Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/335

Rh BUILDINGS.] AGKICULTU li E 301) working court is always a great convenience, and it suits well to have the stable opening to it, and the cart-shed and tool-house occupying another side. Costly machines, such as corn-drills and reaping machines, require to be kept in a locked place, to preserve them from the collisions, and the loss or derangement of their minute parts, to which they are exposed in an open cart-shed. An abundant supply of good water is a most important matter. The best source is from springs, at such an elevation as to admit of its being brought in a pipe, with a continuous flow. Failing this a well and pump is the usual alternative, although it is sometimes necessary to collect the rain-water from the roofs, and preserve it in a capacious and carefully-made tank. In every case it is desirable to have a regulating cistern, from which it is distributed by pipe to every part of the homestead where it is required. It is, in every case, of importance to have the eaves of the whole buildings spouted, and the rain water carried where it can do no mischief. Where fattening cattle are kept in open yards with sheds, by spouting the eaves, and slightly hollowing the yards towards their centres, the urine to a large extent is absorbed by the litter, and retained in the manure. The effectual way, however, is to have the whole of the yards roofed over. The waste of food and litter, and the damage sustained alike by cattle and manure, from the excessive rainfall of winter 1872-3, has probably done more than any amount of argument could do to convince farmers of this. If stall feeding is practised, a pit is required, into which the solid dung is wheeled and the liquid conveyed by drains. Liquid manure tanks are at present in universal repute, but we shall endeavour to show, when treating of manures, that they are not such an indispensable appendage to a farm-yard as is generally asserted. In Scotland it is customary to carry the dung from the byres into a yard in which young cattle are kept, where it is daily spread about and subjected to further treading, along with such quantities of fresh litter as are deemed necessary. That from the stables is carried into the adjoining feeding-yard, and it is usually remarked that the cattle occupying it make more rapid progress than their neighbours. An important part of the buildings of a farm are the cottages for its labourers. It is in all cases expedient to have the people required for the ordinary working of a farm resident upon it; and it is always much better to have families, each in its own cottage, than a number of young people boarded in the farm-kitchen, or with the farm- overseer. These cottages are usually a little removed from the other farm-buildings, and it is, on various accounts, better to have them so. There is, however, an advantage in having the cottages of the farm-steward and cattleman either within the courtyard, or close to its entrance, that these responsible functionaries may at all times be near their charge, and especially that they may be at hand when any of the live stock require night attendance. As there are manifold advantages in having but one main entrance to the homestead, and that closed by a gate which can be locked at night, it will be obviously necessary to have the keeper of the key close at hand to open the gate by night if required. Much more attention than formerly is now paid to the construction of cottages. The apartments are better floored, higher in the roof, and so arranged as to secure comfort and decency. Besides a small garden, each cottage is usually provided with a pig sty and ash-pit, and in some cases with a coal-place and privy besides. The position and style of the farmer s dwelling also claims a remark here. The approved mode used to be, to place it either directly in front or rear of the farm-yard, on the ground that the farmer would thus have his premises and cattle under his eye even when in his parlour or bed room. As has been well remarked, &quot; The advantages of this parlour-farming are not very apparent, the attendant evils glaringly so. If the condition of ready communication be obtained, the farm-house should be placed where the amenities of a country residence can be best enjoyed.&quot; 1 On all hands we now hear it urged, that it is only by men possessed of capital and intelligence that the business of fanning can be rendered remunerative. Those who desire to have such men for tenants will be more likely to succeed by providing a commodious and comfortable farmery, pleasantly placed among trees and shrubs, than by setting it down in the precincts of the dung-heap. CHAPTER V. FENCES. Section 1. Benefit of Fences. The fences by which farms are generally enclosed and subdivided form another part of what may be termed their fixtures, and may therefore be suitably noticed here. When lands are let to a tenant, the buildings and fences are usually put into sufficient repair, and he is taken bound to keep and leave them so at the issue of his occupancy. Although there are some persons who advocate the total removal of subdivision fences, it is admitted on all hands that the farm as a whole, and the sides of public thorough fares which may intersect it, should be guarded by sufficient fences of some kind. The general belief has hitherto been, that there is a farther advantage in having the land subdivided by permanent fences into enclosures of moderate size. The use of such partition fences is not only to confine the live stock to particular fields, or restrain them from trespassing on the other crops, but to afford shelter from cutting winds. It is now frequently urged, that the heavier cattle should never be turned to pasture at all, but kept on roots and green forage the whole year round, and that sheep can be managed satisfactorily by means of movable hurdles. It is highly probable that the practice of soiling will become more general, as it undoubtedly deserves to do. Still, this does not necessarily call for the total removal of subdivision fences, which we cannot but regard as an imprudent proceeding. It is probable that those who have adqpted it have done so very much owing to the prevalence of the opposite extreme. There are large portions of the finest land in England so encumbered with hedges and hedgerow trees, as to be utterly incapable of profitable cultivation. In many cases the fields are so small and the trees so large that their roots actually meet from the opposite sides, and pervade the entire surface soil of the area enclosed by them. When manure is applied to such fields, it is monopolised by these freebooters from the hedges, and the crops of grain or hay, such as they are, are so screened from the sun and wind that there is great risk of their being spoiled in the harvesting. If drains are made in such fields, they are speedily filled up by the rootlets, and thus rendered useless. It has been computed that not less than one and a quarter million acres are occupied by hedgerows in England and Wales, and that if the land overshaded and plundered by roots be included, the amount is three millions. In Devonshire one-fourth of the en closures in many parishes are under two acres ; more than one-third under three acres ; and nearly two-thirds under four acres. Two millions, at least, of these acres might be redeemed, and what a margin is here available for increased production ! The land thus wasted would probably yield a sum equal to county and poor rates, and perhaps malt-tax 1 For further information on Farm Buildings, see also Morton s Cyclopaedia of Agriculture, article &quot; Farm Buildings,&quot; and The Book of Farm Buildings, by Henry Stephens and R. Scott Burn, Edin burgh, 18C1.