Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/534

 1022 « h.S- <— 6-0. W. b • (3) 510 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. are spouts, indicated in the section at u u, for shooting down corn from the granaij to the bins, o, there to be mixed up, or used, as required. The cattle- feeding houses, V V, are fitted up with stalls, racks, and mangers, like stables, and there are foddering-bays, at each end, and at the angle, www, for hay, oil-cake, turnips, &c. In one of these there is a pump, x, which supplies water to the divisions, y, in all the mangers, by means of a spout, z, at the back of the mangers, and between them and the par- tition which separates the stalls from the feeding-passage, §•. Fig. 1021 is a cross section of the feeding-houses, in the line A B, in which are seen the passage behind the stalls, a ; the partition between the cattle, b; manger, c; water gutter, d : i.i Li ;..- • .'.—. partition separating the foddci ing-passage from the stalls, e ; foddering-passage, /; hay-rack, g ; fodder-bay, A ; and roof over the gateway, i. Fig. 1022 is a section, taken across two stalls in the feeding-house, in which are shown, a a, oak posts, 5 inches square, let into the ground ; b, a cistern for water, 3 feet in length, 12 inches wide, and 15 inches deep, placed between two stalls so as to supply water to each, and being raised 3 inches above the manger ; c c, mangers for di-y meat, 3 feet long, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches deep ; and d, the situation of the spout or trunk of wood, 2 inches square, which runs along the back of the manger, for supplying water to the cistei-ns. This line of spouts is on a perfect level ; so that, when water is pumped into it at one end, it runs along it to the other, supplying all the cisterns iu its course. Where the spout crosses the foddering- bays and the gateway, it passes under ground, rising up again to the same level on the opposite side. These cisterns are intended to be pumped fidl every day, and the person pumping is rendered aware of the cisterns being full, by the water first becoming stag- nant in the trunk, and afterwards running over the end immediately under the spout of the pump, which is purposely made one inch lower than the top of the cisterns. The hay-racks are shown at e e; //are the doors thi-ough which the cattle are fed ; g g, the boards of the partition between the stalls and the foddering-passage ; and h h, the brick- work on which the mangei-s and cisterns are placed. In the construction of these feeding- houses, granary, and pigsties, all the posts which are fixed in the ground, and all the sills into which the uprights are framed, are of oak; and all the other scantling and boards are of Scotch pine, grown on the premises. The granary and piggeries have tiled roofs ; but the feeding-houses are thatched with straw. 1021. Remarks. We received this Design from Mr. Main, who informs us that it was built in 1796, by the late Mr. Howes, land steward at Chalfont Lodge, and who was succeeded in that capacity by Mr. Main, a few years afterwards. We have made some trifling alterations and additions, for the purpose of completing the square, and giving the whole a more symmetrical form ; but we have in no respect altered the dimen- sions of the stalls, or the different details. The arrangement and contrivance of the whole we think most excellent in theory, and Mr. Main informs us that it was found to be not less so in practice. The mode of conveying water to the different stalls may seem too expensive for common commercial farms ; but it is not unfrequent on feeding farms in Lincolnshire, where oil-cake is much in use for feeding cattle. Instead of a wooden gutter, we have observed in the neighbourhood of Gainsborough, gutters, and also mangers, and stall partitions, of freestone. In most other situations, lead or iron pijiing would be found cheaper than wood. An immense quantity of dung, we are informed, was produced by means of the tank, from which the dunghill was kept constantly moist, and the roof over it, which prevented evaporation. We should have thought that the exhalations from the dung would have affected the air, and consequently the corn in the granary ; but we are assured that this was by no means the case ; because the latter was double-floored and thickly covered, on the outer side, with several coatings of boiling pitch.