The Barn, part 2 of 2

The hay stored in the barn in my experience was always alfalfa but I suppose during the time the barn had been in use other kinds of hay — clovers, grasses, etc. — might have been stored. Depending on when the alfalfa was cut it might be coarser or finer in texture, and the leaves on the hay stalks may have fallen off to a greater or lesser degree. I recall feeling that the stock preferred the finer texture alfalfa, but I’m not sure now but what it made no difference to them.

Alongside the haymow on either side ran an aisle which was used to transport hay thrown down or out from the hay mow, either to the horse mangers on the south side of the barn or the lower cow manger on the north side. Both sides had been modified from the original construction. Originally on the south side of the barn there had been nine horse stalls. When we arrived on the farm one stall partition had been entirely removed. These two stalls as well as the next one, plus the area behind the back end of the stalls and the south edge of the barn had been converted into apen in which calves were kept during their early months. The remaining six stalls were used partly for the two horses still on the farm (Barney and Birdie) and for 4 cows. The mangers were really too high for cows but they managed to get the hay from them fairly well. Perhaps couple had the top manger board removed to make them more suitable for cattle. The horse mangers were fairly deep — maybe as much as 4 feet. At one end of the manger was a small raised portion to which any grain (such as oats) for the horses would be placed. Oats was the preferred grain feed for horses, but occasionally corn ears would be given them. Uncle Carl prescribed grain for the horses only when they were being actively used. The floors of the hors stalls were heavy wooden planks but behind the stalls the space to the south wall of the barn was simply dirt. There was a distance of perhaps 8 to 10 feet behind the stalls, with the stalls being about 8 feet long and 5–6 feet wide. There were three doors to the horse side of the barn — one at each end at the corner and one in the center of the south side. As I recall there may have been a couple of small windows. Above the stalls and the space behind them was a sort of loft where straw could be stored for bedding. After the bedding had been used it was simply tossed out of the east door, to be later hauled away as manure. There was a door to the straw loft, at loft level on the west end of the barn.

The north side of the barn, which was originally devoted entirely to cattle, was symmetrical with the south side except there were no stalls and the manger was lower and continuous from the west to the east side of the barn. However this side also had been modified. The west end of the aisle along the haymow had been converted to a little oats storage bin. This was the oats that was used to feed the horses when appropriate. Also about the west 1/3 of the original cattle side has been converted to machinery storage, or storage for miscellaneous junk. It was here that Uncle Carl kept his potato digger when it was not in use.



















Potato digger

The north side of the barn was usually shut off to the cows during the late spring, summer and early fall months. During the rest of the year it was used as a place to feel the cattle cornstalks when there was insufficient gleanings for them in any pasture areas or the corn stubble. The cornstalks had been cut, with the ears still attached when they were still somewhat immature. The cutting was done by the corn binder which bound the stalks and ears in a bundle perhaps a foot in diameter. As I recall Uncle Carl had us remove at least some of the ears or corn before we fed the silage to the cows (in the low manger on the north side of the barn). I suppose that at some time the milking of the cows was done on the north side of the barn but this practice had long ceased by the time we were on the farm.












Corn binder

The farm had one additional feature — a low feeding manger on the east side of the barn. This could be charged with hay from the aisle along the south side of the haymow. I can’t remember now whether it was used to feel the cows or the horses, at any rate it was seldom used.

When we moved onto the farm in the early mid-thirties, the outbuildings had all been recently painted so they had a good appearance, even though some of them, particularly the old granary, weren’t in too good structural shape. I doubt that they were ever again painted. After the farm was sold in the late 1950s, the buildings all deteriorated and I don’t think the new owner ever used the barn for much of anything. Eventually he tore down and razed all the buildings except for the chicken house which I think was still standing in 1988. The only other remaining item was the lower well, whether it was functional or not then I’ve no idea. So the barn became but a memory in the minds of a few people like myself, and no record of it remains except for a few photographs.