252                THE WISCON!

will never have to complain of these pests.-
Cor. Genesee Farmer.

     Estimating the Capacity of Barns.
  Very few farmers are aware of the precise
amount of shelter needed for their crops, bt3
lay their plans of outbuildings from vagti
conjecture of guessing.  As a consequence,
much of their produce has to be stacked out
side after their buildings have been completed,
and if additions are made they must of neces-
sity be put up at the-expense of convenient
arrangement. A brief example will show how
the capacity of the barn may be adapted to
the size of the farm.
  Suppose, for example, that the farm contains
100 acres, of which 90 are good arable land,
and that one-third each are devoted to mead-
ow, pasture and grain.  Ten acres of the lat-
ter may be corn, stored in a separate building.
The meadow should afford two tons per acre,
and yield Go tons; the sown grain. 21) acres,
may yield a corresponding bulk of straw, or
40 tons. The barn should, therefore, besides
other matters, have a capacity for 100 tons or
over one ton per acre as an average. Allowing
500 cubic feet for each ton (perhaps 000 would
be nearer) it would require a bay or mow 40
feet long and 19 feet wide for a ton and a half
to each toot of depth. If 20 feet high it would
hold ab-,it .10 tons. If the barn were 40 feet
wide with IS feet posts, and S feet of base-
ment, albuut 15 tons could be stowed away in
a bay realhing froin basement to peak. Two
such bays. or equivalent space, would be re-
quired bor the products of 90 well cultivated
acres. 6uch a building is much larger than is
usually allowed; and yet, without it there
must be a large waste, as every farmer is
aware who stacks his bay out, or a large ex-
penditure of labor in pitching and repitching
sheaves of grain in threshing.
  In addition to this, as we have already seen
there should be ampe room for the shelter of
domestic animals. In estimating the space re-
quired, including feeding alleys -e., a horse
should have 75 square feet, a cow 45 feet, and
sheep about 10 square feet each. The base-
ment of a barn, therefore, 40 by 75 feet in the
clear, will stable :t) cattle and 1-50 sheep, and
a row of stalls across one end wtll afford room
for 8 horses.  The TV acres each of pasture
and meadow, and the 10 acres of corn fodder
already spoken of, with a portion of grain and
roots, would probably keep about this number
of animals, and consequently a barn with a
basement of less size than 40 by 7 5 would be
insufficient for the complete accommodation of
such R farm in the highest state of cultivation.
-R2egiater of Rural Afairs.

  A GrEAT FAULT.-On some farms the barns
and hog pens are so near the house that the
odor from either or both is wafted by every



3IN FARMER.



breeze through all the house, and a cool draught
of air is poisoned to all delicate sense of smell.
A farm house ought to be, of all others in the
world, the sweetest and most fragrant place.
The scent of apple blossoms, of clover, of new
mown hay, of ripened fruit, are ever about it,
while there is no excuse for crowding build-
ings together.  Besides this, the wife and
children should have their flower garden, and
the yard about be kept scrupulously neat.



  STOCK REGISTER.

            Better Saddle Horses.
  An opportunity to visit the Grand Army of
the Potomac recently has been the occasion of
the brief article thus begun. Here there were
thousands of horses devoted to the cavalry
service, or used by officers of various grades,
from Majors up to Major Generals; and yet
hardly one per cent., so far as we could dis-
cover, were particularly fit for the saddle-
easy in their gait, sure footed, fleet. Many of
them-perhaps ten per cent.-would be called
good for riding by a majority of careless ob-
servers and poor judges; nay, it is very likely
that by their owners this small per cent. are
believed to be very superior; but all that can-
not stand in evidence against the fact that not
one in a hundred is possessed of those quali-
ties which should entitle him to the special
commendation of an experienced horseman.
  In connection with this fact, certain ques-
tions naturally arose, such as
  1. Of what practical importance is it that
the army should be provided with good saddle
horses ?
  2. Why is it that there are so few horses of
this class in the country9
  H. How can the error be corrected?
  The first question will hardly require an an-
swer, as it must be apparent, on a moment's
reflection, that at all times the comfort and
endurance of the rider are involved, while oft-
entimes his life and the fate of a battle may
hang upon this single circumstance of officers
and cavalry being well or badly mounted.
  The second question is easily settled by re-
ference to the fact, which no one will deny,
that the people of the North have been-par-