EQUIPMENT OF THE AVEEAGE FARM, 35 



The remaining farms show wide variations. To house 106 fowls at 

 the mean rate of floor space per fowl requires an area of 367 square feet 

 of floor space, which would be provided approximately by a house 

 12 by 30 feet. Five square feet of floor space per hen is often recom- 

 mended by poultry authorities, and 4 square feet per hen sliould be 

 considered as a mmimum in good farm practice; but 00 per cent of 

 this is apparently closer to actual conditions on most farms, and a 

 house 12 by 20 feet is probably nearer the average than one 12 by 30 

 feet. A house for the accommodation of the flock of average size 

 should be not less than 12 by 36 feet, or 16 by 27 feet; or, better still, 

 two houses, each 12 by 20 feet. With two houses the 1-year-old 

 fowls could be kept in one and the 2-year-olds in the other, and the 

 difficulty of separating the old from the young would be obviated. 

 The poultry had free range on practically all the farms. The poultry 

 house on the average farm will represent an outlay of 150 to $75. 



Silo. — Silos are usually associated with the cattle enterprise. Six 

 wooden silos of 100 to 120 tons capacity were found, 4 in connection 

 with dairy cattle and 2 with beef cattle. The cost, depending on the 

 size and material, was $150 to $250 each, in place. 



Sap house. — ^Where a "sugar bush" is turned into revenue a sepa- 

 rate building is usually found advisable. This building often consists 

 of a room for the evaporator, etc., and a woodshed. It is ordinarily 

 built of old or rough lumber and as cheaply as possible. A building 

 18 by 32 feet, 8 feet high, with roof one- third pitch, is close to the 

 average of 3 sap houses found on these farms. 



Miscellaneous hvildings. — On many farms there are buildings for 

 special purposes not already discussed. On farm 9 is a potato cellar 

 costing about $75. On farm 29 there is a beehouse for storing the 

 bees, hives, etc., during the winter. An occasional well house is 

 included under water supply. An investment of $75 per farm would 

 probably be an average for silos, sap houses, and other farm build- 

 ings of a miscellaneous character on the 21 farms. 



SPACE UNITS IN FARM BUILDINGS. 



The forgomg discussion makes apparent the great need for definite 

 space units to be used in the planning of farm buildings. The usual 

 division of crops on the 21 farms studied makes it necessaiy to pro- 

 vide for storing the yields of 25 to 3D acres each of corn, small gram, 

 and hay. Yields of 50 bushels of corn to the acre from 28 acres, 20 

 bushels of wheat from 14 acres, and 40 bushels of oats from 14 acres 

 would require approximately 4,550 cubic feet of space, which is more 

 than provided for on the average, since some of the corn is used for 

 silage and some of the grain is sold immediately. Maximum yields, 

 however, would encroach on the ''general" space. A hay yield of 



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