THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



PLATE II. 

 TWO LABOURERS' COTTAGES, 



ON THE ESTATE OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEDFORD, AT PRIESTLEY, NEAR FLITWICK, BEDS. 



The accompanying sketch gives us 'a pair of sucli 

 cottages as are now to be found in various parts of 

 Bedfordshire on the farms of his Grace the Duke 

 of Bedford. These are generally in a group of two 

 or three, built near the homestead, for the use of the 

 horsekeeper and other farm-servants. The pair 

 lately built at Priestley contain three bedrooms 

 each, and are similar in style and construction to 

 those erected in the villages on His Grace's home 

 estate. They may be described in general terms as 

 admirably adapted to their purpose, being good 

 labourers' cottages and nothing more. 



These cottages are all thoroughly well-drained 

 and ventilated, as well as provided with an abun- 

 dant supply of hard and soft water. They are built 

 on a concrete foundation 2ft. Gin. deep, and Sin. 

 wider than the footings ; these are of common 

 bricks, I5 brick thick, and 6 in. deep. The walls 

 above are 1 brick thick, built hollow from bricks 

 made 3^ in. square and 9 in. long, worked fair both 

 sides, and lime-whitened inside. This hollow work 

 causes a free circulation to all the timbers, and 

 keeps the cottages dry and warm. 



Tlie joists, plates, roofing, floors, &c., are of Bal- 

 tic timber ; the roofs are covered with plain tiles 

 and Staffordshire rolled ridges. The ground floors 

 are all paved with Gin. Staffordshire squares, and 

 the window quarry lights made of very light cast 

 iron, painted, and dotted to imitate lead lights. All 

 the joiner's work is stained to the appearance of 

 light oak, and varnished. 



Each house has a good living room 7ft. Gin. 

 high, with a boiler range, a washhouse of the 

 same height, fitted up witli dresser and shelves, 

 and a copper and stone sink, with waste pipe 

 and trap complete. The pantry is lighted from 

 the north, ventilated v/ith perforated zinc, and 

 fitted with shelves and meat hooks. There is a 



closet under the stairs for stores, and hat and cloak 

 rails fixed in suitable places for hanging up coats 

 and clothes. There are three bedrooms 8 ft. 4 in. 

 high, approached from the landing of the staircase, 

 which are entered separately, and in no case do the 

 inmates go through one room to get to another. 



The premises at the back of the cottages are 25 

 ft. from the back door : they include a place for 

 wood and coal, and a closet for each house, fitted 

 up with Doulton's stone-ware glazed pan and stink 

 trap, and connected with tubular 9 in. drains to a 

 manure tank m the back garden, which is cleaned . 

 out once a year. There is a receptacle for ashes, 

 and an oven for the use of the two houses. The 

 cottages are spouted all round with cast iron, and 

 the down pipes are connected to water-tight under- 

 ground drains, leading to an underground tank, all 

 rendered with cement. 



Tliere is a well at the back of the buildings for 

 the supply of spring water, with an iron pump and 

 suction complete. The back of the pump is prepared 

 to receive a service pipe from the cistern of the 

 closets, to ensure a supply of water for the closets ; 

 this is so arranged that the cistern must be filled 

 before any can be received from the pump. 



The yards between the houses and outbuildings 

 are divided by dwarf fences and drying posts. The 

 back premises are approached byroads, and a place 

 is allotted for stacking the faggot wood. The cot- 

 tages with two bedrooms are let at Is. 2d. per week, 

 those with three bedrooms at Is. 4d. 



The reader is referred, for any further informa- 

 tion on these plans, to the first part of the tenth 

 volume of the " Royal Agricultural Society's Jour- 

 nal." We need only add that experience has put 

 the stamp of useful value on the Woburn cottages, 

 and that they are everywhere spoken of as models 

 for their purpose. 



HAYMAKING. 



BY CUTHBERT W. JOHNSON, EStt., F.R.S. 



It is amid the hay-fields of Surrey that I address 

 myself to the consideration of a few of the modern 

 inquiries as to the great hay crop of England. Such 

 notices must be of necessity general in their nature, 

 since the grasses from whence our hay is made 



widely vary with the soil and the climate of the 

 hay-field. 



The nutritive value of the hay made from dif- 

 ferent grasses is of primary importance. Now, the 

 more watery portion of grass materially varies in 



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