308 AGRICULTURE [FARM CHAPTER TV. FARM-BUILDINGS. Section 1. General Requisites. In pursuance of the plan already indicated, let us now refer for a little to Farm-Buildings. We have spoken of the soil as the raw material upon which the farmer operates : his homestead may, in like manner, be regarded as his manufactory. That it may serve this purpose in any good measure, it is indispensable that the accommodation afforded by it be adequate to the extent of the farm, and adapted to the kind of husbandry pursued upon it. It should be placed upon a dry, sunny, sheltered site, have a good supply of water, and be as near as possible to the centre of the farm. The buildings should be so arranged as to economise labour to the utmost. It should be con structed of substantial materials, so as to be easily kept in repair, and to diminish, to the utmost, risk from fire. The most cursory examination of existing homesteads will suffice to show that in their construction these obvious conditions have been sadly neglected. For one farm really well equipped in this respect, hundreds are to be met with in all parts of the kingdom, and more especially in England, most wretchedly deficient. Wherever this is the case, it is impossible that the farmer, however skilful or industrious, can make the most of his materials, or compete on equal terms with his better furnished neigh bours. As the agricultural community becomes more generally alive to the importance of economising labour by a judicious arrangement of buildings, and of reducing the cost of the production of beef (and adding to the amount and fertilising power of the home-made manure) by the manner in which the live stock is housed, we may hope that improvement in this department will make rapid progress. Tenants will refuse to embark their capital, and waste their skill and labour, on farms unprovided with suitable apparatus for cultivating them to the best advan tage. Landlords and their agents will by-and-by find that until this is done, they must put up with an inferior tenantry, an antiquated husbandry, and with lower and worse-paid rents. Section 2. Plans. In erecting new homesteads, or in making considerable additions to or alterations upon existing ones, it is of much importance to call in the aid of an architect of ascer tained experience in this department of his art, and then to have the work performed by contracts founded upon the plans and specifications which he has furnished. A reasonable sum thus expended will be amply returned in the cost, trouble, and disappointment, which it usually saves to both landlord and tenant. It is to be hoped that in future a greater number of thoroughly qualified architects will devote themselves to this department of their profession, and that they will meet with adequate encouragement. It is not, therefore, with the view of superseding their services, but simply to illustrate our references to existing practices, that we subjoin a plan of farm-buildings. While protesting against the utter rudeness and inade quacy of the great majority of homesteads, we must also deprecate the hurtful expenditure sometimes lavished in erecting buildings of an extent and style altogether disproportionate to the size of the farm, and out of keep ing with its homely purposes. When royalty or nobility, with equal benefit to themselves and their country, make agriculture their recreation, it is altogether befitting that in such cases the farm-yard should be of such a style as to adorn the park in which it is situated. And even those intended for plain everyday farming need not be un sightly ; for ugliness is sometimes more costly than elegance. Let utility, economy, and comfort, first be secured, and, along with these, as much as possible of that pleasing effect which arises from just proportions, harmonious arrangement, and manifest adaptation to the use the buildings are designed for. .Section 3. Principles of Arrangement. The barn, with its thrashing-machinery, and other appurtenances, naturally forms the nucleus of the home stead, and regulates the distribution of the other buildings. The command of water-power will often determine the exact site of the barn, and indeed of the whole buildings. The cheapness and safety of this motive-power render it well worth while to make considerable sacrifices to secure it, when a really sufficient and regular supply of it can be had. But the difficulty of securing this when the adjoining lands are thoroughly drained, and the great efficiency and facility of application of steam-power, are good reasons why precarious supplies of water-power should now be rated very differently than they were when a horse-wheel or windmill were the only alternatives. A very usual and suitable arrangement is to have the whole buildings, forming a lengthened parallelogram, facing south or south east; the barn being placed in the centre of the north range, with the engine-house behind it, and the straw- house at right angles in front, with doors on both sides for the ready conveyance of litter and fodder to the yards, &c. It is always advantageous to have the barn of sufficient height to afford ample accommodation to the thrashing and winnowing machinery. When the disposition of the ground admits, it is a great convenience to have the stackyard on a level with the upper barn, so that the unthrashed corn may be wheeled into it on barrows, or on a low-wheeled truck drawn by a horse. Failing this, the sheaves are usually pitched in at a wide opening from a framed cart. The space on which the cart stands while this is going on is usually paved, that loose ears and scattered grain may be gathered up without being soiled ; and it is a further improvement to have it covered by some simple roof, to protect the sheaves from sudden rain. It is a good arrangement to have the straw-barn fitted up with a loft, on the level of the opening at which the straw is discharged from the thrashing-mill, so as to admit of fodder being stored above and litter below. A sparred trap-door in front of the shaker retains the straw above, 01 lets it fall to the ground as required. This upper floor of the straw-barn is the most convenient place for fixing a chaff-cutter to be driven by the thrashing-power. The granary should comnrunicate with the upper barn, that the dressed grain may be raised to it by machinery. A loft over the engine-room, communicating with the upper barn and granary, forms a suitable place for fixing a grinding-mill, bruising rollers, and cake-breakers, as it affords opportunity for having these machines easily connected with the steam-power. It suits well to have the house in which cattle food is cooked attached to and under the same roof as the engine-house. One coal store and chimney thus serves for both. Over this cooking-house, and communi cating with the grinding-loft, may advantageously be placed a kiln, to be heated by the waste steam from the engine. An open shed outside the barn, for the accommodation of a circular saw, is also a desideratum. By the aid of the latter machine and a handy labourer, the timber required for ordi nary repairs on the farm may be cut out at trifling expense. The cattle-housing, of whatever description, where there are the largest and most frequent demands for straw, is placed nearest to the straw-house, and in communication with the turnip-stores, and the house (if any) in which food is cooked or otherwise prepared. Where cattle are bred,
the cow-house and calf -house are kept together. A roomy
