Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/591

 ALTERING MANSIONS, ETC., TO FARMEIliES. 567 transported on wheels ; or every particular building or apartment requisite might be framed and placed on wheels, so as to be dragged from place to place by horses or steam, in the manner of our ambulatory cottages, § 516. When steam shall once be employed in agriculture, not only for threshing, but for cutting all the straw not to be used as litter or thatch, into short lengths, and for ploughing, harrowing, hoeing, &c., great changes will be required in the arrangement and construction of farmeries ; and the hints in this subsection are thrown out to give Architects some idea of their resources. 1233. Substitutes for the Walls of Straw Yards, Mr. Taylor has shown, § 1038, may be formed in the most economical manner of bush faggots ; and, indeed, in countries where capital is scarce among farmers, bushes, furze, straw, and clay form almost the only materials used in the construction of farmeries. This is a good deal the case in some parts of Huntingdonshire. The timber for the roof, in such cases, consists of willow or poplar trees, with the bark on. In Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, and various other parts of England, the straw-yards are enclosed by wattled fences, and sometimes even by wattled hurdles. The low price of labour, and the circumstance of wood being the sole or principal fuel, render temporary means of this sort more economical than may at first sight appear. At all events, in a work like the present, intended for new countries as well as old ones, different means of effecting an end ought to be pointed out ; not always as subjects for imitation, but for the sake of leading to comprehensive views. 1234. The Alteration of Buildings of different Kinds, so as to render them suitable for agricidtural Purposes, though very uncommon in Britain, is yet frequent on the Continent. Monastic buildings of every kind, even churches and chapels, have been converted, not only into manufactories, barracks, and dwelling-houses, but into barns, stables, cattle- houses, and other buildings requisite for carrj-ing on the operations of agriculture, in almost every part of the Continent, from Riga to Naples. As these buildings are seldom more than two stories high, and as they generally spread over a considerable surface, and ai-e placed in the form of a quadrangle open to the south, they make, at little expense, very excellent farmeries and farm-houses. The ground floors are employed for lodging animals, and for storing roots and other food, and the floors above are used as granaries, for the farmer's dwelling-house, and as lodgings for his servants. The upper floors are sometimes, in Poland, used as hay and corn barns, the window openings being, in that case, left without glass. In one instance we recollect having seen the upper floor converted into a sheep-house, the sheep entering by an inclined plane, formed from a ruined part of the building, at one end. It is much to be regretted that large buildings, erected at enormous expense, should not be converted, when their owners can no longer afford to dwell in them, or when, from any other cause, they are obliged to be sold, to some useful purpose, rather than suffered to go to decay, or be pulled down. For this reason we shall briefly point out how mansions of different kinds may be converted to agricultural purposes. 1235. To convert Mansions into Farm. Buildings, the first object is, to consider whether the accommodation is contained in several stories in height, or spread out to a consider- able extent in length and breadth. The former class of buildings include most Gothic and Elizabethan mansions, which, it must be acknowledged, are much better adapted for being changed into manufactories, colleges, inns of recreation, schools, or cooperative dwellino-s, than farmeries. Still, however, the ground floor, and the kitchen and stable offices, might be used for the latter purpose, and the upper parts of the building converted into a manufactory ; in which case, one large steam-engine on the groimd-floor might suffice for both establishments. But, even where it was necessary to use the second and third floors of houses of this description for agricultural purposes, they might be ascended by inclined planes, either formed on the outside of the building, or m the interior. In some of the large inns in London the horses are lodged both on the cellar floor and on the first floor, the carriages being on the intermediate or ground floor. The ascent and descent are by inclined planes, at an angle of from twenty-five to thirty degrees, kept well covered with litter. In country houses, however, where there is ample space, the inclined planes need not be so steep, and they ought not to be covered with litter ; which is a clumsy contrivance, and, in London at least, renders the air of stables of this description intolerable. The upper floors of lofty houses should be used as wool-lofts, and for storing other bulky yet light articles ; the next floor for poultry, rabbits, or other small animals ; the floor below for ewes and lambs, or swine ; the first floor for cattle and horses ; the ground floor for barns, cart-sheds, tool-houses, &c. ; and the cellar floor for storing roots. Wliere the mansion consists of only two, or, at most, three stories, as in most Grecian buildings, and some of the old English houses, the conversion is easy, and may follow in the manner common in Poland. We must confess we shoidd deeply regret to see any fine specimens of Architecture occupied as farmeries ; but as we have not a doubt that, with the progress of society, many such buildings in England will be sold by their present owners, we have thought it a duty to throw out these hints, with a view at least