Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/572

 .548 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. them, though capable of improvement, yet the best which have hitherto been published. In consequence of our having received this opinion from such high authority as that of Professor Low, we have deemed it our duty to make a selection, such as we consider will render our series complete. . The Designs in the Highland Society's Transactions are prefaced by a general specification, and some accompanying remarks, from which we have made the following extracts and abridgments. 1157. The Designs published by the Highland Society are contrived solely with a view to utility, and to correct the prevailing errors in this description of buildings; viz., that of crowding them together, under the idea of giving them greater compactness; and that of not giving them a sufficient extent of shelter-sheds for the feeding of cattle. " The last is a fault so universal, that it is only on the larger class of breeding and feeding farms, in the border counties of England and Scotland, that experience has taught builders fully to avoid it." " In giving designs of tlie outhouses of a farm," it is judiciously observed, that " little more can be done than to present useful examples. Although a certain similarity must exist in the form and arrangement of the parts of all such buildings, yet these must be modified according to the circumstances of the farm itself, the nature of the soil, the situation with regard to markets, and the particular kind of management to be pursued. No one rule that can be given is of general application ; and the judg- ment of the Architect must be shown in adapting the size, form, and arrangement of the buildings to the nature of the farm, and the wants of the occupier. While every suitable accommodation should be afforded to the tenant, it is the province of the Architect to take care that the heavy cost of such buildings be not uimecessarily enhanced, either by erecting buildings that are useless, or by giving unnecessary dimensions to such as are requisite. It may be particularly remarked, that the giving unnecessary breadth to the buildings adds materially to the expense, by increasing the dimensions of the timbers, and adding to the size of the roofs. At the same time, care must be taken that, in the cow-houses and stables, the animals shall not be cramped from the want of necessary room." {Ibid., p. .S68.) 1158. The most convenient Arrangement of a Farmery " is in the form of a rectangle, the side to the south being open ; and the farm house being placed at some convenient distance in front of it. The most approved mode of keeping and feeding the larger and finer kinds of cattle is in small sheds, with open yards attached, each capable of holding two animals. In the Designs which follow, the sheds are of larger dimensions, but they can be subdivided where this mode of managing the feeding stock is adopted." 1 1 59. In arranging this, and the Eight following Designs, " wherever uniformity and con- venience could not be combined, the preference has been given to the latter ; and nothing has been proposed but what has been found, from experience, to be uscfid and practicable. But it is (juite impossible, especially in the largest class of farm buildings, to get all the apartments arranged so conveniently as could be wished, consistently with any degree of regularity ; nor does it seem to be possible to lay down a plan that will suit the wish of all farmers, there being so great a diversity in the modes of occupation, kind of manage- ment, situation, soil, &c." 1160. Drainage. " It is recommended that the liquid manure from the stables, cow- houses, and yards should be carried off, by causewayed open channels, to a pond or tank near to the buildings. This mode of conveying away and receiving the urine and dung- water is conceived to be better in ordinary cases than conduits below ground, which, even when executed in the best manner, will be subject to be choked up from the want of necessary attention to cleaning : further, such sewers become nurseries for rats, not- withstanding every precaution that can be taken. Conduits may be made through the ranges of building, below the floors, at proper places, so as to discharge the liquid into a pond or tank exterior to the farmery." 1161. Water. " With respect to watering the cattle in the yards, no indication of the mode of doing so is given in the Designs, as this must depend on whether the water is got from a stream, or from a well. If a stream cannot be obtained, there are few situations where water cannot be got by sinking a well ; and the best way is to raise the water into a cistern, which may be placed in any of the shelter-sheds or other houses, seven feet above the ground ; or, if the water will not rise so high, a small apartment may be made for it, and from this it may be conveyed to cisterns with ball cocks, in the different yards and places where it is wanted ; care being taken to lay the pipes so as tiiat they may be easily emptied on the approach of frost." 1 162. The Shelter-sheds and Yards " should always be open to the south ; and the sheds, unless where they are very large, will be found to answer better with only one opening in front ; as by this means they afford more warmth to the cattle. The usual objection to this is, that one ill-natured beast will keep out the rest : this, however, seldom happens. A farmer of much experience recently told Mr. Waddell that last year he built up all the openings, except one, in one of his sheds, and that he knew a great