CHAPTER VII.
SUGGESTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTING A BARN.
Since there is so much information available concerning construction of barns, it is not necessary for me to discuss it here except to criticize the standard forms. On most farms at hay-making time there is no time to haul hay to the dairy barn so it is stacked in the field and hauled in during the winter. Many large dairy barn hay mows are constructed at a great deal of expense and stand empty most of the time in this climate. Before building large, expensive barns it might be well to consult those who have built to see how they are getting along. On an average farm I would suggest a one story shed for the cows built as a lean-to or butting up against a hay shed. This hay shed need not be very large.
In most expensive barns there is installed a litter-carrier that runs on a track. If I were going to use a litter-carrier at all I would have the thing so that it could be let down below the level of the gutter and shove the manure down the gutter into it. This means would save all the liquid manure which is more valuable and would save the effort required to lift the manure with a shovel. When full the carrier could be hoisted, run on the track, and dumped into the wagon or wherever desired. But why use a carrier? Why not have the gutters run through the side of the barn and a wagon or manure spreader standing beneath? It is very easy to push the manure from ten cows down the gutter. Two gutters could run into one wagon which would be left standing outside of the barn on lower ground. The barn could either stand on a side hill or a place could be dug to run the wagon into. If hogs are to work over the manure, a concrete basin should be constructed to hold it.
The feed trough should be so made that it may be used to water the cows during cold weather.