The space between the rack of poles and the glass roof was of
course pervious to the sun rays and often became very warm. Three
scuttles, four feet square, set low in the glass roof and guarded by a
framework, enabled us to pitch the grass from the cart directly into the
loft; and I may add here that the dried hay could be pitched into the
haymow through apertures in the side of the barn.
That season the sun scarcely shone at all. The old fire box and boiler
were needed most of the time. We installed the antiquated apparatus
under the open floor virtually in the middle of the long space beneath,
where it served as a hot-air furnace. The tall smoke pipe rose to a
considerable height above the roof of the barn; and to guard against
fire we carefully protected with sheet iron everything round it and
round the fire box. As the boiler was already worn out and unsafe for
steam, we put no water into it and made no effort to prevent the tubes
from shrinking. For fuel we used slabs from the sawmill. The fire box
and boiler gave forth a great deal of heat, which rose through the layer
of grass on the poles.
The entire length of the loft was seventy-four feet, and the width was
nineteen feet.
Pages:
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183