THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



447 



then carried down-hill to the steading, the labour would 

 be less than carrying them up-hill, and they are heavier 

 than the grain crops and manure. In selecting either 

 of these sites it seems to be forgotten that loads have 

 to be cari'ied both to and from the steading, so that 

 either position will answer provided there be no steep 

 ascent to, or descent from the steading. The lower 

 situation is, however, the most consonant with ex- 

 perience and reason than the higher, though level 

 ground affords the easiest transit to wheel- carriages. 

 It is desirable for the farm-house to be situated so as to 

 command a view of every or most of the fields on the 

 farm, that the farmer may have constantly a bird's-eye 

 view of them, and if circumstances permit, especially a 

 plentiful supply of good water. The vicinity of the 

 house should be the site for the steading, but if a sacri- 

 fice of the position of either is necessary, the farm- 

 house should give way to the steading." — Book of the 

 Farm, vol. ii., p.p. 518-19. Blackwood and Sons, 

 Edinburgh and London. 



Other authors bear on this opinion of Mr. Stephens 

 as to position : thus Mr, Andrews, in vol. i. of his 

 " Rudimentary Treaties on Agricultural Engineering 

 Buildings," pp. 9 and 10 (John Weale, and Messrs. 

 Lockwood, London), has the following : " The choosing 

 of the site upon which to build the steading is a very 

 important matter, and requires much more considera- 

 tion than would at first appear, for if it has been judi- 

 ciously chosen, a vast annual amount of labour may 

 probably be saved." 



Theory would at once point out the centre of the 

 farm as the spot best suited, but the locality (in nearly 

 all cases) will afford some peculiar advantage that will 

 settle the question. For instance, if water-power can 

 possibly be obtained, either from the natural fall of any 

 river, or from the penning up of any little brook, or 

 from the drainage of the land (as has been done in some 

 cases), then it ought to decide the position of the stead- 

 ing at once ; as there is scarcely any advantage that can 

 equal a motive-power from a fall of water ; not that an 

 inconvenient spot in other respects should be fixed upon 

 merely because that fall happens to be there, as there 

 are many simple contrivances of engineering for carry- 

 ing the fall of water to the mill, if it is inconvenient to 

 take the mill to the water. 



Facility of access to a turnpike-road, or proximity 

 to a railway-station, or canal-wharf, or the opportunity 

 to discbarge the liquid-manure from the tanks to some 

 distant spot on the farm by its own-gravity, and to 

 avoid the great labour of pumping — all these and 

 others are circumstances that will affect the choosing of 

 a site. 



But there are certain desiderata that must be sought 

 and had under all circumstances, such as a tolerably 

 level piece of ground, or one gently sloping towards the 

 south: this must be perfectly dry or artificially made so. 

 Proximity to marshes, ponds of stagnant water, or 

 sluggish rivers should be avoided, and a plentiful supply 

 of good water must be at hand, and the means exist for 

 procuring an efficient drainage of all the water from 

 above or from the adjacent land," 



Again, on this point Mr. Loudon, in his " Encyclo- 

 psedia of Agriculture" (Longman and Co., London), 

 has the following; "The situation of every farmery 

 ought, as far as practicable, to be in the centre of the 

 farm, because this will reduce the labour of carting 

 home produce, and carting out manure to a minimum. 

 When the surface of a farm is very irregular, or where 

 it consists of the sloping side of a hill', the side of the 

 farmery should be chosen at that point of height in the 

 slope where extra labour of carrying home the crop will 

 always be balanced by the extra facility of carting out 

 the manure, and where as much as possible the labour 

 of the two operations may be equalized. The most 

 difficult course for choosing a proper site for the farmery 

 is where the lands lie on the two sides of a valley ; here 

 is no choice but that of placing the farmery in the 

 valley, and laying out the fences, roads, and low ridges 

 of the field in directions athwart the slopes ; so as to 

 diminish all the farm labour to the extent of one-hatf 

 what they would be by ascending and descending in 

 straight lines." 



With reference to placing the steading not on the 

 highest part of the farm, Mr. Ewart states that one im- 

 portant advantage is gained by it, namely, " the dtain- 

 age-water of higher ground being collected at a proper 

 elevation, in an underground reservoir, will rise by its 

 own pressure to a height sufficient for filling boilers, or 

 for any other purpose so essentially necessary, which 

 may be required on any part of the farmery, and a 

 supply can thus be obtained at all times without being 

 raised by pumping or any other means by which ex- 

 pense may be incurred." — Mr. Ewart's " Essay on the 

 Construction of Farm Buildings," " Journal of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society of England," vol.xi,,p. 216. 



Another point to take into consideration while deter- 

 mining the site, is the nature of the soil. " The best 

 soil," says Mr. Newland, a high authority on such 

 matters, " on which to erect buildings, is that which is 

 in itself the driest ; and the worst is such as is most reten- 

 tive of moisture. Gravel and clay are the two extremes, 

 and a soil is well adapted for building on, in reference 

 to health, precisely as it recedes from the latter extreme. 

 It is remarked by Mr. Loudon that those soils are the 

 healthiest which are superimposed on sandstone and 

 calcareous rock : those based on chalk are less healthy, 

 and the worst are such as lie on argillaceous bottoms ; 

 but even the worst soils may be improved, the great 

 improver being drainage," — See article in Morton's 

 " Cyclopaedia of Agriculture, on Farm Buildings," vol. 

 i, p. 787. 



Low-lying marshy places should be carefully avoided 

 as the site of the farmery. Roads should be made to 

 suit the buildings, rather than the building to suit the 

 roads, as is too often and absurdly done. In deter- 

 mining the site, however, a variety of circumstances 

 will likely present themselves to the architect, greatly 

 modifying or tending to modify the arrangements which 

 correct theory seems to indicate. In all cases, there- 

 fore, he will have to consider well all the circumstances 

 presented to his notice, endeavouring to obtain the 

 maximum of advantages. 



