Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/571

 FARM HOUSES AND FARMERIES IN VARIOUS STYLES. .547 1073 t a the rain water which falls on the roofs of the houses and on the yards, and all the liquid manure, are di-ained by open gutters, or underground con- 1074 diuts, formed in the manner shown in the section fig. 1073, which are discharged into a tank, of which fig. 1075 is a ground plan, and fig. 1074, a longitudinal section. This tank is about forty-four feet long by twelve feet wide ; the water may enter at one end, and there may be a waste gutter at the other, in case it should at any time be allowed to overflow. " The sediment is siijiposcd to settle in the basin. The chaff, or other dry substances, that it is wished to convert into manure, and that are difficult to rot, may also be put in here ; and it is intended that the width and slope of the basin should admit of carts passing through it for carrying off the sediment. On one side, fig. 1075, u is siipposed to be sunk about four feet deep below the bottom of the basin, and the water to be drained thence through a close grating, k. A pump is proposed to be put into the well, and to stand sufKciently high above the ground to throw the water into a barrel on a cart, which may then be taken to the field, and discharged on the soil, in the same way as the streets are watered in towns. If the grating should not make the water sufficiently free from mud, a small bundle of wheat straw, well drawn, and loosely tied, put up against it, will be found to answer the purpose. A hatchway, or manhole, should be made in the cover of the well, in order to admit of a person going down occasionally to clear it out." (^High- land Soc. Trans., vol. viii. p. 388.) The soil in which this tank or basin is formed is supposed to be rocky or gravelly, in which case a layer of clay puddle should be placed underneath the causewayed bottom, and a vertical stratum of the same material should be put at the backs of the side walls ; but in clay soils this will not be necessary. In fig. 1075, s s are the side walls ; 1 1, vertical strata of clay puddle ; it, the well ; and §•, the grating. In fig. 1074, r is the layer of clay puddle under the causeway ; w is the grating before the opening to the well ; x, the point at which the water enters ; y, that at which it escapes; and z, the coping of the side walls. Fig. 1076 is a suitable plan for a gate for this description of I linn farm yard. " The right side pillar is intended for a situation where free- stone can be easily ob- tained ; and the left side represents the finishing in a situation where in- ferior stone only is to be got, or where the expense of better finishing is not approved of; but, if it should be thought preferable, a round pillar maybe formed of any kind of inferior stone. The gate-posts are supposed to be ten inches in diameter, circular, or in the octagon form, and sunk in the ground. As it frequently happens that gates into straw-yards are obstructed in their opening, when the courts are becoming filled with dung, it is proposed to hang this gate about nine or ten inches clear of the surface ; and to make up the space between the surface and the gate by laying a piece of coarse wood below the gate, about six or eight inches in diameter, which can be taken out, so as not to obstruct the wheels of carts when the dung is removed from the court. A gate put together in this way is very substantial ; and is easily repaired, when any part of it fails. As a means of preserving the gates in spring, when the cattle leave the yards, they should be all taken off, and put into the sheds, where they may remain till they are again required. 1 1 56- Remarks. This Design, and those of the six following farmeries, have been taken from a collection published in the Transactions of the Highland Society nf Scotland, vol. viii. These Designs were composed by Mr. Waddell of Berwickshire, an Architect of great experience in the laying out of farm buildings, under the superintendence of the committee of the society ; and we are informed by oui- much esteemed friend, David Low, Esq., Professor of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh, that he considers