Hoosick Grange met on Wednesday, April 8. Louise Slingerland was in charge of the Lecturer’s program. Louise had a film on building all kinds of barns. In the film Richard Babcock showed how they used to build barns in the 1800s. They would start with a stone foundation. They used an axe to cut the wood and shave it down. Nails were hard to get back then so they would build the barns with mortise and tenon joints secured with hickory pegs. They didn’t have to use nails. They would shave the pegs to fit. They used a Jim pole to raise the barn. They lifted heavy beams and secured them by the grooves and pegs. A Mr. Ted Ingraham showed in the film how they raised a barn in Vermont in 1790. It took less than a minute to raise a wall. The way the timber frame is built tells if it is an English barn, multi-sided one, barns with three stories and round barns. Round barns saves a person fewer steps. Some barns had a silo built inside it and others built outside. They didn’t have silo unloaders, only the farmer with his silage fork. English barns have vertical boards on it. The film also showed Shelburn Farms in Vermont. It is very expensive to restore barns. They have grants that are 50/50.
The Lecturer thanked Louise for a very interesting program. Our next meeting is on April 22. Marion Cipperly is in charge of the program which will start at 8 pm. Marion is also in charge of refreshments.