158 THE AGEICULTUKE OF THE 



steadings, but especially cottages. Good houses exist in many 

 places, but in other instances they are deficient in accommoda- 

 tion and stability. Dwelling-houses are generally slated ; stead- 

 ings partly tiled and partly slated; cottages slated, tiled, or 

 thatched. All new buildings of any kind are slated. Steadings 

 vary with different districts according to the style of farming, 

 but generally tliey are fairly adapted to their purpose. Un- 

 doubtedly the best steading in the county is on Dunmore home 

 farm, but it was erected at great cost for a special purpose, and 

 cannot be considered a fair specimen. This steading is exceed- 

 ingly commodious, and contains all appliances for the health and 

 comfort of animals. The frontage toward the south-east is 

 about 100 yards ; and the measurement from south-east to north- 

 west is 70 yards. For feeding cattle there are 16 boxes, measur- 

 ing each 12 feet by 11, and three others, making 19 altogether. 

 A wide passage, with rails for a w^aggon, between the rows of 

 boxes, gives facilities for the easy and expeditious distribution of 

 food to the feeding troughs, which are alongside of the open 

 passage on either hand. Beside each feeding trough is a separate 

 trough always full to the brim with clear water, which comes by 

 gravitation, and is continuously flowing, so as to be always pure. 

 For wintering cattle there are four courts, each 20 yards square, 

 and each sufficient to accommodate 15 cattle. Over all is a lofty 

 open roof covered with tiles, which are considered better than 

 slates, leaving space for ventilation. There are nine boxes for 

 calves, very commodious and airy. The stables are proportion- 

 ately excellent, with abundant room, lofty roofs, and sufficient 

 means for ventilation. In a detached building on the north side 

 are sheds for young horses, opening into a paddock that extends 

 down to the river. The thrashing machine, driven by steam, is 

 centrally placed, perfect in construction, and with ready access 

 to the stack-yard, the cattle boxes, and the stable. In the south- 

 west corner of the steading is a smithy, where a blacksmith 

 attends when wanted in the evenings. The stack-yard is on the 

 north-w^est side ; and at a little distance on the south-east is the 

 farm house. Of an ordinary steading on a dryfield farm, a 

 fair specimen is at Gallamuir, also on the estate of Lord Dun- 

 more, and tenanted by Mr John Edmond. It is a quadrangle, of 

 which the stable for work horses, containing ten stalls, forms 

 part of the east side, and the line is continued with feeding-stalls 

 for cattle round the east and north angle. Outside the stalls in 

 front of the cattle is a shed fox turnips, with openings through 

 w^hich turnips are deposited in the troughs where the cattle are 

 tied up in stalls. There are 54 stalls for feeding cattle, and^ 

 including sheds, there is accommodation for about a hundred 

 feeding and wintering cattle. The courts are partly roofed with 

 tiles. The thrashing machine is driven by steam, and with it 



