
vided at the outset, as it may be used for soaking or other
wise preparing food when not needed for heating purposes.
A passageway leads on either hand from the feed room
down the row of pens. The arrangement of the pens
is illustrated in Figure 170; the passageway is at a, the
feed trough with spout at h. The troughs are protected by
Pig. 169 — PLAN OF PIGPENS
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 lying 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 cZ is a slatted ven-
tilator fixed in the wall over each door, also shown in
Figtire 172. The yard and pens shown in the left-hand
lower corner of Figure IfiO are for brood sows with pigs,
SAFEGUARDS IN THfi PIGPEN
177
which are kept separate from the rest of the herd. The
pens are arranged as the others, with the addition of safe-
guards for the young pigs placed around the walls, ahoiit
eight inches above the floor and six inches from it, and
attached to it by means of iron straps. See Figure 171.
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 172 is seen the eleva-
tion 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 100 square feet, accommodating five or six pigs. Sheds
Fig. 170 — SECTION OF PEN
Fig. 171 — SAFEGUARDS
100 feet long, with yards covering the included ground,
would give room for a herd of 150 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 should
be secured firmly with a strong bolt having a large head.
The floors of the pens may be made of hydraulic lime con-
crete, thoroughly saturated with gas tar. Such a floor is
always dry, clean and perfectly impenetrable either by
vermin or hx the.swine. An occasional dressing of hot
118
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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 jfEectively, the floor is
sloped for two or three inches, and a slightly hollowed gut-
ter conveys the drainage into the outer yard, which should
be paved with cobble stone or cemented, if possible, or
otherwise well bedded with litter or other absorbents.
The best absorbent is dry swamp muck ; when this cannot
Fig. 1Y2 EXTERIOR VIEW OF PENS
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.
ANOTHER 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
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 173 pre-
sents the pen, the engraving showing it so clearly that no
description is needed. The yard, seen in Figure 174, is
PORTABLE PIGPEN AND YARD
179
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
attached to the pen by hooks and staples, and both of them
are provided with handles, by which they can be lifted
and carried from place to place. Both the yard and pen
Fig. 173 — A PORTABLE PIGPEN
Fig. 174 — ^YARD TO PORTABLE PIGPEN
should be floored to prevent the pig from tearing up the
ground. The floors should be raised a few inches from
the ground, that they may be kept dry and made durable.
PIGPEN, HEN HOUSE AND CORN CRIB COMBINED
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 175, is constructed of stout framing, and
180
BARK PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
where it comes in contact with the hillside is protected
by dry stone walls. The roof of the sleeping room, B,
Figure 176, forms the floor of the hen house, G. To
prevent the dirt from one room being thrown into the
other, the door of communication between them is raised
six inches from the floor, and an inclined plane with
a cleat is placed on either side to make it easy of ingress
Fig. 175 — ^FRONT VIEW OF PIGPEN, ETC.
and egress. The feeding room, A, is protected from the
weather by the corn loft floor and the overhanging eaves.
The hen house is situated immediately over the sleeping
room of the pigpen. It is ventilated 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 build-
PIGPEN AND TOOL HOUSE
181
ing. By this arrangement of the 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, gives sufficient ventilation
Fig. 176 — SECTIONAL VIEW OP BUILDING
for the corn. At F is the platform from which to fill
the crib. The building is ten feet wide by fifteen feet
in length, but may be made larger if desired.
A PIGPEN AND TOOL HOUSE
A pigpen with the upper part arranged for the storage
of small tools, seed sowers and cultivators is here given.
182
BARN PLANS A:t^U OUTBUILUINGS
The upper floor, seven feet high, is open over the passage,
as shown in Figure 177, which is a section of the inside
of the building; there is a stairway provided at the
end of the passage. The larger tools are taken up
Fig. 177 — ^END AND SECTIONAL VIEW
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 178. The pens are
arranged on one side of the passage, with doors opening
Fig. 178 — 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 shown at a; swinging
doors, at h, h, give access to the yards.
• CHEAP PIGPEN
183
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 sur-
face. They are arranged as in
Figure 1T9. 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 ordinary length of boards. To
put up the walls begin at the bottom, fastening
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
.
k
1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ITTT
, ;
^
Elg. 179 — PLAN OF PIG
PEN
1
••-
3
Fig. 180— VIEW OP PIGPEN
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
184 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
two. The roof boards proper, eigiit 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
they are nailed on. There should be two small windows,
placed as thought most desirable. The interior division
should be as shown in Figure 179. The feeding place is
at a, in which is a trough, with a sloping board in the pas-
sage, c, by which to pour in the slop. A sleeping room is
at 6, 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.
SELP-OLOSING DOOR FOE PIGPEN
A warm, dry pen is necessary for the health and comfort
of a pig. Cold and damp induce more diseases than are
charged to these causes. Neither the winter snow nor the
spring and summer rains should be allowed to beat into
the pen. But the difficulty is to have a door that will
shut of itself and can be opened by the animals whenever
they desire. The engraving, Figure 181, shows a door of
this kind that can be applied to any pen, at least any
to which a door can be affixed at all. It is hung on hooks
and staples to the lintel of the doorway, and swinging
either way allows the inmates of the pen to go out or in,
as they please — closing after them. If the door is in-
tended 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 FOE A PIGGEBY
The illustration. Figure 182, is of a swinging door for
a piggery, which is intended to be used in connec-
Fig. 181 — SELF-CLOSING PEN DOORS
Fig. 182 — ^A. SWINGING DOOR FOR A PIGGERT
ISti BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
tion with a feed 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 close it against the pigs. The door is
held in place by a bolt sliding in a slot, when in either
position, as shown in the engraving. In a piggery, the
pens would be most conveniently arranged on each side
of a passageway, with feed troughs opening into the
passage, by doors of the style here described.
CHAPTER VII
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
insure 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
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 open so that a free circulation
Fig. 183 OPEN FRONT SCRATCHING SHED HOUSE
of air can be secured in summer. They should be placed
about eighteen inches from the floor, which will give the
best light in winter, and should not be too large. While
glass admits much heat in the daytime, it radiates as
much at night and makes the house too cold.
SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES
The latest idea in building poultry houses is to provide
an open shed attached to the roosting room, in order that
the fowls may have a place for exercise in the open air
188
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
during the winter months. If the floor is kept covered
with several inches of straw, chaff, leaves or other light,
dry material, and the whole grain is scattered in this,
the fowls will get abundant exercise in scratching for
their feed. This keeps them warm as well as busy, and
Fig. 184 — CLOSED FRONT SCRATCHING SHED HOUSE
they are healthier for it. They also lay more eggs, and
for breeding purposes the eggs are more fertile.
It costs rather more to build a house of this character,
but many practical poultry keepers hold that the extra
return pays a good profit on the investment. Many styles
of such buildings have been put up. The best plan is to
Fig. 185 — GROUND PLAN
Fig. 186 CONCRETE HOUSE
plan an open shed at the end of the house, then two
roosting rooms, followed by two scratching sheds and
another roosting room.
There are various methods employed to enclose the front
of the shed during stormy and very severe cold weather.
Some use screens, which are hinged at the top and let
down. These are covered with oiled muslin, which allows
SCRATCHING SHED HOUSE 189
some light to enter. Others employ swing doors to en-
close half the shed and side up the other half, putting in
a large window. Figures 183 and 184 show the two styles.
In Figures 185 and 187 are shown the style of houses
built by the Massachusetts Agricultural College at
Amherst. These houses are twelve by eighteen feet, hav-
ing a roosting room occupying ten feet of the space and
scratching sheds the balance. Two doors with large win-
dows are used to close the open shed when needed. The
/\.
w?*,T!i?r'»«»<«»* •
'-'^
,^.
;sa.!,m--,.-^«...,.,. •^t'H... >.> ;i.y ■" -■-:' ,. / ^i■^A•■'^: ....!-'
Fig. 187 — i. MASSACHUSETTS SCRATCHING SHED HOUSE
house is thoroughly well built, being sided with inch
boards and covered with building paper and then shingled.
Such a house will easily accommodate twenty-five to
thirty fowls.
CONCRETE POULTRY HOUSES
E. W. Geer of St. Francois County, Mo., has solved the
problem of eggs in winter, and sound, unfrosted combs
in the spring. He has accomplished this by means of
lyO BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
concrete poultry houses that are free from dampness in
the most rainy seasons, and as warm inside in the coldest
days as a cellar. See Pigure 186. Where building mate-
rials, such as stones, sand, cement and lime, can be easily
and cheaply had, such a building can be erected at a cost
not greatly exceeding a wooden house. Make the neces-
sary excavation and lay the foundation. Set studding for
uprights four inches wider than the width of the wall;
plumb the studding and fasten securely with stay-laths.
On the inside of each stud place a one by two-inch
strip, and against this put one-inch boards fifteen to
twenty inches wide, which will make the two sides of a
box in which the wall is to be laid. Drive a nail near the
top edge of the board through it and the one by two-inch
piece into the studding. When a section of the wall is
laid and has set, pull out this nail, knock out the one by
two-inch piece and raise the board, fastening it as before.
Continue in this way until the wall is completed.
A wall eight inches thick is heavy enough for all small
buildings, such as chicken houses, pigpens, etc. The
mortar is made as follows : In a large, flat box slake a
barrel of good stone lime, using plenty of water so that
it does not burn. Let this stand for several' hours until
thoroughly slaked and cooled, then mix with it twelve
barrels sharp sand or gravel, and one-half barrel Eosendale
cement. This should be made to the consistency of mortar.
Unless some cement is used the chickens will pick out the
mortar. The cost will depend largely on the price of
material and labor and vary from three-quarters to two
cents per cubic foot of wall.
A MOVABLE POULTRY HOUSE
On the majority of farms where grain is raised there
is more or less wasted each year that nothing but a fowl
will pick up. This often happens in wheat fields. The
MOVABLE POULTRY HOUSE
191
hen house shown in Figure 188 is designed to meet the
demand for a movable house, and was gotten up by a
practical Michigan poultry raiser. The house is built as
light as the necessary strength will allow. The length is
twelve feet and a little less than six feet wide in the clear.
The hight from the sill to eaves is five feet, and seven and
one-half feet from sill to gable. The door is six feet high
and two feet wide.
Fig. 188 — POULTEY HOUSE ON WHEELS
The house is sided with matched stuff, without any
inner ceiling; the floor is single, also, as it is designed
purely for warm weather use, though the owner has no
trouble in keeping Cochins in it during the winter time.
The roof is tarred paper, which is painted once a year.
The rear wheels are from an old mowing machine; the
192
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
forward ones from a grain binder truck. The rear axle
is a heavy iron rod securely bolted to the bottom, while
the front axle is of wood.
THREE-PEN HOUSE
The house shown in Figure 189, which is unique, com-
pact, economical and convenient, is particularly adapted
to a city or village lot. It is neat and ornamental and is
recommended for the fancier who wishes to make special
matings or keep two or three breeds. It can be built ten by
twelve feet or larger if desired. The sides may be of plain
^^iga^
Fig. 189 — CONVENIENT HOUSE FOR THREE FLOCKS
clapboards or of shingles laid over matched siding with
paper between. The roof is also shingled and can be sur-
mounted with a small cupola for a ventilator. The pens
and yards are divided as shown. A house of this shape
ten by twelve feet would easily accommodate thirty fowls,
although eight in each pen would undoubtedly prove more
satisfactory.
A CHEAP AND CONVENIENT POULTRY HOUSE
The plan. Figure 190, of a poultry house will be found
convenient when two varieties of fowls are kept, yards
heing made, in front, of each compartment, for. an out-dooj;
CHEAP POULTRY HOUSE
193
range, when it is necessary to keep them in confinement.
The ground plan, shown in the figure, is ten by twenty-
nine feet; apartments for fowls ten by twelve feet; A,
outside door; B, hall, to provide for storing feed, giving
access to the nests without entering the apartments in
c
A L
Fig. 190 GROUND PLAN OF A POULTRY HOUSE
which the fowls live. Slatted gates, six and one-half feet
high, are placed at C; the space above the gates, and
above the nest boxes, should be slatted to allow circula-
tion of air. Large windows are in the side at I), D; nest
Fig. 191 — VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH THE HOUSE
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
answer the purpose, find the door. A, Figure 190, opening
194
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
at one side, may be placed at the end. Figure 191 shows
a section through the middle of the house — from to P,
in Figure 190. The slats in front of the nest boxes are
marked H; other letters as in Figure 190. The front ele-
vation, nine feet high, is shown in Figure 192. 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
Fig. 192 — FRONT VIEW OF POULTRY HOUSE
one foot wide and sixteen inches high. For convenience
in cleaning, the nest boxes should bp 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 stable, as vermin are liable to get on the
horses unless care is constantly exercised in their exter-
mination.
D
O
M
><
D
o
o
be
196 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
AN OHIO POULTRY HOUSE
The engraving, Figure 193, represents the poultry house
of Mr. J. H. 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
operations. The runs, as shown in the foreground, are
eight by seventy feet, and each one has two plum trees in
it, which furnish both shade and fruit; the plums, it is
said, are not injured by insects. There is no room lost
by alleys or passages inside of the house; entrance is
gained by doors which pass into each pen and run. To
preserve cleanliness, every part of the building is made
accessible, and ventilation 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 in hight. There is
a stout roof of glass on the south side, and a large win-
dow, furnishing abundant light to each apartment.
ANOTHER CHEAP HEN HOUSE
juhe house. Figure 194, is ten feet wide and twelve feet
long. A passageway four feet wide runs along the south
side, in which are windows; this is formed by a parti-
tion three feet high, which extends from near the door to
the rear, and supports the lower side of a sloping floor,
that rises to the eaves on the north side. The roosts
are fixed above this sloping floor, and the droppings of
the birds fall upon the floor, which, being sprinkled with
plaster, they roll down, or are easily scraped oS. There
is a ledge at the front edge, which prevents their going to
the floor. Under this sloping floor the space is divided
by a partition, making a nest room about six feet square.
ANOTHER CHEAP HOUSE
197
and a setting room five by six feet, which is also used for
a storeroom for grain, eggs, etc. This setting ' room is
entered by another door and lighted by a pane in the
rig. 194 — SECTION OF HEN HOUSE
DOOR
w
'
NEST BOXES
1
—
"1
._
L_, DOOf, a
rig. 195 — PLAN OF HEN HOUSE
gable end. The nest boxes slide through the partition
into the setting room, but there is no access for the fowls,
except when sitting. At these times hens are moved, if
198
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
they happen to be in boxes, against the side building, and
made to occupy those in the partition. The back end of
the four-foot passageway, Figure 195, is used as a feeding
floor, and here stands the water fountain. The use of
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 FOE FOUR VARIETIES
To keep several kinds of poultry in one building, but
in different yards, is sometimes troublesome to the inex-
HOUSE AND YARDS
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 196.
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
HOME FOR FOUR BREEDS
199
them; wire netting six feet high would be required for
the lighter varieties. Five feet high would be ample hight
for the heavier kinds, as the Asiatic fowls or Plymouth
Rocks. Doors and windows are made in each apartment,
as may be desired. A passageway
is made from the front gate to the
yard, which leads to a central room,
as shown in Figure 197. Around
this central room are the nests, which
are reached by small doors opening
into them. Eoosts are put up in
each apartment, as seen in Figure
197. For the large fowls, low roosts
should be used, as they cannot reach
high ones without 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- 198. It is made of chestnut strips two inches
square, 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 of the same
"TTT
~rr
—
Fig.
197 — PLAN OP
ROOSTS
Fig. 198 — ^Low HOOSTS for heavy fowls
material for supports. The whole is fastened to the wall
by rings fixed in staples, so that it can be turned up
and held against the wall by a hook. 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
200
BARN PLANS ANB OUTBUILDINGS
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
199. Originally this was made for a kennel, but it is
perfectly well adapted for poultry. Its peculiarly Trench
appearance gives it a picturesqueness which, with many
persons, would rather add to its attractiveness than other-
Fig. 199 — HOUSE AND YARDS FOR SEVERAL BREEDS
wise, but the style of the building may be varied to suit
any circumstances. It is divided into a number of apart-
ments, 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.
HOUSE FOR SEVERAL BREEDS
201
POULTRY HOUSE FOR A NUMBER OF BREEDS
The plan. Figure 200, is of a compact and convenient
house for small stocks of fancy and other fowls. The
length of the building is forty-five feet and its width
ten feet. It is divided into nine apartments, each five feet
wide. The house is entered at one end, as shown in the
figure, and a passageway two feet wide extends through
it on the north side. See Figure 201. The interior parti-
Fig. 200 — POULTRY HOUSE FOR A NUMBER OF BREEDS
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
feet to the plate. The yards are much longer than is
possible to show in such a small picture as Figure 200, and
202
BAIIN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
are five or ten feet wide. The paling surrounding them
is of one and one-half by one-inch strips. A brook runs
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 202. They are made of round sticks, about two
inches in diameter, and, beneath them, troughs of two
boards nailed together, catch all the droppings. The
gin.
□ □
..md
\
8'"
■!□□
-5f
..^d mi
gin
DD
Is
■
4S' IB ether en a.
Fig. 201 — GROUND PLAN OF THE POULTRY HOUSE
nests and feeding boxes stand upon the sand, and are fre-
quently moved to prevent food 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 entered are two feet wide, made
also of strips, and all are furnished with locks, so that
IJfCUBATOR CELLAR
203
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 passageway, 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 windows. 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.
Fig. 202 SECTION OF HOUSE
AN INCUBATOR CELLAR
Many insurance companies will not allow the use of an
incubator in the house; hence in order to make one's
insurance policy good, it is necessary to run the machine
in another building. The ordinary outbuilding is too
poorly constructed to allow the successful operation of an
Fig. 203 — CROSS-SECTION OF INCUBATOR CELLAR
incubator, as an even degree of temperature cannot be
maintained. Even the best incubators, with the most deli-
cate regulating apparatus, will not work where the tern-
204
fiARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
perature varies from twenty to thirty degrees between day
and night, as it will do in some outbuildings.
An incubator room partially underground is desirable,
because it is easier to control the temperature in such a
building. The sides and roof should be made double with
a good air space between, and well insulated with building
paper. Windows and doors should likewise be made
double. Figure 203 shows a cheap and easily constructed
incubator room built upon the surface of the ground,
yet surrounded by earth which is banked up against its
stone walls. It is banked on three sides, leaving one side
unbanked for the entrance door and a window. This side
should preferably face the east or west. A room eight or
ten feet square will hold several incubators.
A PRACTICAL BROODER HOUSE
The average farmer does not wish to go to the expense
of a hot water system for brooding early chickens, but
Fig. 204 — VIEWS OF A BANK BROODER HOUSE
there are many who would like an economical plan for
brooding a few hundred early chickens. Figure 204
shows a house built against a bank that can be twelve
feet or more in length. The cross-section shows exactly
how the homemade brooder is located, with respect to
the run for the chicks. Set on legs as it is, the attend-
ant does not have to stoop over his work, and with the
A BROODER HOUSE 206
raised run for the chicks, they are brought on a level
■with the brooder, so they can easily run in and out.
This run is coated with gravel and cemented. The
brooder is three feet square. Allow six feet for each
brooder and pen and you have three feet at the end of
each brooder — sufficient space to give access to each pen,
which can be cleaned from the walk with a short-handled
hoe or rake. The house is twelve feet wide, the walk or
alley six and the run six. The top of the brooder is
hinged, to give easy access, and the partition in front of
the runs is tight, to keep in the warmth that is produced
by the sunshine coming in at the window. If a bank of
earth is not at hand, earth can be heaped up to form a
bench on which to locate the runs, or the walk may be
sunk.
A CHEAP AND ECONOMICAL BROODER HOUSE
The plan of a brooder house as built and run by J. E.
Little of Sulphur Springs, Mo., is shown at Figure 205.
The ideas embodied in this house are new, novel and
economical, having proven to be an excellent system for
brooder houses.
Any cast iron furnace front of suitable size — a large
stove front, preferably with upper and lower doors — ^will
answer for constructing the furnace, which is built in
the ground, sixteen to twenty inches wide and long enough
to take in four-foot cord wood. If coal is to be used the
furnace need not be so long by half. The flue extends
from the furnace the entire length of the house to a
pipe or chimney outside, is bricked at the sides and
covered with galvanized sheet iron, on which is filled in
about six inches of coarse sand. Fine sand will not
give so good results.
Individual tastes and resources, together with the loca-
tion and purpose in view, can all be consulted to advan-
tage in the planning and constructing of the runs. The
206
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDI^vGS
chicks from the incuhators are put over the furnace and
moved toward the other ends of the house as they grow,
to make room for new hatches. The sand is placed in a
trench, about two feet wide, six inches deep and the
entire length of the house, and directly over the flue,
which latter should he about two or two and a half f«et
from the back or lower end of the house. One of the
-INTERIOR
BROODER HOUSE
best and essential features of this system is the ventila-
tion. Fresh air from the outside passes through pipes
in the sand, where it is heated before passing into the
hovers through upright branch pipes, one in each hover.
The vitiated air finds its way out through a three-inch
opening, left between the front or upper wall plate and
the roof sheathing, the entire length of the building.
With a practically air-tight furnace front a medium-
SMALL POULTRY HOUSE
207
sized cord-wood stick laid on a bed of coals and hot ashes
will maintain a steady and efficient heat in the hovers
for twelve hours in cold weather. Ordinarily, up and
down boards weather boarded, having light tarred paper
between them, make the cheapest and best walls. Tarred
paper should also be put on the sheathing before laying
the shingles. For a house eight feet wide, back wall
three feet and front wall seven feet high and fifty feet
long, the material should not cost more than fifty dollars,
and usually less.
SMALL HOUSES FOR POULTRY
Small houses are often desirable in order to mate up
a few birds for breeding purposes or in which to place a
Fig. 206 — SUMMER HOUSE FOR POULTRY
brooder with young chicks. After the chicks are a few
weeks old the brooder can be removed, roosts put in and
Ihe chicks left there all summer safe from vei-min and
thieves if the doors are locked at night. The window
should be replaced with a wire netting screen. Several
houses of this kind in use by the West Virginia Experi-
208 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINaS
ment Station are six feet square, six feet high in front
and four feet high behind. They are constructed of
planed and grooved hard pine, which costs there seven-
teen, dollars and fifty cents per thousand feet. The frame
is composed of hemlock two by fours.
The cost of these little houses is approximately as fol-
lows: 206 feet flooring for floor, sides and roof, $3.50;
sixty-five linear feet of hemlock two by fours, $1; one
window, $1; roofing, $1.75; nailing together, $1.50; total,
$8.Y5. About fifty chicks are put in a brooder in each of
these houses and allowed to remain until the chicks have
no further use for it. It is then removed and perches
nailed up for the chicks. If the cockerels are sold as soon
as they are ready for market, the houses are large enough
to accommodate the pullets until they are placed in lay-
ing houses in the fall.
CHEAP SUMMER SHELTER FOR CHICKS
Growing chicks can be kept in a most vigorous con-
dition by having pure air at night. Shut up in close
coops they cannot have this. Get
them to roosting out of doors as
early as possible, but provide
a shelter for the roosts. This can
tJf.iJ' be made very cheaply by put-
„. ..,, ' ting up a rough board and stake
Fig. 207— CHEAP SHELTER j, r. ■ -r<- onT
frame, as shown in iJigure 207,
and covering it with tarred paper, tacking lath on the out-
side, over each rafter. This will protect the chicks from
showers in the night, but will not shut out any pure air.
A better, but more expensive shelter is also shown in
Figure 206. This consists of a single boarded building
of any size desired, having the front of wire netting. If
the door is closed and locked at night the chickens are
FOR PIGEONS AND DUCKS 209
safe from thieves or vermin. Such a house is suitable
for turkeys in cold weather, as they are healthier when
kept out of doors rather than in a closed building.
A PLACE FOR PIGEONS
Pigeons need the least care of any poultry and raising
squabs is agreeable and profitable work. To raise them
on a large scale, a proper loft must be constructed. A
suitable place for them is on a floor, in the top of a barn.
The size of a loft does not matter, one fifteen by thirty
Fig. 208 — PIGEON LOFT
feet is large enough. Get high enough and away from
rats and cats. Cut small holes in the south side of the
loft, as shown in Figure 208, and place an alighting board
on a level with the bottom. Nail boxes for nests along
the sides.
DUCES AND DUCK HOUSES
There is a satisfactory profit in raising ducks; but the
conditions must be favorable, and these include a water-
run, either a stream or pond, in which the ducks can
gather food, and a bouse conveniently arranged iov
210
BARN PLAXS AXD OUTBUILDINGS
securing the eggs. Young ducks are best raised with only
enough water to drink, but breeding stock does much
better with a place to swim. A house may be made for
them on the bank of a pond adjoining a brook in which
there are abundance of water cresses and other food,
both vegetable and animal. The water cress is eaten with
avidity by ducks, and has myriads of snails and other
water animals unon it. A plan of a house is shown in
Fig. 209 — ^VIEW OF A CONVENIENT DUCK HOUSE
Figures 209 and 210. For fifty to 100 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 windows. At the rear are the nests; these
are boxes open at the front. Behind each nest is a small
door through which the eggs may be taken. It is neces-
sary to teep the ducks shut up in the morning until they
VENTILATING POULTRY HOUSE
211
have . laid their eggs ; a strip of wire netting two feet
high will be required to inclose a narrow yard in front of
the house. Twine netting 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.
THE VENTILATION OF POULTRY HOUSES
The principle of the King system of ventilating barns
is best for poultry houses. In this the ventilator extends
to within a few inches of the floor, and goes out at the
JJI
Fig. 210 — GROUND PLAN OF THE HOUSE
highest point in the roof. It is unnecessary in poultry
houses to provide for the admission of fresh air, as enough,
and generally too much, comes in around the doors and
windows. If a poultry house is constructed so thoroughly
as to keep out the cold, and ventilation is not provided,
there is great liability of its becoming damp, particularly
if a large number of fowls are confined.
A ventilator should be provided to carry out the moist
air and yet not remove at the same time all warm air.
If the opening is at or near the roof, it will take out the
warm air, but if the ventilating shaft is brought down
near the floor, it will only remove the foul air unless too
large for the house.
The cheapest and best ventilator is built of two boards
six inches wide, and two boards eight inches wide, These
212 BAHN PLANS AKD OUTBUILDINGS
are nailed together to make a shaft six inches square,
inside dimensions. If the building has a roof sloping
one way, set this shaft at the front of the house, and
allow it to extend one foot above the roof. Bore some
inch holes in the top to allow the air to escape and cover
it to keep out the rain. Provide a slide in the shaft to
open and close in order to control the ventilation. Near
the roof cut out a piece one foot long and then replace
it in a manner which will close the shaft tightly, yet
allow of its being opened readily to take out the warm
air during hot weather. Do not use a tin or metal pipe
for a ventilator, as it will collect the moisture on the
inside during cold weather and prove very unsatisfactory.
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CHAPTEE IX
CORN HOUSES AND CBIBS
Whatever temporary expedients the grower of Indian
corn may resort to for storing his crop, he at last conies
to a crib as a prime necessity. The rail pen is a very
insecure inclosure, much exposed to damage from the
storms, and an invitation for any thief to plunder. Stor-
ing in the garret is a very laborious business, and unless
spread very thin, the corn is very liable to injure by
Fig. 224 — CONNECTICUT CORN
HOUSE
Fig. 225 — TIN
PAN ON POST
mold. Spread upon the barn floor, it is always in the
way, and free plunder to all the rats and mice upon
the premises. Corn is more liable to injury from im-
perfect curing than any other grain that we raise.
Wheat, oats, rye, barley and buckwheat are easily cured
in the field, so that a few days or weeks after cutting
they can be threshed there, and immediately stored in
bins or sent to market. But Indian corn has a much
226 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
larger kernel, and grows upon a thick, stout cob, from
■which it takes months to expel the moisture after it is
fully ripe.
THE CONNECTICUT CORN HOUSE
Figure 324 is the common type of the corn house
throughout the east. It sits upon posts covered with
inverted tin pans. Figure 225, to make it inaccessible
to rats and mice. These posts are a foot or more in
diameter, and two or three feet from the surface of the
Fig. 226 — TWO CRIBS ROOFED OVER
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 mov-
able, and are put up as the crib is filled. The remain-
ing space between the bins is used for shelling corn.
AN IMPEOVED CORN HOUSE 227
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 226 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
other. These cribs are entered at one end by a narrow
door, and the whole space is occupied by the corn. They
are from three to five feet in width, and give very perfect
ventilation to the ears. They have usually a stone
foundation, with a sill and board floor above. They are
made of any desirable size, and cribs holding from 500
to 1000 bushels are common.
AN IMPEOVED CORN 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
ravages may be prevented, will be productive of a great
saving. The burrowing rat, which makes its nest be-
neath the buildings or rubbish piles, does the most mis-
chief 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 227, 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 4000 bushels of com in the 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
^dmit a current of air. The space between the cribs is
228
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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
inner 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 weather-proof on the outside, and by
opening the sliding doors, free circulation of air can be
obtained in fine weather. Above, the shed is floored
Fig. 227 — ^AN IMPROVED CORN HOUSE
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 purposes. 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
WESTERN CORN HOUSES 229
be sliding doors, and loose boards may be placed across
the doorways 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 corn houses, so frequently met with in
the great corn-growing west. The one here described
belongs to W. S. Wadsworth, Franklin County, Kan.
Figure 228 gives a side view of the house, with the end
or front in side section. The house is 112 feet long by
twenty-eight feet wide, and has a capacity of 18,000
bushels. The manner of storing away corn in a large
house like this is an interesting feature. It is done by
horse power, which operates a large belt elevator. On
the right of the entrance, or floor, of the house, the ele-
vator 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 series of "buckets" attached to its
outer surface. The "buckets" or cups are about two
feet apart. The pulley. A, is connected 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 turn post, to which the horse
is attached. Thus, 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 hopper below
the floor; shown in cross-section only in Figure 228.
The wagon is driven in upon the floor, which is pro-
vided 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 so arranged that the whole
WESTERN CORN HOUSES
231
wagon tips back, as shown in side view of Figure 229,
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 arranged 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
■END VIEW OF MAIN PAET
belt, which is run by a cord connecting A with the
belt pulley at F, a short distance below it. This hori-
zontal belt runs the whole length of the storing portion
of the house, and just below the ridge pole, as may
be seen in Figure 228, 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 chute is used at the
232 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
further end of the helt, for the purpose of turning the
corn to one side or the other of the house, thus making
the distribution of the grain an easy matter. Figure 230
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 corn house.
CROSS-SECTION OF STORE HOUSK
ANOTHER WESTERN CORN HOUSE
It will be seen from the engraving. Figure 231, that this
corn house stands upon 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
sixty feet in length by thirty in width, and is constructed
as follows: It has an alley or cartway running length-
wise through the center, which is ten feet wide at the sills
aud eight feet wide at the top. On each side of the alley
is a crib ten feet wide at the bottom and eleven feet at
the top. The outer and inner sides of the cribs are slatted
A BIG WESTERJf CORN HOUSE 233
perpendicularly; the gable ends are close-boarded. Each
crib-gable has a door, and sliding doors upon rollers close
the cartway 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
Fig. 231 — ^ANOTHER WESTERN CORN HOUSE
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 6080 bushels of corn,
CEMENT FLOORS NOT SUITABLE
In building a corn crib first get good stone for founda-
tion, and if these are not procurable use brick piers molded
in place from Portland cement. On these piers, which
shotild not be more than four feet apart, place two by
twelve sills, set up posts or studding two by six. Figure
234
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINQS
233, spacing them two feet apart, and spike them to the
two by ten floor joists. The floor lies the long way and
ought not to be matched. Figure 232 shows the rest of the
frame except that the inner studding need not all of it
run up to the roof, though each alternate one should
do so. Between these double cribs is an excellent place
for the wagon and above is a useful scaffold. What the
diagram does not show is a set of long braces of two by six,
at least twelve feet long, firmly spiked diagonally from
rig, 232 — FRAMEWORK OP CORN CRIB
corner to plate so as to resist wind pressure or weight
of grain settling unevenly. Siding need not be matched
stuff unless snow blows into cracks of buildings. In many
sections it is customary to board up with six-inch stuff
and leave the cracks slightly open. This crib is as strong
and durable as it need be for any region. The length will
depend on the conditions involved. The crib is all of
two-inch stuff nailed and spiked together.
A CONVENIENT CORN CEIB
235
This crib will hold about 100 bushels to the running
foot of ear corn, filling it ten feet high. The same prin-
ciple of construction applied to a narrower building, say
the bins five feet wide instead of ten, would make a
length of forty feet, which would hold about 1600 bushels.
As air should be admitted through the bottom it is evident
that a cement floor would not do for a corn crib. Cement
piers to set the posts on would be excellent and are often
used. Have the tinner make pipes of heavy galvanized
iron twelve inches in diameter, which should be set on
iM
ll i
1
\
\
I
\
! ii ii :: 2->::'i ;; .]
Fig. 233 — STUDDING OF CRIB
Fig. 234 — SMALL CRIB
flat stones sunk to hard earth in the ground, the pipes
filled with cement concrete and the crib set thereon so rats
cannot climb them.
A CONVENIENT CORN CRIB
Figure 234 shows a corn crib which is satisfactory
where a small amount of corn is to be kept. It can be
made any size desired, but possibly one twenty-five by
twelve feet is the most satisfactory. The sides may be
made of any kind of rough boards placed about two inches
apart, or strips of wood of any character can be used,
provided the opening between them is not wider than three
inches. The roof is made out of ordinary rough boards
o
as
o
D
be
SELF-FEEDING CORN CRIBS 237
with battens over the cracks. The crib should be placed
at least a foot above the ground, so that it will not harbor
rats. The one shown in the engraving is supported by
two large sills. Pillars of brick or blocks of wood can
be used.
A SELF-FEEDING COEN CRIB
In portions of the west, where 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 corn 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 with
earth, it will enable the building better to resist, when it
is empty, the heavy winds of the prairie. The engraving,
Figure 235, shows the form of one of these feeding cribs,
which may be made of any suitable size, or of any con-
venient material.
A SELF-DISCHARGING CORN CRIB
A com 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 236. The floor slopes from one side
Z3S BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
to the other, and its lower margin projects heyond 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
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 obvious 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
Fig. 236 — SECTION OF crib Fig. 237 — aboard ratter
closed places there will be no corn upon the floor of the
box, so that it will be easy to shovel out the corn. In
one part of the west cribs of this kind are in common
use, but they are not frequently found elsewhere.
A cover 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 ujse in the
western, states, is suggested hj seeing hundreds of them
ROOFS FOR CORN CRIBS 239
filled with corn soaking 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 237. They should then be laid across the corn,
which is to be heaped up into the center of the crib.
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
Fig. 238 — COVER FOR corn creb
less. Boards are then tacked upon the "rafters" length-
wise of the com crib, commencing at the lower part,
each board overlapping two inches or thereabouts. 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 238 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
blovm off by heavy winds.
CHAPTER X
IGE HOUSES
ice: its uses and impoetance
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
nature, however, its very abundance causes it to be disre-
garded; and this mine of usefulness is formed once a
year, perhaps almost at the farmhouse door, and allowed
to pass away in spring unworked. Ice in the dairy is
next to indispensable, for holding milk and cream at a
proper temperature and for use in working and keeping
butter. This fact is recognized by all well-regulated
dairies, and especially in those where high-priced butter
is made. 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 or ice plow, 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 will keep
very much better than otherwise. For a day or two be-
fore the house is filled it is well to throw it open in order
A CHEAP ICE HOUSE 241
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, dry 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 storehouses,
and oat, wheat 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
in 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,
sharp 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 drain would
cause the loss of the ice in a few weeks of warm weather.
Around the inside 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
hoarding reaches the top of the frame, plates of two by
fiix timber are spiked on to the studs. Eafters of two by
jfgur scantling »re theo spiked on to the frame over the
242 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
studs, a quarter pitch being sufEeient. 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 hight 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 waterproof, and
should have broad eaves, to shade the walls as much as
Fig. 239 — ^A FRAME FOR AN ICE HOUSE
possible from the sun's heat. The outside of the building,
roof included, should be whitewashed, 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 239, 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 240; the
A CHEAP ICE HOUSE
24a
lining between the walls is shown by the dark shading.
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 241.
Boards are placed across the inside of the door as the ice
is packed, until the top is reached. Eye or other long
Fig. 240- — SECTION OP AN ICE HOUSE PILLED
straw Js 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
244
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
three cross laths. They can be very readily removed
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; 576 feet of matched boards; 720 feet of boards for
lining; 480 feet of roofing boards; 3000 shingles, or 480
241 — ^DOOE FOR lOE HOUSE
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 242 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' labor. The size is determined
by the length of the planks or boards to be used. Nine
posts, rough, sawed or hewn, of suitable length, are pro-
vided, and two put up at each corner, as in Figure 243,
ANOTHER CHEAP ICE HOUSE
245
resting 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,
Fig. 242 — CHEAP AND PICTURESQUE 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 243 ; 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
246
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
them up when the ice is removed, as they will be held in
position by the posts without, and the pressure from
within. A door, b, is made by simply using two lengths
of plank on the front side, as indicated by the posts in
Fig. 243 — GROUND PLAN OF FIGURE 244
rig. 244 — ^ICE HOUSE OF DONALD G. MITCHELL
Figure 243. When the house is full a thick layer of the
packing material is put on the top of the ice. Drainage
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 247
is sufficient. With a little taste this may be made quite
pleasing in appearance. Figure 244 represents the ice
house on the Connecticut river of Donald G. Mitchell
(Ik Marvel), made picturesque by 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 that 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 245, 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 corners 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 246 shows a vertical section through
the middle. The outside. Figure 247, is covered with
inch boards. Eough pine boards, somewhat knotty, will
niiswer. The cracks may be covered with narrow
battening. Inch boards, . laid horizontally, line the
inside up to the plates, and the eight-inch space be-
tween is filled with sawdust. 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-
S48
BARN PLANS AND ODTBUlLDINGig
zontal strips on each side, laid across rafters. The rafter^
are scantling, beveled 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, supported 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 thick-
ness of inch boards. The outside boards can be rough, or
planed and painted to correspond with the house or other
buildings. When filling the house, five or six inches of
■THE WALLS
Fig. 246 VERTICAL SECTIOK
OF ICE HO0SE
straw and sawdust are put on the floor. The ice is packed
solidly on this, but a space 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 horiaontal loose boards support
the sawdust 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
undeeground 1c£ houses
249
neat. Experience proves that this surrounding of sawdust
on all sides will 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
depression 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 hight.
Fig. 247 — SMALL ICE HOUSE COMPLETE
UNDEEGEOUND ICE HOUSES
Figure 248 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
250 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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 studs, ten inches wide and two inches thick,
should be framed into the sill, as in Figure 249 — a being
the 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. 248 — SECTION OP underground ice house
250 the manner of framing the corners is given, a, a, be-
ing the sills, and h, h, h, the studs. One stud is placed
at the end of one sill, and another one inch from it, at
the shoulder of the adjoining sill. Thus the outer boards
may be nailed firmly at each corner, and a good joint also
be made inside, by 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
ICE HOUSE IN THE BARN
231
building. The corner can also be filled with sawdust,
maliing it a poorer conductor of heat than a solid post.
Por convenience in taking out the ice, a ladder should be
Fig. 249 — METHOD OF
FRAMING
Fig. 250 — FRAMING THE
CORNER
built against the inner wall. This is covered by the
packing, when the house is filled, but as the ice is taken
out, the ladder is exposed for use.
AN ICE HOUSE IN THE BARN
The following is a method of putting up ice in a cor-
ner of the barn, without anything more than a few
boards and some sawdust. The coolest corner of the
barn is set apart for the ice
and a board is nailed to the
floor on each side of the cor-
ner, or across it. One of these
should be just beneath a beam
of the upper floor. Some
rough boards are tacked to
the posts of the barn wall, up
to near the top. A batten is
then nailed to the floor, one
inch from the board; this
makes the foundation, the
5;round plan of which is shown in Figure 251. The spaces,
a, a, are filled with sawdust. The ice is then packed in
Fig. 251 — PLAN OP ICE
HOUSE IN A BARN
m
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
the space bounded by the dotted lines, 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
-r^;^|=j|
Fig. 252 — ^A VIEW OF AN ICE HOUSE IN A BARN
placed outside of the wall already built, and fastened
to it, as may be most convenient, a door space being
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 closing the door
space; it will be better to leave that open for ventilation.
Figure 252 shows the outside of this ice room as it ap-
pears from the barn floor. Such a space as this may be
easily arranged in many barns.
A CHEAP ICE HOUSE
2S3
A CHEAPLY CONSTRUCTED ICE HOUSE
The house shown in Figure 253 is the cheapest building
that can be constructed for storing ice. It may be built
as long or short as desired, varying with the amount of
ice to be stored. It is not made for beauty, but for ser-
vice. Evergreens should be planted on each side, as they
help to keep the house more cool in hot weather. For its
construction, boards sixteen feet long are used, longer or
Fig. 253— A-SHAPED ICE HOUSE
shorter according to the capacity desired. The girths may
be of two by three or two by four-inch scantling and three
feet apart. Shingles are not required. The cracks on
the outside may be covered with boards or battened. Such
a house will be in serviceable use at least twenty years.
The ground should be dug out a foot deep. Two doors
may be made, one above the other and each three by five
feet. At A the boards are cut sufficiently to allow putting
254
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
in sawdust. The filling in the spaces B is also made with
sawdust. The filling is less at the top than the hottom,
as the top will be used before hot weather sets in. Being
built in this shape there will be no pressure on the sides
should the ice melt more at the bottom than the top. An
ice house of the dimensions here described will contain
about thirty-five tons.
Fig. 254 — ^AN ICE STACK AGAINST A BANK
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 with a thick layer of straw.
In that cool climate such stores of ice frequently last the
season through; in this country a similar stack might
often be made to help out the regular supply. Figure 354
shows one of these temporary storehouses, built against
a bank. The ice is shown at A. The outer wall, 5, is of
STACKING ICE 255
"fern," but straw would answer equally well, held in
place by boards and braces, as shown at B. The stack of
ice is covered by a little straw, then eighteen inches oi
fern, and the thatched roof, C, is put over the whole.
An ice stack of this kind answers perfectly when placed
on an incline so that the water may naturally drain away.
CHAPTER XI
ICE HOUSE 8 AND COOL CHAMBERS
The principal requisites for an ice house with a cool
shamber 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
Fig. 255 — ^INTERIOR VIEW OF A COOL CHAMBER
any other ice house, excepting in the floor. The walls
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 have a porch
around the building, on a level with the floor of the ice
^ouse. The floor of the ice house must be made not only
<ater tight, but air tight, If a current of air can be
ICE HOUSE FOR DAIRYMEN
257
established by any means through the floor of the house
the ice will melt away in a very short time. A double floor
of matched boards should be laid, tarred at the joints
and between the floors. The joists are placed so that
the floor slopes from both sides to the center, to collect
all waste water from the ice. A channel is made along
Fig. 256 — ICE HOUSE and milk room
the center to carry the water to the side of the building,
where it passes off by means of a pipe, with an CO curve
in it, to prevent access of air. Or the pipe may be
brought down through the lower chamber and made to
discharge into. a., cistern, where the water is kept at.
258
BARN ELANS AMD OUTBUILDINGS
■ways above the level at vsfhich it is discharged from the
pipe. The method of this arrangement of the floor is
shown in Figure 255, vphich represents a section through
the floor and lower chamber. The shelves are seen in
place upon the sides.
Such cool chambers may be used to preserve fruit, vege-
tables or other perishable matters. Some ventilation
Pig. 257 — ANOTHER ICE HOUSE
and circalation of air in them is necessary to prevent
mold 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
the summer, but this can only be done where the soil is
very dry and gravelly.
ICE HOUSE AND REFRIGERATOR
259
Another plan of an ice house, including an apartment in
which meat or milk may be kept cool, is shown in
Figure 256. A drain should be made to carry off all water
from the melted ice. A piece of lead pipe, bent in the
shape represented at a, Figure 256, should be made to carry
off the water. Any current of air, which would be fatal to
the preservation of the ice, would thus be prevented from
entering at the bottom. The size of the ice room should
not be less than ten feet inside. The walls should be
Fig. 258 — ^ICE HOUSE and refrigerator
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 mate-
rial. Sawdust, tan bark, swamp moss, chaff or charcoal
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 eavea
'2Q0 BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
and out of the roof, to allow a free current of air through
the top of the house. The doorway leading to the milk
room requires no door, but simply 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 25Y shows the whole building; it is all the better
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 EEFRIGERATOE
The engraving, Figure 258, represents a section of a
building, with a room partitioned off in such a manner
that it has ice on three sides and the top, and its floor is
below the surface a few feet, in order to take advantage
of the coolness 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
if 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 necessary
drainage.
CHAPTER XII
DAIBY HOUSES, CREAMERIES AND CHEESE
FACTORIES
Perfect control of the temperature of the dairy is i
great step gained toward making the best butter. It is
only by means of ice, or very cold spring water, that we
■ian keep the most desirable temperature in very warm
Fig. 259 — ^AN ICE HOUSE AND A DAIRY COMBINED
weather. During much of the year there is little difficultv
in maintaining sufficient coolness. In winter the problem
is how to keep a dairy warm enough, and not get it too
hot. A combination of the dairy and ice house may be
made, and is entirely practical.
262
EARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
ICE HOUSE AND SUMMER DAIRY COMBINED
The plan proposes an ice house above ground, and a
dairy half below. The ice room, half covers the dairy,
the rest of the dairy being below the cool room, which
forms the entrance to the ice house. The exterior walls
260 GROUND PLAN
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 off the water. The drainage of
rig. 261 — PLAN OF UPPER PART OF ICE HOUSE
the ice house is collected and made to pass by a pipe into
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 pans may be set. The
A COOL DAIRY ROOil
263
amount of water would not be large, but it will be cold,
and ought not to be wasted. Its use will not interfere
with the employment of water from springs or wells for
the same purpose.
The building represented in the perspective elevation,
Figure 259, is twenty-eight feet long by fourteen feet
wide. The ice room seen in Figures 260 and 261 is ten by
twelve feet on the ground, and about twelve by sixteen
feet, including 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
Fig. 262 — SECTION OP ICE HOUSE AND DAIRY
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 with spent tan bark, or other dry, non-
conducting substance. The partition wall between the
dairy and the ice house, and between the cool room and
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 neai
COOLING A DAIRY ROOM
265
the floor, and so currents of cold air may be established
and perfectly regulated, entering the dairy on the side
toward the ice house. These, with a ventilator at the
top of the room for carrying off the warmest air, easily
regulate the temperature.
A BUTTER DAIRY
Figures 263, 264 and 265 illustrate a dairy managed
upon the old-fashioned shallow-pan system, the pans used
being the common tin ones, holding about ten quarts.
Fig. 264 — ^INTERIOR OF THE MILK ROOM
Such a building is also well adapted for any other system,
such as a separator or creamer.
The building 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
266
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
would be thirty-six by sixteen feet, and ten feet high;
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
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. Pigure 263 shows
the general elevation of the dairy, which is one belonging
Fig. 265 — ^ICE HOUSE AND PIPES
to a successful dairy farmer in the state of New York.
The churning is done by horse power, and the position
of the power outside of the building is seen in the en-
graving. The churning room contains a pump, sink and
wash bench.
Figure 264 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 winter this room is kept at a regular temperature of
A PEN^^SYL^•ANIA DAIRY 267
sixty degrees by means of a stove, and in summer is cooled
to the same temperature by an inflow of cold air from
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 265 shows the arrangement of these
cold air pipes in the ice house. A tube passes downward
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 appear 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 displacing the
warmer air, which is forced out through the 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. The size
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. Eeeder, Bucks County, Pa.,
is shown in Figure 206. 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
into five apartments, viz., the ice house, seen at a,
Figure 267, the milk room, 1), 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 2000 cubic feet. It is six feet
below 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
268
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINQS
with sawdust. The ice house is filled through three
doors, one above the other, at the rear end. There is
perfect drainage at the bottom of the house, with ample
ventilation above, and no currents of air reach the ice.
The milk room, i, 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.
266 — A PENNSYLVANIA DAIRY HOUSE
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
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
A PENNSYLVANIA DAIRY HOUSE
269
twenty inches deep; in this the deep pans and cream
cans 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 practiced, this pool can be length-
ened to twelve feet. A drain, f, carries off all the waste
water from the room. At g. Figures 26Y and 268, 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 sheet
iron, has a stone slab at the bottom, and two slate
shelves fifteen inches wide, on which 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
Fig. 26Y PLAN OF THE DAIRY HOUSE
are three inches narrower than the depth of the cup-
board. There are latticed blinds in the doors of the
cupboard, seen at i, i, Figures 268 and 269, where the doors
are shovsm 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, where a
temperature of sixty degrees is easily maintained. By
closing or opening these lattices the change of tempera-
ture is re^ilated as may be desired. At h, h, Figure 267,
are ventilating pipes, which are provided with registers,
seen at r, r. Figures 268 and 269. These communicate
with the air chamber beneath the ice box, and also with
270
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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
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-
r
i
r
®
y
H
1
Fig. 268 — DOORS OPEN
r
®
r
®
Fig. 269 — DOORS CLOSED
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.
A DAIRY HOUSE FOR HOT CLIMATES
Where the summer heat is excessive, to keep dairy prem-
ises cool and at an even temperature is frequently a ques-
tion of grave importance. Where water can be procured
and economically applied, there is perhaps no cheaper or
more simple plan of cooling a dairy than that adopted
by Mr. Henry Fredricks of Australia. Mr. Fredricks
has the good fortune to own a hill farm, on which numer-
ous springs of pure, cool, fresh water find their source.
Many of these springs are of considerable volume, and
have ample fall. One of these Mr. Fredricks has utilized
by piping it, and running it on to the top of his dairy
COOLING A DAIRY
271
by gravity. As will be observed by reference to Figure
270, a pipe is run up the side of the dairy, and connects
with other pipes traversing the roof horizontally. One
of these pipes is on the ridge, and another pipe surrounds
the building about half way down the roof. Both these
pipes are perforated, and the water is forced out on to
the roof in small jets and sprays, and runs down, and is
caught in the gutter, like rain.
Fig. 270 — AN AUSTRALIAN DAIRY
The dairy is constructed on improved principles. It
has a double roof, and is virtually double-walled, as an
enclosed veranda surrounds it on all sides, and apart
from the application of water to the roof for cooling pur-
poses, it is a model dairy in every respect. By its con-
struction, and the means adopted to apply water to the
roof, this dairy can be cooled to almost any temperature
desirable, in the hottest day in summer, in a very short
time. After the water is applied for cooling purposes it
is used to irrigate the fields when necessary.
A FARM CREAMERY
In Figures 271 and 272 we give perspective and ground
plan for a farm creamery, or dairy house, not connected
272
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
with other buildings. Dimensions have been purposely
omitted, because the general arrangement adapts itself
to almost any size that may be required. A represents
Fig. 271 MODEL FARM CREAMERY
the main work room, containing separator, d, churn, e,
and butter worker, f, with' space for ripening tank, sink,
table, scales, etc. B is the store room or refrigerator
with ice box, g, C is the power room, in which may be
located a small engine and boiler, or a one or two-horse
tread power.
In locating this building, the double doors opening out of
G should look to the barn and stable and the opening in
the opposite side, from A, leads to the house. The dotted
line, h, represents a pipe for
conducting water from a tank
in the windmill tower, not
only into the building, but
with branches leading to the
butter worker and churn.
Other branches should lead to
the ripening tank and sink,
when these are located to suit
parties building. Some would
o
G>
iQi
Fig. 272 — INTERIOR
the preference of the
doubtless prefer to locate the sink under the main shafts
MODEL FARM CREAMERY 273
Ts, either against the inner partition, or under the win-
dow, between churn and separator. Others might prefer
it in the very center of the room, and still others in some
other place. If an engine is used for power, pipes should
lead from the boiler to the ripening tank, sink, churn and
butter worker for delivering steam. It would also be in
the line of ultimate economy, if steam is to be used for
power, to provide sufficient boiler capacity to furnish
steam for heating the building.
If steana is not used for motive power, get a good coal
heater, set it in the power room, put in a coil of pipe and
arrange to warm the work room with a circulating sys-
tem of hot water, with pipes and faucets for delivering hot
water, wherever it may be needed for use. And then
use freely.
There is a windmill shown in the illustration. If you
will provide a tank holding ten or fifteen barrels of water
— enough for three days — this windmill will do all the
necessary pumping. A large tank, conveniently placed
for the purpose and arranged to receive the overflow from
the smaller one, and the mill, will supply all needed water
for stock also.
When it comes to details of construction, there is prac-
tically no limit to the variations that might be suggested,
but whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
If the building be located on level ground, the foundation
should not only go down below the frost line, but it should
also be raised sufficiently to allow for enouP:h filling in
and grading to provide for drainage in all directions.
There should be a slant of not less than one inch to the
foot in all directions from the exterior walls. For this
purpose, throw out the surface soil from the interior, and
refill with broken stone, brickbats, coarse gravel, all so
well tamped that it will never settle or give way, and then
ooye;", with a., cejsejjt, floor, laid with just a perceptible.
274 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
incline to a common outlet or drain, laid below frost and
well trapped.
The top of the foundation wall should be about four
inches above the surface of the ground, after the perma-
nent grade is made, and, if the building is of wood, the
successive courses of brick or stone should be battered
back so that the top of the wall will be only eight inches
wide. A two-inch air chamber in this wall will assist
very materially in excluding frost.
For the superstructure, use two-inch stuff, eight inches
wide, for sills, laying two courses, breaking joints, and
well spiked together. Nail a strip, a scant one inch
square, all around the outer edge of the sills, and on
the inner side of this set up the studding, two by four
inches, flatwise. Cover this studding on both sides with
common lumber, brought to a uniform thickness by sur-
facing, and then cover these sheathing boards, inside and
outside, with best quality of inodorous building paper, well
lapped at the edges and ends. On the inside set up
another row of studding, sheath and paper as before.
We have now two dead air spaces in our side walls, and
may apply our outside covering directly over the paper,
or, better yet, set up one-inch furring strips and lay the
siding on them, leaving the space made by the strips open,
both at top and bottom. This will allow a circulation
of air and thus prevent the transfer of heat by convec-
tion. Use similar furring strips on the inside, and ceil,
or lath and plaster, as may be preferred.
The side walls should be not less than ten feet high,
and twelve feet would be better, as this would allow more
space above the ceiling. And provision for the escape
from this space of the heated air under the roof should
be made either through the cupola, or, if this is omitted,
by a window in either end.
Provide storm windows and door for winter and screens
for summer, and there will be a most satisfactory dairy
CO-OPERATIVE MILK STATION
275
house, but little affected by the heat of summer or cold
of winter. A less satisfactory building can be put up
for somewhat less money, but the saving in this respect
will be much less than one would be liable to expect.
PLANS FOR A CO-OPERATIVE MILK STATION
There is considerable difference of opinion as to the
size and general management of a co-operative milk
station for farmers in the New York territory. The
Fig. 273 — ^END ELEVATION OP MILK STATION
arrangement of the building at Earlville, N. T., shown
in Figures 273 and 274, is very convenient and the cost
of construction low as compared with many other plants.
The general floor plan is shown in the line drawing
figure, accompanying this. The building is thirty-
two by 120 feet, with engine room eight by sixteen feet
in addition. The wall is eighteen inches thick and two
feet high and laid in the best lime mortar. Piers for
276
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
posts under girders and pools should not be less than
two feet square. The floor in the engine room is of con-
crete and plastered with Portland cement. The chim-
ney is sixteen by twenty inches, made of hard-burned
bricks and started on a solid foundation the proper hight
to receive the pipe from engine, and extends four feet
above the roof of the main building.
The sizes of timbers are as follows: Ice house sills,
four by ten inches; girders, eight by ten; sleepers, two
by ten and eighteen inches from centers; joists, two by
Fig. 274 FLOOR PLAN OF MILK STATION
ten, eighteen inches from centers; posts, six by ten;
studding for ice house, two by ten, eighteen inches from
centers, twenty feet long; plates, four by ten; posts,
six by ten, twenty feet long; studding for work room,
two by six, eighteen inches from centers, twenty feet
long; posts, six by sis, twenty feet; all rafters, two by
six, twenty- four inches from centers; roof on ice house,
six by six trusses, six by six pier line. The ice house lias
six rods, three at bottom and three at top. All rafters
0» work room have collar beams, two by six trussed with
MODERN CHEESE FACTOEY 277
ane by six, roof of one-third pitch, covered with "Wash-
ington red cedar shingles, laid five inches to the weather.
The ice house is sheathed with straight-edged hemlock
boards, lined with best tarred paper underneath. The
whole building is covered with good pine cove siding and
lined with tarred paper. The cornice has three mem-
bers, size fourteen by fourteen inches. Sixty feet of
the building is used for the ice house ; twenty- two feet for
pool room and twenty-eight feet for work room. The
floors of the work and pool rooms are laid with one and
one-quarter-inch hard pine; in the upper rooms seven-
eighths-inch hard pine. There are seventeen windows in
the building.
One-half of the second floor is finished with three-
eighths-inch hard pine for a curing room. The windows
and doors are cased with hard pine and all rooms are
finished with the same material. The floor of the work
room pitches to center witli galvanized iron drain. The
pool room is fitted with two cypress pools, eight by sixteen
yeet, two feet four inches high; one eight by eight-
foot ice box with hinged cover on solid foundation. The
cold storage room in the comer of the ice house is six by
twelve feet. The ice house is fitted with a well-hole four
by five feet, with a chute and chair for taking ice. There
is a receiving platform for taking in milk and a covered
driveway. The inside is given two coats of oil, while
on the outside two heavy coats of good paint are applied.
Several plants of this character are now in operation and
can be built along any line of railroad within the New
York city milk territory for $2500. A building of this
sort can be fully equipped for cheese for an additional
$500, making $3000 in all.
A MODERN CHEESE FACTORY
The factory of the Leon C. Magaw cheese company
in Crawford County, Pa., is thirty by sixty-eight feet
278
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
in size, double boarded and papered on the outside, with
a cement floor. The work room is thirty by thirty feet,
with a slanting floor that falls about four inches in
Pig. 275 — THE MAGAW CHEESE FACTORY
foil Bini
Curing ffoom
ZS''30
CoM ffoom
/S'So ■
lb' a ,
Ms"
-^ \>*Uf,J,r,« I
6ooOe//er I
h^orA ffoom
3o ■lo-
iooOnlJ^otX
Ci/re/ Omtner
lb- lb'
Fig. 276 — FLOOR PLAN OF CHEESE FACTORY
twenty-six feet, while the other four feet slants to it,
forming a gutter for all slops to run off.
There are two curing rooms. The small one is papered
and ceiled on the inside. In this the new cheese is
MODERN CHEESE FACTORY 279
placed for eight to twelve aays, after which they are
moved to room No. 2, which is called the cold room.
This room was sheathed on the inside, papered on
sheathing, put on two by two-inch pieces up and down,
papered on those, then ceiled over the paper, thus making
two air chambers, one of four inches and one two inches.
It was ceiled and papered overhead and filled with saw-
dust level with the joists.
Two twelve-inch ventilators run from the ceiling up
through the roof. The windows in this room are of two
thicknesses of glass. There are also two small openings
in the wall in opposite corners, to allow cold air to come
in when the night is cooler than the day. The build-
ing is also provided with a cold air duct which brings
in the cold air below ground to the curing room. Figures
275 and 276 show the exterior and interior plans.
CHAPTER XIII
SPBINQ HOUSES
The main points to look at in constructing a spring
house are, coolness of water, purity of air, the preserva-
tion of an even temperature during all seasons, and per-
fect drainage. The first is secured hy locating the house
>
I I
^^^-^EPgw^'*' \
Fig. 277 — ^INTERIOR OP SPRING HOUSE, WITH ELEVATED TROUGH
near the spring, or hy conducting the water through pipes,
placed at least four feet under ground. The spring
should he dug out and cleaned, and the sides evenly built
up with rough stone work. The top should be arched over.
A. SPRING HOUSE FOR MILK
281
or shaded from the sun. A spout from the spring carries
the water into the house. If the spring is sufficiently
high, it would be most convenient to have the water
trough in the house elevated upon a bench, as shown in
Figure 2Y7. 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 278. The
'/.'i
rT
— J— p- • — _<—*
H^
I'yLiJ -=r
Fig. 278 — INTERIOR OF SPRING HOUSE, WITH LOW TROUGH
purity of the air is to be secured by removing all stag-
nant water or filth from around the spring. All decay-
ing 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
CONCRETE SPRING HOUSE 383
openings are to be covered with wire gauze, to prevent
insects or vermin from entering the house. The house
should be smoothly plastered, and frequently white-
washed with lime, and a large ventilator 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 danger of freez-
ing 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 building is
shovsna in Figure 279. The size will depend altogether
upon the number of cows in the dairy. For a dairy of
twenty cows there should be at least 100 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 inches
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 furniture 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, CONCRETE SPRING HOUSE
Figure 280 presents a plan for a spring milk house.
The inside diameter is ten feet; bight, 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 cement, two-thirds sand, in which as many
stone chips from a quarry are placed as can be com-
pletely 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.
284
BAKN PLANS AJSTD OUTBUILDINGS
SO that vines will cling to and cover it. The door ia
very strong and tight, horizontally and diagonally
boarded, of matched pine, fastened throughout with
clinch nails. Ventilating doors, opening outward, are
shown in the front, and this opening is protected on the
inside with wire cloth. The building is lighted by a cir-
cular plate of rough glass, such as is used in floors under
sky-lights, fully half an inch thick, and two feet in
diameter.
Figure 281 is the ground plan. In this, B is the door,
entering at which one comes upon the cement floor, Fj
Eig. 280 — FRONT VIEW OF SPRING HOUSE
that is half surrounded by the pool against the wall
opposite the door. The pool is designated by W in the
plan. Figure 281. The spring rises through its pebbly
bed at 8; there is a partition 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 temper-
ature. 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 wateT is
intended to stand. The milk is placed in "coolers" in
CONCRETE SPRING HOUSE
285
the coldest part of the pool. Jars and stone pots of butter
may be set in the pool nearer the outlet.
Figure 282 is a section on the line A, B, which is
through the doorway. This shows the depth of the pool,
the foundations (also laid in cement, so as to exclude
surface water entirely), the window in the top, the form
of the entrancCj 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
N
Fig. 281 — THE GROUND PLAN OF SPRING HOUSE
that may be spilled upon it. The ventilation through the
door, being, as it is, very near to the highest part of the
dome, which 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.
Light is, however, no disadvantage in 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
S86
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
no odors come. The pipe should lead directly up and
out through a two and one-half-inch hole. Sufficient
warmth to make the room comfortahle does not percept-
ibly affect the temperature of the pool, unless very long
continued. Should the size of the spring house here
given be too large and expensive, it may be reduced to
Fig. 282 — SECTIONAL VIEW OF SPRINQ HOUSE
aigtH- feet inside diameter and six feet high, or six in
diameter, and of proportionate hight, the pool being in
this case a good deal contracted in size, and the floor
lowered to secure head room.
CHAPTER XIV
GBANABIES, ETC.
As a rule it will be found most profitable to thresh
grain as soon as it has been harvested. There is a sav-
ing of time and labor in drawing the sheaves from the
field directly to the threshing machine, and mowing away
the straw in the barn at once. The threshing may be
done in the field, and the straw stacked there, especially
now that steam-threshers 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 the crops, it will be substituted to a great extent
for the barn, and instead of the barn being a storehouse,
it will only be a place for lodging and feeding the stock.
A GRANARY WITH ITS GRAIN BINS
When grain is threshed 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 venti-
lating bins, as here illustrated and described, saves this
labor. The granary is shovm in Figure 283. 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
I ^\ -^ ^ r^
rii I
I , I
CONVENIENT GRAIN BINS
289
twenty-one feet high. The shed is nine feet high, the
granary eight feet, and 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 girths. 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
rig. 284
— SLING
Fig. 285 — EXTERIOR OF A GRAIN BIN
p&Bses, as seen in Figure 284. The bins are made with a
«ubstantial frame of two by four timber, mortised
290 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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
when needed. The form of the bins is shown in Figure
285. There is a slide at the bottom, by raising which
the grain may be let out on the floor, and shoveled into
bags, or through the spout seen at a, in Figure 286, into
-SECTION
GRAIN
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 shoveling, and if thought advisable, a spout
may be carried through the floor from each of the slide
doors, with very little expense. The spouts are provided
with hooks at the bottom, upon which cloth guides, seen
at a, a, Figure 288, are hung, to direct the grain into the
bags. A space is left sufficient to allow a boy le go
VENTILATOR FOE GRANARIES 291
behind the bins and sweep the floor and walls, and there
is a space of at least four feet in the middle of the gran-
ary between the rows of bins. The bins may be made of
any desired size, and separate from each other, or in
one continuous 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 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 287, and at I, I, Figures 285 and 286,
are constructed. These are strips of half-inch wood,
nailed together, so as to form angular troughs about sis
Fig. 287 — VENTILATOR
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 downward. When the grain is poured 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 286,
through which cool air enters the bin, as the heated air
escapes above. In this way the grain is cooled and
aerated. Even buckwheat, which, when newly threshed,
heats so rapidly as to be troublesome in damp, warm
weather, may be kept in perfect order, in such a bin as
this, without trouble.
2B2 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
A section through the center of the building, given in
Figiire 288, shows the position of the bins and the pas-
sages. A granary twenty-four feet long, with bins six
feet wide and five feet deep, will hold about 1200 bushels
of grain on the first floor, but a large amount in addi-
tion 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 be piled upon the bins, so that in case of neces-
sity 2500 bushels can be stored in a granary of this size.
Kg. 288 — SECTION THROUGH THE GRANARY
ANOTHER GRANARY WITH PLAN OP GRAIN BINS
Without proper bins for grain, much that is hard
earned in the field is easily wasted in the barn. The
floor of a granary should be of double hemlock boards
one inch in thickness, dressed and tongued and grooved.
Sometimes it may be desirable to lay a floor of plank,
CORN CRIB AND GRANARV
293
and cover this with a layer of hydraulic lime cement
three-quarters of an inch in thickness. Either of these
floors will be rat-proof.
There should be a win-
dow in every granary,
with fine wire gauze
shades, to exclude weevils
and grain moths. Figure
289 is a plan of a gran-
ary; Figure 290 shows
the mode of constructing
the bins. The posts, B, B,
have grooves, into which
the boards are slipped as the bins are filled; they can be
rem^oved when not needed. The boards should be num-
bered, that they may always be properly placed. Portable
steps, E, are very convenient when the bins are deep.
6x4^
^y^A-
4>"»-
Ar*i-
ALLEY
6x4-
4x-f
A*Ji.
4x4-
Fig. 289 — PLAN OF GRANARY
Fig. 290 — ^ARRANGEMENT OF BINS IN GRANARY
PLAN OF CORN CRIB AND GRANARY
The following Figure 291, is a plan of a combined corn
crib and granary, which is thirty-two feet long, twenty
294
BABN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
feet wide and ten feet high from the stone foundation to
the eaves of the roof. It has a driveway through the
middle, ten feet wide, and double doors at each end, by
B
B
B
"
B
DRIVINC FLOOR
CORN CRIB
Fig. 291 — PLAN OF CRIB AND GRANARY
which ample ventilation may be secured in fine weather.
The bins, B, B, six feet square, and five in number, are
upon one side; the corn crib is on the other. A stair-
Fig. 292 — ^VIEW OF CORN CRIB AND GRANARY
way, three feet wide, leads to the floor above, where
damp grain may be spread beneath the roof to dry. The
corn crib is so arranged that the corn may be shoveled
AUTOMATIC MEASURma SPOUT
295
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 Figur« 292.
A MEASURING GRAIN BIN
A grain bin, with an attachment for measuring, is
given. Figure 293. There can be no waste, as the bag or
sack may be hooked upon the lower end of the spout,
and when filled can be easily re-
moved. The spout requires the
bin to be sufficiently elevated for
the bag, when attached 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, D, is opened long enough
for space, G, to fill, when D 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 Winchester 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
inside 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.
Fig.
MEASURING
FLO on
293— A
GRAIN BUT
296
fiAKN PUNS AiJ& 6U*BUttt)lifdlS
SLIDINa SPOUT FOR A BARN OR GRANARY
A spout througli which bags of grain or feed may be
sent from one floor to another, in barns or granaries,
is represented in Figure 294. This sliding spout will
be foTind very useful for other purposes than the one
^_____ mentioned, and may be readily
made to serve as a ventilating
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 bag of grain or feed dropped
in at the top will slide from floor
to floor until it reaches the table
at the bottom. The openings,
a, a, are closed by doors which
may be shut down across the
spout, when it is required to de-
liver the bags upon any inter-
mediate floor. This spout is
Fig. 294^SLiDiNG SPOUT necessarily used in connection
with a hoisting 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 this kind, it will generally be found
convenient to store the grain upon the top floor, where it.
will be well ventilated, and may be made free from vermin..
CONVENIENT GRAIN BIN
The strain of body and rush of blood to the head that
are very often experienced, in getting grain or meal
from a deep bin when the supply runs low, are avoided
HANDY GRAIN BOXES
S97
by the bin shown in Eigure 295. Bins are made in which
the two top boards in front are hinged, being fastened up
by hooks at the ends, and let down as desired. The front
edge of the bin is about four feet high.
Fig. 295 — GRAIN BIN
CHAPTER XV,
SMOKE E0USE8
A good smoke house should be found upon every farm,
large or small, and there are many other families besides
those 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 peculiar
taste of smoked meat is given by the creosote, which is
also the preservative principle, but sundry flavors, agree-
able 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 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 CONVENIENT SMOKE HOUSE
The accompanying plan. Figure 396, is of a good smoke
house; it diffuses the rising smoke, and prevents the
direct heat of the fire affecting the meats hanging im-
mediately 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, 0,
with an eight-inch flue and a fireplace, B, which is out'
BEICK SMOKE HOUSE
299
side below the level of the floor. From this a flue, F,
is carried under the chimney into the middle of the floor,
where it opens under a stone table, E. In kindling the
-4- ■*
Fig. 296 — INTERIOR OF SMOKE HOUSE
Fig. 297 — ^AN IMPROVED SMOKE HOUSE
fire a valve is drawn directing the draft up 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
300
BAftN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
in the upper and lower parts of the chimney there are
also openings, G, O, closed by valves regulated from the
outside. The door has to be made to shut very closely,
and all parts of the building must be as tight as possible.
The advantage of such a house as this is, that the smoke
is cooled considerably before 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
Fig. 298 — INTERIOR OF SMOKE HOUSE
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.
IMPROVED SMOKE HOUSES
Figure 297 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
IMPROVED SMOKE HOUSES 30]
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 are 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 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
!Fiff~299 ^^°^^ i"^ Figure 298. The hams are hung
upon wire hooks. Figure 299, which slide upon
the rods. This house required in building 2000 bricks,
and two masons' labor for one and a half days. Figure
300 represents 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 wood laid in cement or
mortar. Either of these floors will exclude rats, and
may be washed when necessary. The fire ovens, made
of brick, are built on each side of the house, or two
of them may be erected at the rear end. They are
constructed upon the outside, but spaces are left between
the bricks on the inside, through which the smoke es-
capes. The outer part of the oven is open at the front,
but may be closed by an iron door, or a piece of flat stone
or slab of cement. When the flre 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 cannot burn up briskly, but
slowly smolders, making a cool and pungent smoke.
In any. smoke house, the less brisk the fire is kept, the
more effective is the smoke, as the slow combustion of
the wood permits the escape of most of the wood acids.
302
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
■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 injured 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 woodwork by
strips of sheet iron around the bricks.
Fig. 300 — ^WOODEN SMOKE HOUSE WITH OVENS
CHEAP SMOKE HOUSES
Figure 301 presents a sectional view of a brick smoke
house, which may be made of any size. One seven by
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 here and there to afford passage for the
smoke. Above the arch are two series of iron rods, sup-
plied with hooks with grooved wheels, by which the ring,
with its burden, may be pushed back, or drawn forward,
as desired. The wheel-hook is shown in Figure 301 and
CHEAP SMOKE HOUSES
303
enn be procured at any hardware store. In Figure 302
the house is seen in perspective, with the open archway
for the fire, and the door provided with steps. Above
the lower bar and below the upper one, is a series of ven-
tilating holes through which the smoke may escape.
These are made by leaving out bricks, and they can be
301 — SECTIONAL VIEW
ELEVATION
closed by inserting bricks in the vacancies. In Figure 303
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
Fig. 303 — ^THE ARCH
Fig. 304 — FRAME FOR ARCH
frame. Figure 304, made of a few pieces of board, 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 305 shows a smoke house common in Maryland
304
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
and Pennsylvania. It is built upon a brick wall, and
over a brick arch, through 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 te-
the meat room cannot be reached without a ladder.
Fig. 305 — A PENNSYLVANIA SMOKE HOUSE
SMOKING MEATS IN A SMALL WAY
It sometimes happens that one needs to smoke some
hams or other meat, and no smoke house is at hand.
In such a case a large cask or barrel, as shown in
Figure 306, may prove a very good substitute. To make
this effective, a small pit should be dug, and a flat stone or
a brick placed across it, upon which the edge of the cask
BARREL SMOKE HOUSE
305
■will rest. Half of the pit 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
Fig. 306 — SUBSTITUTE FOE A SMOKE HOUSE
cask, and the fire is fed with damp corn cobs, hardwood
chips or fine brush. The pit is covered with a flat stone,
by which the fire may be regulated, and it is removed when
jiecessary to add more fuel.
A SMOKE HOUSE CONVENIENOE
A method of hanging the meat in a smoke house without
-the necessity for reaching up, or using a ladder, is shown
in Figure 307, The smoke house may be of any shape,
306
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
but it should be provided with cleats fixed to the
sides, upon which the hanging-bars rest. A pulley is
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.
307 — ^A SMOIiE HOUSE CON-
VENIENCE
AN OVEN AND SMOKE HOUSE COMBINED
The 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 easily reached. The founda-
tion of the oven is made by building two nine-inch walls
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 plank, or flat
COMBINED SMOKE HOUSE AND OVEN
30?
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
Fig. 308 — FRONT VIEW OF COMBINED OVEN AND SMOKE HOUSE
placed 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 floor
the oven hearth is placed. The best, smoothest and hard-
308
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
est bricks are chosen for this. The tricks are laid very
evenly and closely together, with mortar, in which a good
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
Fig. 309 — ^EEAR VIEW OF COMBINED OVEN AND SMOKE HOUSE
common inch boards of the shape to fit the arched roof.
The 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 lightly tacked together, so
that they can be readily knocked apart and removed from
COMBINED SMOKE HOUSE AND OVEN
309
the door when the arch is dry. The wall around the oven
and the arched roof should he well hound together, and
hrick work placed around the outside of the top of the
arch, so as to make the connection between the walls and
arch firm and solid. The 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
Fig. 310 — COMBINED SMOKE HOUSE AND OVEN
a few inches above the line of the top of the oven, and
fine dry sand thrown in the space to level it ofi. A plank
floor may then be placed across the top, which can serve
for the floor of part of the smoke house above. Figure
308 shows the front of the oven when complete. The rear
of the combined oven and smoke house is shown in
Figure 309.
Figure 310 represents another plan for a bake oven and
smoke house combined in one building. The oven occu-
310 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
pies the front and that part of the interior which is
represented by the dotted lines. The smoke house
occupies the rear and extends over the open. The ad-
vantages of this kind of building are the perfect dryness
secured, v^hich is of great importance in preserving the
meat, and the economy in building the two together, as
the smoke that escapes from the oven may be turned into
the smoke house.
CHAPTER XVI
DOG KENNELS
The dog is frequently left to find shelter as best he can
on the lee side of the house or bam, or under the barn.
He may have sufiicient 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 killing sheep, when not taught better, and
Fig. 311 — ^A DOG KENNEL
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 everyone 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 animal
will recognize as his home, and the more comfortable
this is made the more contented he will be, not to
312 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUlLMNaS
speak of tlie freedom from disease and vefniiti to be
enjoyed. The disrepute into which these animals have
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 311 is seven feet long by
three feet six inches wide, and has two doors, one opening
inward and one outward. The latter door is provided!
Fig. 312 — ^A NEAT DOG KENNEL
with a bell, 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 both should be let down.
The manner of making a very neat kennel is shown in
Figure 312. 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
OtIEAP DOa KENNELS
313
IS painted light brown, with the corners, base and win-
dow planks painted darker. Brackets may be placed be-
neath the cornice molding. A cheap and equally service-
Fig. 813 — ^A CHEAP KENNEL
Fig. 314 — KENNEL WITH YARD FOR
DOGS
314 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
able kennel is shown in Figure 313. 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,
if the kennel be in an exposed 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 Eigure 314. 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.
CHAPTER XVn
BIRD HOUSES
It is a mistake to have bird liouses 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. 315 — ii.\T HOUSE Fig. 316 — keg house
Fig. 317 — 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 315, will be
occupied by birds sooner than a showy bird house.
316
BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
Figure 316 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 317 shows how a
two-story house may be made separate from two shallow
boxes, each 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.
Fig. 318 — FRAMEWORK OF BIRD HOUSE
The foundation of the house shown in Figure 318 is
any convenient sized box, such as may be had at the
stores. A piece is nailed to each end, cut to the slope
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 through 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
BIRD AND PIGEON HOUSE
317
then passed through the upright pole and the end pieces,
as shown in the figure. Places for the windows are to he
cut out, but the door may be only a dummy, and painted
black. Small branches of any straight, easy-splitting
wood are to be cut of the proper lengths and split
lengthwise. These, with the bark on, are fastened by
small nails all over the exterior of the house, as shown in
Figure 319, which gives this form of bird house complete.
Fig. 319 — ^BIRD HOUSE COMPLETE
PIGEON 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 latticework partitions into
as many apartments as are desirable. When, however,
318 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
persons do not desire to make a business of raising pigeons,
and -wish to keep only one, or possibly two, orna-
mental varieties, it is very well to make tbe houses as
well as the birds contribute to the ornamentation of the
Pig. 320 — ^RUSTIC PIGEON HOUSE
Fig. 321 — LOG CABIN PIGEON HOUSE
place. Herewith are given some engravings of simple
"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
to be lifted off. The roofs should have wide, projecting
SWISS PIGEON HOUSE
319
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, screwed to the bottom of
the structures and to the side of the post. The post
should be very smooth for several feet below the top, and
painted, to prevent vermin getting to the pigeons.
Figure 320 represents a simple house, twenty by twenty
inches, for a single pair of pigeons. It has two
brooding rooms, and a vestibule or outside room con-
Fig. 322 — SWISS pigeon cottage
necting them. This house, as also the log cabin,
Figure 321, is constructed 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 322 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-
ments. No vestibules are provided, but each tenement
is big enough for two nests, if needed. The Swiss
Fig. 324 — INTBBIOE OF A LARGE PIGEON HOUSE
HOUSE FOR SQUAB RAISINQ 321
cottage is very elaborate and will require a skillful hand
and patience 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
their feeding, and, what is quite important, insure pro-
tection from, cats, rats and all other enemies. A house
of this kind is shown in the accompanying engravings.
The outside. Figure 323, is ten by sixteen feet, eight feet
high at the eaves, with a tight, shingled roof. Figure 324
shows one side of the interior, where there are platforms,
K, K, upon which the birds enter, and which holds three
nesting and hatching boxes, P, P. A building 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.
A HOUSE FOR SQUAB RAISING
Squab raising offers some inducements in the way of
profit for those who like pigeons and have an hour or
two of spare time every day. The most important thing
in starting right is the site, which must be in a spot well
drained, facing east or south, sheltered from prevailing
winds and not exposed to extremes of heat, cold or wind.
A shallow stream of pure running water for drinking and
bathing is desirable. The house is as important as the
site.
It should be built in sections for no more than 250
pairs, and not more than fifty pairs in each section, an^
'^^^^m^ rj ""r^:
Eig. 325 — INTERIOR VIEW OF PIGEON HOUSE
il
"i-"
■'*»
Fig. 326 — PIGEON HOUSE AND COVERED FLT
HOUSE FOR SQUAB RAISING 323
designed so as to be well ventilated, easily kept clean,
secure from attacks of mice, lats and other animals, and
not subject to drafts of air. The houses of Mr. William E.
Rice, a successful New Jersey squab raiser, are forty feet
long, twelve feet wide, nine feet to peak of roof. Nest
boxes are made twelve inches wide, nine inches high and
twelve inches long, as shown in interior view. Figure 325.
An alleyway at the rear allows of access to each pen with-
out disturbing all the occupants. A covered yard or fly
thirty-two feet long and eight feet high is attached to
the house, as shown in Figure 326.
CHAPTER XVIII
SILOS
The past two decades have seen the rapid adoption of
silos as a part of American farm buildings. They are
used for the preservation of forage in a green state, and
are commonly employed for keeping corn fodder, although
other crops are often put in them. The silo is essentially
a building having practically air-tight bottom and sides,
vs^ith a roof to protect the contents. It may be built of
wood, stone, brick or a combination of these materials.
The process of preserving green crops in silos is to exclude
the air so as to prevent decomposition. A partial fer-
mentation takes place, due to the air which is in the spaces
between the particles of silage, but when the oxygen is
used up this fermentation ceases entirely, or proceeds very
slowly. The common practice is to cut corn fodder at
about the stage when the kernels begin to glaze or harden.
Stalks are then run through a cutter and cut fine, into
lengths varying from one-half to one inch. This material
is at once put into the silo and packed solidly around the
edges. Other crops, such as cowpeas, are sometimes mixed
with the corn in order to increase the feeding value of the
silage. After the silo is filled the silage may be covered
with any material at hand, such as straw, poor hay, swale
grass cut green, or even earth or sawdust. Some do not
cover at all, in which case a foot or more of the green
fodder spoils and is thrown out before feeding.
The first silos were pits in the ground, but they were very
expensive to build, and much labor was entailed in taking
SOME EARLY SILOS 325
out the material. Square silos above ground came next
into vogue, and were largely used, but the difficulty was
encountered of building them strong enough so that the
sides did not bulge and let in the air after the silage set-
tled, in which case considerable of the material would be
spoiled at the edges. Of late years the round silo has come
into great favor, owing to the cheapness of construction
and its superior form and strength. Difficulty is always
encountered in a square silo in getting the corners solidly
filled. The silo may be built in the barn, or as a separate
structure outside. Both methods have their advocates,
but which to adopt must be considered by every builder
in accordance with his conditions.
Inside the silo must be perfectly smooth and free from
obstructions in order to allow the silage to settle evenly.
It should be painted every two or three years, but never
with a paint containing white lead, as this will peel off
when the silage is removed and prove injurious, if not
fatal, to cattle. Gas tar put on top is often employed for
painting the inside and will answer the purpose very well.
Each two inches of corn silage will weigh from five
pounds per square foot at the top to ten pounds at the
bottom, or an average of seven and one-half pounds. On
,this basis the proper surface area is five square feet per
cow per day. This must be borne in mind in building the
silo, to make it in diameter proportionate to the number
of cattle kept. If the feeding area is larger than six or
six and one-half feet per head, the silage will spoil faster
than it can be fed out. The following table, compiled by
Prof. F. H. King of Wisconsin, gives the capacity of
round silos of different diameters and different depths
for well matured corn silage in tons. In this table the
horizontal lines give the number of tons held by a silo
having the depth given at the top of the column, the first
number of each line being the diameter of the silo :
20
B8.84
66.95
75.B8
84.74
94.41
21
62.90
71.56
80.79
90.57
100.9
22
67.36
76.52
86.38
96.84
107.9
23
71.73
81.61
92.14
103.3
115.1
24
76.12
86.61
97.78
109.6
122.1
25
80.62
89.64
103.6
116.1
129.3
2G
85.45
97.23
109.8
123.0
137.1
27
90.17
102.6
115.8
129.8
144.7
28
94.99
103.1
122.0
136.8
152.4
29
99.92
113.7
128.3
143.9
160.3
30
105.0
119.4
124.8
151.1
168.4
31
109.8
124.9
141.1
158.2
176.2
32
115.1
135.9
147.8
165.7
184.6
^26 BAEN 1>LANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
CAPACITY OF ROUND SILOS
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
104.6 115.3 126.6 138.3 150.0 163.4 176.8
111.8 123,3 135.3 147.9 161.0 174.7 189.0
119.6 131.8 144.7 158.1 172.2 186.8 202.1
127.5 140.6 154.3 168.7 183.6 199.3 215.5
135.3 149.2 163.7 179.0 194.9 211.5 228.7
143.3 158.0 173.4 180.5 200.4 223,9 242.2
151.9 167.5 183.8 200.9 218-8 237 4 236.7
1C0.3 176.7 194.0 212.0 230.8 250.5 270.9
108.9 186.2 204.3 223.3 243.2 233.9 285.4
177.6 195.8 214.9 234.9 255.8 277.6 300.2
186.6 205.7 225.8 240.8 268.7 291.6 315.3
195.2 215,3 236.3 258.2 281.8 305.1 330,0
204.6 225.5 247.5 270.5 294.6 319.6 345.7
THE STAVE SILO
Silos have come to be an article of commerce, the same
as mowing machines and wagons. Such silos are built
of staves in the same manner as water tanks. These
staves, which are usually two inches thick and six inches
wide, are of various kinds of material, such as cypress,
white pine, California redwood, cedar and hemlock, and
the cost varies largely with the grade of material used.
It is important that the staves be of sound stuff, free from
y knots and sappy places, and of a uniform grade through-
out. If there are any poor sections in the silo they will
give out in a few years, and the expense of putting in a
new stave is considerable; sometimes it is necessary to
rebuild the entire silo. The stave silo of E. W. Moody of
North Andover, Mass., shown in Figure 327, is hooped
with five-eighths-inch rods which run through two lugs,
and have a long screw threaded on each end in order to
take up slack. Roofs of stave silos are put on in various
ways to meet the fancy of the owner. These silos are
commonly set on a stone or brick foundation outside the
barn.
CONSTRUCTING A ROUND SILO
A round wooden silo is, as a rule, the most satisfactory.
In Bulletin 59 of the Wisconsin Experiment Station,
Fig. 327 — ^A MODERN RODiS'D SILO
328
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
F. H. King, professor of agricultural physics, described
in detail the construction of silos, from which the accom-
panying illustration and the following description is sub-
stantially an abstract : There should be a good, substantial
masonry foundation for all forms of wood silos, and the
r .*^ . . .* . .
• -■
, • i • • * •
»
■ .... I
'. k . . . .
• . ■ I
Fig. 328 — CONSTRUCTION OF SILO IN DETAIL
woodwork should everywhere be at least twelve inches above
the earth, to prevent decay from dampness. There are
few conditions where it will not be desirable to have the
bottom of the silo three feet or more below the feeding
floor of the stable, and this will require not less than four
DETAILS OF A ROUND SILO 329
to six feet of stone, brick or concrete wall. For a silo
thirty feet deep the foundation wall of stone should be
one and one-half to two feet thick.
Upon the outer edge of this wall is laid the sill, made
of two by fours, cut in two-foot lengths, with the ends
beveled so that they may be toe-nailed together and bedded
in cement mortar. The studding need not be larger than
two by four inches unless the diameter is to exceed thirty
feet, but they should be set as closely together as one foot
from center to center, in the manner shown at B in
Figure 328. This number of studs is not required for
strength, bu.t they are needed in order to bring the three
layers of lining very close together so as to press the paper
closely and prevent air from entering where the paper
laps. Where studding longer than twenty feet are needed,
short lengths may be lapped one foot and simply spiked
together before they are set in place on the wall. This
will be cheaper than to pay the higher price for long
lengths. All studding should be given the exact length
desired before putting them in place.
To stay the studding a post should be set in the ground
in the center of the silo long enough to reach about five
feet above the sill, and to this stays may be nailed to
hold in place the alternate studs until the lower five feet
of outside sheeting has been put on. The studs should
be set first at the angles formed in the sill and carefully
stayed and plumbed on the side toward the center. When
a number of these have been set they should be tied
together by bending a strip of half-inch sheeting around
the outside as high up as a man can reach, taking care
to plumb each stud on the side before nailing. When the
alternate studs have been set in this way the remainder
may be placed and toe-nailed to the sill and stayed to the
rib, first plumbing them sideways and toward the center.
On the side of the silo where the doors are to be placed
the studding should be set double the distance apart to
330 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
give the desired width. A stud should be set between the
two door studs, as though no door were to be there, and
the doors cut out at the places desired afterward. The
construction of the door is shown at F and G, Figure 328.
The character of the siding and sheeting will vary
considerably according to conditions and size of silo.
Where the diameter of the silo is less than eighteen feet
inside and not much attention need be paid to frost, a
single layer of beveled siding, rabbeted on the inside of
the thick edge deep enough to receive the thin edge of the
board below, will be all that is absolutely necessary on the
outside for strength and protection against weather. This
statement is made on the supposition that the inside
lining is made of three layers of fencing split in two, the
four layers constituting the hoops. If the silo is larger
than eighteen feet inside diameter, there should be a layer
of half -inch sheeting outside, under the siding. If bass-
wood is used for siding, care should be taken to paint it
at once, otherwise it will warp badly if it gets wet before
painting. In applying the sheeting, begin at the bottom,
carrying the work upward until staging is needed, follow-
ing this at once with the siding. Two eightpenny nails
should be used in ca.;h board in every stud, and to prevent
the walls from getting "out of round," the succeeding
courses of boards should begin on the next stud, thus
making the ends of the boards break .joints.
When the stagings are put up, new stays should be
tacked to the studs above, taking care to plumb each one
from side to side. The siding itself will bring them into
place and keep them pkimb the other way if care is taken
to start new courses as described above. When the last
staging is up, the plate should be formed by spiking two
by fours cut in two-foot lengths, in the same manner as
the sill, and as represented at C in cut, down upon the
tops of studs, using two courses, making the second break
joints with the first.
DETAILS OP A ROUND SILO 331
The lining of the silo should 1)8 throe layers of half -inch
boards. This is obtained by having good fencing, with
only very small knots, and these thoroughly sound and not
black, split in two at a mill, with two layers of paper be-
tween the three layers of boards; see D in illustration.
The precaution to be observed with this type of lining is
that the boards may not press the two layers together close
enough so but that some air may arise between the two
sheets where they overlap and thus gain access to the
silage. It would be a good plan to tack down closely with
small carpet tacks the edges of the paper where they over-
lap, and if this is done a lap of two inches will be
sufficient. The first layer of lining should be put on with
eightpenny nails, two in each board and stud, and the
second and third layers with tenpenny nails, the funda-
mental object being to draw the two layers of boards as
closely together as possible. It is very important that a
good paper be used, one that is both water and acid proof.
A paper that is not acid and water proof will dinistegrate
at the joints in a very short time and thus leave the lining
very defective.
If the silo is no larger than fifteen feet inside diameter,
no rafters need be used in putting on the roof, which may
be only a single circle like that shown at C. This is made
of two-inch stuff cut in sections in the form of a circle,
and two layers spiked together, breaking joints. The roof
boards are put on by nailing them to the inner circle and
to the plate as shown at G, the boards having been sawed
diagonally, as represented at H, making the wide and
narrow ends the same relative widths as the circumferences
of the outer edge of the roof and of the inner circle.
If the silo has an inside diameter exceeding fifteen feet
it will be necessary to use two or three hoops according
to diameter. When the diameter is greater than twenty-
five feet it will usually be best to use the rafters and head-
ers cut in for circles four feet apart to nail the roof
332 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
boards to, which are cut as represented at H. The conical
roof may be covered with ordinary shingles, splitting those
wider than eight inches. By laying the butts of the
shingles one-eighth to one-fourth inch apart it is not
necessary to taper any of the shingles except a few courses
near the peak of the roof. In laying the shingles to a
true circle and with the right exposure to the weather a
good method is to use a strip of wood as a radius which
works on a center set at the peak of the roof and provided
with a nail or pencil to mark on the shingles where the
butts of the next course are to come. Every silo which
has a roof should be provided with ample ventilation to
keep the underside of the roof dry, and, in the case of
wood silos, to prevent the walls and lining from rotting.
One of the most serious mistakes in the early construc-
tion of wood silos was the making of the walls with dead
air spaces, which, on account of the dampness from the
silage, led to rapid dry rot of the lining. In the wood
silo it is important to provide ample ventilation for the
spaces between the studs, as well as for the roof and the
inside of the silo, and a good method of doing this is
shown at E, where the lower portion represents the sill
and the upper the plate of the silo. Between each pair of
studs at the bottom, and on the outside of the silo, a one
and one-fourth-inch auger hole is bored to admit air, and
covered with wire netting to keep out mice and rats. At
the top of silo on the inside the lining is left ofE for a
space of two inches below the plate, and this space is
covered with wire netting to prevent silage from falling
into the studding spaces. This arrangement permits dry
air from outside to enter at the bottom between each
pair of studs, and to pass up and into the silo, thus keeping
the lining and studding dry and at the same time drying
the underside of the roof and the inside of the lining as
fast as exposed. There should be a ventilator on the roof.
It may take the form of a cupola to serve for an orna-
ROUND BRICK SILO 338
ment as well, or it may be a simple galvanized iron pipe
twelve to twenty-four inches in diameter, rising a foot
or two through the peak of the roof.
After the silo has been completed the ground forming
the bottom should be thoroughly tamped, so as to be solid,
then covered with two or three inches of good cement made
of one part of cement to three or four of sand and gravel.
The amount of silage which will spoil on a hard clay floor
will not be large, but enough to pay a good interest on the
money invested in the cement floor. If the bottom of the
silo is in dry sand or gravel the cement bottom is impera-
tive to shut out the soil air. A silo constructed after the
manner described will prove to be a durable building and
will give satisfactory results.
A SUBSTANTIAL AND DURABLE SILO
A round brick silo was put up by Daniel Brothers of
Middlesex County, Ct. It is shown in Figure 329,
and is thirty feet high, twenty feet in diameter and built
eleven feet in the ground. It has a capacity of 200 tons
and cost complete $300. The wall was built eight inches
chick of swelled brick which cost $3 per 1000 and $2 for
^y cartage. It took 21,000 brick to put up the silo. Six hoops
of three-sixteenths-inch flat iron two inches wide, with
one lug each, were used around the silo. The windows
for throwing out the silage are two by two and one-half
feet and placed four feet apart. A frame of three by
six-inch chestnut was set in the wall, and inside this was
nailed one by two-inch cleats, against which were placed
tight boards as the silo was filled. The silo is filled
through the roof. The roof, which is flat, is covered with
tight boards and then with tarred paper. On the paper
was put a coat of hot coal tar, then another layer of paper,
some more hot tar, and a third layer of paper and again
hot tar.
jv^ '-♦ ''MTOi^e-r^iwn,^^^^^
Pig. 329 — ^DANIEL BKOTHERS' BRICK SILO '
SILOS FOR CATTLE FEEDIKG "35
The expense for cement and lime was $48, masou work,
foundation and roof $120, hoops $20, material for roof $15.
Cilo was plastered inside with a coat of three-fourths
Portland cement and one-fourth sand. After filling, the
silage was covered with sawdust and not a pound of it
spoiled. Several other brick silos have been put in the
immediate vicinity and all are giving satisfaction,
^There brick can be had at moderate prices it would
seem that this kind of silo would in the end prove much
cheaper than a wooden one.
THE SILO IN" BEEF FEEDING
The silo has come to be a feature in .the feeding of
cattle in the middle west, particularly in Illinois and
states east. Some of these silos are of immense size,
holding many hundred tons of silage, and they are seldom
roofed. On the farm of Humphrey Jones in Fayette
County, Ohio, is a concreie silo of 1500 tons capacity,
besides two other silos of large capacity, which are shown
in Figure 330. The concrete silo is thirty-six feet inside
diameter, forty-seven feet high, with an unfinished wood
top of six feet. It is built of solid concrete from gravel
and cement, and the walls are one foot thick. Mr. Jones
says these walls are thicker than is necessary, and if he
were to build another it would be with walls only four
inches thick.
In the midst of these cement walls are imbedded strands
of 00 wire, which are as thick as a lead pencil, and have
enormous strength. These strands go clear around the
silo and the ends are looped about each other and are
imbedded in the cement about eight inches apart verti-
cally. With a thin wall the wires should be put as close
as six inches at the lower part of the silo, where the pres-
sure is greatest. The outside hoops were put on this silo
temporarily, because it was filled before it was finished,
336
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
and the cement had not time to harden properly. He
estimates that he can build silos in this manner for less
than one dollar per ton capacity.
The tubes on the outside of the silos are chutes for
throwing down the silage. Inside these chutes are doors
opening into the silo, through which the material is
, ,«' ^^f:'^-^ .s:?'^?:,^-,-
rig. 330 — HUMPHREY JONEf'' SILOS AND BEEF CATTLE
thrown. The bottom of the chute should be high enough
from the ground so that a wagon can be driven under it
and the silage dropped directly into this without extra
handling. The bottom of the silo is raised slightly above
the surrounding ground, in order to provide suitable draii;-
CHEAP SQUARE SILO 337
age. The silo is covered with six inches of sawdust, which
almost wholly prevents spoiling. The wooden top holds
the silage until it has time to settle.
BUILDING A CHEAP SILO
Edward Van Alstyne of Columbia County, N. T., has
three silos which he built himself. One has been filled
thirteen times, and another for nine winters. Anyone
can build one of this sort who can handle a level and saw.
Fig. 331 — SQUARE SILO
or use a hammer and nails, and a good thing about them
is that they can be set anywhere and made to conform
to the size of the barn, if you want to put them inside.
Figure 331 shows clearly how the silo is built. The
foundation is below frost made of stones laid in cement
■mortar. On this are placed sills of two by six or two by
eight. Matched pine siding is stood up and braced with
two by eight or two by ten-inch scantling placed as shown,.
The comers are put in on a bevel to avoid the square
corner, and also to ullow .of braces ,to .str,e;QgtheB the silo.
338
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINQS
A second thickness of siding should be put on to break
joints. Do not use paper between the boards, as it will
rot out.
FASTENING A SILO TO THE BARN
Where round silos are built outside of the barn in an
exposed situation it is sometimes necessary to stay them,
in order to prevent their being blown down, when empty,
332 TYING A SILO
by high winds. A heavy rod or five-eighths-inch wire rope
can be placed around the silo and fastened to the plate
of the barn as shown in Figure 332.
A CHEAP HOMEMADE SILO
By building it octagonal, or eight-sided in shape, and
ceiling perpendicularly with two thicknesses of inch hem-
lock boards, with felt paper between, a perfect silo may
be made at small cost. Alonzo Devenpeck of New Tork
built one of this shape and it has given perfect satisfac-
tion. He says: "Every silo that has been built in this
vicinity since, and I know of twelve, has been built after
AM OOTAQON SILO
339
the same plan, and others will be built the coming year.
They can be built any size wanted. With 2500 feet good
hemlock boards, 900 two by sevens, three feet long, and
$6 worth of felt and nails, three men can build a silo in
three days. The expense for roof and bottom would be
the same as for any other shape or style.
"I got out the lumber for mine, and, paying the saw
bill, cement, nails, paper, mason work and all complete.
e®©
Fig. 333 OCTAGONAL SILO
Fig. 334 DIVIDING A SILO
it cost me $29.70. The size is twelve feet inside and
twenty-four feet high. It will hold silage enough to
feed twelve head of cattle twice a day for six months.
When the foundation is completed, place the sills on and
nail the corners together. Then set the boards up at the
corners and plumb them with a level or plumb staff, let
one man hold the joist on the outside where they belong,
place two feet apart and nail them from the inside. Spike
the joist at the corners as you go for the first twelve feet,
then put the upper section up the same way. The joist
may be sawed the same length with a crosscut saw by
bunching them together." By the ground plan in
Figure 333 it will be seen that the joist and boards at the
comers all have to be the same slant, which is a square
miter or an angle of forty-five degrees.
340 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
DIVIDING A ROUND SILO
It is sometimes desirable to put a partition in a silo in
order to diminish the feeding surface. In Figure 334
Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show the three plans. By putting the
partition as in Figs. 1 and 2, the silage from one half
must be thrown across the other, which means much extra
work in emptying a silo. The partition should be placed
as in Fig. 3, and good doors made to fit the opening in
each side. Use acid and water proof paper, or, what is
better, felt, to make the joints air-tight.
It would be impossible to make a partition air-tight
when the boards are cut and the partition put in as the
silo is filled. Too much care cannot be taken in putting
in such a partition. The ends will have to have much
work where joined to the walls or air will get through
when one side is empty. The work should be done in a
good and substantial manner, as there is great pressure.
Both sides should be filled simultaneously and well com-
pacted at all times. It would break down the best made
partition if one side was put in at a time. After it is well
settled if one side is taken out the pressure is not so great.
When taking out the first side have a large number of
braces ready the proper length, and as fast as the silage is
used put in the braces. Fig. 4 shows the braces in posi-
tion from the sides of the silo to the partition. These
braces should have some pieces at the ends running the
opposite direction to the material against which the brace
is to support. That is, if the silo is stave and the parti-
tion horizontal to the brace, the end pieces should be as in
Fig. 5. If the timber of the outside of the silo is hori-
zontal, the brace should be as in Fig. 6. "When one side
of the silo is empty there is no danger of the wall giving
way if these precautions are taken. Next year, when
filling, the braces as well as the end pieces should be taken
out and laid away for another year. By this method the
PRESERVING BREWERS GRAINS
341
man with a small herd can build a moderate sized silo
and have silage through the dry time as well as winter at
a very small outlay of money.
SILO FOR BREWERS GRAINS
E. B. Brady, Westchester County, N. T., has a silo
which is used for storing brewers' grains. Figure 335
shows shape and mode of constructing the Westchester
•VIEW
county silo, and Figure 336 the manner in which it is
used. The silo, shown in Figure 335, 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 with an ordinary shingle
342
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
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 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 the day before.
Fig. 336 — SILO, MANNER OP COVERING
BEST HOOPS FOE SILO
For hoops five-eighths-inch wire rope is very satisfactory.
It can be bought for the same price as the five-eighths-
ineh rods, but the tensile strength of the iron rope is
very much greater than the tensile strength of the iron
rod and it has this advantage, that it gives and takes
the expansion and contraction of heat and cold better,
and only needs one buckle or coupling, and it is very
much more easy to put around. The round silo is best
in one rpspect, and that is because it has no corners.
CHAPTER XIX
ROOT CELLARS AND BOOT 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 secur-
ing 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
^
h&^-iJ -^-^-
Fig. 337 — CROSS-SECTION OF A BOOT CELLAR
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
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 without stooping. Or it may be simply a
manhole, which is better than a regular door, so far as
protection from frost is concerned, but not so convenient
for putting in and taking out roots. Sometimes, when
3U
BARK PLANS AND OtfTfiOtLDlNGS
the bank is a stiff clay, such houses are built without con
structing any side walls, the roof resting directly on the
clay. A cross-section of such a root cellar is shown in
Figure 337. In such cases, the facing, or front, of the
cellar may be built up with planks, logs or stones, as
circumstances determine. In Figure 338 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 pro-
tection against cold than stone. If there is no hillside
rig. 338 STONE PACING OF HILLSIDE CELLAR
convenient, a knoll or other dry place should be selected,
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 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 together —
SMALL ROOT HOUSES
345
the space between the two being two feet on each side.
Figure 339 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.
Fig. 339 — ^EXCAVATION AND BASE OP ROOT HOUSE
which pass from one layer of poles to the other, and
serve as supports to the ends of the wall poles. This is
shown in Figure 340, where the house is represented as
completed. The space between the two walls is filled
Fig. 340 — ^BOOT HOUSE COMPLETED
with earth, sods being used to fill in between the logs to
block the earth. It is best to begin putting in the earth
before the walls are completed, as otherwise it will require
an undue amount of hard lifting. When the walls are
M6 BAKN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINOS
built up five to six feet on one side, and about two feet
higher on the other, to give the necessary slope, the roof
is put on. The latter should be of poles placed close
together, well secured to the logs, and covered with 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 filling of
straw can be placed between the doors, if it is found
necessary to do so in order to keep out the frost. Figure
340 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.
WELL-ARRANGED ONION STORAGE HOUSE
The storage house of J. G. Kowley of Michigan, shown
in Figure 341, is located on the south side of a hill and
faces south and east. It is forty feet long by twenty-
four feet wide, and has a stone basement. The stone
walls on either side are seven and one-half feet high and
two feet thick; wall at west is twelve feet high, the one
at the east end eight feet. There are two stories above
the basement. The floors are formed of boards three and
one-half inches wide by one and one-quarter inches thick,
with a half -inch space between boards. ■ The roof is made
of matched lumber, well put together, covered with sev-
eral thicknesses of building paper and shingled. The
interior of the building is lathed and plastered and the
onions will stand zero weather without freezing.
On the ground floor there is an alley into which a
wagon may be backed for convenience in loading. The
building is provided with a return steam heater, so that
it may be warmed in coldest weather. There is also a
forcing window on the south side, next to the east end.
The cost of storage house, steam heater and 1000 crates
for onions was $1000.
STORING ONIONS AND ClELERt
347
When ■well cured Mr. Rowley stores his onions with tops
on, and they keep just as well as hay that is well cured.
They are not topped until sold. For convenience in
putting in the crop, there is a track on the west end of
building running from the ground to top floor. The
onions are carried up in a small car and dumped into
the bins below.
Fig. 341 — STORAGE HOUSE FOR ONIONS
STORAGE HOUSE AND PITS FOR CELERY
Several methods of storing celery are described and
illustrated in Farmers' Bulletin 148, on celery culture,
issued by the United States Department of Agriculture,
from which Figures 342 and 343 are taken. Where only
a small quantity of celery is to be stored for winter, a
■sheap method is to bank it up with earth and cover where
i^rown. Place enough earth around the base of the plants
''o hold them in good form, and allow them to remain
\rithout further banking as long as there is any danger
348 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
of a hard frost. When necessary, the earth should be
thrown np to the very tops of the plants, almost covering
them, and as the weather becomes cooler, cover the ridge
with coarse manure, straw or corn fodder held in place
by means of stakes or boards.
Trenching is employed by large growers. The celery
is partly banked with earth and allowed to remain where
grown until in danger from heavy frosts. Set two par-
allel lines of twelve-inch boards eighteen or twenty inches
apart between which the celery is packed with the roots
Fig. 342 — CELERY STORAGE HOUSE
imbedded in soil. When the space between the boards is
filled the soil is thrown up on the outside to the tops of
the boards, which are then lifted out and the soil allowed
to come in contact with the celery. Trenches are usually
made from fifty to sixty feet long, or small enough to per-
mit the removal of the whole trench at one time. As
colder weather approaches, the celery is either removed
and marketed or covered with boards, straw or corn fodder
on top for protection.
Another method of trenching is to excavate a pit about
twenty-four inches deep, three feet wide and of any de-
FOK STOEIKG CELERY 349
sired length, as shown in Figure 343. Loosen the soil in
the bottom and set the roots in this. Pack the trench
full of plants, placing the roots close together with con-
siderable soil attaching to them. As the celery is placed
in the trench it should be well watered and then allowed
to remain open long enough for the tops to become dry.
Place a twelve-inch board on edge, along each side of the
trench, and bank up with earth on the outside. Cover
the trench with a roof of boards, sash, straw, poles or
cornstalks, and as the weather becomes cooler increase
the covering to keep out frost. Celery stored in thi"? man-
ner will keep until late in winter. This method is recom-
mended for farmers and small gardeners.
Large growers who wish
to store celery for late
keeping employ a stor-
age house similar to the
one illustrated in Figure
342. A cross-section shows
a house twenty-four feet
wide, its side walls two
feet high and eleven feet
Fig. 343— CELERY TRENCH to the ridge. The roof should
be of heavy planks with
one end resting on top of the wall and the other on a
ridge pole supported by a line of posts through the center.
The cracks between the roof planks may be battened with
old celery blanching boards, and the whole covered to a
depth of four inches with earth and sodded over or
double roofed to keep out frost. The ends of the house
should be built double with a dead-air space between,
and there should be a large door in each end. The floor
of the house should have a covering of three or four
inches of sand or fine earth in which to pack the roots of
the celery. It is desirable to have the storehouse sub-
divided lengthwise into beds six to eight feet wide by
350 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
means of six-ineli boards raised three or four inches from
the ground and fastened to stakes. These partitions in-
crease the circulation of air through the celery and tend
to keep the plants up in good condition.
CONVENIENT DOORS TO A CELLAR
Where there is no barn cellar, the roots to be fed the
stock are usually stored in the house cellar and carried
out daily, entailing a great amount of work. Where the
barn has some space beneath it, a dry location and a tight
foundation, a pit can be dug under some convenient
point in the feeding floor
and a light wall of brick or
stones laid up about the
sides, extending up to the
barn floor. Through this floor
an opening is cut and "bulk-
head" doors arranged over it,
\ \ \\/ ' ._ - "^- as shown in Figure 344.
Bank up the brick or stone
Fig. 344-HATOHWAY wall about the pit with earth
on the outside, heaping up this banking nearly to the
bam floor, and there should be no trouble from freezing.
A CAVE FOR STORING APPLES
For storing fruit on the farm, nothing can equal a good
cave. J. F. Eecord, a leading western orchardist, built
a cave seven years ago and has found it an exoellent
place in which to store apples. The cave was dug into
a north hill slope and the dirt removed with a spade
and wheelbarrow. It is sixteen feet wide by fifty feet
deep and will hold two carloads of apples. The clay
walls need nothing to hold them in place.
The roof is made of bridge plank, held in place by
posts along the sides. The plank are covered with dirt
FIELD ROOT CELLAR
351
and sodded over to turn the rain. Two twelve-inch tiles
at the top provide ventilation. Eats have not bothered
much. A few got in, but were caught with a wire trap.
A fruit house, Figure 345, sixteen by twenty feet, is
built in front of the cave. Double doors open on the
north, so that two wagons can be backed in for unload-
ing. There is an orchard and timber on the south, so
that hot south winds have no chance to enter this cave.
Apples are stored in barrels, which are kept off the ground
by setting them on timbers laid down for this purpose.
■ENTRANCE TO APPLE CAVE
A FIELD ROOT CELLAR
A field root cellar may be cheaply built, from the fol-
lowing 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
one-half feet below the surface, cut out a groove such as
is shown at g, g, in Figure 346, so as to form an oblique
support for a board eight inches wide lying against its
lower side. Procure for rafters either light chestnut
352
BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
posts, or two by fi re 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 com-
pletely cover it. Openings an inch wide between the
Fig. 346 — CROSS-SECTION OP A FIELD ROOT CELLAR
boards will do no harm. Cover this roof twelve or
eighteen inches thick with earth, and sod it neatly, draw-
ing the sod on each side to a gutter, h, h, which will lead
away the water of rains. The ends may be closed with
-LENGTHWISE SECTION
ROOT CELLAR
double boarding filled in with sawdust, leaves, seaweed
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 347
STORAGE PIT FOR ROOTS 353
shows the longitudinal section of such a cellar about
thirty feet long, with an area five feet long at each end,
having steps, I, a, for the approach. The earthen wall
of the cellar is shown at c, d the board roof, e the earth
covering, and f the rafters. In light soils it will be
necessary to place a stone, brick, or post and board wall
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 700 bushels. It may, of
course, be made wider and higher, and have root bins on
each side with a passageway between them.
PITS FOR STORING ROOTS
When 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 pits are, the danger
that frost will penetrate the covering, and the risk of
heating for want of ventilation. By the use of board
coverings shown in Figure 348, these difficulties may,
with care, be wholly removed. The covering boards are
made of a length to cover one side of the pit, and of
such a width as to be handy and portable. Six feet
square 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 edgewisej .^s
shown in Figure 348. When the roots are hteaped in the.
usual manner, and covered with ; strawi placed up and ■
down on the heaps, the boards are laid ' on the straw so
that they nearly meet on the top, as shovsm in Figure 349.
Space is left, through which the ends of the straw pro-
ject. The straw is turned down over the edges of the
bpard^ when,, the. eartli. ig.tjLrOTO oij t^iem._ The. bpardg.
354
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
are placed tipon 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 earth will be needed,
but it will always be useful in keeping the roots at an
even temperature, and so low that they will not sprout
or heat. If a covering of earth is put on, the projecting
straw should be turned down on the opposite side to
Fig. 348 — SHUTTER
FOE PIT
Fig. 349 — SECTION OF fin-
ished PIT
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 places should
be left uncovered for ventilation. Figure 350 shows a
root pit for use in the open prairies, where shelter is
scarce, and the means of building are not abundant.
An excavation is made in the ground six or seven feet
deep and as wide as may be suitable to the length of
the poles with which it is to be covered. The length
will be according to the necessities of the builder. It is
STORAGE PIT FOR ROOTS
355
covered with rough poles, over which some coarse hay
is thrown. The sod, which should be cut from the sur-
face in strips with the plow and an ax, is then laid closely
on top, and earth is heaped over the sod. A manhole
at one corner, or, if it is a long cellar, in the middle, is
constructed with small poles and about two feet high.
A ladder or row of steps is made from this to the bottom.
The manhole when not used is filled with straw or hay,
which is thrown upon a loose door or boards resting upon
"K ^
Fig. 350 — PRAIRIE ROOT CELLAR
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 opposite to the entrance, through which
the roots or potatoes may be shoveled or dumped. These
openings may be closed with sods and earth during the
winter.
A CAVE FOR ROOTS
An oblong cellar is dug twenty-four feet in length,
abotit twelve feet wide and three feet deep. This is
356
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
planked around with ordinary slabs and roofed over with
the same material. The sides and roof are covered with
the earth thrown out of the cellar, and is then sodded
over, appearing as shown in the annexed engraving,
Figure 351. 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 provide, and they
will frequently be found useful on old farms. It is far
better to have a cave like this for loots than to store them
351 — CAVE FOE BOOTS
in the cellar of the house. Unless 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 dis-
tance, 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
OOVERENG ROOTS WITH EARTH
357
slightly elevated spot should be chosen which will be dry
at all seasons. On this the roots should be 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 352.
Fig. 352 — ^BUILDING A ROOT HEAP
The heap may be made of any length, or the roots may be
placed in several heaps.
The roots should not be put up until they have dried
somewhat, or be covered with earth until there is immi-
nent danger of frost. There is then much less risk of
Fig. 353 — COVERING HEAP WITH EARTH
lieating and decay than when they are covered before be-
coming dry. The straw covering should be a foot thick.
A foot of straw and three inches of earth are better than
a foot of earth find three inches of straw. The straw
358 BAEN PLANS AND OaTBaiLDINGS
should be laid on straight and evenly so as to shed rain.
It ought to be gathered closely at the top for the 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 353. 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 mois-
ture and heat from the roots during the 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 weather, 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.
CHAPTER XX
BUILDINGS OF VABI0U8 KINDS
COLD STORAGE HOUSE FOR APPLES
The cold storage house shown in Figure 354 was built
in 1889 by J. H. Dunn of Linn County, Mo., and has
been in successful operation every year since. It was
built more particularly for eggs, but has been used for
apples, and with splendid success. The temperature is
quite uniform, ranging from thirty-six to thirty-eight
degrees Fahrenheit. Capacity of storage room, about 500
barrels; capacity of ice chamber, 1Y5 wagon loads; cost
of building, $2000. The building is twenty-four by fifty
feet, twenty feet high. It is placed on a solid rock
foundation. The walls are constructed of two by ten-
inch studding, on which is first nailed building paper and
over this shiplap, on outside of building. On inside of
studding is nailed building paper and over this rough
sheathing boards. The ten-inch space between is filled
with sawdust. A two by two-inch piece is then nailed
on the inside sheathing opposite each of the two by ten
studding, and on these two is nailed rough sheathing
lumber. The two-inch space thus made is left for an
air space. On the last inside sheathing mentioned is
nailed a two by four-inch piece, so as to form a four-
inch space for charcoal. The charcoal is used to absorb
excessive moisture and impure odors and would not be
necessaiy in a house for apples alone, as sawdust would
answer as well instead.
Through the center of the building lengthwise, are
placed four posts or pillars twelve by twelve inches, eight
360 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDrNQS
feet in tight, ten feet apart, on which rests a plate
twelve by twelve inches. On this plate the joists are
placed twelve inches apart from center to center. The
joists are three by twelve inches, eleven feet eight inches
long, the ends lacking four inches of coming together
on plate in center of building. The outer ends of joists
rest on a two by ten-inch piece let into the two by ten-
inch studding and are nailed securely to the studding.
The top corners of joists over center plate are hewed ofi
to admit the trough with a fall of six inches to the cen-
ter. The under sides of joists are ceiled and sawdust is
filled in to top of joists. On top of joists is nailed a two-
inch floor for bracing the building. On this floor is
placed another set of joists of the same length and
thickness as the first set, but nine inches wide at outside
end and three inches wide at inside end. On these slop-
ing joists is nailed another two-inch floor diagonally to
further strengthen and brace the building.
A covering of galvanized iron is placed on the diag-
onal floor, which, as will be seen, has a fall of six inches
to the center to carry off water. The edges of this cov-
ering are turned up six inches against the wall all
around, to prevent leakage down the walls, but the two
edges that come together in the center are turned down
over the ends of the sloping joists. Erom this the leak-
age drips into the galvanized iron trough below and is
carried to the center of building, where it empties into
a pipe which conveys it from the building. On the gal-
vanized covering is placed another set of sloping joists
of exactly the same dimensions as the other set already
described, but these have the wide end inside and the
narrow end outside. This brings up the line to a level
again. On these top joists are nailed two by four-inch
pieces twelve inches apart from center to center, on which
directly rests the ice.
STORAGE HOUSK FOR APPLES
361
A much cheaper house may be constructed on the same
geperal plan for the keeping of apples alone. In the
first place a better and in some sections a cheaper stor-
age room could be constructed under ground; say an exca-
vation eight feet deep and walled up with rock, brick or
Fig. 354 — PLAN OF OONSTRUOTION
any other material at hand. Upon this the structure
might be built essentially as described, except that the
heavy posts and plates might be replaced with lighter
ones. The extra bracing to support the heavy weight of
362 BARN PLANS AND ODTBUILDINQS
ice might be dispensed witli unless it was desired to store
a large quantity of ice, wliicli, by the way, is not neces-
sary to -the successful operation of the house in the
keeping of apples.
It has been demonstrated that one and one-half or two
feet of ice will reduce the temperature the same as when
the house is filled full. A cheap house may be built on
the bank of a stream or pond, where it is not desirable to
build the storage house in such a situation, and the ice
can be very economically harvested. It should be re-
membered that ice used in keeping winter apples must be
kept through the entire summer before it can be used,
hence it will be seen that there would be more expense
and waste of ice in a cold storage house than in a well
constructed ice house.
The storage house could then be iced from time to
time as needed. When the weather is cold icing is un-
necessary if the house is filled with cold air and kept
closed when the weather outside is changeable or warm.
Great care, however, must be used to maintain a low,
even temperature. At any rate the waste of ice in cold
weather is slight, as compared with warm weather, and
fortunately we do not usually have long spells of warm
weather after winter apples are stored.
The ice is placed in the ice chamber the same as in
any ice house. The cold air, descending into the spaces
between the joists, finds its way into storage or cooling
room by an opening between the trough and the gal-
vanized covering above. This opening varies in width
from four to eight inches, caused by the fall of the
trough to the center. In Figure 354, a, foundation; 1),
ten-inch space for sawdust; c, two-inch air space; d, four-
inch space for charcoal; e, center post twelve by twelve
inches ; f, plate on center post twelve by twelve inches ;
g, ceiling; li, joist three by twelve inches and twelve feet
long; i, end of two by ten-inch on which the joist
A MASSACHUSETTS APPLE HOUSE
363
rests; ;", two-inch floor; Ic, sloping joist three by nine
inches and three by three inches at ends ; I, diagonal floor ;
m, galvanized floor; n, sloping rafters inverted; o, two
by fours, on which ice rests; p, waste water trough; g,
four-inch space for conveying warm air from storage
room; r, space for descending cold air; s, sheathing lum-
ber; t, floor,
A MASSACHUSETTS APPLE HOUSE
A house that will hold several hundred barrels of apples
has been built by John W. Clark of North Hadley, Mass.,
! tVO/9if ROOM
f^jit/ tlaoye s/iis
rffOffr rf£ff ¥Zj*^2.
J^OJ9tf/r00/f /^^Z2.
rig. 355 — MR. Clark's apple house
who has very large, extensive apple orchards. The ac-
companying plan. Figure 355, shows in detail the con-
struction of the house. Two air spaces well insulated
with building paper are provided at a and c, space 6 be-
tween studs being filled with charcoal or sawdust. The
ice box, six by nine feet in size, extends the full length of
564
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
the building, and is filled as occasion requires from a
large ice house in which about 1500 tons are stored each
winter. The bottom of this ice box is well supported on
posts, which do not show in the engraving. It has a
sloping floor covered with galvanized iron, and the waste
water is led oflE through pipes. Attached to the build-
ing is a work room, in which the picking and sorting are
done. There are double doors into the cold storage room.
Fig. 356 — SECTIONAL VIEW OF STORAGE HOUSE
A NOVEL APPLE STORAGE HOUSE
A somewhat novel type of apple storage house is
projected by Arthur H. Hill, a large apple grower of
Grand Isle County, Vt., to suit rather unusual condi-
tions. He has an old stone quarry on the bank of Lake
Champlain. The stone has been cut out in such a
manner as to leave a perpendicular wall a little over
A VEHMO^T APPLE HOUSE
365
twenty feet high facing the lake. He proposes to build
the storage hoase against the face of this rock wall, thus
-■^ving the construction of the west wall of his storage
house. The other three walls will be built of stone taken
from the quarry on the spot.
The site has two other natural and unusual advan-
tages. The position on the very shore of the lake makes
it very easy to secure a supply of ice, and the plan is
to use ice in cooling the fruit rooms. In the second
place, the apples are often shipped by boat, and a dock
can easily be provided with-
in a few feet of the build-
ing, so that barrels can be
loaded directly out of the
house and into the boat.
The proposed plan, shown
in Figures 356 and 357,
calls for a building fifty
feet square and twenty-four
feet high to the eaves, with
four stories and a garret.
Each story of the storage
space proper is made low,
only six and one-half feet
between floor and ceiling.
This will accommodate two
tiers of barrels on end,
and, in case of crowd-
ing, another tier on the side. This makes less work
in handling than when barrels are piled three tiers high,
and there is consequently less rough handling of the
fruit.
In the center is a shaft eight by eight feet in size,
which serves the triple purpose of elevator, ventilator
and support for the floors. This will be open on all four
sides, but with doors arranged so as to control ventila-
357 — FLOOE PLAN
STORAGE HOUSE
OF
366 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
tion when necessary. The upper floor, the one opening
on the bank, wiU be used as a packing room. The fruit
will be received here, and may be discharged either from
here or from the lower story. This room will be used
also for icing the pipes in cooling the rooms below.
Pipes of galvanized iron eight inches in diameter will
extend from the icing trough on the upper floor to the
waste trough on the lower floor. These can be filled with
the crushed ice and salt mixture when desired. If only
a part of the storage space is in demand, the lower room
will be cooled by filling the tubes as high as the ceiling
of that room. The necessary ice house will be built
against the storage house, probably on the edge of the
bluff above, and on a level with the floor of the icing
room.
A lining of rough sheathing will be used between the
stone wall and the cooling pipes, and another lining or
curtain of lighter material will be placed inside the range
of pipes. Other details of construction have not yet
been determined, but will be sufficiently obvious so that
any practical builder can follow the general outlines of
this plan and make the necessary adaptations under any
circumstances which make a similar construction seem
desirable.
AN APPLE EVAPOBATOE
The evaporated apple industry centers in a few towns
in Wayne County, N. Y., bordering the southern shore of
Lake Ontario. Here almost every farm has a large apple
orchard, and from a very early time the drying of this
fruit has been a special industry. Out of these years of
experience has grown the present kiln or dry house and
the labor-saving machinery. The farm dry house as
now constructed usually consists of two rooms, each
sixteen feet square. Whenever the land permits it is built
upon a hillside, which admits of a deep basement under
AN APPLE EVAPORATOR
367
one end of the building, while the floor of the other end
is level with the ground, as shown in Figure 358. In
the outside or receiving room, h, the apples are pared,
oleached and sliced, while the inner room, a, is used
exclusively for drying.
rig. 358 — SHOWING ARRANGEMENT OF EVAPORATOR
The peculiarity of this drying room is in the floor,
which is made of wooden strips about one inch wide and
thick, and beveled on both sides, set wide side up and
about one-half inch apart on top. This makes a slatted
floor, the spaces of which are wider apart on the under
side than on top. The heat passes through this forin of
368
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
floor better than one made of square-edged strips. In
the roof is a ventilator, through which the heated air and
vapor pass off.
The basement, c, below the drying floor, is generally
twelve feet high and sometimes more. In the center is
placed a large furnace, in which a coal fire is kept day
and night. To assist in distributing the heat evenly, the
gases pass through pipes that circle around the room
about two feet from the floor above. Figure 361, finally
uniting and entering a chimney at the side of the building.
/(.'"J^''
■^ e/iimtn
c , a
m\ d \u
r-i"
p] /i'li
/
y
•"^ II
,a^l-
Fig. 359 — FLOOR PLAN AND END VIEW
In some of the modem houses the chimney is carried
through the center of the floor and through the ventilator
in the roof, thus causing a more rapid circulation of air.
The basement, and sometimes the drying room above,
is often ceiled with lath and plaster as a protection against
fire. The entire basement is practically a hot air furnace,
cool air being admitted through holes in the foundation
wall, and when heated passing through the slatted floor
above. The object is to create.a. rapid .circulation, of. hpti,
dry air.
A MAPLE SUGAR HOUSE 369
Apples are stored in sheds or convenient piles outside
and brought into the operating room as needed, Here
they are pared and cored by a large machine, a, Fig., 359.
The pared fruit falls upon a table, b, at which operatives
sit, who examine each apple and cut off fragments of the
skin, decayed spots, etc., finally throwing the perfect fruit
into bushel crates, c c. This is then placed in the bleach-
ing box, d, for half an hour, where it is subjected to the
fumes of burning sulphur, after which the apples are
sliced with a machine, e. The sliced apples fall into
bushel crates, which when full are emptied on the floor
of the drying room. The floor can be covered to a depth
of four to six inches of fresh fruit. After drying for
several hours the fruit is shoveled over, and when the
proper degree of evaporation is reached it is shoveled into
barrels or bags and sold.
In Wayne county it is estimated that a dry house with'
a sixteen-foot kiln can be built and equipped for $300 to
$350. The cost of equipment is, furnace $20, pipes $20,
parer $13, slicer $20, bleaching box and crates $15,
total $88. Some consider a better furnace, costing $40,
more economical. Commercial drying houses, i. e., those
purchasing green fruit for drying, are on the same general
plan as the farm evaporators, but larger.
A MODERN MAPLE SUGAR HOUSE
The sugar house of A. J. Harmon of Ohio, shown in
Figures 360 and 361, is sixteen by thirty-six feet, twelve
feet high, with syrup and packing room in front,
twelve by sixteen feet, with room for sap pails
directly above. These rooms are ceiled with a tight parti-
tion beftween evaporator rooms, except doors, and there-
fore exclude all steam from the tins stored in them. The
house is built on a side hill, so that sap can be drawn from
feathering wagpn or sled, to store tank,, there to. evaporator.
370
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
without any pumping or handling. The camp consists of
1000 sugar maples, a large proportion being thrifty sec-
ond growth, set in orchard style about forty years ago.
Fig. 360 — AN OHIO MAPLE SUGAR HOUSE
Fig, 361 — FLOOR PLAN OP SUGAR HOUSE
A MODERN BACON HOG FACTORY
Small bacon factories are spread all over Europe,
notably in Sweden and Denmark, for in remote districts
where farmers carry on large dairy business and feed skim
milk in large quantities to pigs it is often impossible to
dispose of live pigs to advantage. These factories have the
advantage of being small and cost comparatively little
to build. The iPustration given in Figure 363, from the
A BACON FACTORY
371
journal of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England,
is capable of handling about fifty pigs per week, and
cheapness of construction is what is aimed at in many of
these factories. The cellar and engine room is sub-
stantially built, but the rest of the building is put up as
cheaply as possible.
Preferably, a site should be selected where there is
plenty of space and an abundance of water. The pigs
. &c«I« of Pmi
iuog'k
HAWClWQ B*W
3
SimqeimO
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HOUSE
F
HOUSE
CO' MAI
qjTTrNO UP
ROOM
sw/imimm/n
I CMIUL
SMOKe
hOUGE
Win m
Fig. 362 — GROUND PLAN AND ELEVATION OP BACON FACTORY
are slaughtered, dressed and pushed along the bars into
the hanging house, whence they are passed into the chill
room and then into the cutting up room. From this latter
place the various sections are distributed to their various
departments. The factory is equipped with the necessary
machinery for lard making and sausage making, etc., and
the offal is converted into fertilizer.
372 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
After being killed and hung a few moments to bleed,
the pigs are pushed through on to the dumping table and
into the scalding vat, eight by five by two and one-half
feet, which is fitted with a cradle and lever attachment
to lift the carcasses to the scuttling table. The water is
kept at 140 degrees for fine-skinned pigs and 150 for those
that are coarse. Above the scuttling table is arranged a
series of cold water sprinklers, which are allowed to play
upon the warm carcasses while the scraping is proceeding.
The carcasses are then singed upon the singeing stack,
which is the most important of the appliances' of the
slaughtering department. It consists of a vertical stack
built strongly of fire brick bound together and arranged
on the top of four columns by means of a platform. The
flue in the center is circular and just large enough to hold
pigs.
From the top is hung a heavy chain, which is lowered
down by means of a windlass. A gob hook is inserted in
the lower jaw and the pigs are pushed down an oblique
board from the scuttling table and are then suspended
by a hook. They are pushed forward until they come
under the flue of the singer, when the hook is caught up
by the singeing chain. The windlass is set in motion and
the carcass is raised through the fire. It is then dropped
into a bath of cold water and the hooks withdrawn. The
toenails are removed and the gambrel stick is inserted
in the hind legs. The pigs are then hung up, scraped and
disemboweled. The pigs go from here to the hanging
room, where they are partially cooled before being put
into the chill room, which is kept at a temperature of
about forty degrees. After hanging until thoroughly
cooled through they are taken down and cut up.
A CONNECTICUT VALLEY TOBACCO BARN
In the accompanying illustrations is shown in detail
the construction of a tobacco curing barn, the plans of
A MASSACHUSETTS TOBACCO BARN
373
which were made by Mr. C. M. Hubbard of Sunderland,
Mass., a successful grower of cigar leaf in the Connecticut
valley. The lumber was bought on the stump at $5 per
M, hauled one and one-half miles to a mill and sawed out.
The cost of two barns, each twenty-four by 105 feet, was
$500, not including his own time and that of the hired man
and team. While the sheds were made twenty-four feet
wide, Mr. Hubbard says that if he were to build again he
would make them twenty-seven or thirty. Each bent
contains eight poles and seven rows of lath are hung across
the bent ; lath are three and one-half feet long.
Fig. 363 — END VIEW
Fig. 364 — VENTILATOR
The barn is twenty-four by 105 feet, seventeen feet to
eaves, contains seven bents (although only six are shown
in Figure 365), and four tiers. The space between the
ground and second tier. Figure 363, is seven feet, and
between second, third and fourth'tiers five feet, while the
upper hanging pole is four feet from the ridge. No poles
are used in the peak and there are no purlin plates. The
rafters are placed three feet apart and collar boards are
nailed to the rafters five feet above the plate and the
374
BARN i>LANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
slats are hung on these hoards. In the peak, at each end
of the barn, is a window for ventilation. As shown in
Figure 363, the center piece, c, is a round pole stripped
of bark much like a telegraph pole, twenty feet long, six
inches at upper end, ten inches at the butt, set three feet
in ground. From the ground to the eaves is seventeen
feet, the tips of the lower tier of tobacco being two feet
above the ground.
Figure 364 shows the plan of ventilation. The doors
are made of the common sideboards, c, hung on a slat, h,
which rests on girth, a. The slat is nailed across board, c,
and projects from each side of board, c, two inches. From
beam, on crosspiece, b, the board swings outward from
/OS
Fig. 365 — PLAN OF BENTS IN TOBACCO CURING BARN
the bottom, as shown. Lining laths, three inches wide,
are put permanently in place from beam, a, to the ground,
but from beam, a, to the eaves or top no lining lath is
used, as ventilating door, c, swings inward, thus prevent-
ing the use of lining lath above the beam, a. If it is
desired to wholly remove board, c, it may be done by
drawing the board outward, as if to hook in position, and
then tip to the right or left and forward and slip out.
Figure 366 shows how board, c, is held in place. A
staple is driven in the inside of board, c, at b, shown on
dotted lined board, in the center of the board about
eighteen inches from the bottom. In the board next to c
is a staple, and in the staple is fastened a hook long
enough to reach from the staple across c to center of next
A MASSACHUSETTS TOBACtJO BARN
375
board. When the barn is to be ventilated the hook is
raised, board, c, swung out on hinge, h, shown in
Figure 366, and the hook slipped into eye, h, on the under
IWI
fV-1
\
v^^-s^ii^
»•""
Fig. 366— VENTILATOR HOOK Fig. 367— SIDEBOARDS
side of board, c. The hooks, a, are about eighteen inches
long, which allow the bottom of the board being tipped
out about two feet. The top will be swung in about nine
inches. The hinge is placed on the beam five feet
Fig. 368 — ^ARRANGEMENT OF DOUBLE DOORS
below eaves. By this method of swinging the door
more air can be obtained in the shed than if the boards
are hung at the top; there is also no expense for hinges.
3T6 BAEN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
Th& wire for hooks, a, cost thirty-five cents, and Mr.
Hubbard bent them in a few minutes. The staples for
fastening hopks cost ten cents. As there are thirty-five
doors on a ^de, seventy hooks were used to each barn.
The sideboards are placed in position as shown by
Figure 367. One board, a, is nailed in place and the
three-inch wide lining strip, h, is slipped under. Another
board is nailed so as .to cover the uncovered part of lining
board. A lining strip is slipped under the edge of the
second board and nailed, and so on.
As shown by Figure 368, the double doors at each end
are fastened securely to posts, a, ten feet long, three feet
of which are set in the ground. An eye is driven in each
post so that the wire hook attached' to the door can be
slipped into them; this holds the doors securely in place,
prevents them blowing about or against tobacco when
being drawn out. All four doors swing out. Each door
is five by ten feet.
A WELL BUILT TOBACCO CUEING BARN
The curing barn portrayed in Figure 369 was built for
Mr. W. J. Clark of New Milford, Ot., at a cost of nearly
$900. It is twenty-eight by ninety-six feet, with twenty-
foot posts. It will contain tobacco from about three and
one-half acres. There is a driveway through it lengthwise
by removing one tier of slip poles. This building has a
very strong frame and foundation and is covered with
splendid materials. It is well arranged for ventilation on
sides, ends and ridge. Of course anyone cfe^n use cheaper
material and with nearly like results in curing.
A farmer's greenhouse
To build an all-over glass house for growing early
plants is both expensive and difficult, while the building
is fit for nothing else should the growing of early plants
Fig. 369 — A CONNECTICUT TOBACCO SHED
rig. 370 — USEFUL FOR MANY PURPOSES
378 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
be given up. A small house that has a great deal of sun-
light in it, that is inexpensive and easy to build, and can
be used for other purposes, should occasion warrant, is
shown in Pigure 3Y0. The three windows face the south,
with a window in both east and west ends.
The house can be made of any dimensions desired and
can be heated by a small stove. There is a walk along the
back side, with a wide bench before the windows. The
stove can occupy the farther end of the walk, with a
slight partition of galvanized iron to keep the strong
heat from the plants that are near. A shed-roofed house
can be built, but it would have to be high enough in the
rear to afford a walk, so there would be but little if any
saving in expense, and a decided loss in attractiveness
A HOUSE APIARY
A bee house in use by F. G. Herman of Englewood,N. J.,
was built of common inch matched boards planed on one
side. The frame was made of two by four-inch wall strips.
The roof was covered with paper and is perfectly water-
tight. The building. Figure 371, is nine by fourteen feet,
with a window in each end and one opposite the door,
which faces northward. The building rests on large stbnes,
has a good floor, is neatly painted, was built by a mechanic,
and cost $53. It is located on a berry farm, two and one-
half miles from his home apiary. It contains twenty
colonies of bees in two tiers of hives. The broad side of
the house which is in view faces eastward and the end
southward. There are no hives facing the other two sides.
The hives used are known as the Long Ideal and are
made to order. They hold twenty Langstroth frames
crosswise and are expressly used for extracted honey. The
total cost of the hives, fixtures and house was $125, not
counting the bees. The top row of hives rests on a frame
just high enough so one can raise the covers and look
A HOUSE APIARY
379
into them comfortably, as the interior view in Figure 3Y2
shows ; the other row rests on the floor. The hives are only
one story, so there is no use for queen excluders and no
tiering up to be done. There are no bees at large in the
house excepting a few which leave the combs while hand-
ling them, and these quickly make their escape by way of
"^'^r^m^-y^r^ _ _ _^
Pig. 371 — ^A HOUSE APIARY
the windows, which are left open all summer for ventila-
tion. The netting on the windows is so arranged that
the bees can leave the room, but cannot enter it. The
awning over the windows is to prevent the rain from
coming in while the windows are left open.
380
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
The nive entrances match the corresponding slots in
the side of the house, and when the bees enter the slot
or entrance they go direct into their respective hives.
Each alternate entrance is painted a darker color for the
purpose of helping the bees to mark their hive. The berry
plantation is worked by a practical nurseryman and berry
grower, who is desirous of having bees on the farm. He
rig. 3Y2 — ^INTEEIOR OF APIAKY
said the yield of berries was unusually large the year fol-
lowing the establishment of the apiary, and thinks the
bees were responsible for the extra yield. The bees got
some very nice honey from the raspberry and blackberry
blossoms.
FRUIT AND FARM COLD STORAGE HOUSE
Temporary structures for storing ice can be made very
cheaply, but we strongly recommend that a cold storage
house be built with the view of permanence and contin-
uous use. Such a house is illustrated in detail in Figures
373 and 374, which are taken of a house built by the Kan-
sas State Experiment Station. The building is designed
COMBINED COLD STORAGE HOUSE 381
to be located on a hillside of such a slope that the first floor
will be on the level of the surface at one end and the sec-
ond floor a few feet above the surface at the other. The
building is eighteen by thirty-eight feet, interior meas-
urement, two stories in hight, and divided Into four
rooms, two on each floor. On the second floor
is the ice storage room, eighteen by twenty-one
feet, in which tlie future supply of ice is stored, and
the ice chamber, flfteen by sixteen feet, in which is held
the ice that cools the refrigerating room directly below.
A door in the ice chamber communicates with the outside.
This is for the unloading of ice and is the only outside
entrance into the second story. The refrigerating room
is sixteen by eighteen feet, and is the compartment in
which the temperature is to be reduced, and in which
perishable products are to be stored. Leading into this
room is the cooling room, eighteen by twenty-one feet,
which is to be used as a general purpose storage cellar.
A small entrance room protects the doorway into the cool-
ing room. This is the only entrance into the ground floor.
The building rests upon a twenty-inch stone founda-
tion. Between the foundation walls is bedded twelve
inches of broken stone. Over this pass the two by ten-inch
sills, sixteen inches on centers. The floor joists are bedded
in dry sand or dry, well-packed cinders. The floor is
double, with two layers of building paper between the two
thicknesses. Three rows of ten by ten-inch posts, carry-
ing eight by ten-inch caps, support the ten by twelve-inch
beams, upon which are laid the six by eight-inch joists
for the second floor. Two-inch flooring is laid over these.
The flooring is laid tight in the storage room and provided
with a slope toward the center. A gutter catches the
drainage and carries it into the gutter from the ice
chamber (not shown in the drawing). To prevent leakage
the floor of the storage room must have a sheet iron cover-
ing. The floor of the ice chamber is laid with two by
382
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
four-inch lumber, with one-inch spaces between. This
provides for air circulation and water drainage. A sloping
catch floor, shown in Figure 3Y3, leads the water into the
gutter which carries it down and out through the cooling
room. The upright studding, outside of the walls, two by
Fig. 3Y3 — CROSS-SECTION OF THE STORAGE HOUSE
six inches, are twenty inches apart. On the inside is an
inch of rough boarding, two layers of building paper, a
second inch board, then an inch air space, then two other
thicknesses of inch boarding with double thicknesses of
building paper between. On the outside of the studding
COMBINED COLD STORAGE HOUSE 383
is a double thickness of inch boarding with two layers of
building paper between. Beyond that, building paper,
an inch space and the weather boarding. The space be-
tween the studs should be packed a foot from the founda-
tion with mineral wool or sawdust. The inch dead air
spaces and the double layers of building paper should be
continuous around the room. If there is a break that
admits air the dead air space loses all its qualities of
insulation and becomes an air conductor. The ceiling
over the ice chamber and storage should have a double
thickness of boards and paper the same as the walls. The
spaces between the joists should be filled tightly with dry
sawdust, or, better yet, mineral wool.
Much of the efficiency of the building for cold storage
depends upon the insulation of walls, ceiling and floor.
These parts should be constructed so that they will be
almost non-conductors of heat. Hence, the use of mineral
wool, sawdust, building paper and "dead" air spaces.
These are all poor heat conductors. Air conveys heat
rapidly by circulation, but where confined, .so that the
process must go on by conduction, it is very slow. On
this account still or "dead" air becomes one of our most
useful insulating materials in cold storage construction.
The lumber for the insulation should be free from
offensive odors. Pine is objectionable on this account.
The outside lumber that comes in contact with the soil
should be hard and durable. A coat of crude petroleum
and a layer of tarred paper before the soil is banked will
make it almost indestructible. The lower story may be
made of stone, but the insulation will have to be provided
besides, as a stone wall will allow the passage of heat very
freely. The whole building, roof and all, should be
painted white in order to retard the absorption of heat
from the sun.
For windows in the storage room three sashes should be
used, thus giving two air spaces. The sashes should be
384
BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS
immovable, air-tight, and protected from the rays of the
sun. The doors should be tight fitting, and to this end,
should be padded on the edge. There should be two doors
for each passage, one opening in, the other out. Doors
should be made of two thicknesses of lumber, with an
inch of sawdust packed between. An anteroom, should
protect the entrance to the building. This also should be
supplied with double packed doors.
The interior of the storage house must not be subject
to rapid fluctuation in temperature. For this reason the
X'..!J..U tJ„Lw 1 H I n n M M
Fig. 374 — LONGITUDINAL SECTION OP COLD STORAGE HOUSE
refrigerating room should have no door opening directly
outside. The plan of approaching the refrigerating room
through both the anteroom and the cooling room is not
an undue precaution.
The ice chamber is fifteen feet in width. A space of
eighteen inches extends on either side from the refrig-
erating room to the ceiling, and continues over the ice in
the odlamber. This is for the passage of the warm air
fram. the. refrigerating room. to. the ice. chamber,, The,
COMBINED COLD STORAGK HOUSE 385
current of air is controlled by means of valves in the
lower part of the passage. The circulation depends upon
the fact that cold air is heavier than warm air and tends
to fall, crowding the warm air out of place. The ice in
the chamber being in blocks without packing material
between, allows the air to pass through. In contact with
the ice it becomes cooled and settles down through the
cold air duct into the refrigerating room and forces the
warm air upward through the passages on the sides of the
room and over the ice, where it is cooled. After cooling
it falls, and thus the circulation is kept up.
A system of ventilation, though not shown in the
figures, will be necessary in the building. Ventilation
pipes leading from the ice chamber through the roofs are
all that will be necessary. These should be arranged so
that they may be opened or closed at will.
The meltage water from the ice chamber and storage
room will serve a very useful purpose if conducted through
a tank in the cooling room. This provides an excellent
place for cooling and keeping milk. This is indicated in
Figure 374.
If the storage room and ice chamber are filled with
good ice during the winter the quantity will be sufficient
to last throughout the season. The ice in the storage room
may be packed in chaff or sawdust^ but that in the ice
chamber should be without packing. When the ice in
the chamber is exhausted it should be replenished from
the storage room. After the building is supplied with ice
in the winter the outside door should be packed with
sawdust and not again opened. An inside ladder provides
sufficient passageway into the ice chamber. Such a struc-
ture is large enough for the requirements of an ordinary
fruit farm, but the plan will work syceegsfully with either
Jarger or smaller dimensions.
INDEX
PAGB.
Apiary. A House 378
Barn, A Good Farm 39
Another Small 53
Cattle, A Second Western... 73
A Western 72
Cheap, with Connecting Sta-
bles 80
Dairy, A Model 86
An Orange Co 107
Another Orange Co HI
A Westchester Co 108
Enlarging 115
Extension 112
For 100 Cows 97
Modern Addition 102
Mr. H. A. Browning's 93
Mr. John Donaldson's
Mr. P. H. Monroe's 95
Dalcota Stock 66
Dr. C. F. Hey ward's
Enlarging F. G. Homan's... 55
Farm and Yard 21
For Early Lambs 134
For Feeding Loose Cattle... 60
For Mixed Farming 42
For Raising Winter Lambs. 137
Horse and Carriage 213
Mr. John C. Baker's 221
Mr. Zach Mulhall's 223
Mass. Agri. College 5
Mr. C. E. Colburn's 19
Mr. C. S. Sargent's 46
Mr. David Lyman's 22
Mr. John C. Baker's 63
Mr. John L. Shawver's 10
Mr. Kyle's.. 32
Mr. Lawson Valentine's
Mr. N. Martin's 62
Mr P. H. Reed's 59
Mr. Thomas Convey's 13
Mr. William Burgess's 92
Mr. William B. Collier's.... 36
Plan for a Small 51
Remodeling Mr. B. Walker
McKeen's 57
Round 14
Sheep and Hogpen 149
Feeding 150
Minnesota 13'
Virginia 146
FAOBi.
Barn, Teeple and Brandt's 48
Tobacco, Mr. C. M. Hub-
bard's 372
Mr. W. J. Clark's 376
Barns and Sheds, Sheep 133
Cattle, and Stables 59
Cheap, with Sheds 78
Dairy 86
General I'arm 1
Plank Frame 9
Straw 125
Bin, A Measuring Grain 295
A Convenient Grain 297
Cave for Roots 355
For Storing Apples 350
Cellar, Incubator 203
A Field Root 351
Cellars, Root and RootHouses.343
Cheese Factory, Modern 277
Factories 261
Creamery, Farm 271
Creameries 261
Cover for Corn Cribs 238
Crib, A Convenient Corn 235
A Self-Discharging Corn.... 237
A Self-Feeding Corn 237
Dairy, A Butter 265
A Pennsylvania 267
Door, A Swinging for a Pig-
gery 184
Self-Closing for Pigpen 184
Doors, Cellar 350
Evaporator, Apple 366
GranarV and Corn Crib 293
Another with Bins 292
With Its Grain Bins 287
Granaries 287
Greenhouse, Farmer's 376
Hog Factory, A Modern Ba-
con 370
Hogpens, Movable 162
Twentieth Century 160
House, A Combined Carriage
and Tool 219
Brooder, Cheap and Eco-
nomical 205
Practical 204
Celery Storage 347
Cold Storage, Apple 359
Fruit »n<J Farm 380
388
INDEX
PAGE.
House, Corn, An Improved... 227
Another Western 232
The Connecticut 226
Dafry, for Hot Climates 270
Hog, Mr. A. N. Portman's..l61
Ice, A Cheap 244
A Cheaply Constructed — 253
And Summer Dairy Com-
bined 262
A Small 247
In the Barn 251
Plan of an 241
Maple Sugar
Massachusetts Apple 363
Novel Apple Storage 364
Onion Storage 346
Poultry, A Cheap and Con-
venient 192
An Ohio 196
For a Number of Breeds.. 201
Movable 190
Three-Pen 192
Smoke, A Convenience for.. 305
A Convenient 298
Substitute for 305
Spring, Dome-Shaped Con-
crete 283
For Squab Raising 321
Houses, Bird 315
Carriage, and Horse Barns. 213
Corn and Cribs 225
"Western 229
Dairy 261
Duck 210
Ice 240
And Cool Chambers 256
Underground 249
Pigeon 317
Poultry 187
Concrete 189
For Four Varieties 198
Scratching Shed 187
Small 207
Ventilation 211
Smoke 298
Cheap 302
Improved 300
Spring 280
Ice. Its Uses and Importance. 240
Without Houses 254
Kennels, Dog 311
Farm Dog 312
Loft, Pigeon
Milk Station, Co-operative 275
Oven and Smoke House 306
PAGE.
Pen, Feeding, for Fattening
Hogs 164
Pens and Yards for 150 Hogs. 175
Piggery for Cold Climates 157
Plan of 165
Piggeries 154
Pigpen, A Cheap 183
A Comfortable 173
A Convenient Farm 170
Another Portable 178
A, and Tool House ISl
Hen House and Corn Crib
Combined 179
Pigpens of Mr. Wm. Crozier..l72
Pits for Storing Roots 353
Refrigerator, A Chamber 260
Roots in Heaps 356
Shed, A Temporary Cattle 81
Cow, and Pigpen 83
For Soiling Sheep 143
Sheds, Sheep, and Racks 142
Shelter, A Kansas Sheep 147
An Archway 123
Cheap 123
Sheep, on the Plains 151
Summer Chicken 208
Shelters, Cattle 121
Cheap, Temporary 126
On the Plains 130
Silo, Best Hoops for 342
Building a Cheap 337
Cheap, Homemade 338
Constructing a Round 326
Dividing a Round 340
Fastening to the Barn 338
For Brewer's Grains 341
In Beef Raising 335
Stave 326
Substantial and Durable 333
Silos 324
Capacity of Round 326
Spout, Sliding, for Barn or
Granary 296
Stable, Cow, Modern and San-
itary 88
For a Village Lot 215
Stables, Cement Floors for... 116
Improving Old 84
Light, Heat and Ventila-
tion of 1
Stalls, Covered, for Cattle.... 75
Hoard 118
Horse 216
Ventilation, King System 2
Sheringham Valve S
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First Principles of Soil Fertility
By Alfred Vivian. There is no subject of more vital
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have convinced the intelligent farmer that the agriculture
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By Prof. V. M. Shoesmith. A most helpful book to all
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The Cereals in America
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The Book of Alfalfa
History, Cultivation and Merits. Its Uses as a Forage
and Fertilizer. The appearance of the Hon. F. D. Coburn's
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Clean Milk
By S. D. Belcher, M.D. In this book the author sets forth
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Bean Culture
By Glenn C. Sevey, B.S. A practical treatise on the pro-
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Celery Culture
By W. R. Beattie. a practical guide for beginners and a
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Tomato Culture
By Will W. Tracy. The author has rounded up in this
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The Potato
By Samuel Fraser. This book is destined to rank as a
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Dwarf Fruit Trees
By F. a. Waugh. This interesting book describes in detail
the several varieties of dwarf fruit trees, their propagation,
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Cabbage, Cauliflower aiid Allied Vegetables
By C. L. Allen. A practical treatise on the various
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of the requirements, conditions, cultivation ahd general man-
agement pertaining to the entire cabbage group. After this
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Asparagus
By F. M. Hexamer. This is the first book published in
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The New Onion Culture
By T. Greiner. Rewritten, greatly enlarged and brought
up to date. A new method of growing onions of largest size
and yield, on less land, than can be raised Ky the old plan.
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A complete guide to dark forcing and field culture. Part
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Alfalfa
By F. D. CoBURN. Its growth, uses, and feeding value.
The fact that alfalfa thrives in almost any soil; that without
reseeding, it goes on yielding two, three, four, and sometimes
five cuttings annually for five, ten, or perhaps lOO years; and
that either green or cured it is one of the most nutritious ,
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Ginseng, Its Cultivation, Harvesting, Marketing
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By Maurice G. Kains, with a short account of its history
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litter, bedding, etc., necessary for these animals are grown on
these fifteen acres, more than most farmers could accomplish
on one hundred acres. Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 200 pages.
Cloth $0.75
Practical Dairy Bacteriology
By Dr. H. W. Conn, of Wesleyan University. A complete
exposition of important facts concerning the relation of bac-
teria to various problems related to milk. A book for the
classroom, laboratory, factory and farm. Equally useful to
the teacher, student, factory man and practical dairyman.
Fully illustrated with 83 original pictures. 340 pages. Cloth.
SJ/^ X 8 inches. ... . . $1.25
Modern Methods of Testing Milk and Milk
Products
By L. L. VanSlyke. This is a clear and concise discussion
of the approved methods of testing milk and milk products.
All the questions involved in the various methods of testing
milk and cream are handled with rare skill and yet in so plain
a manner that they can be fully understood by all. The book
should be in the hands of every dairyman, teacher or student.
Illustrated. 214 pages. 5x7 inches $0.75
(12)
Animal Breeding
By Thomas Shaw. This book is the most complete and
comprehensive work ever published on the subject of which
it treats. It is the first book which has systematized the sub-
ject of animal breeding. The leadmg laws which govern this
most intricate question the author has boldly defined and
authoritatively arranged. The chapters which he has written
on the more involved features of the subject, as sex and the
relative influence of parents, should go far toward setting at
rest the wildly speculative views cherished with reference to
these questions. The striking originality in the treatment of
the subject is no less conspicuous than the superb order and
regular sequence of thought from the beginning tc the end
of the book. The book is intended to meet the needs of all
persons interested in the breeding and rearing of live "stock.
Illustrated. 40.S pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . $1.50
Forage Crops Other Than Grasses
By Thomas Shaw. How to cultivate, harvest and use
them. Indian corn, sorghum, clover, leguminous plants, crops
of the brassica genus, the cereals, millet, field roots, etc.
Intensely practical and reliable. Illustrated. 287 pages. 5x7
inches. Cloth. .... $1.00
Soiling Crops and the Silo
By Thomas Shaw. The growing and feeding of all kinds
of soiling crops, conditions to which they are adapted, their
plan in the rotation, etc. Not a line is repeated from the
Forage Crops book. Best methods of building the silo, filling
it and feeding ensilage. Illustrated. 364 pages. 5x7 inches.
Cloth $1.50
The Study of Breeds
By Thomas Shaw. Origin, history, distribution, charac-
teristics, adaptability, uses, and standards of excellence of all
pedigreed breeds of cattle, sheep and swine in America. The
accepted text book m colleges, and the authority for
farmers and breeders. Illustrated. 371 pages. 5x7 inches.
Cloth. . ... $1.50
Clovers and How to Grow Them
By Thomas Shaw. This is the first book published which
treats on the growth, cultivation and treatment of clovers as
applicable to all parts of the United States and Canada, and
which takes up the entire subject in a systematic way and
consecutive sequence. The importance of clover in the econ-
omy of the farm is so great that an exhaustive work on this
subject will no doubt be welcomed by students in agriculture,
as well as by all who are interested in the tilling of the soil.
Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 337 pages. Cloth. Net ■ . $1.00
(13)
The New Egg Farm
By H. H. Stoddard. A practical, reliable manual on
producing eggs and poultry for market as a profitable business
enterprise, either by itself or connected with other branches
of agriculture. It tells all about how to feed and manage,
hoAv to breed and select, incubators and brooders, its labor-
saving devices, etc., etc. Illustrated. 331 pages. 5x7 inches.
Cloth $1.00
Poultry Feeding and Fattening
Compiled by G. B. Fiske. A handbook for poultry keep-
ers on the standard and improved methods of feeding and
marketing all kinds of poultry. The subject of feeding and
fattening poultry is prepared largely from the side of the
best practice and experience here and abroad, although the
underlying science of feeding is explained as fully as needful.
The subject covers all branches, including chickens, broilers,
capons, turkeys and waterfowl; how to feed under various
conditions and for different purposes. The whole subject of
capons and caponizing is treated in detail. A great mass of
practical information and experience not readily obtainable
elsewhere is given with full and explicit directions for fatten-
ing and preparing for market. This book will meet the needs
of amateurs as well as commercial poultry raisers. Profusely
illustrated. 160 pages. S x 754 inches. Cloth. . . . $0.50
Poultry Architecture
Compiled by G. B. Fiske. A treatise on poultry buildings
of all grades, styles and classes, and their proper location,
coops, additions and special construction ; all practical in de-
sign, and reasonable in cost. Over 100 illustrations. 125 pages.
5x7 inches. Cloth $0.50
Poultry Appliances and Handicraft
Compiled by G. B. Fiske. Illustrated description of a
great variety and styles of the best homemade nests, roosts,
windows, ventilators, incubators and brooders, feeding and
watering appliances, etc., etc. Over 100 illustrations. Over
125 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $0.50
Turkeys and How to Grow Them
Edited by Herbert Myrick. A treatise on the natural
history and origin of the name of turkeys; the various breeds,
the best methods to insure success in the business of turkey
growing. With essays from practical turkey growers in
diflferent parts of the United States and Canada, Copiously
illustrated. 154 pages, s x ■? inches. Cloth $1.00
(18)
Farmer's Cyclopedia
of Agriculture » >g
A Compendium of Agricultural Science and Prac-
tice on Farm, Orchard and Garden Crops, and the
Feeding and Diseases of Farm Animals. ....
2iK EARLEY VERNON WILCOX. Ph. D.
and CLARENCE BEAMAN SMITH, M. S„
Associate Editors in ike Office of Experiment Stations^ United States
Department of Agriculture
THIS is a new, practical, and complete
presentation of the whole subject of ag-
riculture in its broadest sense. It is de-
signed for the use of agriculturists who
desire up-to-date, reliable information
on all matters pertaining to crops and stock, but
more particularly for the actual farmer. The
volume contains
Detailed directions for the culture of every
important field, orchard, and garden crop
grown in America, together with descriptions of
their chief insect pests and fungous diseases, and
remedies for their control. It contains an ac-
count of modern methods in feeding and handling
all farm stock, including poultry. The diseases
which affect different farm animals and poultry
are described, and the most recent remedies sug-
gested for controlling them.
Every bit of this vast mass of new and useful
information is authoritative, practical and easily
found, and no effort has been spared to include
all desirable details. There are between 6,000
and 7,000 topics covered in these references, and
it contains 700 royal 8vo pages and nearly 500
superb half-tone and other original illustrations,
making the most perfect Cyclopedia of Agricul-
ture ever attempted.
Handsomely bound in ctolh, ^3^50; hat f morocco
{•Oery jumpluouj), J^4r.SO, postpaid
nOAIIPC llinn PniJDAIIV 315-321 Fourth Avenue, New York.N Y.
UltflllUb JUUU bUllir HI1 1, People's Gas Building, Chicago, IK.
(19)
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