Rural Architecture

L >> Lewis Falley Allen >> Rural Architecture

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As pigeons are prolific breeders, laying and hatching six or seven times
a year, and in warm climates oftener, they require a good supply of
litter--short cut, soft straw is the best--which should be freely
supplied at every new incubation, and the old litter removed. The boxes,
too, should be in a warm place, snugly made, and well sheltered from the
wind and driving storms; for pigeons, although hardy birds when grown,
should be well protected while young.

The common food of the pigeon is grain, of almost any kind, and worms,
and other insects, which they pick up in the field. On the whole, they
are a pleasant bird, when they can be conveniently kept, and are worth
the trifling cost that their proper housing may demand.

If our opinion were asked, as to the best, and least troublesome kind of
pigeon to be kept, we should say, the finest and most hardy of the
common kind, which are usually found in the collections throughout the
country. But there are many _fancy_ breeds--such as the fan-tail, the
powter, the tumbler, the ruffler, and perhaps another variety or
two--all pretty birds, and each distinct in their appearance, and in
some of their domestic habits. The most beautiful of the pigeon kind,
however, is the Carrier. They are the very perfection of grace, and
symmetry, and beauty. Their colors are always brilliant and changing,
and in their flight they cleave the air with a rapidity which no other
variety--indeed, which scarce any other bird, of any kind, can equal.
History is full of examples of their usefulness, in carrying tidings
from one country to another, in letters, or tokens, fastened to their
necks or legs, for which they are trained by those who have thus used
them; but which, now, the well known telegraph wire has nearly
superseded.

All these fancy breeds require great care in their management, to keep
them pure in blood, as they will all mix, more or less, with the common
pigeon, as they come in contact with them; and the selection of whatever
kind is wanted to be kept, must be left to those who are willing to
bestow the pains which their necessary care may demand.

A PIGGERY.

The hog is an animal for which we have no especial liking, be he either
a tender suckling, nosing and tugging at the well-filled udder of his
dam, or a well-proportioned porker, basking in all the plenitude of
swinish luxury; albeit, in the use of his flesh, we affect not the Jew,
but liking it moderately well, in its various preparations, as a
substantial and savory article of diet. Still, the hog is an important
item of our agricultural economy, and his production and proper
treatment is a valuable study to all who rear him as a creature either
of profit or convenience. In the western and southern states, a mild
climate permits him to be easily reared and fed off for market, with
little heed to shelter or protection; while in the north, he requires
care and covering during winter. Not only this; in all places the hog is
an unruly, mischievous creature, and has no business really in any other
place than where he can he controlled, and kept at a moment's call.

But, as tastes and customs differ essentially, with regard to his
training and destiny, to such as agree with us in opinion, that his
proper place is in the sty, particularly when feeding for pork, a plan
of piggery is given, such as may be economical in construction, and
convenient in its arrangement, both for the swine itself, and him who
has charge of him.

The design here given, is for a building, 36 feet long, and 24 feet
wide, with twelve-feet posts; the lower, or living room for the swine,
9 feet high, and a storage chamber above, for the grain and other food
required for his keeping. The roof has a pitch of 40deg from a
horizontal line, spreading over the sides and gables at least 20 inches,
and coarsely bracketed. The entrance front projects 6 feet from the main
building, by 12 feet in length. Over its main door, in the gable, is a
door with a hoisting beam and tackle above it, to take in the grain, and
a floor over the whole area receives it. A window is in each gable end.
A ventilator passes up through this chamber and the roof, to let off the
steam from the cooking vats below, and the foul air emitted by the
swine, by the side of which is the furnace-chimney, giving it, on the
whole, as respectable an appearance as a pigsty need pretend to.

[Illustration: PIGGERY.]

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

At the left of the entrance is a flight of stairs, (_b_,) leading to the
chamber above. On the right is a small area, (_a_,) with a window to
light it. A door from this leads into the main room, (_c_,) where stands
a chimney, (_d_,) with a furnace to receive the fuel for cooking the
food, for which are two kettles, or boilers, with wooden vats, on the
top, if the extent of food demands them; these are secured with broad
wooden covers, to keep in the steam when cooking. An iron valve is
placed in the back flue of the furnace, which may fall upon either side,
to shut off the fire from either of the kettles, around which the fire
may revolve; or, the valve may stand in a perpendicular position, at
will, if both kettles be heated at the same time. But, as the most
economical mode is to cook one kettle while the other is in process of
feeding out, and _vice versa_, scarcely more than one at a time will be
required in use. Over each kettle is a sliding door, with a short spout
to slide the food into them, when wanted. If necessary, and it can be
conveniently done, a well may be sunk under this room, and a pump
inserted at a convenient place; or if equally convenient, a pipe may
bring the water in from a neighboring stream, or spring. On three sides
of this room are feeding pens, (_e_,) and sleeping partitions, (_f_,)
for the swine. These several apartments are accommodated with doors,
which open into separate yards on the sides and in rear, or a large one
for the entire family, as may be desired.

CONSTRUCTION.

The frame of this building is of strong timber, and stout for its size.
The sills should be 8 inches square, the corner posts of the same size,
and the intermediate posts 8x6 inches in diameter. In the center of
these posts, grooves should be made, 2 inches wide, and deep, to receive
the _plank_ sides, which should be 2 inches thick, and let in from the
level of the chamber by a flush cutting for that purpose, out of the
grooves inside, thus using no nails or spikes, and holding the planks
tight in their place, that they may not be rooted out, or rubbed off by
the hogs, and the inner projection of the main posts left to serve as
rubbing posts for them--for no creature so loves to rub his sides, when
fatting, as a hog, and this very natural and praiseworthy propensity
should be indulged. These planks, like the posts, should, particularly
the lower ones, be of _hard_ wood, that they may not be eaten off. Above
the chamber floor, thinner planks may be used, but all should be well
jointed, that they may lie snug, and shut out the weather. The center
post in the floor plan of the engraving is omitted, by mistake, but it
should stand there, like the others. Inside posts at the corners, and in
the sides of the partitions, like the outside ones, should be also
placed and grooved to receive the planking, four and a half feet high,
and their upper ends be secured by tenons into mortices in the beams
overhead. The troughs should then, if possible, be made of _cast iron_,
or, in default of that, the hardest of white oak plank, strongly spiked
on to the floor and sides; and the apartment may then be called
hog-proof--for a more unquiet, destructive creature, to a building in
which he is confined, does not live, than the hog. The slide, or spout
to conduct the swill and other feed from the feeding-room into the
trough, should be inserted through the partition planks, with a steep
_slant_ the whole length of the trough, that the feed may be readily
thrown into any or all parts of it. This slide should be of two-inch
white-oak plank, and bound along the bottom by a strip of hoop-iron, to
prevent the pigs from eating it off--a habit they are prone to; then,
firmly spiked down to the partition planks, and through the ends, to the
adjoining studs, and the affair is complete. With what experience we
have had with the hog, and that by no means an agreeable one, we can
devise no better method of accommodation than this here described, and
it certainly is the cheapest. But the timber and lumber used must be
sound and strong; and then, properly put together, it may defy their
most destructive ingenuity. Of the separate uses to which the various
apartments may be put, nothing need be said, as the circumstances of
every farmer will best govern them.

One, to three hundred dollars, according to price of material and labor,
will build this piggery, besides fitting it up with furnace and boilers.
It may be contracted, or enlarged in size, as necessity may direct; but
no one, with six to twenty porkers in his fatting pens, a year, will
regret the expense of building a convenient appurtenance of this kind to
his establishment.

A word may be pardoned, in relation to the too universal practice of
permitting swine to prowl along the highways, and in the yards and lawns
of the farm house. There is nothing so slovenly, wasteful, and
destructive to one's thrift, and so demoralizing, in a small way, as is
this practice. What so revolting to one, of the least tidy nature
whatever, as a villainous brute, with a litter of filthy pigs at her
heels, and the slimy ooze of a mud-puddle reeking and dripping from
their sides? See the daubs of mud marking every fence-post, far and
near, along the highway, or where-ever they run! A burrow is rooted up
at every shady point, a nuisance at every corner you turn, and their
abominable snouts into everything that is filthy, or obscene--a living
curse to all that is decent about them. An Ishmaelite among the farm
stock, they are shunned and hated by every living thing, when at large.
But, put the creature in his pen, with a ring in his nose, if permitted
to go into the adjoining yard, and comfortably fed, your pig, if of a
civilized breed, is a quiet, inoffensive--indeed, gentlemanly sort of
animal; and as such, he is entitled to our toleration--regard, we cannot
say; for in all the pages of our reading, we learn, by no creditable
history, of any virtuous sympathies in a hog.

FARM BARNS.

The farm barn, next to the farm house, is the most important structure
of the farm itself, in the Northern and Middle States; and even at the
south and southwest, where less used, they are of more importance in the
economy of farm management than is generally supposed. Indeed, to our
own eyes, a farm, or a plantation appears incomplete, without a good
barn accommodation, as much as without good household appointments--and
without them, no agricultural establishment can be complete in all its
proper economy.

The most _thorough_ barn structures, perhaps, to be seen in the United
States, are those of the state of Pennsylvania, built by the German
farmers of the lower and central counties. They are large, and expensive
in their construction; and, in a strictly economical view, perhaps more
costly than required. Yet, there is a substance and durability in them,
that is exceedingly satisfactory, and, where the pecuniary ability of
the farmer will permit, may well be an example for imitation.

In the structure of the barn, and in its interior accommodation, much
will depend upon the branches of agriculture to which the farm is
devoted. A farm cultivated in grain chiefly, requires but little room
for stabling purposes. Storage for grain in the sheaf, and granaries,
will require its room; while a stock farm requires a barn with extensive
hay storage, and stables for its cattle, horses, and sheep, in all
climates not admitting such stock to live through the winter in the
field, like the great grazing states west of the Alleghanies. Again,
there are wide districts of country where a mixed husbandry of grain and
stock is pursued, which require barns and out-buildings accommodating
both; and to supply the exigencies of each, we shall present such plans
as may be appropriate, and that may, possibly, by a slight variation,
be equally adapted to either, or all of their requirements.

It may not be out of place here, to remark, that many _designers_ of
barns, sheds, and other out-buildings for the accommodation of farm
stock, have indulged in fanciful arrangements for the convenience and
comfort of animals, which are so complicated that when constructed,
as they sometimes are, the practical, common-sense farmer will not use
them; and, in the _learning_ required in their use, are altogether unfit
for the use and treatment they usually get from those who have the daily
care of the stock which they are intended for, and for the rough usage
they receive from the animals themselves. A very pretty, and a very
plausible arrangement of stabling, and feeding, and all the etceteras of
a barn establishment, may be thus got up by an ingenious theorist at the
fireside, which will work to a charm, as he dilates upon its good
qualities, untried; but, when subjected to experiment will be utterly
worthless for practical use. All this we, in our practice, have gone
through; and after many years experience, have come to the conclusion
that the simplest plan of construction, consistent with an economical
expenditure of the material of food for the consumption of stock, is by
far the most preferable.

Another item to be considered in this connection, is the comparative
value of the stock, the forage fed to them, and the _labor_ expended in
feeding and taking care of them. We will illustrate: Suppose a farm to
lie in the vicinity of a large town, or city. Its value is, perhaps, a
hundred dollars an acre. The hay cut upon it is worth fifteen dollars a
ton, at the barn, and straw, and coarse grains in proportion, and hired
labor ten or twelve dollars a month. Consequently, the manager of this
farm should use all the economy in his power, by the aid of
cutting-boxes, and other machinery, to make the least amount of forage
supply the wants of his stock; and the internal economy of his barn
arranged accordingly; because labor is his cheapest item, and food the
dearest. Then, for any contrivance to work up his forage the closest--by
way of machinery, or manual labor--by which it will serve the purposes
of keeping his stock, is true economy; and the making, and saving of
manures is an item of the first importance. His buildings, and their
arrangements throughout, should, on these accounts, be constructed in
accordance with his practice. If, on the other hand, lands are cheap and
productive, and labor comparatively dear, a different practice will
prevail. He will feed his hay from the mow, without cutting. The straw
will be either stacked out, and the cattle turned to it, to pick what
they like of it, and make their beds on the remainder; or, if it is
housed, he will throw it into racks, and the stock may eat what they
choose. It is but one-third, or one-half the labor to do this, that the
other mode requires, and the saving in this makes up, and perhaps more
than makes up for the increased quantity of forage consumed. Again,
climate may equally affect the mode of winter feeding the stock. The
winters may be mild. The hay may be stacked in the fields, when
gathered, or put into small barns built for hay storage alone; and the
manure, scattered over the fields by the cattle, as they are fed from
either of them, may be knocked to pieces with the dung-beetle, in the
spring, or harrowed and bushed over the ground; and with the very small
quantity of labor required in all this, such practice will be more
economical than any other which can be adopted. It is, therefore, a
subject of deliberate study with the farmer, in the construction of his
out-buildings, what plans he shall adopt in regard to them, and their
fitting up and arrangement.

With these considerations before us, we shall submit such plans of barn
structures as may be adapted for general use, where shelters for the
farm crops, and farm stock, are required; and which may, in their
interior arrangement, be fitted for almost any locality of our country,
as the judgment and the wants of the builder may require.

DESIGN I.

This is a design of barn partially on the Pennsylvania plan, with
under-ground stables, and a stone-walled basement on three sides, with a
line of posts standing open on the yard front, and a wall, pierced by
doors and windows, retreating 12 feet under the building, giving, in
front, a shelter for stock. Two sheds, by way of wings, are run out to
any desired length, on each side. The body of this barn, which is built
of wood, above the basement, is 60x46 feet; the posts 18 feet high,
above the sills; the roof is elevated at an angle of 40deg from a
horizontal line, and the gables hooded, or truncated, 14 feet wide at
the verge, so as to cover the large doors at the ends. The main roof
spreads 3 to 4 feet over the body of the barn, and runs from the side
eaves in a _straight_ line, different from what is shown in the
engraving, which appears of a gambrel or hipped fashion. The sides are
covered with boards laid vertically, and battened with narrow strips,
3 inches wide. The large doors in the ends are 14 feet wide, and 14 feet
high. A slatted blind window is in each gable, for ventilation, and a
door, 9x6 feet, on the yard side.

[Illustration]

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

A main floor, _A_, 12 feet wide, runs the whole length through the
center of the barn. _S, S_, are the large doors. _H, H,_ are trap doors,
to let hay or straw down to the alleys of the stables beneath. _B_,
is the principal bay for hay storage, 16 feet wide, and runs up to the
roof. _C_, is the bay, 26x16 feet, for the grain mow, if required for
that purpose. D, is a granary, 13x16 feet, and 8 feet high. _E_,
a storage room for fanning mill, cutting-box, or other machinery, or
implements, of same size and height as the granary. _F_, is a passage,
8 feet wide, leading from the main floor to the yard door, through which
to throw out litter. Over this passage, and the granary, and store-room,
may be stored grain in the sheaf, or hay. The main floor will
accommodate the thrashing-machine, horse-power, cutting box, &c., &c.,
when at work. A line of movable sleepers, or poles, may be laid across
the floor, 10 feet above it, on a line of girts framed into the main
posts, for that purpose, over which, when the sides of the barn are
full, either hay or grain may be deposited, up to the ridge of the roof,
and thus afford large storage. And if the demands of the crops require
it, after the sides and over the floor is thus filled, the floor itself
may, a part of it, be used for packing away either hay or grain, by
taking off the team after the load is in, and passing them out by a
retreating process, on the side of the cart or wagon; and the vehicle,
when unloaded, backed out by hand. We have occasionally adopted this
method, when crowded for room for increased crops, to great advantage.
It requires somewhat more labor, to be sure, but it is much better than
stacking out; and a well-filled barn is a good sight to look upon.

[Illustration: MAIN FLOOR PLAN.]

Underneath the body of the barn are the stables, root cellar, calf
houses, or any other accommodation which the farm stock may require;
but, for the most economical objects, is here cut up into stables. At
the ends, _l, l_, are passages for the stock to go into their stalls;
and also, on the sides, for the men who attend to them. The main passage
through the center double line of stalls is 8 feet wide; and on each
side are double stalls, 6-1/2 feet wide. From the two end walls, the
cattle passages are 5 feet wide, the partition between the stalls
running back in a _slant_, from 5 feet high at the mangers to the floor,
at that distance from the walls. The mangers, _j, j_, are 2 feet wide,
or may be 2-1/2 feet, by taking an additional six inches out of the rear
passage. The passage is, between the mangers, 3 feet wide, to receive
the hay from the trap doors in the floor above.

[Illustration: UNDER-GROUND PLAN AND YARD.]

The most economical plan, for room in tying cattle in their stalls, is
to fasten the rope, or chain, whichever is used, (the wooden stanchion,
or _stanchel_, as it is called, to open and shut, enclosing the animal
by the neck, we do not like,) into a ring, which is secured by a strong
staple into the post which sustains the partition, just at the top of
the manger, on each side of the stall. This prevents the cattle in the
same stall from interfering with each other, while the partition
effectually prevents any contact from the animals on each side of it, in
the separate stalls. The bottom of the mangers, for grown cattle, should
be a foot above the floor, and the top two and a half feet, which makes
it deep enough to hold their food; and the whole, both sides and bottom,
should be made of two-inch, sound, strong plank, that they may not be
broken down. The back sides of the stalls, next the feeding alleys,
should be full 3-1/2 feet high; and if the cattle are large, and
disposed to climb into their mangers with their fore-feet, as they
sometimes do, a pole, of 2-1/2 or 3 inches in diameter, should be
secured across the front of the stall, next the cattle, and over the
mangers--say 4-1/2 feet above the floor, to keep them out of the manger,
and still give them sufficient room for putting their heads between that
and the top of the manger, to get their food. Cattle thus secured in
double stalls, take up less room, and lie much warmer, than when in
single stalls; besides, the expense of fitting them up being much
less--an experience of many years has convinced us on this point. The
doors for the passage of the cattle in and out of the stables, should be
five feet wide, that they may have plenty of room.

In front of these stables, on the outside, is a line of posts, the feet
of which rest on large flat stones, and support the outer sill of the
barn, and form a recess, before named, of 12 feet in width, under which
may be placed a line of racks, or mangers for outside cattle, to consume
the orts, or leavings of hay rejected by the in-door stock; or, the
manure may be housed under it, which is removed from the stables by
wheel-barrows. The low line of sheds which extend from the barn on each
side of the yard, may be used for the carts, and wagons of the place;
or, racks and mangers may be fitted up in them, for outside cattle to
consume the straw and coarse forage; or, they may be carried higher than
in our plan, and floored overhead, and hay, or other food stored in them
for the stock. They are so placed merely to give the idea.

There may be no more fitting occasion than this, perhaps, to make a
remark or two on the subject of managing stock in stables of any kind,
when kept in any considerable numbers; and a word may not be impertinent
to the subject in hand, as connected with the construction of stables.

There is no greater benefit to cattle, after coming into winter
quarters, than a straight-forward regularity in everything appertaining
to them. Every animal should have its own particular stall in the
stable, where it should _always be kept, and in no other_. The cattle
should be fed and watered at certain hours of the day, as near as may
be. When let out of the stables for water, unless the weather is very
pleasant, when they may be permitted to lie out an hour or two, they
should be immediately put back, and not allowed to range about with the
outside cattle. They are more quiet and contented in their stables than
elsewhere, and eat less food, than if permitted to run out; and are
every way more comfortable, if properly bedded and attended to, as every
one will find, on trying it. The habit of many people, in turning their
cattle out of the stables in the morning, in all weathers--letting them
range about in a cold yard, hooking and thorning each other--is of no
possible benefit, unless to rid themselves of the trouble of cleaning
the stables, which pays twice its cost in the saving of manure. The
outside cattle, which occupy the yard, are all the better, that the
stabled ones do not interfere with them. They become habituated to their
own quarters, as the others do to their's, and all are better for being
each in their own proper place. It may appear a small matter to notice
this; but it is a subject of importance, which every one may know who
tries it.

It will be seen that a driving way is built up to the barn doors at the
ends; this need not be expensive, and will add greatly to the ease and
convenience of its approach. It is needless to remark, that this barn is
designed to stand on a shelving piece of ground, or on a slope, which
will admit of its cellar stables without much excavation of the earth;
and in such a position it may be economically built. No estimate is
given of its cost, which must depend upon the price of materials, and
the convenience of stone on the farm. The size is not arbitrary, but may
be either contracted or extended, according to the requirements of the
builder.

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