EQUIPMENT OF THE AVERAGE FARM. 29 



separately in the following pages and in suflicient detail to permit 

 the application of the data to farms diverging from the type under 

 consideration. It is impossible to make a general recommendation 

 as to equipment, owing to the complex and varying combinations of 

 enterprises on different farms ; the summary presented later is there- 

 fore valuable in a suggestive way only. 



REAL ESTATE. 



The average value previously shown for the bare land is taken as 

 a basis instead of the mean value, as all other data relating to the first 

 cost of equipment are based on averages. The cost and present value 

 of drainage systems were regarded as equal, as before stated, but 

 the first cost of buildings, fences, and water supply will be higher 

 than the values shown in the preceding pages. The various improve- 

 ments will be discussed separately. 



HOUSEHOLD BUILDINGS. 



The great variation in the tastes and circumstances of farm 

 owners is largely responsible for the variation in the cost of house- 

 hold buildings, and it is almost impossible to arrive at a satisfactory 

 basis for determining the proper outlay in this respect. Table VII 

 shows that on the 2 1 farms studied the inventory value of household 

 and tenant buildings was approximately equal to that of farm 

 buildings, each being about $1,500. This, however, does not repre- 

 sent the present cost of construction. Household buildings were not 

 studied closely as to size and cost, but from the values shown in 

 Table III (p. 18) and such data as are at hand it is estimated that to 

 replace those found on the 21 farms would involve an expenditure of 

 $600 to $4,000 per farm, averaging close to $2,500. This would 

 include dwellings for owners, tenants, and laborers; woodhouses; 

 smokehouses; milk cellars; ice houses, etc., some of which might 

 also be used to some extent for the farm. 



SPACE NEEDED IN FARM BUILDINGS. 



The farm buildings must usually provide for the shelter of horses, 

 cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry, and for a certain allotment of space 

 to be used by or devoted to the care of several classes of live stock. 

 They must usually accommodate all or a large part of the products 

 of the farm fields, including roughage, grain, and seed. They should 

 provide space for the storage of all wagons, machinery, and tools, and 

 for the farm workshop. A provision of easily accessible. space should 



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