124 



7 lie Country Gaitlemans Magazine 



Foremost in improvements are draining and " That the Hampshire Chamber consider 



farm buildings, and although this subject that the progress of agriculture is impeded 



may belong more properly to a farmers' by the want of compensation for unexhausted 



club, perhaps I may be allowed to express improvements, and by the present system of 



an opinion on the want of farm buildings, settlement of landed estates in this country, 



draining not being so much required in this which tends to limit the application of capital 



county as in many others. In conclusion, to the permanent improvement of such pro- 



I move the following resolution, viz., perty." 



CONCRETE BUILDING ON THE FARM. 



IN these days of agitation regarding the 

 position and comfort of farm-servants 

 and labourers in general (says the Aberdeen 

 /oiirna/), and in which questions of an eco- 

 nomic character largely mingle, a system of 

 building is coming into use which is probably 

 destined to' effect a considerable reformation, 

 if not a revolution, in the social habits of a 

 considerable portion of the labouring popu- 

 lation. It is now very generally admitted 

 that the erection of dwelling-houses upon the 

 farm is not only highly convenient in a social 

 point of view, but lies very much in a line 

 with the best interests both of the employer 

 of labour and those who are employed. 

 Hitherto, one great obstacle to the adoption 

 of a plan which has many self-evident advan- 

 tages has been the financial aspect of the 

 question. In many cases, already, it is true, 

 proprietors have, much to their credit, inau- 

 gurated a good movement by erecting upon 

 their properties what are termed model cot- 

 tages, but, as a general rule, the earnings 

 of servants, for whose benefit they are 

 intended, have been inadequate to pay 

 the small rent attached to their oc- 

 cupanc} , or if they have been sufficient, the 

 servants have been left with so small a margin 

 that they have been obliged to forego neces- 

 saries and comforts that they would other- 

 wise have enjoyed. The system to which we 

 have alluded as likely to affect this question 

 of accommodation on the farm for agricultural 

 labourers, on account of its economy, is that 

 of erecting dwelling-houses of the material 



known as concrete. Of course a much larger 

 question here enters as to how far the system 

 may affect a revolution in the building trade 

 in general, once its merits have been fairly 

 tested; and still further, and as a conse- 

 quence, a question will probably arise as to 

 its effects on skilled labour in the building, 

 trade, which is, in a large measure, superseded 

 by the new process. That, and such ques- 

 tions, however, we do not here intend to- 

 enter into, but would rather seek to direct 

 attention to the fact that two cottages of con- 

 crete in process of erection are on the pro- 

 perty of Mr Lumsden of Pitcaple, that gentle- 

 man being one of the directors of a concrete 

 company in London. The cottages are in- 

 tended for the accommodation of servants on 

 the estate. 



The whole process of building houses of 

 concrete is so exceedingly simple that the 

 employment of skilled labour is quite un- 

 necessary, and indeed the four labourers 

 who were employed in the construction of 

 the cottages referred to had never seen any- 

 ' thing of the kind before, and yet they per- 

 formed their allotted work without the slight- 

 est difficulty. A foundation having been laid, 

 a double framework of wood, or panelling, 9 

 inches apart and 18 inches high, is placed 

 above the foundations round the entire build- 

 ing, forming a kind of box. This panelling 

 consists of pieces of wood, varying in breadth 

 from 3 or 4 inches to over i foot, with 

 a bead on the upper edge having an aperture 

 by which the pieces are slid on to an iron. 



