Entering the large door, (_a_,) at the front end, 14 feet wide, and 14
feet high, the main floor (_g_,) passes through the entire length of the
barn, and rear lean-to, 116 feet--the last 16 feet through the
lean-to--and sloping 3 feet to the outer sill, and door, (_a_,) of that
appendage. On the left of the entrance is a recess, (_e_,) of 20x18
feet, to be used as a thrashing floor, and for machinery, cutting feed,
&c., &c.--5 feet next the end being cut off for a passage to the stable.
Beyond this is a bay, (_b_,) 18x70 feet, for the storage of hay, or
grain, leaving a passage at the further end, of 5 feet wide, to go into
the further stables. This bay is bounded on the extreme left, by the
line of outside posts of the barn. On the right of the main door is a
granary, (_d_,) 10x18 feet, two stories high, and a flight of steps
leading from the lower into the upper room. Beyond this is another bay,
(_b_,) corresponding with the one just described on the opposite side.
The passages at the ends of the bays, (_e_, _e_,) have steps of 3 feet
descent, to bring them down on to a level with the stable floors of the
lean-to. A passage in each of the two long side lean-to's, (_e_, _e_,) 3
feet wide, receives the hay forage for cattle, or other stock, thrown
into them from the bays, and the lofts over the stables; and from them
is thrown into the mangers, (_h_, _h_.) The two apartments in the
extreme end lean-to, (_f_, _f_,) 34x16 feet each, may be occupied as a
hospital for invalid cattle, or partitioned off for calves, or any other
purpose. A calving house for the cows which come in during the winter,
is always convenient, and one of these may be used for such purpose. The
stalls, (_i_, _i_,) are the same as described in Design I, and back of
them is the passage for the cattle, as they pass in and out of their
stalls. The stable doors, (_j_, _j_,) are six in number. Small windows,
for ventilation, should be cut in the rear of the stalls, as marked, and
for throwing out the manure, with sliding board shutters. This completes
the barn accommodation--giving twenty-eight double stalls, where
fifty-six grown cattle may be tied up, with rooms for twenty to thirty
calves in the end stables. If a larger stock is kept, young cattle may
be tied up, with their heads to the bays, on the main floor, beyond the
thrashing floor, which we practice. This will hold forty young cattle.
The manure is taken out on a wheel-barrow, and no injury done to the
floor. They will soon eat out a place where their forage can be put, and
do no injury beyond that to the hay in the bays, as it is too closely
packed for them to draw it out any farther. In this way we can
accommodate more than a hundred head of cattle, of assorted ages.
The hay in the bays may drop three feet below the level of the main
floor, by placing a tier of rough timbers and poles across them, to keep
it from the ground, and many tons of additional storage be thus
provided. We have often stored one hundred and fifty tons of hay in this
barn; and it will hold even more, if thoroughly packed, and the movable
girts over the main floor be used, as described in Design I.
The chief advantages in a barn of this plan are, the exceeding
convenience of getting the forage to the stock. When the barn is full,
and feeding is first commenced, with a hay knife, we commence on each
side next the stables, on the top of the bays, cut a _well_ down to the
alley way in front of the mangers, which is left open up to the stable
roof. This opens a passage for the hay to be thrown into the alleys, and
in a short time it is so fed out on each side, that, the sides of the
main barn being open to them, the hay can be thrown along their whole
distance, and fed to the cattle as wanted; and so at the rear end
stables, in the five-foot alley adjoining them. If a root cellar be
required, it may be made under the front part of the main floor, and a
trap-door lead to it. For a milk dairy, this arrangement is an admirable
one--we so used it for four years; or for stall-feeding, it is equally
convenient. One man will do more work, so far as feeding is concerned,
in this barn, than two can do in one of almost any other arrangement;
and the yards outside may be divided into five separate inclosures, with
but little expense, and still be large enough for the cattle that may
want to use them. It matters not what kind of stock may be kept in this
barn; it is convenient for all alike. Even sheep may be accommodated in
it with convenience. But low, open sheds, inclosed by a yard, are better
for them; with storage for hay overhead, and racks and troughs beneath.
This barn is built of wood. It may be well constructed, with stone
underpinning, without mortar, for $1,000 to $1,500, as the price of
materials may govern. And if the collection of the water from the roofs
be an object, cheap gutters to carry it into one or more cisterns may be
added, at an expense of $200 to $300.
As before observed, a barn may be built on this principle, of any size,
and the stables, or lean-to's may only attach to one side or end; or
they may be built as mere sheds, with no storage room over the cattle.
The chief objection to stabling cattle in the _body_ of the barn is, the
continual decay of the most important timbers, such as sills, sleepers,
&c., &c., by the leakage of the stale, and manure of the cattle on to
them, and the loss of so much valuable storage as they would occupy, for
hay and grain. By the plan described, the stables have no attachment to
the sills, and other durable barn timbers below; and if the stable sills
and sleepers decay, they are easily and cheaply replaced with others.
Taking it altogether, we can recommend no better, nor, as we think, so
good, and so cheap a plan for a _stock_ barn, as this.
We deem it unnecessary to discuss the subject of water to cattle yards,
as every farm has its own particular accommodations, or inconveniences
in that regard; and the subject of leading water by pipes into different
premises, is too well understood to require remark. Where these can not
be had, and springs or streams are not at hand, wells and pumps must be
provided, in as much convenience as the circumstances of the case will
admit. Water is absolutely necessary, and that in quantity, for stock
uses; and every good manager will exercise his best judgment to obtain
it.