RUDIMENTARY TREATISE ON AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING; BY G-. H. AND2ETV, AGRICULTURAL E N G 1 N £ C K. VOL. I. BUILDINGS. Price One Shilling. LONDON : JOHN WBALE. iH^BMBDHHH f ah? 9.1i Hill £tbrarg ^'ortb (Carolina BtuU (ColUgp S675 v.l .90nc;i7lC/i r-> ,.-'■ 136564 This book may be kept out TWO WEEKS ONLY, and is subject to a fine. of-~FJ¥E CENTS a day thereafter. It is due on the day indicated below: 23Aug'57S IfcMar "59tf 1970 50M— May-54— Form 3 RUDIMENTARY TREATISE AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING; ®»it& Illustrations. BY G. H. ANDREWS, C. E. VOL. I. BUILDINGS. ftoniion: JOHN WEALE, 59, HIGH HOLBORN. MDCCCLII. £3 I LONDON: STEVENS AND CO., PRINTERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE-BAR. .:(/ ft-C , LwA/vsXNa* V , ^ji , CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction .... 1 CHAPTER I. Choice of situation for erecting the Steading 9 Prize Essays and Plans of the Royal Agricultural Society . 17 Steading for a 400-Acre Farm . 24 Lord Torrington's Model Homestead . 26 Steading at Liscard, Cheshire . 28 Cow Byres ..... . 30 Mr. Timm's Farm, near Frimley, Surrey . 32 A Scotch Steading .... . 36 Design for a large Steading .... . 38 CHAPTER II. Accommodation for Stock 45 Stables ...... 46 The Cart-Horse Stable 46 Drainage ..... 48 Ventilation .... 48 Boxes and Stalls ..... 54 The Builock-fattening Shed . 54 Cow Byres . . . . . f>b Calf Pens . 66 The Piggery . . ' -f OCTET ^1' Sheep Sheds . . . luOOO t 69 72 CONTENTS. Bull House Cattle Hammels Cattle Infirmary Straw Yards . Poultry House Pigeon Houses Rabbitery The Apiary CHAPTER III. Rick Yard The Barns The GraDary . The Chaff House . Root Stores Root-washing House Boiling House . . Fuel House The Dung House Manure House Liquid-manure Tanks Table showing the Quantity of Excavation, required to stein the Tank, and Content Foot in depth The Dairy The Churning Room The Scalding Room The Cheese Room Wool Room Shepherd's Store Engine House Smith's and Carpenter's Shop Implement House Cart Lodge Drainage Drinking Ponds Farmer's Residence the Number of Bricks in Gallons for every CONTENTS. Kilns PAGE 109 CHAPTER IV. Small Farms Farm Labourers' Cottages Sparred Floors Sparred Floors for Cattle Sheds 113 117 121 121 CHAPTER V. Building Materials . • 125 Bricks . 127 Burned Ballast . 128 Timber . . 129 Lime and Cement . 130 Cement . . 131 Thatched Roofs . 131 Hollow Bricks CHAPTER VI. . 135 The Excavator ... 140 The Bricklayer 141 Pan Tilings . 142 Plain Tiling .... 143 The Mason . . 143 Carpenter . 144 The Plumber . . 145 Zinc .... . 146 Glazier .... 146 The Smith . 147 The Sawyer . 147 The Millwright . . 147 INTRODUCTION. THE critical position in which the Agriculturists of this coun- try are now placed, with prices so low as to yield them no return for their year of labour, is surely a time when it is especially necessary to give the most attentive consideration to any matter that may tend to preserve to the landlord the present value of his property, and to the tenant farmer his position in life, and the capital he has embarked in agricul- tural operations. Although the farmers have been in many cases most unjustly condemned by their political opponents for the manner in which they carry on their business, yet there is one point upon which they are particularly open to censure, and that is, the generally miserable state of the pre- mises and buildings that form their steading. That they are nearly always antiquated and unfit for the purpose, is a fact that no farmer will deny ; and the object the author has in this little book, is to supply him with such necessary data that their reconstruction may be upon the most approved principles. The author having had considerable experience in the erection of agricultural buildings and ma- chinery, and having visited most parts of England, and much of the Continent, with a view to make himself thoroughly acquainted with all that is new and good upon the subject, will endeavour to place before the reader, in the most concise form, the result of his own experience and investigations. The re- erection of farm buildings is a most important point 2 INTRODUCTION. to be settled between landlord and tenant. For tbe latter bas a right to demand tbat be shall be furnished with proper offices suitable for his business, aud so arranged that tbe cost of bis labour sball be reduced to tbe lowest possible point, his stock be preserved in the highest state of health and com- fort, and no one particle of his property be wasted or lost, which must be the case if he is without means to preserve the quality and bulk of the whole of his solid and liquid manure. Until this is done on every farm in England the agricul- turists must be considered as in the rear of their rivals, the manufacturers, who economize everything, and leave no stone unturned to discover anything that may facilitate their opera- tions ; aud scarcely a day passes but something is improved and rendered more perfect. Now tbis is not the case with the agriculturist ; he does know how to improve a thing, and yet does not do it, but leaves it for years in the same inefficient state, and even allows it to wear out, and then reconstructs it in the same manner. To instance this, are not nine-tenths of the farm steadings in England without gutters to the eaves of their buildings I And does not water from these buildings wash out half the value of the manure? (And I have just seen a set of farm buildings re-erected in Norfolk, where there is a most excel- lently constructed brick drain made to carry off the liquid manure into the adjoining brook !) Now no farmer could be found who would not condemn this state of things, as being bad ; and in no instance is the want of buildings and proper arrangements more conspicuous than in the extraordinary want of care in the preservation of manure always observable in old steadings. Notwithstanding all farmers know well the value of manure, and that upon the quantity and quality of it depend the amount and value of crop they will get, they never take the smallest precaution to preserve the quality, and seldom the quantity. It is usual to turn the dung out from the INTRODUCTION. 3 stables and byres into heaps in a yard, which yard always slopes in some direction in which there is a drain, or open outlet, with a constant stream running through, — in wet wea- ther, a full, dark-coloured miniature torrent ; and in dry, a sluggish little stream, thick, dark, and brown. This for some reason is generally turned into the horsepond ; hence the par- ticularly unwholesome look of the drinking places about old farmeries, appearing as if the farmer was anxious to return a part of his liquid manure into the stomachs of the animals from which it came. Now, if a farmer, upon receiving the value of his crop at a distant market, found on reaching home that he had been distributing along the way a considerable portion of the coins he had received, through a small hole which he had inadvertently suffered to exist in his pocket, he would be pretty sure, after this discovery, to have this hole immediately mended, to pre- vent the recurrence of a similar loss. The manure of the farm is the farmer's money ; for upon his economy in, and judicious management of this, depend the quantity and value of his crops : and it makes very little difference whether you abstract the means of producing a crop, or the value of a crop when produced. " For you do take my life, When you do take the means whereby I live." — Shakspeare. That an entirely new, simple, and scientific steading is necessary to most farms, cannot for a moment be doubted. The last fifty years have so entirely changed the system of agriculture in this country, that the crazy and ill-contrived buildings of existing steadings do not afford nearly sufficient accommodation for the farmer to carry on his operations, with the despatch and severe economy now positively neces- sary. Apparently, want of room would be the last fault to find with the old steadings, for they appear much larger than the new ones ; but this arises from the enormous amount of *b 2 4 INTRODUCTION. barn room formerly thought necessary, for besides these huge barns, and a small, ill-ventilated, dark, and therefore always very dirty stable, with an equally wretched cowshed, there is, in reality, no accommodation whatever. Hence we see the agricultural implements, carts, waggons, &c , lying about un- protected from the weather, in whatever place they were last used. The pigs are in the cow byre, the cows are in the piggery, and the whole place knee-deep in water. It will not be an isolated case when you find a farm in this state — it is the rule rather than the exception. All homesteads of the old school partake of it more or less ; and that they should remain so is the more remarkable, from the fact that, in other depart- ments of agricultural science, the greatest improvements have been made of late years ; for, in every county in England, we find that most extensive and scientific drainages have been, or are being executed. The unwholesome fens and swamps of Cambridge and Lincolnshire have been rendered salu- brious aud fertile, and the formerly barren sands of Norfolk now produce the richest crops. The great chalk plain of "Wiltshire, the name of which was associated with ideas of naked sterility, is now almost a garden. The very sea has been robbed of its bed, the corn grows where the waves broke ; and to assist this work, the manure has been fetched from the antipodes. I must not be understood to say that there are no scientific and efficient farm steadings in England ; on the contrary, ex- amples of such are to be found in almost every county : all I intend to assert is, that they are the exception, and not the rule, while in Scotland the reverse is the case — the good being there the rule, and the bad the exception. Indeed, to denv the existence of good steadings in England, would be doing a great injustice to those enlightened noblemen and gentlemen who have spent so much of their time and money in carrving out the most elaborate systems of farm steadings, and who have called to their aid the most scientific and ex- INTRODUCTION. perienced men of the day, at an outlay from which they can never expect such returns as those who are wise enough to act upon their results, without having to pay such a price as they did for their acquisition. It is a curious circumstance that farmers should have availed themselves so little of the examples before their eyes, and, what is still more remarkable, I have generally found them averse to these model steadings. This I know to be the case, as I have at all times and opportunities consulted farmers of intelligence and character for success in agricultural pursuits upon this point, with a view to discover their grounds of ob- jection ; and the first of these, as may naturally be expected, is the enormous outlay which has generally taken place in erect- ing them, and in this they are perfectly right ; too much money has invariably been spent, consequent, I think, upon the fol- lowing causes : — First, that the model steading has generally been built upon very small farms, to which it bore no propor- tion, for I do not think that a perfect steading, constructed upon the most approved principles, and having all the advan- tages of fixed machinery and steam power, can be applied (to pay) to a lesser farm than one of 100 or 500 acres under the plough ; for it happens that the most costly part of the stead- ing would be equally required on a farm of 200 acres — length- ening the stables and cattle sheds would adapt the same steading for 500 acres, inasmuch as machinery must be of cer- tain dimensions to be effective and economical. As to threshing and store barns, I believe they will be made of one size, both on large and small farms ; that is, they will be made to con- tain about one day's work of the machine, and not, as for- merly, to house the whole produce of the farm. Another reason why the farmer does not appreciate model steadings, is his ignorance of the extraordinary saving effected by having the machinery fixed and of superior construction — at least one-third of the power usually consumed is lost in friction and in the want of proper fitting-up in the working 6 INTRODUCTION. parts. Although advocating a superior description of agricul- tural machinery and offices, we must not fall into the error which has generally been committed of drawing an ordinary but very unjust parallel between the farmer, employing ma- chinery for facilitating the operations of agriculture, and the manufacturer, who uses the same for the production of the staple manufactures ; and it is a common thing for those who make the comparison to complain of the farmer's want of ap- preciation of good machinery and buildings, because he does not choose to go to the same expense in constructing his pre- mises, and procuring the same high finish in his machinery and working gear as the manufacturer does. For this he has a sufficient reason, for it must be borne in mind that a manu- facturer, in constructing his premises, calculates that these premises, and the machinery contained in them, will be con- stantly occupied and in use, — therefore, in the construction of, say his spinning machine, no expense is spared to get the most beautiful and perfect machine, (the spindle, with its warve and flier, is not less carefully made and highly finished for its purpose, than is the escapement of a watch) ; and the manu- facturer acts wisely in doing so, for this implement is employed from sunrise to sunset, for days, weeks, months, and years, in pulling down and twisting the miles of tiny thread, every inch of which is producing to the manufacturer a minute profit. But the farmer is totally differently situated with regard to his machinery, for he only employs his different machines at parti- cular seasons of the year, and then only for a short time. The machine is then laid aside till the recurrence of the season again brings it into use. Now it is quite evident that a farmer would not be justified in going to the same expense in the construction and fitting up of his machinery, as the manufacturer does ; the farmer's being only a producing machine for say one-third of the year, and he not being so dependent upon time as the manufacturer, for when his crop is prepared he has no further use for his ma- INTRODUCTION. / chine till next harvest ; whereas every moment of speed gained, and atom of work done additionally, by the manufacturer, is so much increased profit in the year — that portion of his work being finished so much quicker, and the next consequently begun so much sooner. It is in this latter point that he differs so much from the farmer, who, as above stated, however quickly he finishes his portion of work, cannot begin the next similar one until the following year. This is a point that has been very much lost sight of in the construction of what are called model, or example, farms, and hence we see so many attempts injudiciously made to apply the architecture and machinery of the factory to agricultural purposes. Although it is no part of the object of this book to enter into any discussion respecting the political controversy that now agitates the agricultural world, yet, as the terms high and low farming are constantly occurring, a few words may not be out of place to define the sense in which they are used in this work ; for it unfortunately happens that farmers are apt to associate high farming with the practice of those gentlemen, who, having pockets which overflow with wealth derived from other sources, erect the most costly places imaginable, and carry on their agricultural operations regardless of the great question whether it will pay or not, having only one end in view, which is to carry out their designs in the most perfect manner; and practical farmers, having their living to get, know well that if they adopted such practices, they would never get a living. Hence what is called high farming is, from this cause, looked at by the farmers with considerable caution. Real high farming consists in developing to the utmost the capabilities of the land, by employing on it as much capital as will effect that purpose ; in economizing and preserving every atom of manure ; in reducing all expenses of labour, &c, to a minimum, and in increasing the produce, and consequently the profit, to a maximum. This high farming is that which every farmer will soon have to adopt ; that is, he 8 INTRODUCTION. must occupy only as much land as he can cultivate thoroughly ■well, and if his holding be large and his capital small, he must either increase the latter or diminish the former ; for it is quite certain, independent of the question of free trade or protection, that if high farming will not pay, low farming cannot. Supposing a farmer has a quantum of manure, not more than sufficient for one field, it would be a most injudicious proceeding on his part to spread that quantity over two, as he ■would therefore be paying double the amount of rent, taxes, tithe, &c, of another man who confined his operations to only one field. Now are not at least two-thirds of the farmers in England following precisely this injudicious line of conduct, by occupy- ing a great deal more land than they make manure for ? In other words, farming very low, and losing sight of this import- ant fact, that there are certain constant outgoings common to both a large and small crop grown on the same number of acres. The farmer therefore who doubles his crops, without increasing his ground, in effect halves those constant expenses, and therefore, by farming high, secures to himself a peculiar source of profit, not available to the low farmer. Admitting that this principle is true, and that if we are to farm at all we must farm high, both from necessity and principle, we are again brought back to the original subject of farm buildings, which it is the object of this work to describe and discuss. CHAPTER I. CHOICE OF SITUATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE BUILDINGS THAT FORM THE HOMESTEAD. CHOICE OF SITUATION FOR ERECTING THE STEADING. The choosing of the site upon which to build the steading is a very important matter, and requires much more consideration than would at first appear, for if it has been judiciously chosen a vast annual amount of labour may possibly be saved. Theory would at once point out the centre of the farm as the spot best suited, but the locality (in nearly all cases) will afford some peculiar advantages that will settle the question ; for in- stance, if water power can possibly be obtained, either from the natural fall of any river, or from the penning up of any little brook, or from the drainage of the land (as has been done in some cases), then it ought to decide the position of the steading at once, as there is scarcely any advantage that can equal a motive power from a natural fall of water, not that an inconve- nient spot in other respects should be fixed on, merely because the fall happens to be there, as there are many simple contri- vances of engineering for carrying the fall of water to the mill, if it is inconvenient to take the mill to the water. Facility of access to the turnpike road, or proximity to a rail- way station, or canal wharf, or the opportunity to discharge the liquid manure from the tanks to some distant spot on the farm by its own gravity, and so avoid the great labour of pumping : all these, and others, are circumstances that will affect the choosing of a site. But there are certain desiderata that must be sought, and had under all circumstances, such as a tolerably level piece °- H. HILL LIBRARY M_.ll J~ 10 CHOICE OF SITUATION FOR of ground, or one gently sloping towards the south; this must be perfectly dry, or be artificially made so. Proximity to marshes, ponds of stagnant water, or sluggish rivers, should be avoided ; and a plentiful supply of good water must be at hand, and the means exist for procuring an efficient drainage of all the water from above, or from the adjacent land. If the steading be placed on a bed of gravel, or sand, it will be an advantage. Having enumerated the chief points to be attended to in the choice of the site, we must next consider the most judicious arrangement of the buildings, yards, &c, that form the home- stead of the farm. The homestead, or onstead, consists of the dwelling-house of the farmer, with the buildings and premises attached, and used by him in carrying on the various operations in his business requiring sheltered or enclosed offices. Scotch writers upon agricultural subjects generally use the word steading, in refer- ence to all the offices required for the rearing and fattening of stock, and preparation of crops, and other produce of the farm for market, in which sense it is used throughout this book. The buildings and offices necessary for a perfect steading on a mixed husbandry farm, will consist of — Rick Yard. Engine House. Straw Yard. Implement House. Threshing Barn. Cart Lodge. Granary. Dung House. Stables. Manure House. Fatting Sheds. Manure Tanks. Cow Byres. Wool Room. Sheep Shed. Shepherd's Room. Cattle Courts. Poultry House and Yard. Calf Pen. Infirmary. Piggery. Hammels. Chaff House. Bulls' Hammels. Root Stores. Dairy. Turnip House. Cheese Room. Washing House. Tool House. Boiling House. Farmer's Residence. Boiler House. Carpenter's Shop. Fuel House. Smithy. ERECTING THE STEADING. 11 Besides these offices there are other subsidiary buildings required that are not included in the above list, which form what is called the homestead, but will be found treated of under a separate head. Having chosen the site of the proposed steading, the next step is to construct the most judicious form of ground plan, and this point is deserving of the most serious consideration. It is a point to which all eminent agriculturists have de- voted much of their attention, and the result of their study is, that no fixed form of ground plan will apply equally well to all descriptions of farms, or to all localities ; but there are certain fixed principles equally applicable to all, and those principles ought to govern the arrangement of any plan in any locality. It will, therefore, be wise here to consult the opinion of the first authorities who have written upon the subject. Mr. Stephens (the author of one of the most complete, ela- borate, and valuable works in the English language, in "The Book of the Farm," treats of the subject of homesteads at great length, and, with the same care that he has bestowed upon every department of the noble science of agriculture), lays down the following principles, to be kept in view in designing the steading. "(5.) The leading principle on which these arrangements are determined is very simple, and it is this : — " 1 . Straw, being the bulkiest article on the farm, and in daily use by every kind of live stock, and having to be car- ried and distributed in small quantities by bodily labour, though a heavy and unwieldy substance, should be centrically placed, in regard to all the stock, and at a short distance from their respective apartments. The position of its receptacle, the straw barn, should thus occupy a central point of the stead- ing ; and the several apartments containing the live stock should be placed equidistant from the straw barn, to save labour in carrying of straw to the stock. 2. Again applying the prin- 12 CHOICE OF SITUATION FOR ciple that so bulky and heavy an article as straw should in all circumstances be moved to short distances, and not at all, if possible, from any other apartment but the straw barn, the threshing machine, which deprives the straw of its grain, should be so placed as at once to throw the straw into the straw barn. And, in further application of the same prin- ciple, the stack yard, containing the unthreshed straw with its corn, should be placed contiguous to the threshing ma- chine. Lastly, the passage of straw from the stack yard to the straw barn, through the threshing machine, being directly pro- gressive, it is not an immaterial consideration in the saving of time to place the stack yard, threshing mill, and straw barn, in a right line. " (6.) Different classes of stock require different quantities of straw to maintain them in the same degree of cleanliness and condition. Those classes which require the most should, therefore, be placed nearest the straio barn. 1. The younger stock requiring most straw, the courts which they occupy should be placed contiguous to the straw barn ; and this can be most effectually done by placing the straw barn so as a court may be placed on each side of it. 2. The older or fattening cattle, requiring after the young stock the largest quantity of straw, the hammels which they occupy should be placed next in propinquity to the straw barn. 3. Horses in the stables, and cows in the byres, requiring the smallest quantity of straw, the stables and byres may be placed the farthest in distance from the straw barn. The relative positions of these apartments are thus determined by the comparative use of the straw. 4. There are two apart- ments of the steading whose positions are necessarily deter- mined by that of the threshing machine — the one is the upper barn or threshing barn, which contains the unthreshed corn from the stack yard ready for threshing by the mill ; and the other the corn barn, which is below the mill, and receives the coin immediately after its separation from the ERECTING THE STEADING. 13 straw by the mill to be cleaned for market. 5. It is a great convenience to have the granaries in direct communication with the corn barn, to save the labour of carrying the clean corn to a distance when laid up for future use. To confine the space occupied by the steading on the ground as much as practicable for utility, and at the same time ensure the gocd condition of the grain, and especially this latter advantage, tbe granaries should always be elevated above the ground, and their floors then form convenient roofs for either cattle or cart sheds. 6. The elevation which granaries give to the building, should be taken advantage of to shelter the cattle courts from the north wind in winter ; and for the same rea- son that shelter is cherished for warmth to the cattle, all the cattle courts should always be open to the sun. The courts being thus open to the south, and the granaries forming a screen from the north, it follows that the granaries should stretch east and west on the north side of the courts, and it has been shown that the cattle courts should be placed one on each side of the straw barn ; it also follows that the straw barn, to be out of the way of screening the sun from the courts, should stand north and south, or at right angles to the south of the granaries. 7. The fixing of the straw barn to the southward of the granaries, and, of course, to that of the threshing machine, necessarily fixes the position of the stack yard to the north of both. Its northern position is highly favourable to the preservation of the corn in the stacks. 8. The relative positions of these apartments are very differently arranged from this in many existing stead- ings ; but I may safely assert, that the greater the deviation from the principle inculcated in paragraphs (5) and (6) in the construction of steadings, the less desirable they become as habitations for live stock in winter." I have not been able to discover, on looking over nearly all that has been written upon the subject, anything so clear, or any advice so judicious, as that here given by Mr. Stephens ; 14 CHOICE OF SITUATION FOR in fact, I observe that most of those who have written upon the subject, since the publication of his " Book of the Farm," have adopted his ideas, and often his language, and that, too, without acknowledging from whence they obtained it. But although I place such great value upon Mr. Stephens's advice up to this point, I do not follow him any further in the carrying out of his details, or the accommodation for each particular head of stock. His plan may be right for the Scotch system of agriculture, but certainly it is not the most judicious for England, especially for the southern couuties, Tbe chief objection I have to it is its immense cost ; and I am inclined to think that it is only fit for the good old times of high prices, and that we must look in another direction for assistance in the present hour of need (when a quarter of wheat only fetches 36s., and the markets falling), for some- thing cheap ; in fact, such a one as a landlord will not mind erecting, and a tenant can afford to pay for : and if cheapness is the object, we cannot do better than look to Mr. John Caird of Baldoon, who gives us a design for a farmery,* em- bracing all the valuable improvements imported from Auch- ness, and capable of accommodating 10 horses and SO head of cattle in stalls, besides implement house, barn, granary, straw and chaff house, clover and turnip house, boiling house, covered dung house, and tank for saving liquid manure, pig and poultry houses, all for 612/. This amount of accommo- dation for such a sum would be, indeed, a saving, as I know of no steading of the same size that has been erected for any- * The principal difference between the Scotch plan of constructing farm steadings and the English is, that in the former the greater part of the stock are kept in hammels, which are small sheds with yards attached, containing one or several heads of stock ; this necessarily causes a much larger quantity of walling, and consequently the cost of the steading is much increased. In England a system of continuous undivided sheds has been adopted instead, and no disadvantage has arisen in consequence that would at all justify the extra expense incurred in the former plan. ERECTING THE STEADING 15 tiling like the sum; for about 1000^. to 1500/., is the usual cost of such sized farmeries when constructed with good ma- terials, workmanship, and in an economical manner — unless some unusually cheap local material is at hand — I am inclined, then, to think that Mr. Caird has under-estimated the cost considerably, or, that he was alluding to particular localities in Ireland ; but the latter cannot be the case, as he makes a direct comparison between his own design and that of archi- tects generally, Mr. Stevens and others, and undertakes to save one-third. I have taken the trouble to extract the quantities with considerable care, and moneying them out at the lowest prices I know of work being done for. The cost of erection stands thus : — ■ 171 cubic yards of excavation to foundations and tank, at -Id. 46 rods reduced brickwork . . at 8/. 10*. 127^ square Countess slating . . . at 21*. 510 run of ridge tiles . . . .at 2d. 517 superficial yds. of paving to cattle houses and stable, at 1*. 1287 cubic feet timber in rafters, joists, &c, sawn, at 1*. 6d. 227 cubic feet timber wrought stall posts, &c. at Is. 9d. Manger complete and fixed at per foot run. Is. 6d. 127^ square slate laths . . at 7*. 6d. 31^ square barn and granary flooring, 1J thick at 30*. 4 square 1-inch flooring . . at 26s. 551 superficial 1-inch ledged door . at 4d. 750 superficial 1^ wrought boarding between stalls, and to form straw-cutting room . . at bd. 50 run of hay rack ... at Is. 75 superficial yds. of render in cement to inside of tank, at Sd. 30 superficial yards of tile paving to feeding troughs, at 2s. 6d. 21 cwt. lqr. 15 lbs. of 5 lb. milled lead in valleys, gutters, &c. at 23s. id. 84 superficial of sashes, glazed . . at Is. 6d. £ s. d. 2 17 391 133 17 6" 4 5 25 17 96 10 6 19 7 •X 4 2 6 47 IS 3 47 5 5 4 9 3 8 15 12 6 2 10 2 10 3 15 24 18 11* 6 6 i.841 18 U Eight hundred and forty-one pounds, then, is the cost 16 CHOICE OF SITUATION FOR of Mr. Caird's farmery, erected in the most economical man- ner ; but in what state is this steading after this amount has been expended upon it ? Why, not in any way complete or fitted for occupancy ; for the yards are unpaved and unformed, the clay, or whatever soil the erection might be placed upon, is in the state it was when last used, which might have been as an arable field. There are no gutters to any of the build- ings, or rain-water pipes, or water drains to carry it clear of the manure tank. The whole of the exterior wood work is unpainted, and there are no boundary fences or gates to the yards, and scarcely any fixtures of any kind, but the mere shell of a place — undrained, unpainted, and unenclosed. Let us finish it, then, and add to the former outlay of 970/. the neces- sary works required to make it tenable, and which consist of the following, viz. : — t s. a. £ rod superficial reduced brickwork to rain-water tack, at S/.10*. 4 5 15i yards superficial recder in cement to ditto . at Sd. 10 4 60 feet run inch lead pipe, to supply in bullock sbeds at 6d. 1 10 2 f draw-off cocks . . . at 2s. 4 230 yards run 3-incb eaTes guttering . . &t 3 J. 2 17 6 40 yards run 2-inch iron rein-water pipe . . at bd. 16 8 No. 12 heads at 1*. I0d., 12 sloes at 1*. . 114 167 yards run drain from ditto under ground . at 1*. 8 7 900 yards superficial paving and forming to yards at 1*. 45 76 superficial 3-inch sills to doors . . at ~d. 2 4 4 158 yards superficial painting in 3 oils to buildings at fid. 3 19 77 yards superficial painting in 3 oils to guttering at (id. 1 IS 6 No. 12 heads at 6rf., 12 shoes at 6d. . . 12 2f rods superficial reduced brickwork to boundary walls, at 8/. 10#. 23 7 60 feet superficial li-inch gates to yard . . at 1*. 3 2 oak gate-posts . . . . at 5*. 10 2 pair of hooks and bands to ditto . . . at 2s. 4 14 yards superficial painting in 3 oils to ditto . at 6d. 7 581 yards superficial twice lime-white to walls . at Id. 2 8 5 £100 6 3 ERECTING THE STEADING. 17 We have now, then, 100/. 6s. to add to the former esti- mate of 841/. 18s. lid., which brings the cost of the steading up to 94/2. 4*. A\d., which is exceedingly low for the large amount of accommodation ; it is evident, then, that the form of this ground plan is an excellent one, as might be expected from Mr. Caird's practical knowledge of his profession, and his having had the benefit of the assistance of Mr. M'Cullock, of the celebrated farm of Auchness. I considered it of im- portance to give an engraving of this ground plan, but was not so fortunate as to obtain Mr. Caird's permission. A leading feature in the Auchness farm, and adopted here, is the having a covered dung-house, which Mr. Caird describes as unquestionably the most important part of the whole steading, yet in the judges' report of the Prize Essays of the Royal Agricultural Society, after carefully considering the subject, they arrived at the conclusion that covered dung- houses are not always desirable. PRIZE ESSAYS AND PLANS OF THE ROYAL AGRICUL- TURAL SOCIETY. The Royal Agricultural Society of England, last year, offered a prize for the best essay on agricultural buildings, and it was awarded to Sir J. Tancred, Bart. The essay, plan, and details, are published in the Society's Journal, with others, by Mr. J. Ewart, Mr. C. Spooner, architect, and John Elliott, farmer; also by John Hudson, Castle Acre, by Thomas Sturgess, surveyor, of Bedale, York- shire, and some valuable remarks by C. D. Tebbutt, engineer : the whole forming the most valuable mass of practical inform- ation upon this important subject that has hitherto appeared in print ; and persons about to construct or improve existing farmeries, would do well to consult these valuable data. The design of Sir J. Tancred is laid out in the form of a square, and consists of three parallel ranges of buildings running north and south, with others transversely on the 18 PRIZE ESSAYS AND PLANS OF THE north side, and sheep house, piggeries, and horse boxes de- tached. The steadiug accommodates 50 bullocks, 10 horses, with calf pens, piggery, sheep shed, ample barn room, work- shops, a manure depot (not covered), and every accommo- dation that can possibly be required for carrying on the business of the farm in the most economical and approved manner. The total cost of the whole, exclusive of builder's profit, and not including machinery of any kind, is estimated at 1019/. Is. 8|rf. Block Plan of a Design for Steading, by J. Ewart, Esq. Fig. 1. ROYAL, AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 19 Mr. Ewart's design is thus arranged (and is I think one of the best I have ever seen) : — It consists of four parallel lines of cattle boxes, an open yard 30 feet wide, and a line of stabling all parallel to each other, and running north and south. The boiling house is on the north end, and in the centre of the lines of cattle sheds, and the threshing and straw barns on the north-west extremity of the whole. This plan is capa- ble of very considerable extension, without in any degree im- pairing the usefulness of any of the original buildings for the purpose for which they were designed, which is a very im- portant point to be attended to in designing the ground plan of a new homestead. The accommodation consists of Barn of two stories. Cattle lairs in a double range for Straw barn or fodder house, with a 12 fattening beasts. granary above it on a second Cowhouse for 8 cows. story. A siDgle range of cattle lairs for 12 Engine room, and shed for engine beasts. boiler. Ditto for 8 beasts. Stabling for 8 horses. Calf house. Two loose boxes for stallions, brood Liquid manure tank, to which the mares, or sick horses. moisture of the stables, cow- Receptacle for stable dung. house, and calf-house may be Shed for implements. conducted by covered drains. Turnip house, fitted with steam Open yard, 30 feet wide, and apparatus. A watering trough. The estimated cost of this steading is .£1166 16s. lOd. In the same essay are also data of a plan of Lintz Hall farm, near Tanfield, in the county of Durham, and some valuable details of the construction of cattle boxes, &c, well worthy of at- tention. The third plan is the joint production of an architect and a practical farmer, Messrs. J. Elliott and W. Spooner, and, as might be expected, a most excellent design is the result of their labours. A large straw and threshing barn is placed at the north side of a square ; the sides, and a considerable portion of the centre are occupied by the accommodation 20 PRIZE ESSAYS AND PLANS OF THE for stock, consisting of loose boxes for bullocks, a lambing bouse, stables, with implement bouse, artificial manure bouse, sbed for carts and waggons, and a large covered dung pit, which occupies a portion of tbe soutb side of tbe quadrangle. Down tbe centre are arranged Hues of fatting sheds ; between these sbeds are two lines of railway, joining at tbe north end, and being in single Hue through the centre of the barn, when they again diverge to the east and west through the rick-yard. The plan of this railway is most excellent, as tbe whole of the manure- may be removed direct from tbe cattle boxes, and, as it is continued up to tbe dung-pit, by this means it would be a most economical manner of removing so weighty an article as manure. The adaptation of railways in economizing farm labour is a very important point, deserving of great consideration ; and a great deal of ingenuity is displayed in this design. Its use is thus described by the author : When the cattle are to be fed, the trucks take up their load of roots, cut or boiled, in the root boiling or cutting store, or tbe chaff and linseed compound for another meal, obtained each from their respective storehouses adjoining the rail, and pro- ceed on their way through tbe cattle boxes, giving out to each animal its appointed allowance. Tbe trucks are again available for littering the animals, pro- curing the supply from the straw barn ; and when the accumu- lation of manure in the boxes has reached its limited height of increase, the trucks convey the mass of dung direct to the dung pit. One man could then easily, by means of the rail and truck, manage all these operations in a short time, so that tbe whole of the animals might receive their food with regu- larity. Even if tbe railway be not adopted, such an arrange- ment of building as we have shown would afford sreat facilities for feeding and Uttering the stock ; the inclined plane from the various store-houses through the cattle boxes may be still re- tained, and if a plank were laid down, and securely fixed in the centre of the passages between the feeding boxes, a man ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 21 would be able to take a good load on a long-frame wheel- barrow ; the expense of laying down such planks would not exceed 10/. The accommodation in this steading is for 14 horses, 50 bullocks and cows, with calf pens, sheep shed and piggery, besides corn and straw barns, lambing house, boiling house, &c. &c, and the estimated cost is 1438/. 16*. 5c?. They proposed to construct the whole of the walling with hollow tubes of baked clay. They say that, through the kind- ness of the Duke of Richmond, the opportunity was recently afforded them of making a practical trial of this method of construction ; and, from experience, feel no hesitation in pledging themselves that, with ample strength and equal durability, as compared with common brick walls, their method of construction with these hollow tubes will effect a saving of one-third in the cost per rod in walling. The next plan is by a practical farmer, Mr. J. Hudson, of Castle Acre, and is on a different principle to those before mentioned, as in this design ample accommodation is provided for stock in enclosed yards, while in the former ones the prin- ciple has been to almost entirely dispense with the stack-yard, and place the whole of the stock in boxes or stalls ; the two methods have both certain peculiar advantages, which will be more or less adopted as the situation and system of farming require. Mr. Hudson's ground plan is in the form of a paral- lelogram, lying lengthwise, east and west. On the north side are four yards, 64 feet square, including the sheds, which are 16 feet square, open fronted, and supported by wooden posts set upon stone. On the south side are the cart house, stables, and cart sheds, with granaries over, gig house, fowl house, cooking house, &c. The buildings to be built with bricks and covered with slates ; roofs, &c, Memel timber ; oak jambs, posts, &c. ; stone bottoms to the story posts of lodges and sheds. All the yards and buildings to be drained, and the water 22 PRIZE ESSAYS AND PLANS OF THE carried off by a common sewer* into a reservoir for liquid manure. The yards to be laid with a fall from each side to tbe centre to a tank, with grating thereon. The piggeries to be partitioned into folds, with paved floors ; bull and cow houses, and calves' pen, to be paved and fitted up with stalls and feeding manger. The sheds in cow and cattle yards to be fitted up with feed- ing cribs. The storv posts to stand on brick or stone bases. Cart shed, story posts standing on stone bottoms. Granary to be made over the waggon lodge in roof, 14 feet wide. Cart- horse stable to be made with six loose boxes in each, to be fitted up with iron mangers, rack, and water trough, to be fed at the head. The stores to be kept in corn house, with gra- nary over the same. The riding stable to be fitted with two stalls and one loose box. The barn to be built with two floors ; the first floor to be of brick, and the second floor to be boarded for threshing and dressing corn, &c. ; the threshing to be done by machinery, worked by steam or horse power. Estimated expense, 1500/. The fifth plan is by Mr. Sturgess, and is arranged in the form of a parallelogram, having the straw barn, threshing barn, &c, placed on the south side ; and four lines of buildings, lying north and south, between which are ample fold yards. All the neces- sarv offices are provided and well arranged ; there is no striking peculiarity distinguishing this from the others, unless it be, that it partakes somewhat of the plan of Mr. Hudson and the other three combined ; that is, the accommodation is divided between fatting boxes or stalls, and folding in yards, — Mr. Hudson having no beasts in boxes, and the former plans being designed specially for feeding in boxes, with little accommoda- * This must surely be an error in the Journal. ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 23 tion for stock in yards. Besides these plans are some remarks on agricultural buildings by Mr. Tebbutt, well worthy of perusal. The information contained in these essays is decidedly de- serving of the most attentive consideration, as it embodies the opinions of some of the most eminent agriculturists of the day, and all the writers are practical men, intimately ac- quainted with the most approved methods practised in the different counties of England, as well as the particular locality from which they write. The value of the essays is much enhanced by the fact that the authors practise in the most distant parts of England, as Bedale, Southampton, Mansfield, &c. It will be observed that all the writers agree in the main principles of laying out the buildings, and that it is much better to fatten stock in warm covered sheds, than in exposed draughty yards. Box feeding seems to be preferred to any other plan of housing stock. Lord Portman and Mr. Thompson were the judges of the different essays ; and Mr. Thompson, in a letter to Mr. Pusey, prefacing the different plans, has stated what the judges con- sider to be the main objects to be kept in view in making the decision ; this is well worthy of perusal, as the merits of the plans are discussed in a most impartial manner ; and the fol- lowing are the conclusions they have arrived at, after a careful investigation of the subject : — 1st. That the communication between the different buildings of a farm should be by means of a paved or macadamized yard, and not across a straw fold. 2nd. That provision should be made for the introduction of loose boxes or stalls for fattening cattle. 3rd. That small open yards with covered sheds should be provided for young or store cattle. 4th. That covered manure pits are not generally advisable. 24 PRIZE ESSAYS AND PLANS OF THE STEADING FOR A 400-ACRE FARM. Design for a steading adapted to a farm of 400 acres, 320 being arable, tbe remainder meadow. The stock is supposed to consist of a breeding flock of ewes, tbe produce of which are fatted off either as lambs or hogs ; both bullocks and pigs are to be bought in. This plan is the design of Mr. Haslam, a gentleman con- nected with the celebrated firm of Barrett, Exall, and An- drewes, agricultural engineers and implement manufacturers, of Reading. The leading principle proposed to be carried out in this design, is, that the passage of the straw shall be pro- gressive, from its arrival at the barn till it reaches the manure depot, never returning, or being unnecessarily carried about, which is too often the case. The stock, while fattening, are proposed to be kept under cover of one large roof, the build- ing being open throughout, and consequently may be tho- roughly well ventilated. The stables are conveniently placed in close proximity to the cart lodge, implement house, &c. ; it is arranged for 1 6 horses, and divided in the centre : on each side of this division are funnels or shoots communicating with a loft above. By these funnels the corn and chaff are de- livered to the carter, the quantity being regulated by a slide : this plan has the advantage of preventing the accumulation of any stale food remaining, as the last portion is always used first. The sheep are housed on sparred floors of the same plan as Mr. Huxtable's. The hogs are similarly accommodated to the sheep, and the division between both hogs and sheep is formed of iron hurdles ; this plan being considered the most economical, cleanly, and healthy, by allowing a greater circu- lation of pure air. Open sheds, with small yards attached, are provided for young stock and sick cattle. The corn from the rick is thrown directly into the ma- ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 25 chine for threshing and winnowing, and passes it for home consumption directly to the mill, thence to the food house, and from there to the stock ; each time it is moved making a step in advance towards its ultimate destination, the manure pit, which is placed under the cart house, and is Plate II. 10 12 J u is i — t— l . ■ L_ 7 7 , LL- . hi 1 ^■—~ i s 1 C hd s 15 j jt#r r-F — 1 Lj! I! 1 — i — H 111 2 ! i • i i D D 1 6 _ji I . 1 1 2 I | G 5 •i n i r- O E < ' 1 u '? . 1 1 ? 1 1 1 1 CO »T D. H. HILL LIBRARY 26 lord torrixgton's homestead. the general receptacle for everything of such nature. The harn part and machinery are well arranged, the author having heen assisted in this department by Mr. Bell, the intelligent foreman at Messrs. Barrett's factory. Tt consists of a six-horse- power steam engine., with machinery for threshing and clean- ing the grain, a stone mill, crushing mill, oil-cake breaker, straw and hay chaff cutter, and complete apparatus for steam- ing the food.* This is in every respect a good plan, and well considered ; but I would suggest, that neither cart nor implement sheds be placed over or near manure tanks, pits, or drains, as rapid rotting of wood, and corrosion of iron, must follow such a course. I object also to the plan of having the stock accommo- dated in one large building for the reasons mentioned in the description of the West-Peckham-farm steading. References to Plate. 1. Barn and Granary. 10. Cottage. 2. Fatting sheds. 11. Office' 3. Cart-horse stables. 12. Carpenter and smith's shop. 4. Hog sties. 13. Poultry house. 5. Sheep pens. 14. Ash pit, privy, and tool house. 6. Accommodation foryoung stock. 15. Cart shed. 7. Gig house and nag stables. 16. Cow byre. 8. Manure pit. 17. Calves pen. 9. Implement shed. LORD TORRIXGTON'S MODEL HOMESTEAD. A few years back a considerable deal of notice was attracted to a farm steading, erected by Lord Torrington at West Peck- ham, in the county of Rent ; and in a book written by his lordship, and published by Ridgway, in the year 1S45, is a description of these farm buildings, with some useful general remarks on the agriculture of the county of Kent. Lord Tor- rington, like most persons who commence the construction of * The cost of the machinery by this firm, complete to the steading, is about 310/. LORD TORRINGTON's HOMESTEAD. 27 model homesteads, started with a peculiar notion, upon the correctness of which would depend the success of the steading as an example to be imitated. This new and leading feature his lordship describes as the "placing the whole farmyard under one roof adjoining the house ; the lodges of various descriptions generally required being thereby dispensed with, and the farmer being enabled to see at all times whatever is going on, without the necessity of leaving his room." To effect this object he constructed, in the place of ordinary separate offices, one large shed, 90 feet long in the clear, by 54 feet wide ; the height at wall plate 1 1 feet, and 26 feet to the top of roof; and in this building the cattle are lodged, and a variety of operations are to be carried on. It is calculated to contain 53 head of stock ; namely, 32 bullocks, 8 heifers, &c, in addition to whose accommodation there are pens for 9 calves. Now this principle cannot be recommended for general adoption, as on very large farms it could not be carried out, and to construct such immense build- ings is extremely injudicious and uneconomical ; for as Lord Torrington himself thus observes, when describing this build- ing, " It was a matter of considerable difficulty to know how to cover this large roof, its weight being so great and its ex- panse so considerable ;" and for this reason it was an exceed- ingly injudicious proceeding to erect it, as it is most important in constructing farm buildings (which for reasons before men- tioned, will not pay the interest of money on a large outlay), to have them as small in one dimension as possible ; for it should be borne in mind in designing them, that to construct one building twice the width of another will much more than double the cost, as a tie beam for a roof 40 feet span is not only twice the length of one for 20 feet, but it must be much deeper and thicker, and the roof being much heavier, the point of support, the wall, must be much larger. Otherwise than in the injudicious construction of this large stock lodge, the steading at West Peckham is an exceedingly *c 2 28 STEADING AT LISCARD, CHESHIRE. good one, and the details are extremely well arranged and designed. Any person interested in agricultural matters will find a considerable amount of valuable information in Lord Torrington's book. STEADING AT LISCARD, CHESHIRE (ERECTED BY HAROLD LITTLEDALE, ESQ., FROM DESIGNS BY MR. TORR, OF RIBY, LINCOLNSHIRE). This is one of the most recently erected farm steadings, it has been visited by most of tbe leading agriculturists of the present day, and is by all considered to be one of the very best example steadings in the kingdom. The late Sir Robert Peel honoured the property with a visit, and pronounced it to be the most complete he had ever seen. Mr. Littledale's estate, upon which these buildings are erected, is situated in Liscard and the adjoining township of Wallasey, on the road from Liscard to Poulton cum Seacombe. It consists of an extensive range of farm buildings, including threshing barn, stables, piggeries, fatting and feeding sheds, labourers' cottages, and bailiff's house. The form of plan adopted is an almost perfect square, sur- rounded on the north, east, and west with buildings, and on the south having a low wall. This form and arrangement give it an appearance of great compactness. The square is intersected, east and west, by a range of build- ings, consisting of stables, loose boxes, straw and threshing barns, and granaries ; and north and south by two ranges of cow byres, and the principal barn. This arrangement of build- ings divides it into five courts and yards, as shown in the an- nexed plate. Almost in the centre of the steading is placed a substantial range of buildings, two stories in height (tbe rest are all of one story), which contains, on the ground floor, the straw barns, granary, engine house, boiling houses, cooking house, chaff house, &c. ; and on the floor above is placed the threshing STEADING AT LISCARD, CHESHIRE. 29 machine and separator, chaff cutters, linseed crushers, and two pair of mill stones, which are placed in the granary on this floor. These machines are all driven by bands from the Plate III.* * Farmer's Magazine, May, 1848. 30 STEADING AT LISCARD, CHESHIRE. motive power below. The winnowing machine is on the lower floor. Above the boiling house is a drying kilr, laid with perforated tiles, and heated with steam pipes. Adjoining this building is a raised tank for supplying the premises -with water. On the east side of this building is placed stabling for 10 horses, on the west side loose boxes, &c. The stables are fitted up in the most approved manner ; the mangers are of iron, there are no racks, the whole of the fodder being cut into chaff. Cow Byres. — The accommodation for fatting and breeding of oxen is in three lines of buildings, lying north and south, capable of containing in all 80 head of stock. They are most excellently arranged in stalls, the divisions of which are formed by placing upright two large slates, secured to each other and to the mangers by iron rods, which keep them perfectly secure in their places. The piggery is placed on the east side of the range, large and exceedingly comfortable. The feeding troughs are pro- vided with a swinging leaf. Above the piggery is placed the accommodation for poultry. The cattle courts are roomy and sheltered, and have liquid manure tanks in the centre. The implement house and cart sheds are placed on the north side, and are spacious and convenient. Adjoining is the drill house, carpenter's shop, and smithy. On the west side, at the north end, are placed root and potato stores, the floors of which are sunk below the level of the ground. The walls are filled with charcoal to act as a non- conductor. Besides these offices there are a slaughter house and curing room, a churning house, a compost house, a place for grains, kc. On the east side of the steading, detached from the principal STEADING AT LISCARD, CHESHIRE. 31 range, is placed the bailiff's residence, see Plan, Fig. A ; and at the back of this is a range of offices enclosing a court-yard. Here is situated the dairy, which is a most excellent one (and will be found described under the head of Dairies), an apart- ment for salting and curing meat, and numerous other pur- poses. On the south side are placed some well-arranged labourers' cottages. The motive power is a most excellent steam engine of 10-horse power. The threshing machine and separator are of the most approved form, and were made and fitted up by Parsons, of Clyburn. The chaff cutters are by Mr. Come. The whole of the machinery is of excellent workmanship and well fitted. Reference to Numbers on Plate 3. 1. Compost house. 26. Stable for 10 horses. 2. Bull house. 27. Cut chaff. 3. Shippon for 16 cows. 28. Steaming house for roots. 4. Ditto for 28 ditto. 29. Well. 5. Ditto for 32 ditto. 30. Smithy. G. Manure tanks. 31. Carpenter's shop. 7. Gear house. 32. Churn house. 8. Milk-horse stable. 33. Cart shed. 9. Pigs' food. 34. Drill house. 10. Piggeries. 35. Slaughter house. 11. Ducks. 36. Stack yard. 12. Turkeys, geese, &c. 13. Shed for pigs. Reference A. 14. Shed for poultry. 1. Parlour. 15. Poultry yard. 2. Stores. 16. Potato stores. 3. Office. 17. Implement and root shed. 4. Living room. 18. Calf house. 5. Scullery. 19. Loose boxes. 6. Dairy. 20. Grains. 7. Curing house. 21. Straw house. 8. Smoking house. 22. Barn. 9. Privies. 23. Engine house. 10. Ashes. 24. Boiler house. 11. Tubs, &c. 25. Granary. 12. Oven and Boiler. 32 mr. timm's farm, surrey. Reference B. 4. Coals. 1. Living room. 5. Ashes. 2. 3. Pantry and stairs. Kitchen. Upper Floor of Barn D 4. Ashes. 1. Threshing machine. 5. Coals. 2. Separator. 3. Hay cutters. Reference C. 4. Linseed crusher. 1. Kitchen. 5. Drying kiln. 2. Parlour. 6. Granary. 3. Scullery. 7. Tank. MR. TIMM'S FARM, NEAR FRIMLEY, SURREY. Amongst the many farms claiming to be considered as a model or example at the present time, I know of none to which more properly belongs the application of that term than does the little farm near Farnborough, belonging to Mr. Timm, for he sets the best of examples to his neighbours (and no one's neighbours need it more than his). I believe the native agriculturists of the district are much indebted to him for the introduction to their notice of many improved implements, as well as systems of husbandry ; nor is it possible for the farm- ers of this district to be continually passing his well-ordered farm, with its small trim fences, clean land, and the grand ultimatum, heavy crops, without being struck with the fact that they have something to learn, and might, if they tried, do a great deal better than they do, if not quite so well as he does. Mr. Timm's farm is situated about a mile from the Farn- borough station on the South Western Railway, in the middle of the district geologically known as the Bagshot sand, per- haps the poorest description of soil in the kingdom, being purely a silicious sand, and not containing a single element besides, with which to supply nutriment to the plants growing upon it ; the consequence is, that nine-tenths of the whole district is a barren heath, not affording a bite for the nearly starved animals that are occasionally to be met with upon it. The lauds of this district vary in quality more or less as they mr. timm's farm, surrey. 33 approach and are mixed with the London clay, the underlying stratum upon which the formation rests ; when much clay is mixed with sand, as it is about Hartford Bridge, the land is an easily worked, excellent loam, and lets for a high price. Mr. Timm's farm is situated upon a middle description of the Bagshot sand, not nearly so good as the best, nor quite so bad as the worst, but a soil that would be, if in a state of nature, of a yellow, slightly loamy sand. Very much of this description of soil is out of cultivation, and that which is cultivated, with this exception, produces only the poorest crops. Mr. Timm, then, is entitled to no small credit for growing regularly on such land a load of wheat to the acre, and that wheat 65 lbs. to the bushel, and all other crops similar in quality and quantity. There is no ostentatious display here, as in some model farms I could mention ; everything is conducted on the most orderly and apparently ordinary mannei*, nothing is stinted and nothing wasted, and if farming can be made to pay at all, it will do so here. How is it now that this poor land is made to yield double, and in some cases treble, the amount of produce of those in the neighbourhood ? Simply by farming higher (that is better), and employing as much capital as is necessary, and by keeping on this small farm (I think about 250 acres) 60 head of oxen, 350 sheep, 70 hogs, and 20 horses (12 of these at work). The whole of the animals used upon this farm are of the choicest breeds, and are fatted to very heavy weights. The consequence of this is, that an unusually large bulk of manure is annually made and applied to the land in the most judicious manner, that being the only way that such results are to be obtained. The farm buildings, which is the point more immediately ' under our attention, have been constructed with great judg- ment, having a strict regard to economy. *c3 34 MR. T1MM S FARM, SURREY. Plate IV. — Ground Plan of the Steading. A is the threshing barn, with straw and hay barn and granary adjoining. B a straw yard. C open stalls for stock. D cart house and nag stables. E straw yard, with paved causeway round it. F the food cooking house, with steam boiler and steaming apparatus. G a range of buildings divided into stalls for bullocks, with a gangway at the head for feeding the animals. mr. timm's farm, surrey. 35 H calf pen. I a building containing the chaff machine, bean mill, oat crusher, &c> worked from the horse gear at K. L hammels and small yard for sick and other stock. M hammels for two bulls. N liquid-manure tank and pump. O labourers' closet. P stack yard. R road. The yards have a raised causeway round them to facilitate the business of the steading, and slope towards the centre, where drains are placed to carry the liquid manure to the tank ; the buildings are all guttered, and every means taken to preserve the liquid manure from waste or dilution. I think this ground plan, with some modifications, is well adapted to moderate-sized farms. The cattle sheds were con- structed (with a view to economize materials) exceedingly low, and the result is, that in summer they are inconveniently hot. This may be easily obviated by covering the rafters with thin boards (5 -cut stuff), and upon them placing a layer of felt and the slates upon it. The felt is very cheap (Id. per foot), and will have the effect of keeping out the cold of winter as well as the heat of summer. I have lately tried the plan by constructing the roof of a dwelling-house in this manner, and found great benefit in consequence. Mr. Timm's farm is the only one I know of where an attempt has been made to farm high upon the Bagshot sand ; he has been singu- larly successful, and the agriculture of the district will, I am sure, be eventually raised higher from his example. A most laudable attempt is being made in the same direction by another gentleman in this locality, upon some of the most worthless land in Great Britain, being the worst of the Bag- shot sand before mentioned, but the liberal and vigorous sys- tem he is pursuing is likely to bring even it into heavy and good crops. I must not conclude an account of Mr. Timm's farm with- 36 SCOTCH STEADING. out remarking that he is fortunate in having for his bailiff so enthusiastic and intelligent a man in his art as Mr. Hutty. A SCOTCH STEADING. Plate V. is the ground plan of an extensive Scotch steading,* considered by Mr. Stephen as a good example of its kind. The agricultural character of Scotland stands much higher than that of England, for the Scotch have doubtless displayed more energy and ability in the management of their land than their southern neighbours ; nearly all great improvements in agricultural machinery have originated with them. The thresh- ing machine was invented, ploughs immensely improved, and the steam-engine first generally introduced for agricultural pur- poses, north of the Tweed. It was not likely then that while other departments were advancing they would leave their homesteads unimproved ; and consequently we see an extensive orderly well-regulated steading, with steam-engine attached, on every farm in the highly cultivated districts. It is from the Scotch models that the English improved steadings have chiefly been copied, but the more recently erected are improvements upon them. The principal difference between the Scotch plan of con- structing farm steadings and the English is, that in the former the greater part of the stock are kept in hammels, which are small sheds with yards attached, containing one or several heads of stock ; this necessarily causes a much larger quantity of walling, and consequently the cost of the steading is much increased. In England a system of continuous undivided sheds has been adopted instead, and no disadvantage has arisen in consequence that would at all justify the extra expense in- curred in the former plan. * See, for further elucidation, Mr. Stephen's valuable work, entitled the " Book of the Farm." SCOTCH STEADING. Plate V. 37 38 DESIGN FOR A LARGE STEADING. DESIGN FOR A LARGE STEADING. Plate I. — Isometrical view. Plate VI. — General plan. Plate VII. — Enlarged plan of threshing barn, engine house, cooking house, kc. Plate VIII. — Transverse section of threshing barn, straw barn, granary, ftc This is a design for a homestead of the largest class, where all the operations are carried on in the most systematic man- ner, and is arranged according to the principles previously laid down. The whole of the stock fattening for the butcher receive their food in stalls or boxes, while the young stock are ac- commodated in yards and hammels. The whole of the stock receive food previously prepared, by cooking or otherwise ; it is conveyed to them by means of a railwav. This is rendered practicable by means of three turn- tables.* The trucks running on this railway are arranged to take the food direct from the coppers, the roots from the stores, the chaff from the machine, and the meal from the granary or meal room, without any extra carriage ; it being evident that, bv adopting this plan, a great amount of manual labour may be saved, as well as loss or waste, from the food being dropped about in passing from one place to another. The food is all supplied at the animals' head, in a convenient manner, from the rail passage, which also offers great facility for the pro- prietor inspecting every head of stock by a few minutes' walk, without dirt, inconvenience, or danger. This facility for srettins at the animals will be found of great advantage at night by the stock feeder, and prevent accidents. * These are so constructed as not to cost more than 41. 10*. each (see Second Part, on Agricultural Railways). DESIGN FOR A LARGE STEADING. 39 The straw barn is placed to receive the straw direct from the threshing machine ; it may be made so large as to occupy the entire space shown in the plan (or even more), or it may be reduced to any dimensions, however small, without inter- fering with the advantages it possesses from its situation ; that is, the being placed in the centre of all the stock, thereby offering the greatest facility for supplying all the boxes, stalls, hammels, yards, &c, with this bulky article. The horses are placed in a position inaccessible to all other stock, in close proximity to the supply of chaff, corn, and straw. The implement house, smithy, and shoeing place, are to- gether, and also join the stable. Everything belonging to it lies by itself, requiring neither the labourers connected with it to visit other parts of the farmery, or those connected with other departments to visit it ; thereby preventing all idle gossiping and waste of time amongst the persons employed, or the interference of any one person's duty with that of another. The granary is placed above the threshing barn and part of the straw barn. It is intended to receive the whole of the corn immediately after threshing, so that there be neither waste nor robbery. The building containing the granary is proposed to be con- structed in a much more substantial manner than any of the other offices ; and for this purpose, it is so arranged that all the most valuable portion of the property of the tenant shall be contained in it. (By the adoption of this plan the cost of the other buildings may be lowered.) The lower floor contains the winnowing and other apparatus for cleaning the corn, and tackle for raising the various articles to the mills above. The floor of this building is proposed to be sunk three feet below the level of the ground outside, to enable the rick-yard 40 DESIGN FOR A LARGE STEADING. waggon to deliver the sheaves on a level with the threshing barn, and render the use of elevators unnecessary. The middle or stage floor is constructed in a substantial manner, strongly framed with timber, and upon it are placed the threshing machine and straw shaker, the barley hummeller, the smut machine, the bruising mill, oil-cake crusher, steel mill, and a pair of meal stones, dressing machine, &c. The threshing machine occupies the centre of the stage, and the smaller machines are placed against the walls, so as to be out of the way of the operation of thrashing. On the upper floor of this building is the granary, fitted with hoppers to supply the corn to the machines below. A sack tackle is constructed in the roof of this apartment, and there are sack traps to each floor for the convenience of hoisting the sacks. By the side of this building is placed the steam engine. The boiling house adjoining is a small detached building. The fuel house nearly adjoins the boiler house. The cooking house is next the engine-boiler house, from whence the steam is supplied for cooking the various roots, steaming chaff, &c. The meal store, cooking house, chaff" house, root-washing house, and root stores, are close together, and from them the railway communication is perfect to every animal in the build- ing ; the chaff and corn are delivered at one end of the stable into a small apartment partitioned off for the purpose. The meal house is so situated as to be supplied by shoots direct from the granary. The straw is brought from the ricks to the threshing barn by a peculiar truck* which I have invented for the purpose, and is designed to run on lines of rails at right angles to each other; this is to obviate the necessity of using turntables, * For description and plan of this truck, see Part II. DESIGN FOR A LARGE STEADING. 41 several of which would be necessary, as the lines of ricks are arranged at right angles to each other, so that any particular rick may be got at that may be required to be immediately used. The manure is cast out from the various courts, boxes, stables, &c, into pits conveniently placed for the purpose, from whence it is carted to the middens, or to the land ; from beneath these pits are pipes to carry the liquid manure to a common receptacle, from whence it is pumped by the engine into a tank placed at a high level on the farm, or into an elevated iron tank, so that it may descend by its own gravity to the land when required. I consider that a great saving will arise by thus throwing upon the engine the wbole labour of pumping up the liquid manure, in lieu of its being pumped from the tank by the carters, aud carried to high levels in carts drawn by horses. Should this plan not be adopted, that is to say, of placing the tank at some distant spot, I would recommend that it be raised sufficiently high to fill the carts, (instead of being a sunk well,) and be filled by the engine instead of hand labour. 42 DESIGN FOR A LARGE STEADING. Plate VI. Ground Plan. Scale, 30 feet to an inch. An isometrical view of this steading faces the title page of the book. It is proposed to construct the straw barn of open sparred work ; the thrashing barn and granaries as in the an- nexed plates, and the bullock sheds as at Plate XL, only a double row of beasts are on each side of the railway. DESIGN FOR A LARGE STEADING. Plate VII. — Enlarged Plan of Threshing Barn. »pilfe.- 43 44 Plate VIII. — Section of Threshing Barn. ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 45 CHAPTER II. ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. The breeding, rearing, and fattening of stock are a most im- portant division of the business of a farmer, demanding his utmost care, skill, and attention. Badly bred, fed, or housed stock are not consistent with good farming, and can never be made to pay. It has been before observed, that high farming is economy of labour and manure, and plenty of both. Now the economy of labour and manure, in reference to stock, will depend principally upon the judicious arrangement of the sheds, hammels, courts, &c, for the better supply of food, removal of the dung, and preservation of the liquid manure. In the old steadings no arrangements exist for securing any of these advantages, and the accommodation is of the poorest description, — small, ill-contrived, and quite unfit for the most approved present systems of managing stock. The size and arrangements of buildings for stock will, of course, depend a great deal upon the description of steading, whether for dairy, stock, or sheep farm ; but this little book being only an elementary treatise, we shall confine ourselves more particularly to mixed husbandry, of which description by far the larger number of English holdings are. The buildings and other accommodation necessary for the mixed-husbandry farm, to accommodate the stock, consist of Stables for working horses. Hammels for young stock and Fattening sheds for bullocks. bulls. Byres for cows. Infirmary for sick cattle. Sheds and pens for calves. Yards for folding stock at night Piggeries. and in inclement weather. Sheep sheds. Small buildings for poultry, &c. 46 ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. STABLES. The Cart-Horse Stable. — I have heard it asserted by good authorities in agricultural matters, that they could tell the state of everything else on the farm, if allowed to in- spect the cart-horse stables ; and I have no doubt of the fact, for I know of nothing so indicative of good farming as a well-ordered stable. The accommodation for working horses is in most old steadings of tbe most wretched description — low, dark, filthily dirty, and very unwholesome (from want of proper ventila- tion), and in consequence, farmers' horses are generally found in an unhealthy state (though want of food has something to do with this — bad farmers being proverbially bad masters to their horses). In constructing farm-horse stables, it is of the first import- ance to give them room enough (12 ft. in height and 16 in width are the minimum dimensions). This 16 ft. width should be appropriated in the following manner: — 2 ft. for the manger, /ft. for length of stall, 1ft. for the drain, 4 ft. for a clear gangway behind the horses, to facilitate the removal of manure, and the other business of the stable, and 2 ft. for the projection of the harness, &c, hang- ing on the tacks behind each horse. Separate stalls should be provided for each animal by a partition called a travis. (On no account should a swinging bar be used, bad accidents often occurring from this ill- advised economy.) The travis should be five feet high at the tail post, and rise to seven feet at the head, as shown in Plate IX. The posts for supporting it should be of oak or cast-iron, securely fixed into the ground, and, if the construction of the stable admits of it, also to the joists of the floor overhead. The top of the travis, called the ramp rail, should also be made of oak, tenoned into the tail post at one end, and the ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 47 bond timber of the wall at the other. On the under side is a groove in which the upper end of the stall boarding is placed, the lower ends being secured in the same manner, with a cor- responding piece of timber, or, what is better, stone, which is grooved in the same manner as the ramp rail. The divisions of stalls are made in a variety of ways, ac- cording to the description and cost of the stables. The direc- tions here given apply to farm-work -horse stables, where no unnecessary outlay is expected to take place. The rack and manger are variously placed ; the usual plan is a wooden or stone trough, extending the whole length of the stable, and the rack in the same manner above — the hav being dropped from the loft overhead into it ; but this plan is liable to a variety of objections. The rack being placed over- head, the horse will draw and let fall among the litter (and therefore waste) as much as he eats. Blindness in horses also is frequently caused by hay-seeds falling into their eyes when eating from high racks ; nor can the defence of its producing high carriage apply in the case of work horses, as they are not required to hold up their heads, like carriage and other horses ; and generally, on returning to the stable, are so tired, that it is unnecessary cruelty to force them to feed in that way. The most approved plan is to place the rack low clown in one angle, and the manger in the other, which allows of the horse eating while lying down. The manger is often made the whole width of the stall, sloping inwards towards the ground, to be out of the way of the horse's fore-legs. In the woodcuts I have not shown any rack, nor should ever think of using one myself; but I know some horse- keepers are made quite unhappy by the sight of a stable without racks, as I have frequently found them putting a pile of hay upon the litter in one corner of a stable, although the horses never eat a mouthful of it. The plan now generally adopted, and found to answer, is to give the horse nothing but 48 ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. chaff, and very often the oats hruised and mixed with it. I have myself tested the merits of this plan, and shall always in future adopt it. When food thus prepared is placed in the long manger, it is necessary to put small hars across, in two or three places, to prevent the horse routing the food over the edge with his nose. The floor of the stable is paved in various ways, changing with the materials found in different localities. For a de- scription of these see article on Floors for Agricultural Build- ings. Drainage. — The paving of the stalls should slope from each side slightly towards the centre, and from the head to the hind post, not more than about one inch in four feet. If more than this the horse will not stand comfortably, as there will be a continued strain on the tendons of the hind legs. It has been observed, that a horse will always choose a level piece of ground to stand on when he is free in a grass field, and much more ought he to have it in a stable, which is his place of rest. Transversely to, and behind the stalls, there should be an open way or drain running the whole length of the stable, as close as convenient to the hind posts. Between each pair of stall posts, in the line of this drain, should be an iron grating, not less than a foot square in the clear, with a cesspool below, as shown in Plate IX. and not less than two feet deep, and lined with cement, from this the liquid-manure drains should be laid. Ventilation. — This is one of the most important points to be attended to in the construction of the lodgings of all cattle, but with no animal is it so important as with the horse. The doors and windows are usually the only apertures through which the exhalations from the stable can find a way out ; and in the winter time, when these are necessarily closed ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 49 to keep the animals warm, the stable is found to be in a most unhealthy state. I cannot do better than quote Mr. Ste- phens's description of the general state of farmers' stables. He says, — " It is distressing to the feelings to inhale the air in some farm stables at night, particularly in old steadings economically fitted up. It is not only warm from confine- ment, moist from the evaporation of perspiration, and stifling from sudorific odours, but cutting to the breath, and pungent to the eyes, from the decomposition of dung and urine by the heat. The windows are seldom opened ; and many can scarcely be opened by disuse. The roof, in fact, is suspended like an extinguisher over the half- stifled horses. But the evil is still further aggravated by a hayloft, the floor of which is extended over and within a foot or less of the horses' heads. Besides the horses being thus inconvenienced by the havloft, the hay in it, through this nightly wasting and fumigation, soon becomes brittle, and contracts a disagreeable odour." This is not an exaggerated statement, as I have found work-horse stables in most old steadings to be in quite as bad a state as he describes. The great point to be attained in ventilatiug these build- ings is to give an ample supply of fresh air without causing a positive draught ; and this is best done by building into the wall, close to the ceiling joists, iron air-bricks. Of these bricks — if the same size as an ordinary sized brick, i. e. 9 x A\ x 2i inches — one should be allowed for each horse ; and for every eight horses there should be a proper ventilator through the roof of not less dimensions than would contain 36 cubic feet of air. The sides of the ventilator should be fitted with louvre boards, set at a very acute angle to the jamb. This will effectually keep out all violent draughts, and prevent rain and snow from beating in. At the bottom of the ventilator should be placed a wire-gauze flap, as described in the article on Ventilation, and attached to it a cord and pulley, by which the opening may be adjusted 50 ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. Plate IX. — Cart-Horse Stables. Transverse Section and Plan. 6 I I 6 O ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 51 Plate X. — Cart-Horse Stables. Longitudinal Section. Fig. 2. — Stable Window. *d 2 52 ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. according to the state of the weather. When these ventilators are used there need be no louvre boards in the windows, but if not, the window should then be divided into three compart- ments by mullions, the two side divisions being fitted with glass, and the centre one with louvre boards with adjusting rack, or as in Fig. 2. In a large stable I myself erected, tbis ventilation was found to answer tolerably well, the fresh air being admitted by the louvre boards in the windows, and the foul air emitted through the air bricks, two bricks being allowed for each horse ; but I should decidedly recommend that ventilating hoppers be always fitted in the roof, and the fresh air supplied through openings in the lower part of the walls, the apertures covered with perforated zinc. By these means an equal temperature, with perfect ventilation, may be preserved both winter and summer. Cart-horse stable doors should be made in two halves, an upper and lower. A thumb-latch, and a good lock and key should be provided. The manner of storing and supplying the food to horses is rather an important point. In stables generally there is a large bin or chest in which the corn is kept, but in constructing new buildings for this purpose, it is much better to arrange for a small separate apartment for mixing and preparing the food. This is the more necessary when the practice is to mix the corn with chaff. This should be done by the bailiff or foreman, and the allowance delivered out to each ploughman or carter for his particular team of horses, thus putting an end to some of the malpractices so well known to exist by all persons who have much employed this class of men and horses. In this room, called the horsekeeper's room, should be kept, in a closet, any small necessaries occasionally required in the stable, and amongst these the requisite medicines, balls, &c, to be ready in case of horses being taken suddenly ill. Plates IX. and X. are the plan and sections of a cart-horse ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 53 stable, constructed in an economical and substantial manner, and the following are the quantities and estimates for con- structing the same : — £ s. d. 20 yards cube excavation . . . at 3d. 5 3| rods of reduced brickwork . . at 8/. 10*. 31 17 6 40 in. run of brick, on edge, in cement . at 4d. 13 4 40 in. run of cement filleting . . at 2d. 6 8 10* square of slating . . . at 20s. 10 10 48 in. run of ridge to ditto . . at Gd. 14 672 in. superficial of paving to stable, &c. . at Is. 33 12 7 inch cube of stone sills to doors . at 2s. 14 90 ft. superficial of inch-ledged doors . at id. 110 4107 ft. superficial 1^-matched and beaded boarding to stalls . . . . . at bd. 8 9 7 19 ft. 6 in. cube wrought oak posts, &c. . at 4s. 6d. 4 7 9 84 ft. cube fir joists, rafters, &c. . . at Is. 6tf. 6 6 30 ft. cube wrought fir door and window frames at Is. Id. 2 7 6 22 ft. 6 in. superficial louvre boarding to windows to open and shut . . . . at 7d. 13 lift. 6 in. superficial glazed sashes . at Is. 9d. 19 11 j 20 ft. run f -rounded fillet . . atlM. 2 6 10^ square of slate boarding . . .at 7s. 6- v i] j] si !i l! ii fi !! lis: >'1 ;"*"" !l i! ! ! IkJi II V ;:: 'i| || || [ _. 1 th- - ----- 1 -- fczzzzz -V ^> J JK^-vAlv.::!:::.:":::. p::::::::f^^:± J-,-..:: ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 57 Plate XII. — Design for a Loose Box. 1 Plan. ^■rr ^3 -!i "VTT 1 1 1 1 I j Tf^TT'l- 1 ' ! " f ' ~- Elevation. * This design for a loose box is copied from one by J. Ewart, Esq., in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society for 1850. *d3 58 ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. expended for the accommodation of a single bullock than for that of a whole family of labourers. "Warm, dry, and well ventilated cattle sheds have been con- structed in many places at a very small cost, and it is to these that the practical farmer must look for example ; the follow- ing being the cbief points to be attended to : — 1st. That the lodging of the animals be dry, warm, and well ventilated, with arrangements for maintaining as nearly as possible an equal temperature. 2nd. That the arrangements for supplying the animals with litter and food be such as will most economize the labour of the cattleman, and there should be equal facility for removing the manure from the sheds and stalls. 3rd. That cesspools and liquid-manure drains be so ar- ranged that not a drop is wasted. 4th. That all this be done at the smallest possible cost. Fig. 4. — Section. ^ "TTT E^ : SbSJ ACZ »F BOTTOM OE B >K ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 59 Plate XI. is a plan and section showing the accommodation for one animal, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the same, which may be continued to any length. A, is the lodging of the animal, which should be arranged for each bullock to have to itself 5 feet of width. This should be paved with some hard material, the nature of which will generally depend upon locality. (For description of material for flooring cattle-feeding sheds, see the article on Floors.) Each animal will be secured in his position by a chain or strap round the neck. This is fastened to a ring which slides freely upon the circular post C, the lower end of which is let into the floor, and the upper end securely fixed to the joists of the floor above. Should there be no loft over, a strong rail must be run the whole length of the shed, and be occasionally secured to the wall by a transverse tie ; into this the heads of the stall posts must be securely tenoned, B, is a space railed off, 4 feet wide, for the purpose of enclosing a single line of rails, upon which a truck runs for supplying the animals with food of various kinds. In the ground plan of the example steading, Plate VI., it will be observed that this line of rails runs right up to the coppers to receive the cooked food, as well as to the chaff- house and the different root stores, the turnip cutter, and gorse bruiser. This should always be done, and if possible a straight line should be preserved, as the cost and inconvenience of turn-tables is considerable. E, is the line of rails for the truck, and is here shown as cast upon the top of an iron pipe. These pipes are for the purpose of containing hot water or steam to warm the build- ing in exceedingly cold weather. I have thought it necessary to make these provisions in consequence of the principle being now thoroughly established, (a fact that farmers cannot be too often reminded of,) that warmth is equivalent to food, and that if they allow their fat 60 ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. stock to suffer from cold, they are throwing away a propor- tionate quantity of food. Between the stall posts and the rail are placed the feeding troughs. There should be two of these to each animal — one to contain the food, the other the water. At the back of the trough, behind the railing, should be placed a pipe for supplying water to the trough, with a separate tap to each animal. The plan is often adopted of keeping the water in all the troughs at a uniform level, by means of a cistern and ball cock at one end. The taps ai-e the only saving, and as it is exceed- ingly inconvenient, it is a plan that cannot be recommended. Behind the animal, running lengthways of the building the whole length, is the liquid -manure drain, G. This is 15 in. wide and 18 in. deep, built of brick and lined with cement, the top is covered with small boards, placed transversely across and bored with holes. I consider this mode of constructing the drain to be the best, as it can be made of any materials, be easily cleared out, and affords ample opportunity for the liquid to flow through to the drain when there is a large quantity of dung on the floor. The front of the shed next the yard is shown as constructed of brick to 4 feet from the ground ; above that it may be weather boarded. It is sometimes constructed of spars, 3 inches wide, placed 3 inches apart, but by this plan I have always found the sheds very cold in the winter. Weather boarding is best up to within a foot of the top, where it may be open sparred work with a board hung on hinges, to be open or shut at pleasure, according to the temperature, as shown in Plate XI. This plan is designed under the supposition that the stalls will be cleaned every day or two. If it is intended to allow the dung to accumulate under the animal, and the clean litter to be always put on the old, there will then be required dif- ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. 61 ferent arrangements for the feeding, as the troughs must be made to shift up as the manure increases in thickness. There was an arrangement of this sort at Mr. Mechi's, ingeniously done, but I should decidedly not recommend the plan of allowing any great accumulation of dung in sheds of this de- scription, it is much better to have sunk stalls, or boxes. This is a very favourite plan with many persons ; it has how- ever one great objection, that is, the cost of constructing the boxes, and I have not seen any corresponding advantages. If two animals are put into one box and tied up, as is often done, they might just as well be in an ordinary shed ; as the prin- cipal advantage said to be derived from box feeding is to use it as a loose box, and allow the animal to turn about and lie down just which way he pleases. I have, however, seen animals of the largest kind fatted, without any discoverable inconvenience, side by side in large sheds. Quantities and Estimate for Eight-Stall Bullock Shed. 10 yards cube of excavation to foundations If rods superficial of reduced brickwork 64 yards superficial of paving to stalls . 9£ square superficial of Countess slating 42 feet run of ridge to ditto 32 yards superficial of twice lime white 38 feet cube of oak sawn die square 31 feet cube of oak wrought all round 40 feet superficial of inch oak . 122 ft. 4 in. cube of fir, rafters, plates, &c. 11 feet cube of fir, wrought 9i square superficial of slate boarding 2^ square superficial of f weather boarding 212 ft. 6 in. superficial of 1^-inch wrought boarding 80 feet superficial of inch flap hung 60 feet superficial of inch ledged door £ s. d. at 3d. 2 6 at 8/. 10s. 13 13 4 at Is. 3 4 at 20s. 9 10 G . at 6d. 1 1 at Id. 2 8 . at 4 s. 9rf. 9 6 at 5s. 6d. 8 10 6 . at Wd. 1 13 4 at Is. 6d. 9 3 i at Is. 9d. 19 3 at 7s. 6d. 3 11 3 at 16s. 2 rding at Sd. 7 1 8 at 6d. 2 at 9d. 2 5 Carry forward 73 19 ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK. £ I. d. Brought forward "3 19 No. 12 pair of hooks aad bands, at 1*. 6d., 2 Norfolk thumb latches, at Id.. 2 9-inch barrel bolts, at 9d. . .10 8 84 feet run of 3-inch cast-iron eaves guttering . at id. 18 32 feet run of 2-inch cast-iron rain-water pipe . at bd. 13 4 No. 2 heads, at 1*. 10rf., 2 shoes, at 1». ..048 14 yards run of railway ... at 4*. 6d. 330 30 yards superficial of painting in 3 oils . at 6