Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/413

 MODEL DESIGNS FOR FARMERIES. 389 of tlic forest, both for food and shelter; where, while grubbing up tlic soil for roots, he is protected, by an impenetrable non-conducting mass of branches and foliage, from the heat of the one or the cold of the other. The domestic swine is in a highly artificial state, and requires to be kept warm by abundance of drj- litter in the winter ; and cool, by shady well ventilated houses or sties in summer. Seeking his food chiefly in the soil, he cannot be considered a delicate animal ; and he has few diseases compared with cither the cow or the horse. Uniformity of temperature, therefore, seems to be the chief thing to be studied in the construction of piggeries. As pigs are generally fed in great part with refuse from the kitchen and dairy, the piggeries should be so placed in a farmery as to be accessible from the offices of the dwelling-house, without passing through any of the straw yards, and at the same time not so near as to prove an annoyance in summer by their smell. The construction of jiiggeries is exceedingly simple, each pigsty consisting of a covered lodging, and a small open court ; the latter for feeding and the former for sleeping in, in the case of store pigs ; though, for fattening pigs, especially in winter, the feeding troughs are frequently placed in the covered or warmest part of the structure. In a complete piggery for fattening pigs, there should be, at one end, or in the middle, a bay or compartment for pig's food dry and moist ; and on the two sides of a passage may be placed rows of separate sties ; each with its feeding- trough in the side nest the passage, and with a swing-door on the opposite side to a small yard. The use of the swing door, which is nothing more than a frame of boards suspended from a rail, the ends of which move in sockets freely either way between the jambs of the door, is to prevent the door from ever being left open in severe weather. When the pig wishes to go out, he 50on learns to push it before him ; and the same when he wishes to return. Fig. 801 is a section across a wall containing a pig's trough, in which a is a swinging flap or door ; b b, stops to prevent it from being pushed too 801 far either way; and cc, holes for a bolt to fix it in the position d, when the troughs are to be filled with food, or to be cleaned ; or at e, when the pigs are to eat. The pigs, however, will keep the flap open them- selves while eating. This arrangement is well calculated for fattening pigs, M-hen there is not more than one in a sty ; but for store pigs, or for a sow with a litter, it is desirable to have a longer trough, or to have two or more small troughs, as the strongest pig is apt to get into the trough while eating, to the exclusion of the others. The floors of all pigsties should have an inclination to carry the moisture to a trap or drain ; and no animal requires a greater abundance of dry litter. If under a good roof, and well supplied with this material, the pig will keep himself warm and comfortable, almost any where, and in any season. 766. Sheep-houses. The sheep is a native of temperate climates, where the ground is not long covered with snow during winter ; but it has become an artificial inhabitant of all countries from Iceland to the equator. It is only in those countries where it cannot pasture in the open air, from the snow covering the ground during some weeks at a time, or where the extreme heat of summer burns up the herbage, that sheep-houses ought to be required. There are, however, other cases, in which, from the imperfect state of agriculture, and the absence of fences to the fields, or from imperfect civilisation, or the want of rural police, and the consequent prevalence of thieves and wolves, sheep- houses become necessary for protecting the sheep during the night. Structures of this kind are common in Russia, to prevent the sheep from being famished during the long winters of that country ; and in France they abound as nightly shelters to guard them from the wolves. In Britain, folds, or walled enclosures, are almost the only description of sheep-liouses in use ; because our sheep can pasture in the open air during every month in the year, and all our fields are enclosed by hedges, walls, or other barriers. In some of the mountainous districts it becomes necessary to protect and feed the sheep during severe storms ; and this is done in Scotland by square or circular folds, called stells, into which the sheep are driven and fed. Sometimes these stells are roofed in, but in general they are left open. The sheep-liouses of France and Germany are simply roofs supported by posts, and covering a space sometimes open on all sides, but generally closed to the height of six or seven feet. Across, or lengthwise, in this space, hay-racks are placed ;