The barn is the most versatile storehouse on a farmstead. Most are multi-leveled and multi-purpose. A neighbor in my childhood had a three level barn. The lower level housed the animals. The middle layer was used to thresh and store grain; later it became a kind of machine shed. The top layer was used to store hay and straw. Of course, not all barns are the same and some have very defined purposes. Whether it is a multi-purpose barn like my old neighbor or a modern machine shed, the main purpose is the same – to protect the farmer’s treasures.